My First Catholic Bible Stories Board Book (Ages 1-3)

I normally don't post reviews on anything I've received whether or not I was satisfied. Here we go... I'm giving this 1st kids Bible Stories book a 5 star review because I think the authors did a very good job with the stories in relation to the age. I think these authors know what they are doing and why they left out certain stories for the younger ages. I originally was hesitant on buying the set of the Ascension Press Great Adventures Bible Stories because of 1 review who had complained that 1 story was against Catholic Teaching. Reading that story with my Bible as reference, that story is not against Catholic Teaching because it's a picture of 2 of Jesus' disciples bringing a boy who has 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread to Jesus so Jesus could feed the crowd.
The adult Catholic Bible should always be used as a reference along with the Catechism of the Catholic Church because these stories are based off of those stories and will not be fully complete with all details dependent on the age.
Another review complained about the Annunciation story and the Last Supper Story being left out--making it "not Catholic". My understanding as a parent is children are very concrete and take things very literally; there are some concepts that are too advanced for a 1-3 year old to understand and it's best to bring them up when they are older. But if you want to try to explain to your 3 year old that Mother Mary didn't need a human man to get pregnant or that the Eucharist isn't cannibalism then be my guest add those into your Bible story collection. I personally will wait till my kids are at an appropriate age for some of these stories. As far as the too many "but look" or "and look" in the stories, I think it allows the parent to point to a certain character in the story making it interactive and helps encourage the child to point. The stories are very short and concise, but allows the parent as the primary catechist to expand on the stories they feel their child could understand OR feel comfortable expanding on depending on the child's development and understanding.
At first I was shocked at how brief the stories were but after reading this Bible to my 16 month boy, I finally understood this: this Bible stories book is an introduction to the Bible, to God, and our Catholic faith. Right now, they just need facts which means that it's not going to vary much from a Protestant children's Bible. The difference is these stories are in agreement with Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. This Catholic Bible stories book is a way for us to begin talking about God and our faith in our home.
As a mother, I get it--we want what's best for our children: the best children's Bible, the best books, the best toys, etc. When we have to let go of control such as relying on other Catholic authors to write Catholic Children's Bibles, it's hard to not judge and criticize because we mothers think we know better than someone else which is prideful. I did it too when I got these 3 Children's Bibles for each age group not understanding at first why some stories that are vital to Salvation history were left out until the 7-13 age Bible. After having them and reading the 1-3 age Bible to my 16 month old, I now understand and trust that these Catholic authors know what they're doing because some stories are too difficult for a 1-3 or 4-6 year old to comprehend.
Another note to add is a 1-3 year old's attention span when reading books is 2-8 minutes depending on age and interest. I noticed my 16 month old getting bored half way through reading the Bible along with some of my other longer kids books at first when I just started reading them. As I have continued to read it, he pays attention through all the stories depending on his interest. For that, I'm grateful these stories are concise and short because it has helped me to work on his attention span and patience. Thank you authors for writing such a good Catholic Stories Bible because I know I couldn't.

Was not what I was expecting for an Ascension product. There isn’t a cohesive narrative throughout as each page is its own blurb. The wording of the OT stories doesn’t prefigure Jesus and the NT. I agree with other reviews that phrases such as “look at the animals” or “look at the stars” could have been cut out. Speaking of things left out, the annunciation is omitted. The last supper is omitted. Peter being handed the keys to the kingdom is omitted. Since all the “Catholic” parts of the Bible are omitted you might as well purchase a Protestant kids bible.

I purchased this book for a 2-year old grandchild. Really like the illustrations and stories, but disappointed the book was printed in China. This was not mentioned in the product description.

Such a wonderful book for young children!!! My church gives them out at Baptism so parents start reading to their children about God from the very beginning!! Love this book and the kids are drawn to the pictures!!

My daughter is 8 months old and loves the pictures! She often points at Jesus and the other characters. The written content is very simplified so it’s good for her age, but I think you would want something a bit more detailed for older kids.

I really love my adult Great Adventure Bible, but I was disappointed in the age 1-3 version. I thought it was kind of weird that many of the stories say something about "look at this" or "look at that" sometimes multiple times in the story. Moses's story is very brief and doesn't touch on the exodus from Egypt at all. The illustration on page 27 does not feel consistent with Catholic teaching. My son points out the two men and child and says, "Here's a daddy. Here's a daddy. Where's mommy?"

I bought this book from a retailer to give to my niece as a late Baptismal Gift. I skimmed through the book before giving it to her. I must say that the illustrations are well-done! The way (that is the shortness) the selected stories are retold for the children is appropriate for their age. I believe that the length gives room for the parents to expand the stories on their own. I believe also that the consequent books in the series would expand on the stories a little more as the children grow.
I highly recommend this to anyone who has children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews ages 1-3 whom they are wanting to grow in the faith. (But also do not forget to buy the other titles in the series to complete the whole story of Salvation!)

The pictures are nice, the book quality is nice, but I was disappointed in the story content. I felt in an attempt to keep the stories short, the content was compromised. I think even fewer stories presented better would have been preferable. The Resurrection story is better to concentrate on than the Crusifixion for children. Referring to Christ dying for our sins for a small child, rather than seeing a picture of Christ on the cross, would be less frightening. They see it in church, but concentrating on the joyful Resurrection would have definitely preferred. My niece didn’t take the book home for my nephew. I was so disappointed.

Would recommend.

Haven’t seen my grandson since getting this book for him but I know he will love it. The illustrations are awesome and the text is short enough to hold his attention.

Great overall quality. It's a nice book to introduce our daughter to reading and God at the same time.

This is a must for all young Catholic families. My 12 month old loves the beautiful illustrations and the short stories help keep him engaged. The best part is he can't destroy the board book. We look forward to purchasing the rest of the kids books from Ascension.