Friday, September 03, 2010

Hands-On Bible (Updated Edition) NLT, a Review

The revised edition of Tyndale Press' Hands-On Bible (NLT) was shipped to me a few weeks ago for review.  I requested the bible for two reasons:  I've never read from the New Living Translation and was curious to try it, and it looked like a must-have tool for anyone ever thinking about doing any bible-related activities with kids.  As an often church volunteer and a one-day-to-be father, I thought this would be a nice addition to the plethora of other bibles lying around.  As it turns out, I was correct.

The NLT is certainly much more approachable than the KJV, but I don't feel it has the same mmph to it my ESV has.  (That's not to say that I didn't like the translation, but I feel like it's something I would need to invest more time in than what I have for this review.  The ESV has been my translation of choice since college, and all the years prior to that was KJV.)  Some of the verses that I'm familiar with just sounded off while reading, but I enjoyed getting a new perspective on them.  However, I definitely feel like the NLT is simpler than the ESV or NIV and that this translation would be perfect for children.

Activities galore cover the contents of the bible.  Many of them are simple and require only common things found around the house.  Some may take a little preparation, but none of them are very time consuming.  These activities also really help draw real-world comparisons from text that was read, driving home the point and offering a way to help children remember a passage.  The only qualm I have about these is that some are too short, but that can easily be remedied by expounding more on the passage through words or customizing the activity.

Overall, I really liked the Hands-On Bible.  It's sleek design is attractive and fun looking, perfect for kids.  The text is varying, using bold fonts and illustrations/side-boxes, which helps break up the monotonous look most bibles have (i.e. long blocks of unbroken text).  While this bible is not a beginner's bible, it's clearly the next step after, and I think most young readers would enjoy reading through God's Word in this way.  I also think the activities are a great asset to anyone working with kids, and I easily recommend this bible to anyone interested.

Tyndale has included one voucher for a free copy of the Hands-On Bible to anyone interested.  If interested, please leave your email address in the comments.  This giveaway will go until Friday, September 10.  Open only to US addresses, and only one entry, please.  Winners will be selected by dark magic and bone casting.

**The Hands-On Bible was given to me by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest and fair review on my blog.

2 comments:

Ashley Brown said...

Logan, This Bible sounds great. My family and I do a lot of work with the children at church in Sunday School, GA's etc. This sounds like a great resource. I'd love to have a copy of it if that voucher is still up for grabs : )
I love finding new "hands-on" ways to teach kids.
-Ashley
ashleybrown2010@gmail.com

logankstewart said...

Yeah, Keisha said something about that the other night. It's looking very much like you'll win, as you're the only entrant. Assuming you do, I'll shoot you an email and get your mailing addy.

Hope all's well. Take care!