Best Christian Picture Books For Kids: 30+ Bookshelf Must-Haves

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Are you looking for some sound, high-quality Christian picture books to read with your kids?? We’re talking books that will ultimately point your child to Christ and help them grow more in the likeness of Him.

If so, you will definitely want to see this list of tried and true (yes, we have them all!) Christian books for children!

Why You Need Solid Christian Children’s Books

*This post may contain affiliate links & referral links, meaning I may earn a small commission should you choose to purchase through post links. This is of course at no extra cost to you and helps keep the blog up and running!

Reading has always been a huge part of our home – my husband, myself, and now our daughter have all fallen in love with reading.

Choosing what to read is super important, especially when it comes to our kids – reading, in general, is great, but why not use this as an opportunity to fill their minds with godly things?

That’s why I have put together this list of what we believe are some of the BEST Christian books for kids of all ages!

Now, if you are looking for a super long, ultimate list of every single “faith-based” Christian children’s book with little research…

This may not be the post for you. 😬 And I mean this is the nicest way possible!

This isn’t just a list of cool or trendy Christian books for kids, or watered-down Bible stories, and they didn’t come from a quick Google search.

Every book on this list is IN our home, and has been either read, loved, or transformed our hearts and minds into the likeness of Jesus.

Now that’s a big claim. And one I do NOT take lightly. This post has been prayed over and under and all around!

These books hold Christian values, are Gospel-centered, and help kids understand things of God in a beautiful and practical way – no fluff here! We don’t have time for fluff.

We need to MAKE time for things that aid our children in their spiritual walk, no matter their age.

We are in an important time in the world, and each and every Christian family should take a look at these books that will help strengthen your home, and family values, and point your children to Jesus Christ!

I truly believe these books are theologically sound, and I would feel comfortable recommending them to close family, friends, and anyone who has the desire to instill godly principles in their children (I’ve got more visuals on Instagram!).

I know there are a TON of books out there that I am sure are wonderful, and I would love to add them to our collection, but for now, I want to share what we actually love and read and would make fantastic additions to your bookshelf.

These aren’t just book recommendations for kids either, but young children, Christian parents, teens… the whole family!

Check out our picks of the BEST Christian books and series for kids to help them grow deeper in love and knowledge of God…

Top Children’s Christian Books For Kids

In this list, I’ve included different types of Christian Books such as:

• Storybook Bibles (see ALL our favorites HERE)
• Scripture study books
• Devotional type books
• Fiction/allegory books or chapter books
• Practical application

Also, I have included a couple of books that are on our wishlist, and will soon be updated and added with our thoughts.

This is all to help you not feel overwhelmed when choosing Christian books for your kids to read or to read to them.

But rather, help guide you in what would be a good fit for your family. Save money and find the ones that would work best for your family from this list, and get inside looks well!

And most importantly, pray and ask God to reveal to you what HE would have you do. Parenting can be tough, but we have One who parents us and shows us how.

Enjoy, and feel free to bookmark this page to refer back to as needed! 🙂

**DISCLAIMER- story Bibles are great tools for teaching our children God’s Word – they are NOT replacements. Always supplement your story Bibles with God’s Holy Word!

1. The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible

This book is without a doubt, my number one story Bible pick for ages 2-6!

The content itself breaks down important stories in the Old & New Testament into 52 short stories – one for each week. It stayed true to scripture while making it easy for preschool-aged children to understand.

We worked our way through this entire book, plus paired it with our Bible journaling and it was sooooo good! The perfect book to start your children with at an early age.

The beautiful illustrations inside helped bring the stories to life and were a great starting point in helping my daughter retain the things we were reading. She was still learning to write, so being able to use this printable Bible journal to draw based off of the pictures was wonderful.

My favorite thing is at the end of every story there is a question to help kids retain what they have read, and it relates EVERY story back to Jesus… so important!

There are also scripture references with each story, so you can bring it back to God’s Word and I would encourage reading it as well.

