Baby's First Bible

Standard Publishing, $10.99

ISBN 0784704600

Starting Early

Review by Shirley Bulig

Last Sunday I had to take my three-year-old granddaughter Anna to church. It was good to remember the "fun" of dressing little girls, looking for her Sunday shoes, deciding whether she should wear the blue dress or brown pants and shirt--all the time talking about going to church and seeing her teacher and friends.

But as we started to the car and I picked up my purse and Bible, I realized she wasn't carrying anything. Where is a Bible for this child to take? I wondered. Her Bible storybook was too big for her to carry. You see, I'm from the school that thinks study and worship is much richer if you have a Bible and you're never too young to start carrying your own.

I didn't have time to solve the problem that morning, but the next day I found something that seemed just right for Anna-Baby's First Bible with handle, clasp, strong board book pages, peek-through windows, and brightly colored illustrations. Each two pages briefly introduces a major story and characters from the Bible, starting with creation. The words are easy to remember in rhymed text. At the bottom of each page is a special activity for little ones-things as simple as singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus or pretending to be a little lamb. There are ten "boards" to turn, made easier for little hands because as you turn one, the next one pops up.

Well, I bought a copy and took it to Anna. We sat down and read it straight through. She calls it her "Bible purse." She loves the special handle. In fact she thinks she ought to carry it wherever she goes-daycare, the grocery, the swimming pool. Maybe that's not such a bad idea. Now if I could just find her shoes!

Shirley Bulig is a doting grandmother from Chester, SC.