In Adventurers, our greatest mission is to introduce children to Jesus and His unending love for them. We want to equip our Adventurers and their families with tools to help them create an eternal friendship with Jesus. In partnership with our church family, we like to give all of our Adventurers a book each year at Induction to encourage them in their walk with Jesus. I think this is an uncommon practice in Adventurers. The club was giving out devotional books each year when we joined, so my co-director and I just continued the practice and grew it a bit.
There are multiple reasons to not give books out to your adventurers each year such as the finances or a poor fit for your particular church. (If your Sabbath School gives each six year old a bible, it’s going to be awfully redundant to present another bible to your Busy Bees..) But, for those of you who are in the right situation for this practice, I want to share my favorite books with you.
The most important book we give the adventurers is a Bible. Other than the Bible, we rotate between Bible story books and devotional books. Depending on the age kids start Adventurers and when they will start first grade, they may spend two years in Little Lambs and/or Eager Beavers. I have a recommendation for both a Bible story book and a devotional book for these two classes.
Adventurer-in-Training
Occasionally, there is a younger sibling who attends with their parent. Although they aren’t an official member of the club, I want to include them and support the family whenever I can. I want every kid to feel loved and welcomed by the club. For our young one year old toddlers, I love the board book Jesus Loves Me illustrated by Tim Warnes.
Baby Birds
Baby Birds is an unofficial class for two year olds. Some years we have had a stand-alone class for Baby Birds. Some years our two year olds are also unofficial members. For older toddlers, My Little Picture Bible by DK is a great introduction to the bible stories. Most of the stories are short – one to two pages.
Little Lambs
The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz is a wonderful book for three-four year olds. The stories are a little longer and there are more stories than in My Little Picture Bible. A devotional option for this age group is The Beginner’s Bible 365 Devotions for Kids. The devotionals are very short – about a paragraph each day.
Eager Beavers
In Eager Beavers, I get to hand out my very favorite Bible story book! The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones is a beautiful book. Each story points to Jesus. I have read through this book with each of my kids, and I love reading it each time. I’m excited to have just started reading this beautiful book with my youngest this fall. The Purpose Driven Life 100 Illustrated Devotions for Children by Rick Warren is great daily devotional for Eager Beavers. My son and I enjoyed reading this devotional together when he was an Eager Beaver. We continued reading it together until he was ready to take over his personal devotional time.
Busy Bees
We give Busy Bees, and all new Adventurers who are older than Busy Bees a Bible. When I ask them to bring their Bibles to each meeting, I don’t have to worry about if they even have a Bible to bring. As we look up texts, everyone is reading from the same translation. (A variety of translations in enlightening in an adult Sabbath School class, but it’s confusing when you are still learning to read.) I love the Adventure Bible in NIrV. This translation is uses simpler language than the very popular NIV and is much easier to read than NKJV. I always get positive feedback from parents and kids about this bible.
Note: There is an official Adventurer Bible. Although I would love to be handing out the official Adventurer Bible, our club has chosen to not go that route at this time. It doesn’t come in the simpler translation of NIrV, and when we first started outfitting our club in Bibles, the Adventurer Bible was small with very tiny print – perfect for packing to Pathfinder camporee! But, not so great for a beginning reader sounding out the words. The current edition has fixed this oversight and uses a more appropriate font size. If your club in big into the Adventurer Bible Game, the Adventurer Bible, or any bible in NKJV might be a better choice for your club.
Sunbeams
Sunbeams are a challenging group to find a devotional for. They are old enough to be reading independently. But, often they aren’t strong readers yet. When searching for a devotional, I am looking for a short devotional thought, a Bible verse, and a short prayer. I prefer non-dated devotionals – so people can start at any time of the year and never need to worry about being “behind.”
I have struggled to find a devotional that fits my list of requirements for this age group. But, I found one at my local ABC! Devotional Minutes for Boys and Devotional Minutes for Girls by Jean Fischer fit our needs. I wish they weren’t gendered (It’s easier to give all the kids the same book.) and that they were hardcover books – like all the other books we give, but those are pretty minor complaints. The daily entry is a great length for second graders. The graphics are kid-friendly without appearing “babyish.”
Builders
I love the Action Bible for our third graders. It is the Bible as a graphic novel. This Bible sucks reluctant readers into the Bible stories! My seventh grader still loves pulling out his Action Bible to get lost in the stories.
Helping Hands
Once we reach Helping Hands, there are a few more options for devotional books. Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science by Louie Giglio is great devotional for this age. There are several similar devotionals in this series.
Note
These books are all books I have used in my club or plan to use. However, I have not read through all of them yet. None of these books are published by Adventist publishers. (I’ve yet to find good options from our Adventist publishers.)
Some of the books, especially the devotional books, may mention attending church on Sunday. Personally, I don’t have an issue with this. Many people do, in fact, attend church on Sunday. I use moments like this as an opportunity to discuss with my children what other people believe and what our family believes. Devotional Minutes for Boys goes through the ten commandments including the fourth commandment. They handled the fourth commandment in a way that I am comfortable handing this book out to kids in my church. I am sharing a picture of this entry with you so you can see if how it fits your club’s needs.
Do you have a favorite Bible, Bible Storybook, or Devotional for Adventurer-age kids? Tell us about it in the comments!