Quick Summary: A creative Bible resource

My Review: Soaring Through the Bible: A Travel Guide from Genesis to Revelation for Kids by Skip Heitzig is a wonderful Bible study aid geared with the young person in mind. I think kids will find this resource to be interesting and on their level, which makes for sustained attention (Yay!!!) and success with learning (Score!)

My Final Say: This would be ideal for families, church libraries, and for e-level classes.

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: Y

Thank you to the author and to the publisher for granting access to this title. The words I have shared are my own.

5 Stars: 5/5 stars
LOVE THIS GUIDE FOR KIDS ages 8 -11, better known as tweens. I teach this age group in Sunday School and am planning to purchase copies of this for use with them. It will make a wonderful tool for young people to enhance their Bible study and learning as they dig deeper into the Word of God.
I received an eARC of this book from netgalley and Harvest House Publishers in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Okay this is fantastic! Each section is short and to the point, but covers the highlights of each book. It creates curiosity for more, and covers some easily overlooked facts that I had actually learned recently or didn't know, and I've been part of solid, Bible believing churches since before I was born (over 30 years ago).

It's written so that elementary school kids are able to understand, and yet grown-ups aren't likely to be bored at all.

Aside from all of the above, each book as a spot 'what about the Gospel?' where the "how" of connections to the good news are clearly explained.

I would recommend this book to anyone of any age who is a new Christian, and especially for kids.

📌 I received a copy of the book from @NetGalley, and chose to review it here. All thoughts are my own.

This book is for older children and teens to help them read and understand what they are reading in the Bible. It explains things that you may think you know but don't. It shows you and tells you a Christian should have love and slow love be known for your love but also speak up and tell others of their son. Not because you are better but because they may not last of Good any other way.

I received an electronic ARC of this book from NetGalley

This is a great introduction to the bible for Tweens. I really liked it and would recommend it.

What a wonderful resource for tweens! My children were able to utilize the resource to help them understand the individual books of the Bible and why they are each important while grasping the entire story as a whole. It really solidified in the entire gospel in my mind, too. Great for parents to use as a conversation starter with their children.

This is a great introduction into the whole bible as a reading and study book.
The author pitches his tour of Scripture to young people (for kids), and has some clever tools and approaches to reinforce his message and learning outcomes.
Therefore, although aimed at teenagers, the book has great advantages for all new converts to the faith or Christians struggling to get to grips with bible study. Taking the reader through the bible book by book from Genesis to Revelation you gain a great overview of the different types of writing the Old and New Testaments contain.
I liked that the gospel was central to each individual chapter and that the commentary covered author, purpose and message. It is always helpful to have this overview and contextual knowledge for all Christians so I would want to recommend it for all new believers to begin their bible study journey.
However, the book is clearly aimed at our young adults and teenagers. Open to the matters of faith, young in their beliefs or still seeking truth. Wherever, the young reader is, the closure of the book has an appeal and a prayer to become a follower of Christ.

So I enjoyed the book, it is a great study overview of the bible and encourages more bible study and a thirst for knowledge and truth.

The book though then stays true to its original aim by focusing on the young person and questions their own standing with Christ as their own personal Saviour.

This has been the tone and teaching throughout but not overtly speaking down to them. Skip has a great way with words and encouraging of young people.

The only area I feel it is lacking that in its conclusion it kind of nullifies it’s use as a general tool for all young Christians, individuals searching for truth and answers, regardless of age. I would like to see more what now; types of bible studies to follow, websites and Apps to build upon this quest for knowledge.

I welcome any gospel call but wonder if the book could be promoted for a wider audience with just a little tweaking as it is a work that leads to faith and encourages all believers to know what they belief.

Written for 8-11 year olds, Soaring Through the Bible, seeks to give young readers an overview of the Bible hitting on key points from each book and highlighting the thread of redemption present from Genesis through Revelation.

As children embark on the grand tour of the Bible, the author has created a clever "travel guide" that includes the following parts:

*Check Your Location explains the authorship of a book and its setting
*Plot Your Course sections offers the overview of events and their significance
*Enjoy Your Trip features the "BIG ideas" and a their application to your life--specifically explaining how the Gospel is woven throughout all 66 books of the Bible
*Learn the Language discusses some of the key terms and the origins of those words
*Must-See Sites provide insights about historical events and/or geographic notes
*Culture Shock explains some of the unusual practices or rituals
*Tour Guide section is sort of a "Who am I" quiz with clues on a person's identity (and Bible references so you can discover the answer)
*Pack Smart is where readers will be challenged to apply and live out Biblical truth
*Expect the Unexptected are nuggets about surprising things in Scripture.

