The Catholic Children's Bible Author: Brian Singer-Towns | Language: English | ISBN:
1599821788 | Format: PDF
The Catholic Children's Bible Description
- Age Range: 5 - 9 years
- Grade Level: 1 - 4
- Hardcover: 2000 pages
- Publisher: Saint Mary's Press (February 4, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1599821788
- ISBN-13: 978-1599821788
- Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7 x 2.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
The Catholic Children's Bible is the first of its kind in that it is a COMPLETE Bible for children. That's right. You get all 73 books. The translation used is the Good News Translation (GNT), which is a more casual and conversational translation. I must admit that I am generally not a fan of the GNT. I feel it waters down powerful phrases in the Bible and makes them sound a bit clunky. One example that is always nails on a chalkboard to me is when they translate Jesus saying, "Amen, Amen I say to you," as "I'm telling you the truth!" The latter just doesn't hold the same gravitas as the former. I would normally ding a Catholic Bible 1 star in a review for using this translation, but for children I believe this translation is acceptable and easier to understand for them.
The first thing I love about this Bible is the color. It's like a rainbow exploded in this Bible, but in a systematic way. On page 15, they organize all the books of the Bible on a bookshelf and color code them into six different sections - the Pentateuch, Historical Books, Wisdom Books, Books of the Prophets, Gospels and Acts, and Letters. I always love this visual representation of the Bible. It helps remind us that the Bible is actually a collection of 73 books of all different literary genres. The same color code used on the bookshelf can then be seen at the bottom of the pages to remind your young one what section of the Bible they are reading.
The feature I really love though is how they highlight important stories. At the beginning of every book of the Bible you will find a list of "Featured Stories." For example, if your child is reading the Bible like they normally would, and they come to a picture of a leaf, they know that this is "Featured Story.
The Catholic Children's Bible published by Saint Mary's Press is a complete collection of the entire Bible for children. That's right you get every book along with every chapter and verse that is contained in your own "adult" Bible. It uses the "common language" of the Good News Translation Catholic Edition making it clear and simple to understand for children or anyone for that matter. There are some words used in this translation on sexual "intimacies" that I think The New American Bible words better for young children, however, I've found some explanations in this Good News Translation that did a better job. On that subject, it was a give and take. Of course, this is a topic that the parents need to help the child with no matter which Bible we read from. And then every family has different standards as to what words they use for the marital act and such. (You see which words I prefer to use!!) Overall this translation works great for children as it is simply worded so they can comprehend it.
So other than the translation what makes this Bible good for children? Well, it has larger, spaced text in comparison to a regular Bible, with an easy to read font. Each book's title page starts with a nice explanation of that particular book along with any featured stories for that book. (More to follow on that!) Things are nicely color coded, as well. For example, along the bottom of the pages are found different colors for different sections of the Bible. This division includes groups of books including the Pentateuch, Historical Books, Wisdom Books, Books of the Prophets, Gospels, and the Letters. The other colorful feature includes the brightly written tabs for each of the 73 books along the side and edge of the pages.
The Catholic Children's Bible Preview
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