Book Review: "Adventure Bible: Heroes of the Bible Treasury"

"Heroes of the Bible" contains 6 books in 1. Each of these books is available as stand alone books as well. The books included in this treasury are:

• Noah's Voyage
• Joseph the Dreamer
• Moses Leads the People
• Elijah, God's Mighty Prophet
• Brave Queen Esther
• Paul Meets Jesus

Noah's Voyage:

This book tells the story of Noah. I was glad that it told how God brought the animals to the ark since that is what it says in the Bible. One thing I wondered about, though, was that it said that after the animals and Noah and his family were on the ark "God closed the window tight". In the Bible, it mentions that God closed the door. The illustrations were beautiful and reminded me of colored pencil pictures. Many of the pages are completely covered with color making the book visually appealing. There was one picture I didn't like as it shows that suddenly the whole side of the ark is covered in windows and the animals have their heads sticking out. This is more the modern rendition of the ark and I didn't like seeing it in the book that followed the Bible otherwise. At the end of the book is a "People in Bible Times" section that tells a little bit more about Noah and a "Did You Know?" section that tells about the size of the ark.

Joseph the Dreamer:

This book follows the Biblical account of Joseph. It tells how he got the coat of many colors, told his brothers about his dream, was sold into slavery in Egypt, and eventually was instrumental in saving a lot of people's lives with the saving of the grain from the plentiful years. It gives a very abreviated version of Joseph's time in slavery. In fact, it skips right over it. It says Joseph was sold to a rich man and the rich man put him in jail, almost as if he went straight into prison. It also says that Joseph was the youngest, when Benjamin was the youngest brother. The end of the book has a "People in Bible Times" about Joseph and Jacob and "Life in Bible Times" about the coat of many colors.

Moses Leads the People:

This book tells the story of Moses from the burning bush to the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea. It does not spend much time on the plagues, just listing them in order. It does tell more about the 10th plague and how the Israelites obeyed God and were not affected by it. The book shows God's protection of his chosen people in the wilderness. It did not make it very clear that Moses was also an Israelites. It just says he knew them as he had lived in Egypt. The "People in Bible Times" at the back of the book does say he was a Hebrew, but the story itself is confusing on that score. It also says that Moses packed up his family and brother and went to Egypt. The Bible did say that Aaron was coming to meet Moses, but before that, I'm pretty sure he was still living in Egypt like the rest of the Israelites. The book also has a "Words to Treasure" section in the back.

Elijah, God's Mighty Prophet:

This book tells the story of Elijah from when he told Ahab that it wouldn't rain through the showdown between the prophets of Baal and Elijah on Mount Carmel. The book does not make it clear that God sent Elijah to the widow woman with the oil and flour. It makes it seem like he was just out for a walk one day and came across her. I liked the detail it gave to the encounter on Mount Carmel and God's showing that He was the true God. The back of the book has a "People in Bible Times" about Elijah and a "Life in Bible Times" about what a prophet was.

Brave Queen Esther:

This book tells the story of Esther. It followed the Biblical story but left out some of the aspects of the story such as why King Xerxes was looking for a new queen. It also makes it seem that Esther was the only girl brought to the palace. It also did not say why Esther was in danger if she went to the King. When we read the story, I talked about these portions of the story that the book did not cover. The illustrations were beautiful and reminded me of colored pencil pictures. At the end of the book is a "People of the Bible" section that tells a little bit more about Esther and Mordecai and a "Did You Know?" section that tells about the festival of Purim.

Paul Meets Jesus:

In this book, it starts with Saul and his hatred of Christians and throwing them in prison. Then Saul encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus, is converted and changes his name to Paul. The book also tells a little about Paul's life after his conversion. The pictures are nice, although a little more muted than some of the other books in this series. The back of the book has "People in Bible Times" about Saul/Paul and "Did You Know" about Paul praying.

I like having books that I can let my children read and know that it is teaching truth. It is a Level 2 reader which stands for "Reading with Help-high interest stories for developing readers". Many of the pages are completely covered with color making the book visually appealing. Even though I had previously reviewed "Noah's Voyage" and "Brave Queen Esther", it is nice to have the books all together in one volume. My son loves to read these stories. The addition of a table of contents would make this book even better so you could find the individual stories better.

"Heroes of the Bible Treasury" is available in hardcover:

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
• Grade Level: Preschool - 3
• Series: I Can Read! / Adventure Bible
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Zonderkidz (May 3, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310750962
• ISBN-13: 978-0310750963
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches

I received a free copy of this book to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.