ESV Grow Bible, Published by Crossway

I was excited the day the box containing this bible landed on my front porch. This has quickly become one of my favorite translations because of it's easy readability.

I really liked this children's bible because it is set up like a study bible with extra information in it. It is designed for children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. This is a great bible for those in-between years when children want a "big person's" bible but they still enjoy colored photos and extra neat stuff. I especially liked that this bible is separated into the sections of the bible. For instance 'The Books of Wisdom and Poetry' on this page it lists the books that would be included (Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) then gives a brief overview of these books. This overview includes: Themes in these books, Two Paths of Life, Biblical Wisdom, Biblical Poetry, and style. The children are then introduced into a broad overview of this section giving them a deeper understanding of these books.

At the beginning of each book there is also an overview of that book. This overview points out key stories or themes of the book, the author, date, places, people, God's love, and God's special message. On this page is a time-line to give a visual reference point of the book. I think this is very helpful for children to be able to visually see as well as read the date of the scriptures. This allows for them to put into context what is going on at the time the book is written and what had happened prior to and after the book was written.

Another neat aspect of this bible is the "wh" questions that a sprinkled among the text. These questions of who, what, where, why, when offer children another opportunity to dig deeper into the meaning of God's word and develop a stronger understanding of scripture. There are also "4U" sections that give a deeper explanation of different scriptures. These even sometimes show examples in modern history of this scripture in action for good or the effects of the violation of the scripture. I think this section helps children to see the absolute relevance of scripture to daily life.

I would like to give special thanks to the publisher for this free review copy. As a mother of 4 children ages 10, 8, 5 and 4 (and one due any day) I appreciate the opportunity to get my hands on material that will cause my children to be excited about opening the Word of God. This bible has opened the door to many discussions on different topics as the 4U sections and "Wh" questions cause them to ask more questions and discussions.

To see more great resources from this publisher please visit http://www.crossway.org/blog

Thanks again Crossway to you commitment to print quality resources for families!