Follow Me: Bible Stories for Young Children is an excellent illustrated book of Bible stories for children that is published by Reformation Heritage Books. This book was written by Liesbeth van Binsbergen, and it was translated into English by Bartel Elshout. Also, the illustrations are by Roel Otto.
This post may contain affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you purchase through our links. Thank you for supporting this ministry!
Strengths of Follow Me: Bible Stories for Young Children
Content: This book contains 66 Old Testament stories and 50 New Testament stories! One of my favorite parts of this book is that it covers more of the Bible than any other children’s Bible storybook that’s available today. While most storybooks will contain the “big” stories of Noah’s ark, Samson’s strength, Daniel in the lion’s den, and Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, etc., they also unfortunately tend to leave out the majority of the Old Testament. Even the New Testament stories in this book are often left out of other storybooks. This makes for a very impressive book that covers a ton of the stories in the Bible!
The illustrations in this book are very nicely done. Children will love them! Speaking of illustrations, most Bible storybooks for children have this one thing in common: they contain images of Jesus Christ. For many Christians, this is not an issue at all, while for others, this is an issue of breaking the second commandment (not making any images of God). Enter Follow Me! This book does not contain any images of Jesus Christ.
Related Article: Should New Testament Christians Obey Old Testament Laws?
Follow Me is a hardcover book, and the pages are heavy, glossy paper. This makes the book very aesthetically pleasing. It does, however, make for a very heavy book. The shape of the book is very unique as it’s a rather long book (7.9 x 1.1 x 12 inches). The book contains a ribbon marker.
Layout: Each story is usually two pages long and can be read in under five minutes. There are also discussion questions listed at the bottom of the page, and these questions are very well written!
My family and I use this book during our family worship time, and my 4- and 5-year-old sons are doing well at thinking through and answering these questions after the story is read. I also appreciate that every story has the Scripture reference at the top of the page. We typically read the passage out of the Bible first and then read the story in this book. My children enjoy the pictures and the stories. They are well written and easy to understand.
Drawbacks to Follow Me: Bible Stories for Young Children
My only criticism for the book is the lack of mention of Christ in the Old Testament stories. Many children’s Bible story books today are focused on showing/teaching how the entire Bible points us to Christ. Some do a better job than others, but I find a lot of strength in teaching our children from an early age how all of Scripture points to Jesus. This book does not do that. Now, it doesn’t mean that the parents aren’t able to easily make the connection for their children. My point is only that the book doesn’t explicitly point out how all of the stories point to and find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion
Follow Me: Bible Stories for Young Children is definitely one of my favorite children’s books. I don’t think that there is a single book out there that covers as many Bible stories as this book does! The illustrations are wonderful and the lack of images of Christ is refreshing! I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Disclaimer: My thanks to Reformation Heritage Books for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
Leave a Reply