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New Bible helps families connect on the go Print Email
Written by Karen Schmidt   
Friday, 12 December 2008 08:53 AM America/New_York

'Lifestyle of today’s family’ is at the heart of new product’s development

Rushed families who want to connect with their children have a new resource in Mary Manz Simon’s The Anytime Bible (978-0-439-65127-1), to be published by Scholastic in partnership with the American Bible Society in January. The 320-page book with an interior spiral binding will retail for $14.99.

Simon said she created this Bible product to give families who are always on the go a resource that allows them to share the Bible with their children, whether at the kitchen table, in the car or at bedtime.

The Anytime Bible “matches the lifestyle of today’s family,” Simon said. “The content will stimulate discussion, trigger thinking and help families have quality ‘togethering.’ ”

Simon developed a number of elements to complement each of the 50-plus Bible stories, so parents can opt for a single bite-sized component or several elements for a longer period of reading.

The Bible’s reading level is for ages 4 to 8, but Simon has geared the content to be usable by families with children on both sides of the age range.

“Questions and discussion-starters reflect a range of cognitive thought, from factual knowledge to higher levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation,” she said. “All the concepting, though, is beneath the surface because The Anytime Bible shouts, ‘You can do this.’ ”

Current family- and child-growth research was incorporated into the Bible’s development, including the fact that children—even teens—desire more family time. Also acknowledged is the fact that parents want to cultivate their children’s spiritual growth, but don’t feel qualified or prepared.

“A parent note for each story connects the biblical truth to frontline application,” Simon explained. “Many of today’s parents have no Christian history, so content is on multiple layers for users of all ages. The Anytime Bible reflects the various levels of knowledge, from clear-cut facts to practical applications. Tapping into multiple layers of learning serves even the age-gap family which spans multiple years.”

Duendes Del Sur, illustrator for Simon’s My First Read and Learn Book of Prayers (Scholastic), created art aimed to seize the visually oriented reader’s attention.


To order, contact Scholastic at 800-242-7737.