With the abundance of children's Bibles and Bible story books, many of these books focus on the stories as wise lessons in morality. A few highlight the overarching theme of redemption in Scripture. But even fewer books focus on what each of these stories teach about the author of the book, God himself. In Mighty Acts of God, Starr Meade attempts to take well known stories of the Bible and emphasize what each one teaches us about an attribute or characteristic of God.

Each story is roughly three, sometimes four pages long and is accompanied by colorful illustrations picturing what is happening in the story. The stories are interpreted through the lens of reformed theology, each one containing a colored summary statement of that particular teaching. At the end of each story is a box titled "As for me and my house" that gives parents ideas for further discussion with their children.

Perhaps the most helpful feature of the book is in the title of each story. Each story opens with the title and then a subheading telling what we should expect to learn about God from that story. It's helpful knowing what to look for in a story from the start and watch for evidences of the main point. For example, the story of God calling Abraham is subtitled "God Chooses People to Belong to Him;" the story of Jonah is subtitled "God's Power to Save Has No Limits;" the story of how Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind is subtitled "God is the Supreme King over All Kings;" and the story of Paul's conversion is subtitled "God Conquers His Enemies by His Grace."

While the book's target audience is elementary school-age children between four and ten, the book seems a little heady for the younger end of that spectrum. Even though all children are different in their levels of understanding and comprehension, in general I definitely think this book is better suited to older children, perhaps ages 7 through 10.

In a market surrounded by man-centered tales of morality and sage advice, the concept of the book is needed and refreshing. With this book, children can learn to look for what Bible stories teach about God himself rather than what earthly examples to follow in order to be good. I would recommend this book.

(Thanks to Crossway for providing a copy of this book for review through their Homeschool Book Review Program.) ( )