CEB Deep Blue Kids Bible School of Fish Soft-Touch Hardcover Hardcover – Illustrated, August 18, 2015

This is a great kids bible! I love the easy to understand language and all the supports to help kids understand the written text.

Love this bible as an adult!Highly recommend it for all ages, especially families and youth.

This is a nice edition which appears suitable for children of about... well, I'm not sure what age. The cartoon illustrations are suitable for children in grade school, but the content is aimed at slightly older children. I'm a big fan of graphic excellence so let's start with the pictures.They feature three cartoon characters, the same three children throughout the book. One is a girl who apears to be of African descent, another is a girl with freckles and pigtails but slightly tan skin, and the other is a boy with dark hair and light tan skin. He could be of Hispanic ancestry or just about any ethnicity. I mention this because I think the editors made a real effort to appeal to all ethnicities so that all children will feel "at home" with the book.Yet still, these are cartoons of modern children. There are no Bible Story heroes depicted in this book. Personally I miss that. In general, the appearance of the book is very attractive. The fonts are easy to read and the cover is nice-looking. There are boxes of explanation written in modern language.The translation may be an issue for some parents. It is a modern translation and lacks the elegance of some versions. It is easily understood, which is great except that there are some places in the Bible with adult themes where the fancier language may have been welcome because it obscured the meaning. So that's a mixed blessing and one that parents may want to consider. This is not one of those children's books of Bible stories that conveniently leaves out anything deemed too disturbing or adult for children. So in that way the book is aimed at young adults, except that they may not like the cartoon pictures of children younger than them.

There are a lot of things to like about this children's Bible. It is full color throughout, has a cast of helpful cartoon characters that pop up from time to time in normal reading and is themed so that all the helpful tools fit together in a nice package. The Sailboat talks about character traits, the Umbrella talks through emotions during tough times, the Lighthouse talks about the basics of faith, and the Life Preserver helps with tough to understand passages.There are other helpful tools as well like devotions, trivia, memory verses and my favorite, Bet You Can! where the young reader is challenged to read a passage in a short amount of time. This mimics some of the homework that readers in third through fifth grade do. There is also a checklist of memory verses that the young reader can start with, including page numbers, to help build up their Biblical knowledge. There is a lot of great stuff for young readers to really dive in.A note about the Common English Bible: readers of the NIV or especially the NKJV/ KJV will likely be surprised by some of the changes that the CEB makes. Like other newer "modern" translations, the CEB attempts to make the Word readable and understandable for those who speak modern, American English. If a reader has grown up in a church tradition they are likely to remember certain phrases, names, verses or passages in the translation that they came from. Phrases you're used to like "In the beginning God created..." are changed to "When God began to create..." (Gen 1:1-2). Angels are called "the Lord's messenger" which is actually the correct way to say that. "Happy" is exchanged for "Blessed" in the beatitudes likely because people don't normally say "blessed." Scribes are now "legal experts," which is also accurate. These are all easy to understand and digest.Some will struggle with other changes like "repent" becomes "change hearts and lives" (Mark 6:12). The biggest issue I've read about is the change from "Son of Man" to "The Human One." Neither title make much sense without studying them in light of Scripture, but people are used to Son of Man. If this is an issue for you then go with the NIV.In my opinion, I would have preferred the benefits of the Deep Blue tools and resources to be added to an NIV Bible than the CEB because I prefer that translation. However, the CEB is accurate and readable and with these tools for kids I think it's very well made and worthy of recommendation.

This is a great Bible for a kid in 4th grade or up. I can see a 2nd or 3rd grader using it with some assistance. I love all of the added sidebars. The sidebars give historical background, summarize the message of the stories, relate the story to a modern day situation, ask relevant questions, etc. My only criticism is that the story headings are in a plain light orange font. The eye glosses over them. For a young person, bold headings are really important, so it is a significant drawback that this version lacks bold headings. The chapter numbers are easy to read, but for a young person learning the Bible, a bold heading with a main idea statement for the story is important. The college student version of the CEB has this, but this kids' version unfortunately does not. Interestingly, there are even challenges in the book, like challenges to memorize key passages or to read a passage in a certain number of minutes. I can see this being an engaging activity in a Sunday School class. My 8 yr old was immediately fascinated by the maps in the back, which are National Geographic and a great resource. For a teacher or parent, the indices in the back will be very useful in planning. Each type of note and devotion is marked, many by topic, in an index at the back. There is also a glossary.