I Can Read - Bible Stories

“High Interest Stories For Developing Readers”

“Simple Sentences For Eager New Readers”

“Ideal For Sharing With Emergent Readers”

Doesn’t this sound like what you want for your kid/s? You go to the library, browse the shelves and pull out all the leveled reader books on your child’s level. Biscuit, Fancy Nancy, Pony Scouts, Amelia Bedelia, the latest Disney books, animal fact books… and Bible Stories!

Thanks to Zonderkidz, basic Bible stories are in leveled reader form. If your library doesn’t have them, just request them. They fit right in amongst the other leveled readers. The Zonderkidz books are part of the I Can Read! Leveled Readers.

The nature of the I Can Read! leveled readers is books with bigger text, common sight words and vocabulary pertaining to the story. It does not focus on basic phonics skills, so it isn’t ideal for brand new beginners, more for those who have already developed a little bit in their reading skills. In this series, the vocabulary that would be hard to read is the Bible names, objects and places. It basically gives your children the opportunity to turn Bible words into common sight words. 

Each book contains:

-         A Bible verse

-         A summarized Bible Story written for children

-         Colorful cartoon illustrations

And the "Adventure Bible" series contains extra notes and things to think about in the back. Sometimes it's an application question, sometimes it's a summary of characters or how to pronounce a name. Sometimes it's a key verse to think on or memorize. 

 Here are new I Can Read Adventure Bible stories I got for review:

Joseph The Dreamer - the story of Joseph - all the way from the point of his father giving him the coat of many colors to Jacob and the family moving to Egypt. It carefully skips over the part with Potiphar's wife saying only that the rich man Joseph was sold to threw him in jail even though he had not done anything wrong. It includes the quote from Genesis 50 when Joseph's brothers are afraid of him where Joseph says "What you meant for evil, God used for good to save us all." (Although the quote is taken out of context - in Scripture it doesn't happen until the death of Jacob, in the story it happens right when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers.)  

Facing The Blazing Furnace -
  the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzer's statue. What I like best about this one is that it includes the quote from Scripture where they said "God is able to rescue us but even if He does not, we will not worship the statue." It's what makes these 3 heroes of the Bible great role models for kids - they knew that God doesn't always spare the lives of His followers. Sometimes bad things happen to them. We can still trust and follow God with confidence though.

Ruth and Naomi-

 - the story of Ruth and her faithfulness to her mother-in-law. It tells how, after the death of her husband, instead of staying in her own land, she went to Israel with Naomi, gleaned in the fields to provide for the two of them and then married Boaz and became the great-grandmother of King David.

Here are some of the other titles in this series:

God's Great Creation (I Can Read! / Adventure Bible)
Adam and Eve in the Garden (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible) 
Noah's Voyage (I Can Read! / Adventure Bible)  
Noah and the Ark (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible)
Joseph and His Brothers (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible) 
Moses and the King (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible)

Moses, God's Brave Servant: Biblical Values (I Can Read! / Dennis Jones Series) 
Joshua Crosses the Jordan (I Can Read! / Bible Stories)  


David and the Giant (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible)
Elijah and King Ahab (I Can Read! / Bible Stories)
Jonah and the Big Fish (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible)
Jonah, God's Messenger: Biblical Values (I Can Read! / Dennis Jones Series)
Daniel, God's Faithful Follower: Biblical Values (I Can Read! / Dennis Jones Series)
Daniel and the Lions (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible) 
Baby Jesus Is Born (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible) 
Jesus, God's Only Son: Biblical Values (I Can Read! / Dennis Jones Series)  
Miracles of Jesus (I Can Read! / Adventure Bible)  
A Father's Love (I Can Read! / Adventure Bible)
Zacchaeus Meets Jesus (I Can Read! / Bible Stories)
The Good Samaritan (I Can Read! / Adventure Bible)
Jesus Feeds the People (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible)

Jesus Raises Lazarus (I Can Read! / Bible Stories)
Jesus Saves the World (I Can Read! / The Beginner's Bible) 
 

 

Psalm 79:1-7 – O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-- what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a free review copy of some of these in exchange for my honest opinion!