Action Bible review

I was asked by David C Cook to take a look at their Action Bible and write a review. They gave me a copy of all four books in the series. I was surprised not only with the opportunity, but also by the the quality of the materials they sent. The illustrations and presentation of all of the books in the Action Bible series would rival any of the popular comic books on the market.

When the box arrived I got to see the Action Bible, the Action Bible New Testament, Action Bible Devotional, and the Action Bible Handbook. My first impression was “how cool are these!”, but I also realize I am not the target audience for these books. I showed them to my daughter, who kind of liked them but wasn’t really impressed, but she is also not the target audience. She said that she thinks boys would like them. So I got an idea.

I took the books to church with me and asked the boys there. When you think about it, it really doesn’t matter too much for me to tell you how much I like them (which I do—very much). What matters is what the boys think.

The truth is, they loved them too. I showed the books to the boys last Sunday morning. They ranged in age from 6-11 years old.

Some of the comments I got were:

This looks cool! I love comic books.

I really like this. This is like my comic books at home

Yes, I would read a bible like this. It is just like reading a comic.

I heard the same comments over and over. The comic book format was a huge hit with the boys. These books could be a way to motivate the boys you know to read the Bible, since the conversations and stories in the comics are inspired by actual scriptures.

Some things I loved about these books:

high quality illustrations
scripture inspired dialogue
mass appeal with elementary boys

I think the only negatives I can find is that it does not appeal much to the girls, and because of the format, kids with this bible would not be able to follow along at church as they could with a traditional bible (with chapter and verse).

If you need a way to encourage your boys to dig into the Bible, I would recommend giving them an Action Bible. These can even be used as outreach tools–we know how much boys like comic books, except when they read this one they are reading from the Bible!

The Action Bible and Action Bible New Testament are just as they sound–comic book style bibles. The Action Bible Devotional takes some of the comic-style bible passages and combines them with a devotional, which includes places to write and answer questions about what they just read.

I was most excited about the Action Bible Handbook. This is the same great comic action, but it is a kid friendly reference book that gives definitions for bible words, and highlights people and places found in the bible. It would help those kids with questions, or who would like to learn more about what they are reading. This book was a great idea!

(check out a virtual tour here)

Follow the links to see more info on the books, or to purchase:Action Bible, the Action Bible New Testament,Action Bible Devotional, and the Action Bible Handbook.

Do you have an action bible? What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know