Reading Bible story books at night (or any other time of the day) is an excellent way to engage kids in reading Scripture and spending time with God.
As a mom of squirmy-wormy boys, I find sitting down and getting family time with God to be a bit of a challenge. My kids don’t like to sit still for very long. They aren’t all that into crafts – especially if those crafts don’t involve good guys vs. bad guys. But they do love storytime.
And so, we have been focusing our family Bible time around bedtime and stories.
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Best Bible Story Books for Kids
Reading from a Bible story book is a great way to introduce small kids to stories from Scripture, and to get slightly older kids to spend time in God’s Word and store up stories and lessons in their hearts.
Adding a Bible story at bedtime is a natural (and supremely easy!) way to get more God into your kids’ routine – especially if you have already-packed schedules and you don’t see an easy way to squeeze regular family devotion time into your day.
At bedtime, kids are already settling down and you have a captive audience! That’s why we find bedtime Bible stories to be so effective in building up our kids’ faith.
Below, you’ll find a list of the best Bible story books for kids. These are story books proper, kids’ Bibles, and devotionals, all of which will encourage kids of all ages to engage with Scripture, hide God’s Word in their hearts, and apply what they are learning to their daily lives.
The Jesus Storybook Bible
The Jesus Storybook Bible is absolutely our favourite story Bible for kids. We’ve been reading this one since our kids were about 3 years old. Even now, at 7, they still enjoy it.
The stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible are retellings, and aren’t word-for-word Scripture, and honestly we love that about this story book Bible. The language makes it accessible and exciting for kids – especially those kids who loose interest quickly when you’re reading straight from the Bible.
One of our favourite things about this Bible is that all of the stories point towards Jesus. The Jesus Storybook Bible is great at showing kids the bigger picture of Scripture and how everything ultimately points to Jesus.
It also portrays the grand story of Scripture as a rescue mission and a love story, which the kids (and I) love!
Recommended for ages 4-8 (but honestly, we started this one with our kids earlier – the stories are great as soon as they have the attention span to listen for 5-10 minutes).
The Spark Story Bible
The Spark Story Bible is another great story book Bible for introducing kids to the stories of Scripture.
This book has 100 stories that you can read to your kids (or that they can read on their own), and each story has an embedded question or activity to engage children.
Recommended for ages 4-8.
The Biggest Story
The Biggest Story is an excellent storybook Bible for elementary-age kids. It tells the whole story of the Bible as one, cohesive narrative, with all of the smaller stories pointing towards Jesus.
The Biggest Story a bit like the Jesus Storybook Bible, but written more like a chapter book for bigger kids.
Recommended for ages 9 to 12.
BibleForce
BibleForce is a kids’ story book Bible meets graphic novel. My kids love this one! Mostly because it is entirely good guys vs. bad guys, battles, defeats, and victories.
There are over 150 epic stories in this book, plus hero profiles, maps, and a timeline to help kids deepen their understanding of the stories and the characters from Scripture.
This is the perfect story Bible for slightly older kids, and for kids who love battles, good vs. evil, and comic books.
Recommended for ages 6-10 years.
The Action Bible
The Action Bible is a great storybook Bible, written like a graphic novel, for elementary-age kids and even teens. It contains 215 fast-paced narratives, told in chronological order.
For kids who love graphic novels and comic books, this is a great choice. The Action Bible makes the whole story of Scripture easy to understand, and it breaks up the narrative into short, fast-paced snippets (great for short attention spans).
Recommend for ages 8 and up.
The Action Bible Storybook
The Action Bible Storybook is a great graphic-novel-style story book Bible for smaller kids. It contains 15 ‘episodes’, each containing a number smaller stories, all designed to draw kids into the bigger story of God’s redemption of humankind.
This story book Bible is visually compelling, without all the battle scenes of The Action Storybook – so it’s a great choice for younger kids.
Recommended for ages 4 to 8.
The Hands on Bible
The Hands on Bible is a children’s Bible that is jam-packed full of hands-on activities to help kids engage with Scripture and apply it to their daily lives.
