Book Review: I Can Learn the Bible

I'm always looking for good devotionals to add to our homeschool Bible time. I had been looking for a good book for Tater that encourages memorizing Bible verses, when I saw Holly Hawkins Shiver's children's devotional I Can Learn the Bible: 52 Scriptures Every Kid Should Know, and thought it would be a great addition to our Bible time.

This hard cover devotional is geared towards children age 4-8, and is based on O.S. Hawkins' adult devotional The Joshua Code. I Can Learn the Bible has 52 devotions and memory verses, with each chapter meant to last one week. Monday, you're supposed to read the devotional out loud and have your child repeat the memory verse. Tuesday your child should memorize the first part of the verse, Wednesday he or she should memorize the middle part of the verse, and Thursday he or she should memorize the last section. Re-read the devotion and verse on Friday, and review over the weekend.

I like how this system reinforces both the concept and the verse, instead of just memorizing a verse without any context. Several devotion themes include: the Bible being true for all time, God is our shepherd, God works all things for our good, and we all have a unique talent to bring to the body of Christ. I think the devotions are well laid out, and engaging.

My only complaint was the translation they used for the verses, from the International Children's Bible. For example, Tater knows pretty well "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". In this book, however, it's "In the beginning, God created the sky and the earth." To me, "the heavens" refer to the universe, and the "sky" refers to just this world. It may seem petty, but this version doesn't fit my personal preference, and I will probably have Tater try to memorize the verses in a different translation.

On the whole, however, I think we will really enjoy this devotional as an asset to our homeschooling Bible time.

Thank you to BookLook Bloggers for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and have not been influenced in any way.