A New Bible for Children

I must admit that I haven't yet finished the entire International Children's Bible that I received a copy of in order to review. But I've read many chapters and verses and a few full books of it and feel I can review it fairly. I think it's a great thing to have a careful translation that uses words a third-grader can understand and would eagerly give it to my children when they are old enough to read it. I showed it to my kids, who are all now just turned six and under, and my oldest said he thought the digital pictures a little "funny-looking" but the kids looked at the pictures for quite some time.
I do think that when a child is able to read a translation with a greater variety of language, he should do so. In trying to be simple and straightforward, some beauty and accuracy of the imagistic language is lost, though the editors do strive to keep as much of the imagery as they can in this translation for children. For example, the reference to "thoughts," rather than "heart" in Prov. 4:23, while undoubtedly easier to grasp, lacks the emotional element "heart" carries. Sometimes, too, we may sell children short, as they can often comprehend even more than we think they can.