The format of the book is very clever and I love the idea that reading the Bible is like a grand vacation and adventure with interesting things to learn, see, and do. The author intended it to be read from cover to cover. So while each book has a summary, the content is very sequential; the best understanding will come in reading from start to finish as each chapter is like a link in one long chain of the Bible.

I would highly recommend a parent read this out loud with their child. For this particular age group, I found some things that will need to be explained to a child (such as hemorrhoids and prostitution). There are maybe a handful of illustrations within the book. To be honest, I think 8-11 year olds would benefit from more illustrations to break up the monotony of the book. Yes, adults know the value of the Bible; for children, however, a little "sugar" in the way of illustrations, would go a long way toward helping the "medicine" go down.

There were a few sections in which I did not entirely agree with the author's conclusions on a particular book's overall message. Just felt that some personal opinions were tossed in. For example, when talking about the book of Luke, I had to disagree with his explanation of the term "Son of Man" as a reference to Jesus' humanity. I also felt like the Gospel sections were redundant for the New Testatment books. Felt like that format was helpful in the Old Testament books but felt a bit forced and overused for each New Testament book.

When I got to Revelation, I was quite disappointed that the author chose not to explain that there are varying opinions on end times but instead chose to include the view that all Christians will be raptured and avoid the tribulation. I feel the author should acknowledge other views or at the very least caution parents of his viewpoint.

Done together with a parent where deeper topics can be explained and further explored, I think it can be a useful resource; I would, unfortunately, be reluctant to just hand this book to a child without some guidance through its content.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of Soaring through the Bible for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

I received an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

I enjoyed the set up of the whole book. For me it was like bible study. A crash course lesson, easy to understand for both the younger crowd as well as adults, who need more understanding and breaking down.

The illustrations are a plus, for those who need a visual example. And lastly, I enjoyed how it's speaking to you, not at you. Which makes it much more fun.

I highly recommend, and will definitely continue to use as a cross reference for better understanding.

This is a good survey of the Bible for young and old alike. It piques your interest by making you guess the person described so it makes you want to read the indicated passages. It also has comics that highlight funny parts of the stories.

It highlights the major events of the Bible and also makes you think about personal applications as well as keywords and important locations that we need to know.

Even though I am already pretty familiar with the stories, it helps to give this a quick read because let's face it, who has the whole Bible memorized? The better we master the basics, the more we will have a better grasp of how each part fits into th context or the big picture, and the better we will be able to tell His story. So do not think: I already know this..if you really knew it, can you tell me what happens in the next page? When you are pround, there is not much room for learning something new, but when you are hungry, even old knowledge will reveal new wisdom by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A really good program would be Walk Thru the Old Testament for Kids - a whole day seminar on the Old Testament alone where the kids learn to recite the keywords of major events together with the corresponding actions in order and at a fast pace! However in the absence of this seminar and due also to time limitations, this book is a great resource. I appreciate the verse references in some stories. It would be great if all stories had the verse references.

I challenge you to read it through and answer all the mystery people. Even I came across a couple of stories that I was not very familiar with yet!

Title - Soaring Through The Bible
Author -SKIP HEITZIG
Genre -Christian, Nonfiction
Edition- Ebook (A.R.C supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
Pages -224
Rating 5/ 5 stars
Date Read - 7/26/2010
ISBN-0736975578
Goodreads Summary -God’s Word can be difficult to read, even for adults. This kid-friendly version of pastor Skip Heitzig’s popular book The Bible from 30,000 Feet gives tweens (ages 8–11) a panoramic overview of all 66 books of the Bible, helping them see the context and significance of each.
Each chapter provides a “flight plan” for exploring a portion of the Bible

"My thoughts"
This book was given to me by Netgalley for an honest review. This book is very helpful and informative. I believe everyone who owns a Bible should also have this book. I loved how it broke everything down, it really helped. It is still helping me as I read my bible from cover to cover. Though geared toward children I know many adults would enjoy it as well. This book is expected to be published on -August 6th, 2019



Things I enjoyed

I enjoyed how at the beginning of each book of the bible it summarizes That chapter. Another thing that was really helpful is the fun little illustrations. lastly, I liked the summaries at the end of each chapter that told you the theme of that book and the table of contents.

Things I didn't like
-Nothing perfect guide to help everyone in the journey as they read the bible and learn Gods word.

In closing

Soaring through the Bible is a great addition to your Christian book collection. You can use this book to aid you in your bible study, or your kids. This book was fun and easy to read. lastly, this book was just really cool. If you want to buy this book its release date again is August 6th, 2019

This book could be helpful to young people in seeing the flow of the Bible. The author might want to look at the first few verses of Ruth though.
I received this book free from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

This is an absolutely perfect book for children to learn to study the word of God. The concepts are fun and easy for them to understand as well as detailed enough to encourage parents to study in the same manner.

