Book Review: Veggie Tales Bible

Veggie Tales Bible
By Zondervan, 2013
English, 1344 pgs

Description:
In the VeggieTales Bible, Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and all their VeggieTales friends invite children to join them and get to know the Bible. In this full-text New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) Bible, each feature is specially designed to help children understand and love God’s Word.

Review:
I love it.

I guess I need to tell you more than that though. I got this for my 6 year old who is rocking his way through the Awana program at our church. Every week they get points for bringing their Bible and he's been upset that he only has a small Gideon style New Testament. We tried a picture style Bible with just a few stories. That wasn't anything that kept his attention. (In fact, he gave it away to someone who didn't have a Bible at all.)

So, I decided to get him his very own, every book included, Bible. We was over the moon about it. He was excited to have "every word, and every verse". He is still learning to read so he just flips through and looks at how it's arranged and the pictures, etc. But he's so excited to have his own copy of God's Word. (Wish everyone reacted that way.)

The Bible itself is in the New International Reader's Version, which I think is pretty easy to read and I haven't found any major complaints on the translation. I love that there are several Veggie Tales comic book style stories throughout the pages. Some are where you would find the Bible story that inspired it. For example, Dave and the Giant Pickle is where you will read about King David. This isn't the way for all of them though. Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen is in Psalms and Rack, Shack and Benny is in Isaiah. I think it's done more in the way to spread the stories evenly than to match up to the books.

Each book has an introduction which is quick and gives a general overview. And there are lots of "Veggie Values" throughout which point out themes in the Bible and give you ways to apply and understand them in life. There's a fairly short dictionary and several pages for notes at the back.

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

Book Review: The James Code

The James Code 
52 Scripture Principles for Putting Your Faith into Action
By O. S. Hawkins
Published by Thomas Nelson

Book Description
The James Code helps believers go from knowing about God to living for Him.

Bestselling author of The Joshua Code and The Jesus Code, O.S. Hawkins is back with a new book that is all about putting your faith into action.

Together, The Joshua Code and The Jesus Code have sold more than 300,000 copies. The James Code, designed in the same format, will capitalize on The Joshua Code's core audience of churches, pastors, and readers who appreciate the year-long study format. With applicable truth from the book of James, The James Code is both practical and personal.

As with The Joshua Code and The Jesus Code, all royalties will go to Mission:Dignity, whose mission supports retired pastors and their wives and widows living near poverty level in their declining years. What a meaningful way to show support and appreciation for the work of retired pastors and their families.

 Review:
 I really took my time with this book. The book of James is so rich in instruction that I didn't want to rush reading this and miss something. The book itself is a smaller "gift sized" book and has 52 readings, supposedly one per week for a year. I read it far faster, but it would be great to take it that slow and really dig into the words from the Bible.

 There are 13 main sections, with several chapters each. They range from stress to money to wisdom. The readings follow the book of James and only take a few verses for each. Every reading has a "Just Do It" at the end to help you put what you've read into your life.

This is an excellent book and will make a nice gift for pastors or anyone who loves reading the Bible. I really love that the book supports Mission:Dignity. That is a very worthwhile organization that I think needs more promotion and support.

I received a copy of the book for the purpose of this review. No additional compensation has been received and I was not required to write a positive review.