You can grab The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible on Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

2. The Beginner’s Gospel Storybook Series

Continuing off of the previous book, the authors have also broken down this story Bible into smaller, board-style books. It includes the same content but is broken up into smaller books for kids to read.

So technically, if you had The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible, you would have the same content!

But if you have younger kids, the board books style might be good (and safer) way to test it out and see if you want to invest in the full-story Bible!

Here are some of the books in the Beginner’s Gospel series:

• God Rescues: Moses and The Exodus (here’s our detailed review HERE)
• Jesus Rose For Me: The True Story of Easter
• Jesus Came For Me: The True Story of Easter
• Jesus is Bigger Than Me: True Stories of His Miracles
• God Wins: Walls, Giants, and Enemies Fall

You can find The Beginner’s Gospel Series on Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

3. The Gospel Story Bible

If your kid’s a little older, or maybe you have a wider age range of children, say 2-12, then you may want to consider The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski.

It is more in-depth than the previous one and our number 1 pick for a story Bible for all families and ages!

It has 156 stories from the Old & New Testaments – yes you read that right! This one doesn’t skimp out on stories from the Bible.

Each story summarizes almost word for word the story from scripture, and includes scripture references, questions to discuss, and colorful illustrations.

This one goes into a little more detail, but what is so great is that younger kids can still learn from it, and older kids can as well. A definite must-have for daily reading or use for family Bible time!

This also pairs perfectly with the Long Story Short and Old Story New family devotionals!

Side note: You will see a few books by Marty Machowski on this list because he is one of our FAVORITE Christian children’s authors. You can be pretty sure anything by him you’ll want on your bookshelf!

You can grab The Gospel Story Bible on Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

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Here are some of our other favorite story Bibles for young kids, as well as Bibles for older kids!

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4. Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey 1 & 2

Two words. WOW and WOW.

Let me start by saying this children’s book really transformed the way I think about… everything. It had a huge impact on me as an adult, and I am so happy to say it was the same for my 5-year-old!

It is s retelling of the classic Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, and the journey of the Christian life. But this children’s version is a great read for any Christ follower, but for children anywhere from ages 2-12!

These books brought me close to tears more times than once, and my daughter couldn’t wait to read each chapter a day. It was hard to not read through in one sitting, but it was SO good that each chapter needed time to process.

There is also a summary at the end of each chapter, how it represents the Christian life and where it ties into scripture, making it a wonderful allegory book. There are also some discussion questions, plus more details and summaries at the back of the books.

• Book 1: This one is about Christian’s journey to the Celestial City and the trials he faces.
• Book 2: This is about his brothers and sister, and their journey as well after hearing about Christian.

I would recommend that every Christian parent read this with their children, and welcome the wonderful, godly conversation that will come from it!

*Detailed review coming soon for this series!

You can grab Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey 1 & 2 on Amazon HERE, or from the publisher’s site HERE.

5. The Pilgrim’s Progress: A Poetic Retelling of John Bunyan’s Classic Tale

It’s hard to follow those 2 books, but this one does a great job!

This is again, based on the story of Pilgrim’s Progress and stays true to the story as far as Christian being a grown man with a family and the things he faces.

However, it’s told in a rhyming, poetic format that is great for children to read and listen to as a read-aloud. It’s broken up into chapters and there are really pleasant illustrations throughout, and we have enjoyed it!

Some of the language can be a little tricky so ages 5+ may benefit more from it, but there’s no rule against reading it with any age child. It’s a great way to include poetry in your morning routine!

You can grab The Pilgrim’s Progress: A Poetic Retelling of John Bunyan’s Classic Tale on Amazon HERE.

6. The Ology For Kids

Looking for a book to teach theology to your children? And maybe yourself as well? Raising my hand too!

Enter in, The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New!

I cannot stress just how important it is to teach our children the TRUTH that is in God’s Word – such important, foundation biblical truths that they need to be equipped with in this world.

