TOS Review: Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids

A week or so after Christmas, I opened up a pile of mail and found some exciting new review products. One of them was an absolutely gorgeous book of Bible facts.

Lifeway Christian Stores generously sent some of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew members the new Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids (hardback, $14.99).

Perhaps the thing that stood out to me the most about this book was its visual appeal. Most of the dictionary entries are accompanied by a color illustration. Some of them are photographs of real artifacts, some of them are color drawings, and some are reconstruction diagrams that show how cities may have looked in Bible times.

My favorite part is the maps they included. As you can see, I borrowed the book when I was doing my Bible reading through the book of Joshua. The map helped me to visualize the written descriptions of where the 12 tribes settled in Cannan. I have a feeling that I'll be looking for this book again when I reach the New Testament. I know that the map of the Roman Empire will help me follow along when I read about Paul's missionary journeys.

My children agreed that this book is very visually appealing. It's a book that begs to be opened and thumbed through. It does, however, seem that it's more oriented to just making discoveries than it is to finding the answer to a specific question. For instance, while I was writing this review, I stumbled across a really interesting diagram showing the way that the 12 tribes of Israel camped while wandering in the desert. It's listed under "camp/encampment." I probably wouldn't have even thought to look up "camp," but I do appreciate getting to see the picture.

Overall, I found the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary to be fairly non-denominational. I did find an entry or two that might raise questions, depending on your denominational background.

You can find more opinions about the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids on The Old Schoolhouse Crew blog.

Lifeway Christian Stores sent me a copy of the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids for free as a member of the 2010 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the book and how it worked for my homeschool family.