This isn’t a story book Bible proper: it’s the full Bible text, in NLT translation, with a ton of extra activities, explanation, and fun facts to engage kids. (For a story book version of The Hands on Bible, pick up My First Hands on Bible.)
This is an excellent Bible for slightly older kids who are graduating from a story book Bible and ready to go deeper into Scripture.
I think what I love the most about this kids Bible is all the crafts, snacks, science experiments, and journaling activities for the kids to do.
Recommended for ages 6-12.
My First Hands on Bible
We used My First Hands on Bible when my kids were 5 and 6 years old. They loved this one!
This is the story book version of The Hands on Bible, and it’s a great story Bible for introducing the kids to the stories of Scripture and getting them engaged with what they’re reading.
This Bible has 85 short Bible stories, each containing activities for the kids to do that reinforce the lesson, “Jesus connections” that help kids see Jesus throughout the Bible, and a short prayer at end.
Recommended for ages 3-6 (preschool, pre-K, and kindergarten kids).
The Adventure Bible
The Adventure Bible isn’t a story book Bible. It’s the entire Bible (and not just excerpted stories) but written in kid-friendly language in NIrV style.
The Adventure Bible also has lots of extra facts and pictures about life in ancient times, timelines, interesting “Did you know?” facts, and activities to help kids apply Scripture to their daily lives.
This is a great Bible for slightly older kids who have graduated from a straightforward story book Bible.
Recommended for ages 8-12.
The Adventure Bible for Early Readers
The Adventure Bible for Early Readers is another NIrV translation (not a story book Bible proper) but aimed at a slightly younger crowd.
Whenever we are reading straight from the Bible, and not from story book, this is the translation that we use for our 7 year olds. It is an excellent transition from a story book Bible to a ‘real’ Bible.
This Bible also contains cool facts about life in ancient times, a timeline of Jesus’ life, an outline of broad Bible themes, interesting “Did you know?” facts, and activities to help kids apply Scripture to their daily lives.
Recommended for ages 6-10.
The Adventure Bible Storybook
The Adventure Bible Storybook is the version of the Adventure Bible that you want if you have little kids (7 years old and under).
This Bible is great for introducing little ones to the major stories in the Bible: Abraham, Noah, Joseph, etc., etc. The stories are short and engaging – great for bedtime with the littles.
Recommended for ages 4-7.
Kids Devotional Bibles
If you’re looking for some great Bible devotions for kids, these kids devotionals are kind of amazing and will get your children thinking about God, connecting Scripture to their lives, and offering prayers to God.
We do one devotion (or more!) every night with our kids as part of our bedtime routine.
Spark Devotions for Kids
If you like the Spark Story Bible, then Spark Devotions for Kids is perfect for your family.
This devotional will take your kids through 100 Bible stories and includes questions for reflection, key verses, prayers, and family activity ideas.
Recommended for ages 4-8.
BibleForce Devotional
The BibleForce Devotional is perfect for kids who like action heroes and comic books. It is also an excellent complement to the BibleForce story Bible.
Includes comic-style artwork, facts about each hero, Scripture, and “Be a Hero” action items to help kids connect God’s word to their own lives.
Recommended for ages 6-10.
Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids about God and Science
This is absolutely my kids’ favorite devotional. It’s filled with snippets of Scripture, cool facts about nature and science (like
I am so thrilled with this devotional, in fact, that I sort of want to buy everything that Louie Giglio writes.
Something about this book – maybe it’s all the cool nature facts, maybe it’s the gorgeous illustrations – actually has my kids asking to do more than one devotional each night. You mean you want to read and pray TWICE? Yes, we can!
Recommended for ages 6-10.
How Great is our God: 100 Indescribable Devotions for Kids about God and Science
Another God and science devotional: Yes!
For kids who love nature and science, this book is a must-have. It is packed with 100 devotions about God and science that will keep your kids engaged and interested.
Recommended for ages 6-10.
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