The Gospel Story Bible

Here's a book that I LOVE. Right up front I will tell you that this is one of my favorite review items *ever*!

The press release describes the Bible well:

The Gospel Story Bible contains "156 stories to present God’s plan of salvation in Christ from its opening narrative in Genesis to its finale in Revelation. This easy-to-read storybook written for children from preschool to high school introduces readers to many captivating people, places and events from the Bible’s Old and New Testaments. At the same time, Machowski skillfully connects the individual stories to the overall gospel narrative of how God redeemed a broken world through sending his son Jesus to save his people. Each story ends by connecting to Jesus and his gospel of grace. By sharing these Bible stories with each other, young and old will learn together the life-changing habit of recognizing the presence and workings of Christ in every moment of their day."

The book is bright and colorful and the illustrations are striking. The sturdy hardback is list priced at $29.99.

Author Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for twenty-three years.

Machowski tells stories from the ESV Bible in a way that is inviting. Most stories are one page long with an illustration by A. E. Macha on the opposite page. A few stories are two pages long. Machowski has done an incredible job making each story fit the one-or-two page length without compromising details.

My daughter (who is on the autism spectrum) and I read these stories at bedtime. The visual of one story per page keeps her anxiety down; she knows she can enjoy the story with me as a read-aloud without being overwhelmed by too many pages. Sometimes "short" means "shallow". Not here. The story is deep enough to allow for some questions and some discussion afterwards, too. The Gospel Story Bible is a wonderful resource for engaged learning!

For my kid, a reluctant, anxious reader, this format is pretty much perfect. It's a book that is attractive enough for a large age-range to pick up as well. My one complaint is a small one: some stories use white text on a colored background and that contrast is more difficult for me to read.

The B&B Media Group sent me a review copy of The Gospel Story Bible at no charge to me. I get to keep the book. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.