This is the most in-depth, yet easy-to-understand book about studying God’s Word and understanding His truths that I have ever read.

It goes into the study of God, people, sin, Christ, the Spirit, the church… and so much more!

There are even tips for reading it with certain age groups such as reading it straight through, finding individual topics, etc. We have been going straight through during our family Bible time and it’s been great!!

Each truth has plenty of scripture references and is so biblically sound. The illustrations are very gentle and peaceful, a great mindset to have when reading!

You can grab this book on Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

7. WonderFull: Ancient Psalms Ever New

The Psalms are some of the most beautifully written words and lyrics in the Bible – I mean, we find a lot of songs and hymns based off of them right?

This book goes through the Psalms and breaks them down at an age-appropriate level, without sacrificing truth.

If you are looking for a wonderful Psalms study guide for your kids or even as a family, this is it! It is recommended for ages 8+ but we have enjoyed it on occasion with our kindergartener!

It breaks down every Psalm and includes other scripture references, and other facts and relevant information to that particular Psalm.

The illustrations are similar to the Ology, so they are very soft and beautiful. There are also tips for connecting each Psalm to Jesus and to your children’s daily lives.

You can grab this book on Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

8. The New City Catechism

I actually heard about this book years ago from a fellow Christian homeschool mom on Instagram, and knew it would be a great fit for our family.

It includes 52 questions and answers about our faith and why we believe what we believe, with scripture references as well. It was created by the Gospel Coalition – you can check out more info on this group here!

It’s broken down into sections such as God, Christ, and the Spirit, but much more. There is a question to ask, a section to read, scripture, and highlighted section to help younger kids start memorizing.

See here:

This would be more a book to read together as a family, but helps teach important, foundational truths from the Bible to your kids (and you as well!).

We use this daily in our morning basket, and it’s amazing to see the growth in your kids, as well as pray that this knowledge goes from their heads to their hearts!

*There is a kid’s version, but it’s so worth it to get the original because you still get the highlighted portions to memorize; whereas that’s all the kid’s one includes.

You can grab The New City Catechism on Amazon HERE.

9. The Acrostic Books

If your children love poetry books, or you are just looking for a creative way to introduce poetry in your home, you will want to check out these!

There are 3 books in the series so far (more coming out soon!) and make such short and simple daily reads with each one rhyming!

It goes through A-Z of characteristics of God (theology), Jesus (Christology), and salvation (soteriology). It’s awesome for kids to practice their ABCs, but with a biblical twist!

I love the order of the series too because it helps children understand first God, then His Son Jesus, and only then you can truly grasp and learn about salvation.

You can read our full review on the Acrostic of Jesus & God HERE, and I will soon add the Acrostic of Salvation as well.

The biggest thing for me was not feeling intimidated by the “ology” words and realizing how important it is!

You can grab these from Amazon here, or bundle and save over $20 on all three from the publisher’s site HERE.

10. His Grace Is Enough

This book does an amazing job of teaching kids what grace truly is – how God makes it right when we’ve got it wrong!

This is a beautiful, rhyming read that kids of all ages will love! It can serve as a read-aloud, bedtime story, or just a quick read-through for your kids.

Most importantly, it presents the Gospel to your kids in a way they can understand!

The main stanza/phrase this book hits is as follows:

Yes, His grace is enough, it’s so big and so free; His grace is enough both for you and for me.

We also love her other book, Wherever You Go, I Want You To Know – a play off of Dr. Suess – but Jesus-focused! It would make a beautiful graduation gift to encourage your young kids and older kids as well.

Wherever You Go, I Want You...Shop on Amazon

You can grab His Grace Is Enough book on Amazon HERE.

11. Who Is Jesus: 40 Pictures to Share With Your Family

This is a great 40-day family devotional, but can also be used to read through with your kids often.

It was written to use as a lent devotional, but can be picked up and read any time!

It goes through the characteristics and names of Jesus, and when I say the pictures are powerful… I am not kidding! See here:

Each day features a focus theme on Jesus, scripture verses, summary/devotionals, reflection questions, Bible references, and key verses to memorize.

