Niv Boys Bible [Hardcover]

My greatest wish for my children is that they have a close, intimate relationship with God - and I am firmly convinced that the NIV Boys Bible can help my son achieve that goal! The name really says it all - this Bible is designed, from front to back, to capture the interest of pre-teen boys - and it absolutely succeeds! Not only does it have a cool cover that will have it's owner showing off this Bible to friends, but it is filled with fantastic features that will make him devour the book front to back. Even as a grown man, I have to admit I enjoyed the "grossology" sections, such as the one in Ezekiel 4:12 where it explains that God had told Ezekiel to burn human excrement to cook his food. Eeeeew! Other great features include things like the "Makin' it real sections", which help the reader apply the passage to a modern type situation and provides greater insight to the passage. I also liked the "Words to Live by" inserts that highlight key verses that make great memorization aids! Finally, the NIV translation that is paired with all of these great features makes for an easy-to-read and understandable version of the Bible that will have the readers devouring the words with delight!

I highly recommend this Bible and grant it 5 out of 5 stars. And...my son better be careful that this Bible doesn't mysteriously end up at his father's bedside!

Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher, Zondervan, and the B&B Media group, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

Many publishers are coming out with new Bibles every year. Zondervan is well known for the Bibles that it publishes. It is no surprise to see a new NIV Bible specially created for boys ages 9 to 12. This hardcover Bible is designed to encourage your boy to dig into the Word of God so that he can discover who He is and how He can impact his life.

Each book of the Bible is introduced with background information which will help your son to understand the characters and stories. Then there are also little boxes of information throughout the Bible like the following ones:
What's the Big Deal? will help your son to discover who is involved in the chapter, what happened and how everything connects with God.
Makin' It Real is a small devotional within the Bible which will help your child to discover what he can learn from the Bible even though he lives in the 21st century. Yes the Bible still makes sense today and these boxes will help your son to discover how what he read can apply in his daily life.
The Check It Out boxes will provide facts and trivia about the Old and New Testaments. It's a great way to develop his knowledge on fascinating information found in the Bible.
The Grossology will concentrate on the messy parts every one has to go through in life - especially the ones of the characters found in the Bible. God is always present no matter what happen in your life. This is a great way to see God in action in the lives of the people involved in the Bible.
Finally but not the least, the Words to Live By will highlight verses to help your son to keep God's Word in his heart. I found that memorization is a great way to learn the Scriptures and these highlights will identify which verses are perfect to learn by heart. Not everyone takes the habit to learn a new Bible verse by heart and I found that if we want to really study the Word of God, memorization is essential to store the Scriptures in our hearts.

With this Bible, your son will have all the tools necessary to learn more about the God of the Universe as well as develop skills that will be present the rest of his life - like memorization for example. Having a Bible is also a great way to encourage him to read regularly in it which is a good life skill to develop.

We have a tradition in our house, when the child is able to read independently, we give them a Bible and guide them to read daily in it. My two oldest sons read daily in their Bibles whether it is a whole chapter or just a few verses. Already, I know we will have another child who will get his own Bible soon while my little girl will follow in a couple of years. I'm delighted to see them enjoying spending time with God on a daily basis. A good habit takes over 30 days to be engrained in your lifestyle. Reading the Bible daily is a skill that I haven't learned until I was older - in my adulthood. There are days where I am struggling with it. I pray that my kids will develop and keep this skill and continue to learn about God every single day of their lives.

Also included in the back of this Bible are the following; table of weights and measures, the ABCs of becoming a Christian, through the Bible in a year which is a reading schedule, promises from the Bible on touchy subjects (guilt, despair, depression, persecution, anxiety, and more), perspective from the Bible (ambition, compassion, giving, hospitality and more) and journaling pages to jolt down your thoughts, prayers and/or ways that God spoke to the boy during devotions (thought I would have liked more pages for the journaling). The main colors included in this Bible is blue for the text and orange for the titles and highlights. There is no red lettering when Jesus speaks - something that is more frequent in an adult Bible. Also at the back of this Bible I discovered that it would fit most Bible covers of size medium. Having this information helps to find a Bible cover for it if you choose to get one.

If you are looking for a fun Bible for your son so he can learn more about God, I would like to suggest the NIV Boys Bible. It is a great launch pad for a regular reading practice and eventually your son can decide to get a NIV Study Bible to deepen his daily devotions with God.