Easy to read, illustrated Bible story books are a wonderful tool to help young children learn about God and take to heart the stories and Bible characters from scripture. Before our kids are old enough to read God’s word for themselves, they can read the stories in simplified language from Bible story books that rephrase the words in kid-friendly language. Today I’m sharing my top Bible story book picks by grade level for elementary age kids. Then, keep reading to see how we incorporate these books into our day to help the kids develop their own personal 10-minute quiet time with God.
We want our kids to see us delight in God’s law and read God’s word! But, in addition to a family Bible study time, kids also need to develop their own quiet time with the Lord, too. At first, this may sound daunting, but it CAN be accomplished! Get started when they’re little with these age-appropriate Bible story books.
READ: Kids Bible Songs: Over 50 Free Illustrated Songs
Top Bible Story Books By Grade Level
Kindergarten/ 1st grade – The Hear Me Read Bible by Mary Manz Simon
We love this Bible story book for young ones just attempting to read! Each story only uses the same few words over and over. Before each story, there is a word list that parents can preview with the child. Due to the simplified, repetitive language, stories rely heavily on the images for understanding. There is also a Level 2 of this same beginning reader’s Bible with more wonderful stories.
1st grade – I Can Read My Illustrated Bible: for Beginning Readers, Level 1
There are over 30 easy to read Bible stories in this storybook Bible. Most pages contain only 2-5 short lines of text, making it a very readable book for most 1st graders.
1st grade – The Early Reader’s Bible by V. Gilbert Beers
I love the simple, repetitive language in this Bible storybook for beginning readers. The words and sentences are easy to read, but there is more text on the page than some of the other beginning readers. That means your child is getting great Bible content and gaining confidence in reading, too.
2nd grade – The Beginner’s Bible by Kelly Pulley
This Bible story book has simple text for beginning readers. Each story is only a few pages long with only 3-4 sentences on each page. Engaging, cartoon-type illustrations.
2nd grade – DK Children’s Everyday Bible by Deborah Chancellor
This engaging Bible story book is unique because it is set up as a daily reading corresponding to the calendar. Kids open to the date – July 7, for example – and just read the story assigned to that day. The short, 1-3 paragraph long stories are chronological with Genesis starting on January 1. My kids have loved this Bible storybook! It’s another one whose cover has fallen off due to so much use.
3rd grade – Read and Learn Bible by American Bible Society
This Bible story book covers both Old Testament and New Testament. The chapters a few pages long with slightly longer sentences. This one is also available in Spanish: Lee y aprende la Biblia.
3rd grade – Read-n-Grow Picture Bible by Libby Weed
This book is written in graphic novel format with 6 comic-strip style realistic pictures per page. Each picture has true-to-the-Bible text that brings the stories to life in bite-sized, digestible chunks just right for 3rrd or 4th grade students.
4th grade – My Favorite Bible Storybook for Early Readers by Carolyn Larsen
This kids Bible story book has been such a family favorite in our house that the cover has fallen off – twice! The stories are set up in chapters that are easy for an established reader to read on his own. Also available in Spanish, Mi libro favorito de historias de la Biblia para jovenes lectores.
4th grade – The Bible Made Easy – for Kids by Dave Strehler
This Bible story book tells the Bible stories with engaging charts, diagrams, and pictures your child can color in. After the stories, there are reflective questions and prompts that lead kids to dig deeper and begin the transition to studying the scriptures for themselves.
5th grade – The Action Bible by Doug Mauss
The stories in this picture Bible are presented in graphic novel format. They can be very vivid and even a bit violent at times, making it a better fit for older kids. It covers the entire chronology of the scriptures and highlights the “action” and excitement of the scriptures..
6th grade – The Illustrated Children’s Bible: The Most Famous and Treasured Passages of the Old & New Testament by Victoria Parker
This book is large and includes a lot of text, maps, historical detail, and even some archaeology. It’s unique combination of stories and supplementary information make it a helpful resource for older children. Lots of great content in this one to bring scriptures alive!
