Seeking Good Family Worship Resources

[sgemmen9]

Hi,

I have a two year old daughter and am looking for suggestions on family worship books. We have a Jesus story book which I'm not a fan of because it has depictions of Jesus (2 CV). We also have the Family Worship Guide which is way over my daughter's head, as well as the traditional Vos NT. We recently tried Kevin DeYoung's Bible Story Bible and that's closer but honestly still over her head. Any suggestions until she grows into some of these other books?

 

[Logan]

These two by Carine Mackenzie are excellent for that age:

https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/little-hands-life-of-Jesus-mackenzie.html

and

Little Hands Story Bible (Mackenzie)

Puritan and Reformed books at discounted prices.

www.heritagebooks.org

I also liked this one:

365 Great Bible Stories (Mackenzie)

Puritan and Reformed books at discounted prices.

www.heritagebooks.org

And this one is pretty good too:

Follow Me: Bible Stories for Young Children (van Binsbergen)

Puritan and Reformed books at discounted prices.

www.heritagebooks.org

Items from RHB won't have the second commandment violations. You may have to try the used market at ABE.com to get some of these.

 

[ZackF]

My daughter wore this out. She was hard on things but the binding is janky. We are going to have to buy another for our youngest. Inexpensive though:

The New Children's Bible

Real stories for real life! This new edition of de Vries's popular children's Bible is specially designed to be read aloud, making it easier for your children to understand. Telling illustrations help youngsters visualize Bible times. Also features questions and answers; virtues, values, and...

www.christianbook.com

 

[JD]

I might be too much of a stickler about this and I am totally open to correction but I avoid using storybook "Bibles" in formal family worship. It's not the Word of God but rather an author's interpretation of it. Family Worship is not just "aimed" at the children, but is the time when we come together as a family to hear from the Lord and worship Him together. I want our worship to be centered around the Word of God.

We have a 4yo, 2yo, and 6mo. It's taken us a while to settle on something that works well for us in family worship. What we have found works best for the time being is:
1. Read a psalm (sometimes discuss afterwards, sometimes not)
2. Sing Gloria Patria
3. Recite the Apostles or Nicene Creed
4. Sing the Doxology
5. Practice Catechism questions (we adapt from the Child's First Catechism - we'll be transitioning the 4yo to the WSC soon)
6. Sing a Psalm or Hymn (we stick with the same one every day until the oldest can sing the whole thing. We've managed Psalm 120, 128, and Come Thou Fount so far)
7. Pray together (wife or I lead and we all pray the Lord's Prayer together at the end)
8. Sing Psalm 117

This takes 10-15 minutes and is edifying to all involved. I anticipate adding lengthier Scripture reading as the kids get older.

Regarding storybook bibles directly: despite the regrettable 2C violation in Lloyd-Jones' Jesus Storybook my son wore that thing out reading before naptime. My wife loved how every chapter ended pointing to Christ. We've transitioned to DeYoung's Biggest Story (which also has images of Christ) and the kids LOVE IT. I do too, to be honest. The artwork is captivating (we just finished the OT last night so no 2C issues yet) and the stories are the perfect length. The little prayers at the end of each chapter are nice.

Vos' Child's Story Bible is written at such a level that I do not anticipate ever using it. By the time they can understand that they'll be able to understand Scripture itself.

Psalms for Young Children is - obviously - not a full storybook but it is perfect for a 2 year old.

 

[jwithnell]

We had a Bible book which was quite engaging as literature but for worship we read the scriptures. My consternation with "story books" at home or the church is that the same handful of events get taught over and over. What's in between is important too. Make up hand motions to go through the Children's Catechism so the kids can get their jillies out for a moment. Ours loved when we sang hymns to them as they went to bed.