Egermeier's Bible Story Book

by Shannon S. on 2008-04-01
I didn't like the tone of some of the stories, and the tendency of the author to add in opinion about how the biblical characters "must have" felt or thought. I greatly prefer the Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos.

by KELLY H on 2008-06-06
I never knew a children's Bible could be this good! I learned things from it both times that I have been through this core. Some of the reading are a bit long for some younger kids in this core but even if you need to slow it down a bit, it is well worth doing.

by Rhonda J. on 2007-08-28
I found this book a great resource. It is a very thick, comprehensive book of Bible stories. The stories are arranged chronologically, and while true to fact, they are written with the sensitivity needed for young students. I really appreciated having the questions at the end of the book to quiz my kids on. I do think this book could be moved up a core--it would work great for Core 1 or Core 2. It's ok at the Core C level, but the intended audience probably won't get everything out of the book they could. In a few places, the book is dated by the language used, but this does not distract from the book overall.

by Colleen R. on 2008-04-01
We have enjoyed the reliability of details and the accessibility for our children. Well written and engaging.

by Keith C. on 2008-04-01
This Bible story book was a blessing to our family and a great foundation to understanding the Bible as a whole. Reading through the book each morning at breakfast was a great routine for us. I appreciated the in-depth and chronological accounts. The stories flow well, and my young boys listened intently. The Bible is an exciting book at our house, so Egermeier's was a hit as well. I intend to assign it for extra individual daily reading. I have also given this book on several occasions as a baby shower gift. (Mrs. C.)

by Melinda W. on 2008-03-01
I was not pleased with this selection. My children GROANED whenever it was time to read it. The accuracy was probably about that of other Bible story books... okay but not great...definitely had to add or take away. Something that bugged my kids was the picture placement. There are not a lot of pictures but when there is one, it doesn't go with the page you are reading. I finally decided to stop reading it after the Joseph & Potipher's wife story. It contains language that I was SHOCKED when I was reading it to my 5 & 3 year old! REALLY, I stopped reading it because the MAIN reason I am homeschooling is to give my children a good Biblical Worldview. I want them to be grounded in God's Word. I want them to LOVE it and HIM. If every time it is BIBLE time they GROAN, I am shooting myself in the foot. I hope this will be removed from Sonlight's curriculum.

by CHRISTIE B on 2008-09-19
we use this one along with "the childrens everyday bible" that came in core b, the one from core b has more pictures so we use these 2 together. i do omit some words in the egermeier bible, but over all i think it is a good next level bible after core b christie

by Tammi A. on 2007-09-01
I am not usually a complainer at all but when it comes to the Bible I am very particular about everything that is portrayed to my children being Biblically accurate and representing God the same way that I feel the Bible does; I do not think that that Egermeier's story Bible does either one. Granted, I have only just finished the first week, but I have had several things come up that have bothered me. I will not go into great detail as to where to find certain Bible verses since I figure if anyone is interested that person can look the stories up for themselves just as I did. But, to briefly give you an idea of some of the things that have troubled me: 1) I did not like how it was stated that "God was pleased with Abel's offering" and "God was not pleased with Cain's offering" without any idea as to why. I do not want to portray to my children that God likes some people more than others. Maybe it is just the way it is worded that I took it that way. When I looked it up in the Bible, just as I thought, though it is not directly stated, I understand it as saying that Cain just brought some of his fruits while Abel brought his first fruits and gave God his best. So, because of Cain's heart not being in the right place, his gift was not as pleasing to God. 2) In the story of the tower of Babel it says "and let us make a tower so great and high that its top will reach up to the sky" but when I looked that up in the Bible I read where it says, "Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven"; since it does not say, "the heavens" as I would interpret as meaning the sky, I take it as saying that they were trying to build a tower up to actual heaven. Reading that story in the Bible leads me to believe that that was why God got so angry; they were trying to reach heaven on their own instead of relying on God to get them there. Again, am I seeing things incorrectly? I just feel like the why's of God's feelings and actions are not very well represented in this story book. 3) Today we read about Abram and Sarai. Again, I feel like important details were left out. It tells how Sarai "punished Hagar severly" but again does not tell WHY! So, is Sarai just a mean, grumpy, old lady? Not, as the Bible portrays her! It forgot to mention that Sarai said to Abram, "I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her". It does not say anything about Abram marrying Hagar as it does in the Bible. It does not mention that after marrying Abram, Hagar "despises" Sarai, how Sarai talked to Abram about that, how Abram said, "Behold thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee", and that then Sarai "dealt hardly with" Hagar for how she was being treated by her. The Bible story book tells how Abram named the baby (that he and Hagar had) Ishmael but never comes out and explains that Abram is the father of the baby. And, it never mentions how when the angel of the Lord met Hagar at the well HE is the one who told her to name the baby Ishmael. Why is this Bible story portrayed so differently in the story book than in the the actual biblical account??? Also, when "the angel of the Lord" speaks to Hagar at the well, He says "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly" so I see that as being the Lord God himself not just an angel of God as is portrayed in the story. I could go on and on with this story and it's inaccuracies! I understand that, giving the author benefit of the doubt, maybe she is trying to be careful how she presents to young children the subject of Abram marrying Hagar when he was already marrired to Sarai ; but, I believe that it can be done tactfully and still be truthful without misrepresenting the actual story. I think it is worse for children to "read between the lines" and figure it out on thier own (or even worse be confused or mislead) when they can carefully be taught the truth openly and honestly. How can we learn from God's word what He wants to tell us if we do not portray the stories just as He intended? If there are so many inaccuracies that I notice in stories that are familiar to me, it makes me wonder how many more inaccuracies and misrepresentations there may be that I would not even realize in stories that I was less familiar with without researching every story in the Bible before reading the stories to my child. Needless to say, I will be using another story Bible for Core C. I have chosen to use The Children's Story Bible by Catherine F Vos. It was mine when I was little and I have read it many times to know that it is Biblically accurate. (By the way, it truthfully and tactfully portrays the true story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar as well as all of the other stories. I highly recommend it to all!)

by SARA G on 2009-05-07
This is my first review because I felt I really needed to share how awesome this bible is! Instead of glossing over important things to keep it short and simple for kids, it actually goes into all the details of each story. I'm actually enjoying it very much for myself. It's like reading the bible in story form.