Review: The Action Bible Devotional

The Action Bible Devotional by Jeremy V. Jones & Sergio Cariello
Reviewed by: Lori Twichell
Genre: Non-Fiction, Devotional
Publisher: David C. Cook
Publication Date: September 1, 2012

When I first heard about this book, I knew that it was something I wanted to explore. With three kids that I’m working on homeschooling, I’m always looking at new ways to get them excited about reading, writing and of course, the Bible. I love it when they hear something at church and can come home to find it in their Bibles. So this book seemed to be a slam dunk for me.

Filled with vibrant full color pictures that portray 52 of the stories out of the Bible, this devotional gives kids a new perspective on the stories they’ve heard or read previously. It engages the kids as they view these tales graphic novel/comic book style and, in the case of my 8 year old son, it excited him. He didn’t want to just read one a week – he was ready to devour the book in one sitting. He kept asking what came next and if we could skip ahead to the next story. That thrilled me to no end.

But the stories aren’t the only thing in this book. It IS a devotional, so at the end of each story, there’s a series of questions and a mission for you to work through. Each section has a key verse from the story that you can work on memorizing throughout the week. There’s also a section called X-Ray vision, where it gives you some insight into the story through anecdotes and ideas from today. For example, in the story of Deborah (week 14) there’s a discussion of how differently women were treated in the Bible. They go into how girls can compete in sports and do a lot of the same things boys can do but that it wasn’t always that way. It explains how important the story of Deborah was when you consider that.

After this, there’s an ‘assignment’ section with Your Mission, Your Debrief, and Mission Accomplished.

Your Mission encourages kids to go to other areas of the Bible and read some things that correlate with the story they just read. It also gives suggestions like volunteering for things, encouraging others, or writing down your doubts, concerns, and taking them to God. It’s actionable things that kids can do to apply the specifics of the story and the word of God to their lives.

Your Debrief asks you about the things you learned when reading the story and then working on the mission. The questions are thought provoking and encourage kids to follow through on their missions. They also help kids figure out how the story can fit into their lives.

Finally, Mission Accomplished has kids write down everything that they learned throughout the week about themselves and the story – as well as while doing the missions.

I was impressed with this book. I have the digital version that I received for review purposes, but my kids and I really enjoyed reading it together and working through some of the devotions. I am considering adding this to our homeschool curriculum for their Bible classes. They really enjoy the beautiful artwork and the stories. The activities are fun and encouraging for them and it managed to keep them excited about reading the Bible and exploring more.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone who has a child in their house that loves graphic novels or if you’re looking for a new way to get the Bible into your child’s hands.

Rated PG: I think this is a book that you could easily hand to any child to spur their enjoyment of reading, but with some of the stories and devotions in the book, you might want to supervise or be on hand for younger readers!

Review copy provided by the publisher. Thank you!