I am currently in Seminary in a class about Bible storying to Oral Cultures. This book was in the library at my work (IMB) and I just knew I HAD to purchase it. It MORE than met my expectations. THIS is a MUST READ for ANYONE who wants to enhance his/her study of God's WORD.

It took me a while to pass the introduction and that is not because it was difficult to read but the wealth of information that is in it. This husband and wife team have done a terrific job here doing what others have failed to do in their books. They not only point you to what to do but also what not to do in interpreting bible stories. They also show you how a good bible story can help us understand the Bible better. This book is a must have for teachers and anyone wants to better understand the stories that make up the greatest book to ever be written.

One of the challenges for both parents and Sunday schools is making sure that what they teach children is biblical. But, when you decide to do all the lesson planning on your own, it is a lot of work.

If you've decided to teach your kids straight from the Bible or make your own lessons or you give chapel messages to Elementary age children, this book that would be very helpful. In their book, the Waltons have written a long introduction about why we need to be careful to focus on God in the Bible and not the details that aren't there. For a long time, I've believed that God put the details that He wanted in the Bible and that the point of the Bible is God, not the people in it. So often we want more details about the people. Many Bible storybooks fill in these details for kids--but these details aren't in the Bible and they can often focus children's attention more on the people in the Bible than on God.

After the introduction, they outline important facets of 175 stories from the Bible. For each story, lesson focus, lesson application, biblical context, interpretational issues in the story, some background information, and mistakes to avoid are identified.

I think that the Waltons sum it up well

"Realtionship is the goal, salvation is the means, and eternity is the scope." p. 30

If you are reading through the Bible with your children or, like my mother in law, writing your own lessons, this book would be a wonderful resource. This isn't a book of pre-made lessons, but rather a tool to help you. It isn't a book that you will read straight through, but rather one that you will pick up like a Bible handbook, a Cliff notes summary, and use as you need it.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of the book for review from Crossway Books.

The Bible Story Handbook is a collection of lessons on 175 segments of the Bible with information to understand and teach them. This book was written as a resource for those who teach or lead children and youth ministries and Sunday School classes. The purpose is to educate the leader how to understand the passages so he can teach it to others. Our family, which includes university age children, used the book for family devotions and Bible study a couple of times per week.

The book starts with an introduction and overview. Then it has 175 short chapters (usually about 2 pages long) that correspond to various Bible passages. Each of the chapters contains:

- A title and Bible passage reference,

- Lesson focus,

- Lesson application,

- Biblical context,

- Interpretational issues in the story,

- Background information, and

- Mistakes to avoid.

Our family started with prayer, took turns reading the Bible passage and each of the parts in the lesson, discussed the lesson to some extent, and closed in prayer.

While this is designed for teaching kids of all ages, this is not a book of kids' activities, coloring pages, or games but is a teaching resource. I especially appreciated the reminder to focus on the purpose and meaning of each passage and to not pluck from the passages peripheral points or use it to teach what it was not actually communicating. From page 17, "A text cannot mean what it never meant. Or to put that in a positive way, the true meaning of the biblical text for us is what God originally intended it to mean when it was first spoken. We can only attach authority to a lesson that the text is intentionally teaching; the reader must look to the text to determine what that teaching is."

According to the Waltons, there 5 common mistakes made in teaching Bible passages. They are:

1. Promotion of the trivial,

2. Illegitimate extrapolation,

3. Reading between the lines,

4. Missing important nuance, and

5. Focus on people rather than God.

I love how this book helped us avoid these fallacies and center our learning on God, the primary meaning in the story, and the big picture across the whole of scripture. I think we are all better Bible readers now and can apply this approach to our study of scripture going forward. I highly recommend this book for families and churches as a resource not only to teach the Bible but to teach how to read passages and understand their central message. In this day of biblical illiteracy, we want our children to be proficient in studying and understanding the Bible, know how to find the key message of a passage, and avoid common interpretational faux pas. This is an excellent book for that purpose and I endorse it wholeheartedly.

When I first read about it I was intrigued, but skeptical. I expected something for a children's Sunday School teacher. I figured it would have some pretty simple insights into how to focus popular Bible stories, maybe how to bring it down to a child's level... I thought it might be a nice book to have on the shelf for occasional reference, but most likely nothing earth-shattering.

I was oh so very wrong. It's way better. This book covers your typical popular Bible stories as well as the less known and harder to 'get' stories. And you know how sometimes when you read your Bible you glance down at the footnotes to see what the 'experts' say about it? This is way better. For each story it gives focal points (basically, how the story fits into Redemptive history, or how it fits into the big picture), context, interpretational issues (what some people have said and why or why not to believe them), background that tells you about the time and place, and mistakes to avoid. It's equally helpful for personal reading, teaching adults, or teaching children. It even tells you when a story is inappropriate for kids (like Jephthah).

You know how you always wondered about Solomon's wives? I mean really, the guy is revered for his wisdom, but he was a polygamist? You know you always wondered. Well, apparently Solomon wasn't a greedy old perv, he made alliances for political purposes, and those alliances were solidified through marriage.

It covers Jephthah. And Ananias and Sapphira. And Creation with great insight. The plagues. And in every breath it points all attention to the fuller knowledge of God. It's awesome.