Is the "My Book of Bible Stories" appropriate reading for Little Ones?

Princess Daisy Boo

My little boy, aged 4 1/2 loves his bedtime stories, and also loves "Jesus stories" as he calls them...

Now, I have never gotten around to going to a book store and actually buying a childrens bible story book from the shops (Yes...I still have a bit of a mental block and some deep seated issues about any religious literature).

My mom gave my kids a copy of the Bible Story Book, as well as Listening to the Great Teacher (the new soft cover book - think it is called that?), and I have tried reading the stories to my kids occasionally, figuring they are just bible stories after all, but I find that they are so violent and disturbing - Cain killing Abel for example...!

Does anyone have advice regarding this? Are normal children's bibles as detailed as this? What level of bible teaching is appropriate for a 4 year old, especially one with parents who don't believe in organised religion?

Your thoughts?

Mrs. Witness

Heck no! Dr. Seuss is appropriate, Goodnight Moon is appropriate...even Harry Potter, but nothing published by the WTBTS is appropriate for children (or adults)!!!!!

Paralipomenon

They are exceedingly violent. I would suggest hitting up a Christian book store, there are many around .

There are books that focus on bible stories while leaving out alot of gore.

Dagney

No they are not. The fear of punishment and death as a message and terrible gory pictures are not good tools in child rearing. Ask any of us who were raised on the "Paradise" book, we never forgot those pictures of the the big crevice with bikes and dogs etc tumbling to their destruction. As a kid, it made no sense.

Plenty of other great kid's books out there to instill principles.

Maddie

No, anything published by the WT is full of indoctrination albeit subtle.

Maddie

ex-nj-jw

Not unless you want them to have nightmares - I don't think anything JW related is appropriate for children.

nj

drew sagan

As others have said, that book is filled with Watchtower nuances that are inteneded to push the child towards typicial JW thinking.

Tons of great childrens books out there, don't waste your time on that one!

Burger Time

Oh come on people the My Book of Bible Stories isn't that bad. I liked them growing up but I was a boy so that sort of stuff was cool. I don't think a 4-11 year old should be taught anything that is religious but that's just my personal opinion.

serotonin_wraith

His curse caused two female bears to descend upon the children. The little dears couldn't believe what was happening and they began screaming and screaming.

alt

The bears slashed at them with their sharp claws and sank their massive jaws into their skin until there was blood everywhere.

The children's parents came rushing out to see what all the horrible screaming was about. When they saw their children being torn apart by the huge bears they could scarcely believe their eyes. Some of the mothers went into hysterics, while other parents tried to make the bears stop. But they were simply helpless against the will of God. When it was all over, there were 42 children that were ripped apart by the bears God had sent through His prophet.

Source:

reneeisorym

Boys:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Boys-Activity-Bible-Toddlers/dp/0801044979/ref=pd_ys_iyr21

Girls:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Girls-Activity-Bible-Toddlers/dp/0801044960/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198093450&sr=1-9

I have found that these are really nice and kid friendly. There are questions where the book tells you to tell the kids about a time when (insert here some story about your childhood.) I wouldn't recommend this one if the kid doesn't have a mom though. It says "Mom, tell your son about a time when .....)

There's a whole series from Carolyn Larsen that are great. There are ones like "Grandma's special stories for Little Boys" (or one for girls too)

Order it from Amazon and forget the trip to the bookstore... :)

Is the "My Book of Bible Stories" appropriate reading for Little Ones?

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