Best Bibles for Girls: Preschool to College

Best Bibles for Girls

Almost every month, someone in our house wants a new Bible.

This month, it was me.

I just finished an awesome Bible journaling class at church, and after seeing everyone else’s beautiful Bible, I really *need* a new journaling Bible.

Anyways, our oldest daughter turned eleven last summer, so it’s time for a new Bible for her.

In researching for that purchase, I was overwhelmed by the number of Bibles for girls on Amazon.

So in this post, we’ll cover the best Bibles for girls from preschool to college.

Toddler

All of my kids love The Beginner Bible.

It has over 90 illustrated stories from the Bible written in a way that’s easy for kids to understand. This Bible is easily one of our family’s favorites. However, all of my children have reached a point where they wanted to carry a Bible to church. And while I absolutely love The Beginner Bible, it is a little bit bulky.

And if your toddler is anything like mine were, they will insist upon bringing the bulky Bible. This means that either they will struggle to lug that heavy thing around thus dropping it several times and having several meltdowns, or they’ll get tired of carrying it and you’ll end up with it stuffed in your already full purse.

Because Zondervan cares about the plight of Christian mothers, they developed an easy to carry Beginner Bible!

And if I’m being honest, there are days that I wish my Bible had an easy to carry handle. I guess that’s why my mom always kept hers in one of those padded Bible cases.

Now it’s important to know that this version of the Beginner Bible only has about 25 stories as compared to the 90 stories that the traditional format has. I recommend getting both and designating the bigger one as a “home Bible.”

Early Reader

As kids learn to read, they want a Bible that is for readers – not toddlers. Sure they still enjoy looking at the toddler Bible and will for years to come, but (they think) they are basically grown now and need a Bible that reflects that.

There are several to choose from and honestly, it mostly comes down to which cover your child will like and which translation of the text you prefer.

Not sure which translation of the text you prefer? Check out this article from ChristianBook.com for an explanation and comparison of the different versions.

I have two daughters and they are about as opposite in preference as kids can get. My youngest is a girly-girl who loves pink and sparkles and all the princess things. My eldest daughter’s favorite color in first grade was black. So knowing your daughter and her preferences will help you to choose a Bible that fits her personality so that she will enjoy using it.

Elementary

As soon as my kids were confident readers, they did not want any books (Bible included) that said anything about learning to read. So it was time for us to go to a “big kid” Bible. There’s the obvious next step Adventure Bible which has a ton of different cover options.

And that’s a totally great route to take because those are really great Bibles.

However, you might want to consider how you want your daughter to actually use the Bible.

Do you want her to carry it to church every Sunday and Wednesday?

Maybe a compact Bible is a good choice for her.

She might like something small enough to slip in her purse or her jacket pocket.

My girls have both loved having a small Bible to carry in their purses.

Do you want her to get comfortable interacting with the text?

Maybe a journaling Bible is a good choice.

And a fringe benefit of a journaling Bible is that it helps her to keep her Bible open for the whole sermon. So this is a great way to teach your daughter how to sit through church or transition from being entertained during church to participating with her Bible.

Another benefit of a journaling Bible is that Bible journaling can become a special “mom and me” activity. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find how much my preteen daughter enjoys sitting with me as we color in our Bibles together. And an added bonus is that she has opened up and shared things with me during that time because it was such a relaxing time together. Our hands were busy, so she felt at ease talking to me about things she might not have otherwise.

I bought my daughter colored pencils to go along with her Bible. The best two that I’ve found are the Crayola Twistables and the Prismacolor pencils. There are pros and cons with each. The Crayola Twistables are great to use in church because they’re always sharp and mess-free, but they don’t color as well as the Prismacolor pencils.

The Prismacolor pencils are really great. They have bright vivid colors and look fantastic in the Bible. However, they are kind of pricey and you need a pencil sharpener which leaves little shavings everywhere.

If you decide to go with the nicer, Prismacolor pencils, I recommend the Scholar pack. The pencils seem to be just as nice, but they don’t come in a tin. We just throw ours in a pencil bag which may be why we have to sharpen them so much.

Do you want her to have a Bible to answer her questions and help her go deeper?

Then a study Bible is probably the best choice for her. As your daughter gets older and more mature, you are going to want her to read her Bible on her own. These study Bibles have tons of questions and answers in the margins and give in-depth explanations of parts of the Bible that might be confusing. Because let’s be real, there are some confusing things in the Bible. Having a Bible that answers some of the questions, will make it much easier for her to read and understand for herself.

In conclusion, finding the best Bible for girls may seem like an overwhelming task.

Before you start clicking around Amazon, take some time and really consider how you want your daughter to interact with the Bible. Our needs change over time, so think about what season of life she is in right now.

As tempting as it may be, don’t try to buy her a Bible that she’ll like someday.

Get her one that she’ll like and use right now.

It might even be a good idea to talk to her about what she wants in a Bible and look at the options together.