For some of the tougher questions, don’t worry! The back of the book has a great section on guided answers and even song suggestions to worship together with your family.

You can grab this book on Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

12. Chloe and the Closet of Secrets

This has been a fun read as far as during the day and especially as a bedtime story – and SO practical to what we have personally been dealing with at this kindergarten age… lying.

These topics can be hard to tackle with kids, and using a fictional storybook to do so helps our kids see just the power our words have, and what God says about it.

This story is so beautiful and has a great arc of redemption when Chloe realizes the damage her lies have caused. It shows her praying to Jesus and asking for forgiveness, something our kids need to see and practice doing as well.

It follows a rhyming storyline with a few stanzas on each page, but they flow very well and don’t feel “forced.”

You can read our full detailed review of this book HERE. There is another book in this series about whining but I didn’t feel comfortable including it on this list. See why here!

You can grab this book from Amazon HERE, or from the publisher’s site HERE.

13. The Sower

This book is absolutely beautiful! The images are just so captivating and on each page we turned we couldn’t wait to see the next image.

It’s another allegory book, about the Sower (our creator), and walks through creation, man’s sin, His restoration, and more.

We read this around the time we were planting our garden and it hit the point home that much more! There are only about 4 lines of reading on each page, but it is a longer book!

It was a little hard for my 5-year-old to sit through the entire book in one sitting, so I would maybe put it for slightly older kids – or just read a few pages at a time!

You can grab The Sower from Amazon HERE.

14. Taste & See: All About God’s Goodness

This is another wonderful read for your family with the most beautiful pictures! They are absolutely breathtaking – see my daughter’s face here the first time she opened it!

I’ve never really read or seen a book that presents food as a way to tell the story of the Bible, but after reading it made so much sense!

This rhyming storybook tells the story from creation through the Old and New Testaments, and even references Revelation. All while showing that God has always been (and always will be) good and provides for our needs.

It reads so beautifully and easily for kids to understand, and the images really do keep you hooked. It has a beautiful message and is one you can read often, any time of day!

Families of ALL ages will enjoy this book! You can check out our full review of Taste & See HERE.

You can grab this book from Amazon HERE or from the publisher’s site HERE.

15. The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Series

This is a fantastic Christian chapter book series for kids! My daughter is only 5 and she begged me to read the whole thing in one sitting!

This is a series with 7 books and centers around a brother, sister, and their dog who find seven scrolls with seven seals on them.

Each one represents a story from the Bible – they are transported back to that time and have to solve the “mystery” of the scroll to get home.

This would make a wonderful read-aloud, early readers series for younger children, or be an excellent way to encourage older kids to read on their own. 

It’s a fun, not-too-intense adventure series kids will love, while also learning about God and His Word!

You can grab this book series or any individual book on Amazon HERE.

16. Good News for Little Hearts Series

These books help tackle real feelings our kids deal with, but in a grace-based, fiction story type of way.

The world has SO much to say about our feelings, but we have to look at what GOD says and teach our kids that as well.

There are quite a few in this series, but we own the following 2 and have really enjoyed them:

• Henry’s Big Mistake: When You Feel Guilty
• Zoe’s Time To Shine: When You Want To Hide

They are fiction books, with very simple stories kids can understand, but grounded in biblical truths. The pictures are beautiful too!

They would make for great books to read when: dealing with a certain sin or attitude in your children, helping them respond to others who may be dealing with it, or as a good grace-based read for any time of day!

These would be great picture books to start young readers out with independently.

You can browse the whole series on Amazon HERE, or bundle them ALL and save $75 from the publisher’s site HERE.

17. God Made Me Series

With all of the junk that the world is trying to feed to our kids, they need to know who they are in Christ and how God created them.

This series is PERFECT for helping your kids understand just who they truly are, how they were made, and ground them in solid truths about how they were created.

