A Giveaway and A Review of Sarah Young’s Book: Jesus Calling-My First Bible Storybook

by Sally Matheny

Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook
by Sarah Young

Today, I’m reviewing a captivating, little book for young children, Jesus Calling- My First Bible Storybook. I’m also giving away a copy! Be sure to read for the details below.

First, I want to mention the beautiful illustrations in this book. Antonia Woodward's use of color and soft lines are friendly and captivating! This forty-page, board book is full-color, cover to cover.

Best-selling author, Sarah Young, presents twenty Bible truths in this book using scriptures taken from The International Children’s Bible. 

The twenty stories are representative of most toddler storybooks. They include:

God Made Everything, Noah’s Big Boat, Baby Moses, the Ten Commandments, David and Goliath, Jonah and the Big Fish, Daniel and the Lions, Queen Esther is Brave, Jesus is Born, Jesus is Baptized, A Little Boy’s Lunch, Jesus Calms the Sea, The Prodigal Son, Jesus Loves Children, Zacchaeus, The Cross, Jesus is Alive, Jesus is Coming Again, and God’s Family.   

After the title, is the chapter(s) in the Bible where the story originates. The stories are written in a simple text so young children can easily understand them. 

A Book Review of “Jesus Today—Devotions for Kids”

Jesus Today

Our eleven-year-old son enjoys reading from this book for his morning devotion. However, my husband and I receive refreshing encouragement from this adaptation of Sarah Young’s ECPA 2013 Christian Book of the Year, Jesus Today.  

The 368-page book contains 150 devotions.  Each devotion, approximately 200 words in length, is presented on a left page followed by three or four corresponding scriptures on the right page.

I love the way Young writes—as if Jesus is talking to the reader.  I have to give credit to Tama Fortner who adapted the book for younger readers. She does a great job presenting the devotions in a simple and easy to understand manner. Yet, the devotions are not watered down.  They remain quite meaty.

An example of this is in the following excerpt from devotion #141, Leave Room for Mystery.

“… My ways are often a mystery to you—like why bad things happen to good people, or good things happen to bad people. You wish you could always know what I’m thinking, but your knowledge only goes so far.”  

“… When there is something you can’t make sense of, trust Me—and trust that there are some things too wonderful for you to know.”

This devotion is followed by 1 Timothy 3:16, Job 1:20-22, and Job 42:3. These are wonderful  things to ponder and discuss, right?