In this new book, Mike Nappa (author) and Emiliano Migliardo (illustrator) imagine the Bible as a theme park for you and your children to walk through together. It’s like a simpler version of Where’s Waldo? meets Disney World. It imagines the Bible as a theme park, and what it creatively does is teaches your kids the different sections of the Bible and highlights certain images and themes from those sections.
Welcome to BibleWorld allows your kids to explore nine sections of the Bible:
- Land of the Law (Pentateuch)
- Kings and Heroes (History)
- Poets’ Paradise (Poetic Books)
- Prophets’ Wilderness (split into two sections)
- The Major Prophets
- The Minor Prophets
- Gospel Country (Gospels)
- Church Frontier (Acts)
- Paul’s Place (Paul’s Letters)
- Mail Island (General Epistles)
- The End (Revelation)
Below is an example picture from the book of Gospel Country (which can be downloaded under the Lagniappe section below).
Under the picture (which isn’t shown), there is a brief explanation of the Gospels and a list of nine items spread throughout these two pages that your kids can search for. Each items has Bible references included so that you can find it in the Bible and share the story with your kids. Just so you can try it yourself, a few things you can search for are:
- an Egyptian pyramid (Matt 2:14)
- a fishing net (Matt 4:18–20)
- a lamp under a basket (Mark 4:21)
- a donkey’s with clothes on its back (Luke 19:35)
- a boy’s lunch (John 6:9)
At the back of the book you can also find Bible references to every one of the ride’s. This is a great way to bring the Bible in to your reading time. After you look at a few of the rides, you can search for the Scripture that ride points too.
- The Peace Train (1 Thessalonians 3:16)
- Asaph’s Karaoke (Psalm 50)
- Gag the Donkey (Numbers 22)
- Amos’ Tents (Amos 1:1)
Not every ride makes “perfect sense.” For example, on Mail Island, which is based on the General Epistles, the Truth-Seekers activity shows people trying to dodge laser lights. Dodging laser lights don’t completely match with anything in 2 John 1:1–2, but neither do they need to do so. The downside though is that I’m not really sure what the activity/ride means (walking in the way of the Lord and dodging sin?), but perhaps it could provide the opportunity to try to figure out what it means with your kids.
Recommended?
This is a good activity for smaller kids. It’s busy, but not as busy as Where’s Waldo books. It owuld be fun to have something like this more akin to Where’s Waldo for older kids. As I wrote above, this book will help your children to learn the different sections of the Bible (Pentateuch, history, poetry, etc.), by seeing them through the lens of a theme park. This is but one step in helping your children learn how to navigate the Bible, and they will enjoy doing it too.
Lagniappe
- Age range: 4–8
- Author: Mike Nappa
- Illustrator: Emiliano Migliardo
- Paperback: 32 pages
- Publisher: The Good Book Company (March 22, 2022)
- See a sample of the Gospels in Gospel Country
Find it on Amazon and The Good Book Company!
Disclosure: I received this book free from The Good Book Company. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.
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