There are so many in the series, and so far we have the following:

• God Made Babies
• God Made Boys and Girls
• God Made All of Me
• God Made Me In His Image
• God Made Me For Heaven

I currently own about 3 of these but have not finished reading them yet – however, what we have read has been very informative and written with scripture in mind.

They do have a lot of information, but they really do help equip kids and help parents answer their possibly uncomfortable, but SO important questions.

You can browse the whole series on Amazon HERE, or bundle them ALL and save $43 from the publisher’s site HERE.

*Review of God Made Me coming soon!

18. The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden

Another amazing book to have on your bookshelf! Here’s a description that can explain much better than I can from Amazon…

“…leads kids and parents alike on an exciting journey through the Bible, connecting the dots from the garden of Eden to Christ’s death on the cross to the new heaven and new earth.”

Now, we don’t own the physical copy of this, but purchased the audiobook instead for my daughter’s Yoto Player. It is wonderful and I have the hard copy version on my wishlist!

The reading is super engaging with lots of inflection, sound effects, music, and pauses where needed. It would be great for at home or the car, or even at bedtime!

You can grab The Biggest Story on Amazon HERE, or the audio version from their website HERE!

**You’ll notice I didn’t include The Biggest Story Bible Storybook on this list… we did enjoy this story Bible and do read from it, but haven’t read enough for a full recommendation yet!

19. Read it See it, Say it, Sing it!

This is a newer one to us, and we have read through it once. It’s a very sweet book that I would recommend for all ages, but would be great for littles.

The thought of using this technique to teach kids the scriptures is wonderfully done!

It can be read in a sing-song way, and only has a few stanzas on each page. It also has a parent connection section at the end to help you read it to your children effectively!

No guesswork here. 😉

You can find this book on Amazon HERE.

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Other Fantastic Christian Books To Read With Children

Here are some that look amazing, but we have not been able to purchase them yet. However, after research and reviews, they have been added to our wishlist!

So take these next few paragraphs with a grain of salt, and feel free to research more on your own. 🙂

20. The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook

If you couldn’t tell, we love using storybook Bibles around here to help us study and dig into God’s Word more!

So when The Kingdom of God Bible Storybooks (Old & New Testaments) were announced, I knew we had to check them out!

This one was a preorder and once we receive it I will be reading and adding a review! It was written by the same company that published Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey.

That was enough to tell me it would be solid, at least enough to go ahead and order it without seeing it – something I don’t do!

We also will be receiving the audiobook and adding it to her Yoto Player so she can listen to it as well as read it.

For now, you can check out more info here: https://lithoskids.com/

Preorder the 2-book bundle on Lithos Kids HERE or Amazon HERE.

**UPDATE: We just received our digital copy and HOLY MOLY! If you loved the Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey as far as the layout, illustrations, and language, you will love this one. The pictures are gorgeous and tell the Bible as a flowing story that kids can learn without sacrificing God’s truth.

21. The Forgotten King

In case you couldn’t tell, we LOVE these allegory books. They are wonderful ways to relate scripture and truths to your kids, and they actually retain it!

This parable story follows a King who loved His people, but they forgot about Him. It shows the King’s desire to be with His people.

The illustration looks similar to the style of The Sower, but some images may be a little frightening for younger kids… but, you can check them out for yourself and see!

Find this book on Amazon HERE or the publisher’s website HERE.

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Best Christian Picture Books For Kids

I know this post might’ve seen a little overwhelming, but my heart and my prayer is that you are now equipped with books and tools to help aid your children in their spiritual journey.

That you find things to fill their minds with solid, biblical truths, empower them, equip them, and raise them to be mighty warriors and ambassadors of Christ.

These aren’t just any other type of books on your bookshelf, but ones that help your mission as a parent in raising kids who love and know our God.

Have you read any from this list? What are some of your favorites? Let me know below!

I hope you enjoyed this list! Some of these books were gifted to me, but all opinions are my own – MOST on this list were bought and paid for by me!

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