You should probably know that I am NOT one of those who think boys need "boy" bibles and girls need "girl" bibles. Neither am I one to think that women need "women's" bibles and men need "men's" bibles. Yes, the differences between the two can seem minuscule and harmless. If a person wants a purple bible or a pink bible or a flower-y bible, why shouldn't one be available? But it is all too easy to start making assumptions and stereotypes. Women are all about emotions, feelings, sharing stories and experiences, devotions, with a tendency on "how does this make you feel?" Men are all about straight-forward facts and information. No nonsense, no frills. Everything has a point.
Zondervan (Zonderkidz), Faithgirlz! notes by Nancy Rue
Age Range 9-12
1504 pages
The basics:
* Book introductions---Read about the who, when, where, and what of each book.
* Dream Girl---Use your imagination to put yourself in the story.
* Bring It On!---Take quizzes to really get to know yourself.
* Is There a Little (Eve, Ruth, Isaiah) in You?---See for yourself what you have in common.
* Words to Live By---Check out these Bible verses that are great for memorizing.
* What Happens Next?---Create a list of events to tell a Bible story in your own words.
* Oh, I Get It!---Find answers to Bible questions you've wondered about.
* The complete NIV translation
* Features written by bestselling author Nancy Rue
Strengths:
- It's the NIV translation, the NIV 2011 translation to be precise. Many people do love the NIV.
- It's very pink and very purple. It's very cute. It's very flowery. You almost expect glitter and confetti to pop out when you open it up. (Could a Bible try any harder than this one does?)
- It has a handful of features that make it unique.
Weaknesses:
- It's the NIV translation. Not every person is a fan of dynamic equivalence. BUT. I must say this, if you're going to have a children's Bible in a dynamic-equivalence translation, you could do a LOT worse than the NIV translation.
- It's very pink and very purple. The design choices can seem a bit excessive at times. Not every girl out there LOVES pink and purple to such extremes. Not every girl is about flowers and swirls and cutesy-cute art. Take as an example the title of this one. I could do without the "z" and the exclamation point!
- I was unimpressed with the features. At best, I found the features to be shallow with not as much depth as I'd like. Yes, the features are "cute" and add to the design of the Bible. But some of the features don't add to the quality of the Bible. They do vary in usefulness. From the nice and mildly challenging to the shallow and mildly offensive. And then there's the busy work of "What Happens Next?"
Zondervan (Zonderkidz)
Age Range: 9 to 12
1504 Pages
The basics:
* What's the Big Deal?---Need-to-know biblical stories and people
* Check It Out---Interesting and funny facts about Bible times and characters
* Grossology---Gross and gory stuff you never knew was in the Bible
* Makin' It Real---Help for applying Bible stories to your everyday life
* Hundreds of highlighted verses worth memorizing
* Introductions to each book of the Bible
* Presentation page
* Complete NIV text
Strengths:
- It's the NIV translation, the NIV 2011 translation to be precise. Many people do love the NIV.
- The design is simple and generically masculine; nice blues and oranges. There is nothing over-the-top about the design.
- The features, for the most part, are of high quality. There's nothing silly or excessively shallow about the notes or features. The features are informative, straight-forward, more relevant. The book introductions, for example, seem to offer SO MUCH MORE than the ones shared in the "faithgirlz" bible. And the "Oh I Get It!" feature of the girls bible doesn't even come close to the "What's the Big Deal?" feature of the boys bible. The difference is night and day in terms of quality content and actual substance. Now, I am not saying the notes and features of this one are perfectly-perfectly perfect, that there isn't room for even more improvement. But. Comparing these two next to one another, the "Boys Bible" is the clear winner.
Weaknesses:
- It's the NIV translation. Not every person is a fan of dynamic equivalence. BUT. I must say this, if you're going to have a children's Bible in a dynamic-equivalence translation, you could do a LOT worse than the NIV translation.
- Not everyone loves orange and blue. (What is wrong with keeping a black font color after all? Are readers really so shallow that they are more likely to read a Bible if it is in blue or purple than if it is in black?)
- The features do show traces of stereotypes. (The "gross" feature, anyone?!) And there are fewer features overall. For example, any time a publisher has to list "presentation page" as a feature, there's a hint of desperation. Both the girls bible and the boys bible feature bible reading plans, bible promises, plans of salvation, etc.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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