Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Book Review: Believe Storybook


Believe Storybook: Think, Act, Be Like Jesus
Edited by Randy Frazee, with Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton. Illustrated by Steve Adams
Zonderkidz, 2015
English, 256 pgs

Description:
Presented by bestselling author and pastor Randy Frazee, the Believe Storybook shows children how they can think, act, and be more like Jesus. With 60 old and new testament stories from the Bible that showcase the themes, combined with captivating and dramatic illustrations by Steve Adams, children and adults alike will be inspired to become more like their savior and the person they were meant to be.

The Believe Storybook is part of the national church-wide program led by bestselling author Randy Frazee that shows children how they can think, act, and be more like Jesus.

About the Authors
Randy Frazee is the senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. Oak Hills is one of the largest churches in America, where Randy teaches and leads in partnership with pastor and author Max Lucado. An emerging leader and innovator in spiritual formation and biblical community, Randy is the architect of The Story church engagement campaign. He is the author of The Heart of The Story, The Connecting Church 2.0, The Christian Life Profile Assessment, and coauthored Real Simplicity with his wife Rozanne.

Review:
This is a very well written story book for children. There are 30 chapters. We read one per day. Each chapter has an Old Testament story, a "Jump to Jesus", a New Testament story and questions/thoughts about the story.

The stories range from Adam and Eve to Zaccheus. Each chapter has a theme that ties the stories together. The include God, Salvation, Humanity, Eternity, Joy, Love and Sharing My Faith. The stories are short and very kid friendly. There isn't anything in it that needed extra explanation for my 5 year old, but it wasn't too easy for my 8 year old either. It's very well done.

Each chapter starts with a Key Question which is answered through the stories. I looked at the question earlier in the day (we read the stories at bedtime) and would ask them throughout the day either the key question or one very similar. That got them thinking about the question more than just as we read the stories. I also tried to ask them what the previous story was about. Most of the time they could remember but they weren't always able to remember the wording of the key ideas.

It's a good book. I don't have any other Believe books from the series but this is so well done I'm considering looking for more.

I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review on this site and a commercial bookselling site. No additional compensation has been received and I was not required to write a positive review.