Review: What’s in the Bible? Volume 1 (Genesis)
No matter how many times I might read through the Bible, I notice something new each time, or a particular verse stands out to me in a different way. I want to pass Bible knowledge along to my daughters, but honestly I don’t always know the best way to convey it. I’m not a Bible scholar or historian. I’m just learning some things myself in my faith journey. Aside from telling the same Bible stories, like Noah’s Ark, over and over, how can I make the Old Testament relevant to a 10 year old, 5 year old, and 3 year old? How can I show them the bigger picture of God’s plan of salvation from the very beginning? Thankfully, What’s in the Bible? with Buck Denver has come along to help!
Volume 1 of this DVD series is called In the Beginning and covers the book of Genesis. I’ll admit I was expecting another Veggie Tales kind of format, since What’s in the Bible? was created by Phil Vischer. I knew the girls would enjoy watching it, but I didn’t know how much they would really take away in Bible knowledge. As we started the DVD, the girls were immediately drawn in by the catchy theme song. The show is hosted by puppets rather than computer animation. Fun characters like Buck Denver, the news anchor, and Sunday School Lady with her flannelgraph answer questions and sing songs to teach kids essential points from the book of Genesis. My oldest and I particularly like the Bentley Brothers’ song. My younger two seem to like Clive and Ian, puppet brothers who really like ponies. (You’ll need to watch the show to get that reference!)
I was pleasantly surprised by the informative content of this DVD. Not only did it teach concepts like salvation and redemption in kid-friendly terms, it also covered Bible history like the Council of Nicea and how the books were chosen to be in the Canon. So much important history done in an entertaining way through a segment called the Pirate’s Guide to Church History. I came away impressed with the depth and quality of the content — and I even learned a few things myself!
Phil Vischer interacts with the puppets through a segment on the show called Tricky Bits, which explains some of the more difficult to grasp ideas of theology like substitutionary atonement. Yes, really. Phil even managed to bring tears to my eyes with his gentle and heartfelt explanation of how sin entered the world and the tragic consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. It was powerful and poignant. More than that, Big Sis “got” it. This format works for kids. It is doing what it was designed to — talking to kids in an approachable way, making the Bible accessible and understandable, relaying it as the word of God, and showing the truth of the redemption plan from the beginning of time. Like I said, I couldn’t imagine how it could be accomplished before watching it since generally puppets aren’t my thing and I didn’t want to see levity at the expense of the Bible.
As soon as the DVD ended, all three of my girls wanted to watch it again. That’s a high compliment indeed. In addition to the DVD, there are activities and study guides available on the website. Big Sis has enjoyed playing on the JellyTelly website, which has games, videos, and related activities for the What’s in the Bible? series.
Now that we’ve seen Volume 1, I would really like to get the entire series and use it as part of our Bible study time. I feel it’s a good investment because the girls don’t just like them, they’re actually learning from them!
Disclaimer: I was selected for participation in this review and given the What’s in the Bible DVD as a member of The Homeschool Lounge Review Team. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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