The Beginner's Bible, Volume 3

PreS-Gr 4—Based on "The Beginner's Bible" series (Zondervan), this animated series was first produced in the mid-1990s and is now available on DVD. Volume 3 includes the New Testament stories of Jesus and his miracles, the Good Samaritan, and the prodigal son. Volume 4 contains the Old Testament accounts of Joseph and his brothers, Daniel and the lion's den, the battle of Jericho, and Jonah and the whale. In each 30-minute segment, the dialogue is easy to understand and the pace is accommodating to young audiences. Songs retell the stories and could be used as teaching tools. Each episode begins with Kathie Lee Gifford singing an inviting theme song, which opens with "Do you know how the world began, how God created it by hand? It's a story for young and old, the greatest story ever told." The friendly animated characters engage the audience with a deceptively down-to-earth simplicity, and the stories stand alone; they are not presented in sequential order, nor is there an overview.