I usually do reviews of books for the Tyndale Blog Network on my main blog, but I thought the Bible Bookshelf blog may be a more appropriate place for a review of a "Children's Bible."  Besides, I haven't often discussed the particular genre of Bible versions known as the Children's Bible.  And Rumble! Zap! Pow! by Diane Stortzcertainly qualifies as such.  In the interest of "full disclosure," I received this book as a free perusal sample from the aforementioned Tyndale Blog Network.

I suppose the main criterion for reviewing a Bible for children is, of course, how do children respond to it?  And I must say, my almost four year old daughter seems to love it.  The stories are told concisely, in a simple comic strip format, with illustrations by Luke Daab.  The author has chosen 40 of the more popular Bible stories, twenty from the Old Testament, and twenty from the New.  All the typical children's Bible stories are here: the Creation and Fall (with Adam and Eve strategically hidden behind bushes, as usual); the Ten Commandments (renamed "Ten Good Rules"); the Battle of Jericho (sans the genocide at the end of the "adult" version of the story); the Loaves and the Fishes; the conversion of St. Paul (wherein Jesus asks Saul, quite simply, "Why are you hurting me?"); and the Day of Pentecost.(which has comic book style sound effect balloons, like "Roar!" and "Whoosh!").  They even throw in a lovely little finale from the Revelation of St. John, which is entitled "Great Day!" 

I think one of my favorite things about the book is that the little superhero character who presents a "Mighty Thought" for each story is...ready for this?...a sheep!  Yes, a sheep--Super Sheep.  Beautiful. Each story also wraps up with a little Bible verse and a fun activity for kids to do with their parents.  I think the book would work great in a Sunday School class, and the forty stories would work well as a fun tour for kids of the Bible through the season of Lent.  Overall, a really fun piece of work.  The illustrations are quite charming, and the way the author has distilled the Bible stories down to their basics seems pretty effective.  This book is far more entertaining than the Children's Bible I had as a child, the one with a blond haired, blue eyed Jesus, who frankly scared the crap out of me.  And, most importantly, as I mentioned above, my daughter really likes it. 

If you're looking to compare popular translations quickly, one of the best sites out there is Bible Gateway. The site is extremely easy to use, and allows you to look up passages in a variety of translations.  English translations on Bible Gateway include: King James, NIV, TNIV, The Message, Holman Christian Standard, English Standard Version, New King James, New American Standard, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation and several more.  You can also sign up for a Verse of the Day e-mail to be delivered right to your inbox.  If you haven't used Bible Gateway before, I highly recommend checking it out.

Here is the current bestseller list from CBA.

This month, we actually have a couple surprises!  While the HCSB took a dive down to ninth place, the NASBupdate leapt up to sixth place on the Dollar Sales list and eighth on the Unit Sales list.  The Message is now seventh in Dollar Sales, and sixth on Unit Sales.  I'm trying to figure that out.  Seems like the NASBupdate must have had the price raised and is actually selling better(?)  The Message is selling quite a bit better, but since it hasn't gone up as far on dollar sales, it must be a little cheaper.  That's the only thing I can figure from these rankings.  Meanwhile, the Spanish language Reina Valera must be getting more popular, too, because it's up to seventh place on Unit Sales.  Also, I notice that both the NASBupdate and the NASB are on the Dollar Sales list.  So I'm wondering, who is still selling the original NASB?  I thought the updated version had replaced the original.  Confusing.  But fascinating...

Oh yeah, and King James is still falling just short of the NIV as the most popular translation.  Once the updated NIV comes out, in this KJV 400th anniversary year of 2011, the ol' King Jimmy may just go up to the number one spot!  There's only one King.