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Two years ago, I had a long conversation with a local bookstore owner about children's bibles.  It was he who explained to me the difference between the ICB (International Children's Bible) and the NIrV.  I've written several posts that reference these two translations (see  http://lovetopaint.blogspot.com/search?q=NIrV ).  To quickly summarize, the NIrV is a simplified version of the NIV and the ICB is a thought for thought paraphrase.  After my conversation, my husband and I decided to purchase an NIrV for our 6 year old daughter.  It was a little above her reading level, but we knew she'd grow into it.  She did the next year.  We wished at the time that we could get her a copy of the ESV, but the only one available for children didn't have notes that would be helpful to her at her age.  My husband struggled though because he really wanted Autumn to read from the ESV. Last month, Crossway published a new edition of the ESV for ages 8-12....

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...

Revisiting An Old Subject... This morning I made a blunder at church.  I made an off the cuff remark about the NLT translation.  It wasn't the way I meant it.  Sometimes my mouth opens too wide at times!  It has been very interesting all the things I've had to dig into about how I feel and think about books over the last 2 years.  I realized this week that I've been in Amazon's Vine program for 2 years and that program is what started me on this adventure of reviewing books for the other publishers I review books for as well.  Often I find that my negative review is the only negative one. Other times my positive review runs in contradiction to others' positive reviews!  Oh, please forgive me--back to my comment... One of the things I've thought about over the past 2 years is Bible Translation.  I do think it is wise to read more literal translations than paraphrases as a primary Bible simply because it leaves more interpretation to the reader ...

So, for the past 2 weeks, my girls and I have been reading the princess devotional Bible at night and the Play 'n Learn Bible stories book. When I wrote my review of the princess devotional Bible, I noted that there weren't pictures of the stories. Overall, I liked the book, but that was my biggest concern. That concern is bigger now. I think that when it comes to Bible Story books, I would always recommend one that has pictures over one that doesn't. And unless your child knows the stories well, the way devotional Bibles jump around can be very confusing. Sami is lost! She likes the devotional Bible because it's princessy, sort of. But, she cannot sit still. And this is a girl who loves books! It's starting to drive me crazy. I wouldn't take back the review I wrote of the book, but I would recommend other books over it. Which brings me to my complaint about the other book and an interesting thing I learned!!! So, the ICB is a paraphrase and the NiRv ...

A few years ago, I wrote a post about the different translations of the Bible.  In the process of reviewing many books over the past few years, I considered different translations and the importance of what Bible I choose to read.  I had read the NIV translation for years.  Then, the ESV was published.  The church we attended at the time switched over to the ESV .   When it was time to choose a Bible for my children, I was puzzled.  I ended up choosing a NIrV Discoverer's Bible for my oldest daughter's first Bible when she was seven.  Then, she grew into the Grow! Bible ESV translation.  A year or two later, that Bible became my younger daughter's Bible and my older daughter acquired the ESV Seek and Find Bible .  Both girls have enjoyed both.  And for their needs and ages, these have been great Bibles.  They're both the ESV translation that we read in church so they can follow along easily.  But, both have notes and ad...

The idea of a commentary for children was very interesting to me.  With a Bible commentary, you can read a passage in the Bible and look to the Bible for insight and help with concepts or words that you'd like to have more explanation for. Nancy E. Ganz wrote a 5 book commentary series for children that has been published by Shepherd Press.  Recently, I began reading the first book on Genesis .  The older edition included the teacher's notes.  Shepherd Press has made them accessible here:  www.shepherdpress.com/downloads.php   This book is interesting.  It was not what I expected it to be.  It does not follow the typical form of a commentary.  With most commentaries, you can look up a passage in the Bible, open the commentary and find comments for that passage.  The entries in this commentary overlap and go back and forth in Genesis.  Ms. Ganz explains in the introduction that this commentary is a compilation of the Sunday sch...