Last Tuesday my son climbed into my lap with a Bible storybook, flipped four pages, and announced he wanted “the boat one.” We never found it. He spotted a camel and refused to go further, so we spent eleven minutes on a camel.
That is reading children's Christian books to a two-year-old. The challenge is finding books that hold up against a child who chews corners and skips to whichever animal catches his eye.
Board Books for Babies and Young Toddlers
I would start with the Baby Believer board books by Danielle Hitchen. They are word books, connecting words such as sun, water, and light to Scripture. My fourteen-month-old loved pointing at the moon and shouting “MOON.”
God Gave Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren is another favorite. A baby polar bear asks her mother where she came from and learns that God gave her to the family. It is not technically a Bible story, but its bedtime reminder that children are wanted and loved is worth sharing.
If you have to paraphrase a book the first time you read it, it may be too old for your child. Save it for next year.
Which Story Bible for a Preschooler?
My pick is The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Many children's Bibles turn each story into a simple moral: Daniel was brave, so you should be brave. This book connects stories, including those from the Old Testament, to Jesus. Even a preschooler can begin to notice.
The stories are long, though. We often read half a story and finish the next night.
If your child cannot sit through more than a page or two, The Beginner's Bible offers shorter stories and colorful pictures.
Picture Books That Do One Thing Well
God's Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell celebrates the different people God made. Its detailed pictures invite children to look closely and can lead to conversations about God's creation.
The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross by Carl Laferton tells the Bible's story in about thirty pages. It offers a clear way to introduce the gospel to young children.
Max Lucado's You Are Special is for slightly older children. It follows the Wemmicks, wooden people who give each other stars and gray dots. Younger children may focus on the stickers, while older ones understand its message about worth and acceptance.
When Bedtime Reading Just Isn't Happening
Some weeks, we do not read. Someone has a fever, we are waiting at the pediatrician's office, or I have read the camel page too many times.
During those stretches, we use AbbaKid, an app with short animated Bible stories, quizzes, and rewards. I appreciate that it has no ads. Stories are grouped by themes such as animals, kindness, and bedtime. There is free content to start with, with payment required for the full library.
Still, an app should not replace books. My son once watched Daniel in the car, then searched his storybook at home for “the lion man.” That connection is what I hope for, even if it does not happen every time.
Before You Buy Another One
Flip through the pictures. Would your child stop to look? Does the book tell a story, or is it mostly rules with drawings? Most importantly, could you read it aloud a hundred times? You probably will, including the lion voice.
You do not need a big shelf. We own more books than we read, but the same three or four come out every single night for our little ones.
He has not found the boat, by the way. We are on sheep now.
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