Dear Noël,
In Treasuring God in Our Traditions, you write that your children listened to stories on tape while they were too young to read. Could you recommend some good, sound children’s Bible story recordings?
Thank you.

Dear friend,

That’s a good question and difficult to answer. The sets we used are out of print and it’s hard now to find good options. Perhaps publishers think kids are too visually oriented to be interested in audio.

These are ones that we’ve used and liked:

• Stories that Live, a large series of books and tapes produced by Peter Enns.
• A Few Who Dared to Trust God, a set of 5 cassettes produced by the American Bible Society.
• The Word and Song Bible, books and tapes, ed. Steve Elkins. Broadman & Holman, 2000.

I'd suggest typing those titles into your Internet search engine. You might find one used or back in print. Or your search may uncover some other treasure. (When you find something good, I’d like to hear about it!)

When buying something unfamiliar from a Christian business that presumably cares about the Biblical faithfulness of its merchandise, I’d ask up front if there’s a way to preview audio before buying or if it’s possible to return opened tapes or CDs if they are not as clearly Biblical as the packaging indicates.

Here are some of the basics I’m looking for in audio for pre-readers.

• A Bible story told without added details or characters;
• Presentation of God as the central character;
• Appropriate respect given to the Word of God;
• and less important, but helpful to a younger child is that stories be narrated rather than dramatized.

If you can’t find what you want or simply want the Bibletime experience to be more intimate, why not make a recording yourself from your child’s favorite Bible story books?

Blessings on you and your family as you grow together in God's Word.

Noël Piper