When it comes to children’s Bible storybooks, we are very fussy around here.

Of course we read straight from the Bible for family devotions (find tips on how to start devotions with your family in this post and also 7 ways to begin teaching the Bible in your home), but we also recognize the value of Scriptures put into story form to help add to our children’s Bible knowledge and understanding.

For our family, we want to choose materials that:

• Accurately reflect Biblical truths
• Wording that is as close to the original text as possible
• A book that conveys what all of Scripture points to: the coming of a Redeemer to save sinful humanity

Honestly, there is a lot of junk out there for kids that is neither theologically accurate nor a good addition to a family’s library. Thankfully there are also some very solid materials that you can use in your home!

So far we have found four Bible story books for kids that we feel are worth recommending! I’ve made a short video that gives you a look inside each one and more details about them, and below the video there are links and a short explanation of each one! These are books I would recommend for kids ages 2 and up. Later I will have a post with some recommended Bible stories for babies and young toddlers!

4 Must-Have Children’s Bible Storybooks

1. A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories

A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories – this is an older book with simple text and descriptive illustrations going through about 60 accounts from the Bible. The copy we have is my mom’s from 1948! Good for ages 2 and up! You can still find it on Amazon.

2. The Jesus Storybook Bible

I was initially skeptical of The Jesus Storybook Bible, because I wasn’t a huge fan of how there is some dialogue “added” into the Biblical stories. However, after reading through it, my husband and I found it to be very theologically accurate and so we kept our copy!

A friend who is a children’s ministry leader also told me that while doing street ministry during her years of Bible college, they used the Jesus Storybook Bible to explain the salvation message to teens and adults who were unfamiliar with who Jesus is and what He has done for us (either because they had a different religion, or they were not religious at all)!

Unique illustrations and the story of the Redeemer Jesus woven throughout the Old and New Testament stories helps children understand the greater purpose of certain parts of the Bible that may be hard to understand.

There is even a coloring book to go along with the Jesus Storybook Bible–try doing this during your family devotions time as an extra activity!

3. Egermeier’s Bible Story Book

The inclusion of so much more than the”typical” children’s Bible storybooks is what really makes this volume of Egermeier’s Bible Storybook stand out for us. I really love how the author breaks down the Old Testament accounts from the “harder” books like Chronicles, Nehemiah, etc, into understandable, accurate accounts. There are many of the New Testament passages where this is well done as well.

The Story Bible –

4. The Story Bible

The Story Bible from Concordia Publishing House is much loved in our home! It stays very close to the original English Standard Version text and has a question, activity and prayer at the end of every story that you can do with your family. Again, the inclusion of some of the lesser known accounts from the Bible and the absolutely stunning illustrations makes this a kid favorite! Available in very nice hardcover form and paperback as well.

Do you have a favorite Bible storybook that you use in your family that is Biblically accurate and helps your kids understand the Scriptures? Feel free to share!