NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

This review is a little different than many of the reviews that I share on the blog. Instead of reviewing a curriculum or book series, we are examining a particular translation and the formatting and information included in the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers from Zondervan.

I want to be upfront that I have been reading and studying the Bible since my childhood, I am very familiar with the Bible, but I also do not claim to be a Bible scholar. This review is my opinion as a Christian and a mother. It is also important to note that we hold the Bible in high esteem in our home and consider it the holy and inerrant word of God.

Layout and Formatting of the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers

The paperback version of the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers that I received to review is a full-color book that includes a bright and lively cover that both of my young sons found interesting.

The bulk of the print was black, but headings, chapter numbers, and other information were in different colors. I thought this was very helpful for teaching a new reader how to navigate the Bible. Colorful sections are included throughout the Bible with additional information, illustrations, and thoughts.

The beginning of each book of the Bible has a page that gives information about who wrote the book, when it was written, important events, etc. In addition, there are full-color pages sprinkled throughout with important information, such as a list of the Old Testament prophets, a list of the disciples, and a timeline of the life of Christ with scripture references.

Thoughts on the NIrV translation

When I looked over this translation and compared it with the translations that we traditionally use, I felt like it was a reasonably accurate translation of the Bible. There were times when I felt that other translations were more precise because of the more complicated language. However, I did not think that this translation for inaccurate or false.

The wording was similar to the New International Version (NIV), but many sentences were shorter, and simpler language was used. It was very appropriate for a beginning reader but not as precise as I would want for a study Bible.

How We Used the NIrV Adventure Bible for Young Readers

I decided to review this edition of the Bible because I have a seven-year-old who is just learning to read, and I thought it might be a good fit for him. He is not to the point in his reading that he could read the Bible independently.

The NIrV is on the third-grade reading level, and my son has an early second-grade reading level.

He enjoyed spending some time looking over the Bible, looking at the pictures, and decoding what he could. We also used this Bible when we looked up verses in conjunction with his Bible curriculum.

Since he is a very early reader, he still needed help with some of the words, but he could be much more successful at reading this translation than some of the other translations.

Opinions of the NIrV Adventure Bible

Overall, I think that this is an excellent translation for younger readers, and I am excited to use it with my young sons over the next several years. I believe it is the perfect bridge between children’s Bibles, which are often more of a collection of Bible stories and a more traditional translation.

In our home, I will have my beginning readers use it to allow them to start reading scripture for themselves and following along with our family studies. However, it will not replace the translations we prefer for teen and adult Bible study.

Be sure to take a look at the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers and click on the graphic below to see what other Review Crew families thought!

The Wonder of Creation (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

We received The Wonder of Creation: 100 More Devotions About God and Science from Indescribable Kids for our review. The day it arrived in the mail, my seven-year-old immediately spotted it and asked me to read it to him. He loved the bright, colorful cover and inviting pictures. I decided to read it with both the seven-year-old and my three-year-old (who turned four during this review).

What is The Wonder of Creation?

The Wonder of Creation is a devotional book by Louie Giglio and Tama Fortner and illustrated by Nicola Anderson. It is a beautiful hardcover book that includes 100 short devotionals, each covering a two-page spread in the book. In addition to the colorful cover, there are bright and engaging pictures throughout the book.

I appreciated that the book included an attached ribbon bookmark that helped us keep our place each night. There is a table of contents and an index to find a specific devotion instead of going through the book in order.

Each devotional includes a Bible verse, a devotional thought that ties something from creation into God, and some fun scientific information. For example, one of the devotionals talks about snowflakes and light reflections, and then it talks about how we should reflect the light of God’s love.

What Did We Think About the Wonder of Creation?

My boys loved listening to me read these each night. They would remind me we needed to read, bring me the book, and climb into the recliner with me. They enjoyed all of the incredible science facts and seeing the pictures.

I thought this book was a great way to help children internalize the connection between God and science. God created science, and it points us back to him instead of the worldly view that science is against the Bible.

I think it is important to note that this is not a Bible study, and I do not believe it should replace regular Bible study. It ties in the Bible and biblical concepts but does not study scripture.

This book is excellent for Christian families with children through preschool through early elementary years. The devotionals are short enough to keep the attention of younger children, and it helps them start understanding science from a Biblical worldview.

We used it as part of our bedtime routine, but it could be a great addition to morning time. Parents could also use it as a part of science by finding the devotions that relate to your topic of study.

While we enjoyed reading and discussing it together, students who can read well could easily use it independently.

Overall, we thought that The Wonder of Creation: 100 More Devotions About God and Science did not replace our Bible study but provided a fun read and a great supplement.

I highly encourage you to click the graphic below and see what other families thought and how they used the book.

What “Bible Time” Looks Like For Us (and LOTS of freebies)

From early on, I start teaching our kids to read their Bibles independently. I want them to see that God can speak to them, and they can understand it. Too much spoon-feeding helps our kids to feel they need to be reliant upon us in order to have a walk with God.

So, from the time they are small, we listen to Keys for Kids every day (you can also get it free in booklet form). We talk about the main idea of each broadcast. I copy and paste the verse for the day into a free handwriting worksheet maker for daily copy work.

When the kids were tiny, we used these little flashcards to learn a verse by heart for every letter of the alphabet.

I’ve also used a children’s Bible like this one, so they can begin reading passages on their own.

Who needs to hear the Bible read aloud more than the cat?

In addition, I also love this brand new children’s topical Bible, compiled by my friend, Michelle Brock.

I’ve used free printable Bible curricula like this and this (for older children).

I also enjoy including missionary biographies. Currently we are using this book, and we are really enjoying it. I’ve tried to encourage our youngest to write a little biography of her own using this free printable.

For my high schoolers, I’ve done some different things. I’ve used the New Answers Book (from Answers in Genesis), which is available free online (as well as a free study guide) for apologetics/creation science. I’ve used this free material to create a “Life of Christ” course (here is a free commentary also). I put together a Biblical Counseling course using the free resources at Debi Pryde’s site in conjunction with this book by Elyse Fitzpatrick.

Finally, I’ve found plenty of videos recently addressing the idea of why the Bible is trustworthy. Here are the videos my 10th grader has watched thus far:

Science Confirms the Bible is True Part 1

Science Confirms the Bible is True Part 2

How Do We Know the Bible is True? (Josh McDowell)

40 Archaeology Facts Which Prove the Bible is True

A little more advanced is this series, “From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man” (free mp3s) by Mark Minnick, which addresses questions about inspiration, translations, and why the Bible we have is reliable.

A great initial discipleship tool is “Basics for Believers” by Dr. Jim Berg (not free, but very reasonable). A more fully developed, free discipleship series called Foundations can be found here.

Here is a screen shot of all the topics covered:

Hope this helps!