7th – 12th grades
In the older grades, we stop using Bible story books and instead encourage our children to read and study directly from scripture. They read selected Bible books or passages from ESV or NASB using a predetermined daily Bible reading plan. At this age, we want them to be asking authentic questions, examining the truth, and learning how to search out answers independently straight from God’s word.
Helping Kids Develop a 10-Minute Quiet Time with God
Individual Bible study time is when kids get to practice reading the Word for themselves. We put a high emphasis on reading the actual Bible! But, we also encourage Bible story books with our elementary age kids to get the stories embedded in their hearts in words they understand. Kids love stories and the early years are a great time to focus on the many intriguing tales woven into scripture. Kids will learn about God’s character and heart as they see the timeless personalities obey, disobey, and return back to him.
Daily Individual Bible Story Book Reading
As part of their homeschool day, we assign daily Bible reading for our kids. It takes about 10 minutes a day but becomes a life-long habit! First, they have a few verses to read from the Bible that coordinate with their Bible lessons at church. In our congregation, we use Shaping Hearts for God curriculum where the daily readings are already assigned and laid out for you!
After the daily Bible reading, we use selected Bible story books to review Bible stories and characters. The books we use depend largely on a child’s reading ability as well as scriptural accuracy. We don’t want our kids’ personal study time to be stressful or difficult! This isn’t language arts reading instruction! So, we try to keep their Bible story book reading difficulty as easy as possible considering their reading level. You might move these books up or down a grade level or two depending on your child’s reading ability.
Develop a Kids Bible Study Time Today!
More than anything, set time aside in your day to get the Word of God into the hearts of your children! “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 11:55) It’s our job to speak God’s truth to our children. God promises that his powerful word will not return empty!
If you currently don’t have any system set up to teach Bible, see part 1 of this series and start first with a family Bible study time. Your kids will see your heart for the Lord when you pray and when you delight in reading his laws together.
If you already have a good family routine going, then focus on helping each child develop a 10-minute personal Bible study quiet time! Choose quality Bible story books and readable versions of the Bible. Make the scriptures a big deal for your kids. Model your own quiet time with God, too! Let them see the value of setting aside moments in your day to read the Bible. This is a skill that will bless them for their entire lives, long after they have left your home.
What are your favorite Bible story books and Bibles for kids? Leave a comment below! Or sign up to join me.
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Excellent blog post. I absolutely appreciate this site.
Keep it up!
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Thank you so much! I appreciate your support and encouragement!
I loved my bible storybooks as a child. There are so many fascinating stories in the bible that I would have missed out on by just reading the bible as a kid. It is easy to get mired down in the mundane details so the books written at my reading level allowed me to get more out of the stories.
Yes! Kids need truth on their own level!
I wish my parents had these books available for me and my sisters growing up. I think it would have made it easier to learn and have faith.
Teaching kids about God on a level they can understand does make a huge difference in the faith of a child, but it is never too late to learn about him and grow in faith!
These are some great book suggestions for children. Thanks.
Just a few of the many, many wonderful Bible story books out there!
It’s so important to read with your children when they’re small, and to model reading always.
Suz, you are so right! Reading with kids is vital and those precious moments teaching them God’s words are even more important!
What a great list! I had a bible coloring book when I was a kid.
Great tips as usual. Thanks for posting informative articles!
Thank you, Shirley!
This is so important! These books look great, I’m going to choose a couple and send to my niece 🙂
These are great books. So important to read with your kids.
Reading at any age is a blessing.
I grew up studying the Bible and knowing all the stories. There wasn’t a lot of these books you suggest when I was a kid. My kids had a children’s Bible which was very well read.
Great recommendations. My daughter has read several of these over the years. She loves her daily devotional.
Such great suggestions. There is so much to choose from for our kids these days that it’s hard to know which ones are the best.
I have been wanting to create this time for a while…thank you for inspiring me.