Candle Bible for Toddlers

Children’s Bibles, especially for the toddler age range are bought on three criteria. The relative important of each is dependant on whether the Bible is being bought for your own children, or as a gift for another’s.

Looking at the range of Children Bibles, the most obvious feature is the cover. How does it look? Do you think it’ll be attractive enough for a child to take that book down off the shelf rather than one of the many others battling for attention? If you’re buying for a gift, then this might well be the most important criteria. After all you want to be seen to give a quality gift that the child – and the parents will thank you for. While you might look at the cover artwork, you might not give thought to the artist.

The artist for the Candle Bible for Toddlers is Manchester Metropolitan University Graduate, Helen Prole. Receiving her BA (hons) in Educational Media Design in 1991 Helen became an in-house designer and illustrator for the Manchester based branch of Egmont Children’s Books. A year later she had the experience and confidence to go freelance. While continuing to enjoy work from Egmont, Helen has established an international reputation with companies including Ragdoll, ELC, Boots, Oxford University Press, Bartle Bogle and Hegarty (the advertising agency for Levi's) and Marks and Spencer. An artist to the core, Helen also creates in other media including glass beadmaking. It’s Helen’s soft yet full use of colour that gives the Candle Bible for Toddlers its charm and appeal to parents and children alike.

Of equal importance with the illustration is the quality of the words. Words and pictures go together. Simple pictures and simple words is the ideal combination for a toddlers Bible, which means matching the illustrator with a storyteller who understands how children view and use books with words and pictures. The Candle Bible for Toddlers is written by expert children’s storyteller, Juliet David. In choosing a Bible for your own children, you’re probably going to be more interested in what your child is reading or – in the early years, what you’re going to have to read to your child. Juliet David creates words and sentences that are easy for parents to read to their children, and for children to start to read for themselves.

Juliet David has written many children’s stories and Bible activity books. Her
Stories are simple and use short sentences with a straightforward construction from easy-to-read words. There are never many words on a page, so children aren’t put off from reading the Bible by the usual density of words found on its pages. For toddlers, this ideal first introduction Bible has only two or three lines on a page that perfectly complement the bright, exciting pictures. Juliet’s other interests include painting, music, and travelling in Israel and the other lands of the Bible’s origin. An experienced children’s author and creator of activity books Juliet lives in London with her family.

The third criteria is how long is this book going to last. Ideally it should be strong enough to survive the kind of treatment expected from a toddler just learning how to handle and use books and Bibles. This Candle edition has a robust, yet softly cushioned hardback. And at 7 inches by 6 inches, is the perfect size for little hands to hold. With almost 40 of the best loved Bible stories, this first introduction to the best stories in the world should last a toddler until their old enough to want a more complete edition of the Bible. When that happens, there’s a wide selection of children’s Bibles to choose from under the Christian Books tab (click Christian Books, then Christian Books for Children) on any Eden page. To help you, they’re classified by age range under Children’s Bibles. – Les Ellison