Bible for children
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Children's Bibles, or Bibles for children, are often collections of Bible stories rather than actual translations of the Bible aimed at children.[1] These adaptations of the Bible are written with the aim of reaching a younger audience and making these stories more understandable and even entertaining.[2]
As of 2024, the full Bible has been written in 756 languages.[3] Within the English language alone, there are many different translations of the Bible, including the New Living Translation, King James Version, New International Version, and many more. There are certain versions of the Bible that have been released that present the content in a more digestible way, such as the ICB (International Children’s Bible) version.[4] Children’s Bibles, however, are set apart in that they are not direct translations of the Bible, but are rather simplistic and take more of a storytelling approach, most commonly alongside the use of images.
There is a range of simplicity within the different children’s Bibles publications. Some are more image focused and rely less on words to convey a message, the audience for these books ranging from 3-6 years old. While some publications quote directly from the Bible, others utilize paraphrasing. All of these different publications are created with the purpose of appealing to a variety of different audiences with regards to age and level of comprehension.
First printed in London in 1759, The Children's Bible (Philadelphia, 1763) was the earliest Bible for children printed in America.[5] While this may have been the first official text published, the simple, narrative style seen in children’s Bibles today dates back to the work of Peter Comestor in the late twelfth century: Historia Scholastica.[6] This work shows lots of similarities with Bibles for children today in that it presents the Bible through stories and also includes non biblical material.
There have been thousands more publications of different Bibles for children since The Children’s Bible was published in 1759. In 1934 Lenore Cohen’s work: Bible Tales for Very Young Children was published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.[6] This novel became a staple in the curriculum for different religious institutions internationally. Prior to this publication, in between 1915 and 1936, there were dozens of publications of different children’s Bibles.
One of the newer publications of children’s Bibles is called The Action Bible and was first published in 2010. This work features a retelling of hundreds of stories from the Bible, but in the form of a comic, with lots of graphics and Scripture retold in the form of thought bubbles for the different characters. The illustrator, Sergio Cariello, has previous experience working with Marvel Comics as well as DC Comics to bring this sense of storytelling to the Bible. This children’s Bible has been translated into 83 different languages, and over 3.5 million copies have been sold.[7]
Story-Bibles include Christian Gottlob Barth's Bible Stories which was a popular children's Bible in India during the 1840s, Logan Marshall's The Wonder Book of Bible Stories (1904), Arthur S. Maxwell's [8] The Bible Story (1953–1957)[9] and The Children's Bible Story Book (1991) a children's version of the Bible by Anne de Graaf placed in United Kingdom primary schools by the charity Bibles for Children (founded 1997). Catherine F. Vos, wife of theologian Geerhardus Vos, was the author of the well known Child's Story Bible (1935).[10]
Listen! is a collection of scripture readings for children for use in liturgical celebrations and school assemblies, retold from the Bible by A. J. McCallen with illustrations by Ferelith Eccles Williams, and published by Collins Liturgical Publications in 1976.
Actual Bible versions include the New Century Version, a simplified English revision of the International Children's Bible.
See also
[edit]- Bibles for Children, a UK Charity
- Children's Bible Hour, CBH Ministries
References
[edit]- ^ Ruth B. Bottigheimer The Bible for Children: from the age of Gutenberg to the present - 1996 Yale; p. 39
- ^ Aadland, Ingunn (2023-01-02). "Casting Biblical narratives: Gendered power hierarchies and cultural imagination in scandinavian children's bibles". Studia Theologica - Nordic Journal of Theology. 77 (1): 40–61. doi:10.1080/0039338X.2022.2075461. ISSN 0039-338X.
- ^ "2024 Global Scripture Access". Wycliffe Global Alliance. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
- ^ "International Children's Bible (ICB) - Version Information - BibleGateway.com". www.biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
- ^ The Pictus Orbis Sambo Phyllis Settecase Barton, Pictus Orbus Press - 1998; p. 8 "In 1763, THE CHILDREN'S BIBLE, OR AN HISTORY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, was printed and sold in Philadelphia by Andrew Steuart. First printed in London in 1759, this is the earliest Bible for children printed in America "
- ^ a b Gold, Penny Schine (2003-01-01). Making the Bible Modern: Children's Bibles and Jewish Education in Twentieth-Century America. Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/9781501724985. ISBN 978-1-5017-2498-5.
- ^ "The Action Bible". www.theactionbible.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
- ^ "The Man Behind the Most Famous Bible Stories" (The Bible Story)
- ^ The Bible Story is a ten-volume series of hardcover children's story books written by Arthur S. Maxwell based on the King James and Revised Standard versions of the Christian Bible. The books, published in 1953–57, retell most of the narratives of the Bible in 411 stories.
- ^ Vos, Catherine F., The Child's Story Bible, published by Wm. B. Eerdmanns Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1935