This was a great way for my child to read and understand God’s Word. We liked how the book broke the chapters apart and made it interesting for her to read and understand. It was perfect for my 9 year old.

The Bible is one big book to read through. Adults often have trouble even trying to understand what the Bible is saying. Many have spent years studying it and still find it mysterious. It is not easy to read the Bible cover to cover, partly because of its length and many genres. The ancient contexts are not easily understood. Thus, there are many commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and biblical helps for people wanting to know more about the Bible backgrounds. Many of these resources however are not easily translated into a manner suitable for kids. This book helps teachers, parents, and youth leaders in giving a Bible overview to kids. Using the metaphor of flying in an airplane and looking down on earth, author and Bible teacher Skip Heitzig gives us a bird's eye view of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The main idea is this: "the higher up you go into the air and look down, the more you can see of the earth than you can from the ground." Heitzig takes us through a three part framework for every book of the Bible.

Check Your Location (Context)
Plot Your Course (Content)
Enjoy Your Trip (Practice)


The contextual section lists down a brief introduction of the book and highlights the main story of it all. For instance, Genesis focuses on creation and Exodus on the story of the escape of the Israelites from Egypt. Psalms is about songs about God and Job about one going through bad times in life. For the prophets, Heitzig paints a concise picture of the location, the period concerned, and who the prophets were addressing. The same manner was used for the New Testament books in which readers get a very short sketch of the salient points of the book or letter concerned. The briefest of all the sections, the location basically anchors the reader quickly to get a sense of where the book is at and where it is heading toward. Next comes the brief overview of the book itself. The author flies over huge chunks of the book and gives us a summary of the main story.

My Thoughts
The author makes the reading of the Bible enjoyable. Kids would love the simple but interesting presentation which would hopefully whet their appetite for more. It is not easy to choose which parts of the Bible to highlight. Bible teachers often struggle at what parts to emphasize and how to ensure the best contexts are taught without compromising on the essence of the book. At the same time, it is important to remember that the book is also an interpretation of the Bible, or a commentary for kids. It is not meant to replace the actual study of the Bible. Perhaps, it is an expanded coverage of typical Sunday School stories for kids. This book could even be used as some kind of a "Fly over the Bible Books" series where each chapter could be a lesson by itself. The beautiful thing is that this format could be used and re-used for maximum effect. The purpose is not to cover everything the Bible says but to present the Bible in a way that not only encourages the reading of it, it also helps kids to see the relevance of the Bible to everyday life. This is perhaps the most exciting part in this book: to help kids see the Bible not as some story of listen to, but a life guide for behaviour. I like in particular the "Where's the Gospel?" section because it is a chance for readers to see the connection of each book with the gospel.

If there is a weakness, I would say there is a danger of oversimplification of the Bible story. Much content have been sacrificed for clarity and brevity. As long as teachers explain this point, that the Bible is much more than the overview, it would be good. It is also hoped that kids themselves would be intrigued or curious enough to dig deeper into the Bible for themselves.

Hopefully, this book would serve to ignite kids' passion for the Word of God.

Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Harvest House Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

First sentence: Do you know how special the Bible is? It’s the only book in the world that tells us who God really is and how we can know Him. There’s no other book like it!

Soaring Through the Bible is an overview of the whole Bible written specifically for (older) children or teens. I believe families could read it together--go through it together--as part of their family devotionals. It is NOT a bible story book. It blends summaries of books of the Bible with faith-and-doctrine instruction.

This one is well-organized. There are features that are to be found in each and every chapter. There are features that pop up now and again throughout the book. Not every chapter features a "tour guide" for example. Not every chapter focuses on exploring specific words and what they mean and how they are used in Scripture. Many chapters do include a "where's the Gospel?" feature to point readers to Christ.

Where's The Gospel? in NUMBERS
The bronze snake on a pole is a symbol of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man [Jesus] must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Jesus was lifted up off the ground on the cross. And whoever looks to Him and believes in Him will be saved from the bite of sin and death.

Learn the Language in Ruth
Redeem is an important word in the Bible. It means to buy something back that used to belong to you. Boaz bought back land that used to belong to Naomi’s family so they could have a home (Ruth 4:4-12). Jesus bought you back from being a slave to sin, so you could have a home with Him.

Pack Smart in Jeremiah
Jeremiah’s life reminds us that we need to tell others what God says in His Word, the Bible—no matter how hard it is. In fact, we should expect it to be hard. Many people don’t like to hear about God’s truth, but when you rely on God for help, you can do anything He tells you to do! So stand up for the truth. God has got your back.

I definitely liked this one. I liked the focus on the gospel, on Jesus Christ. I liked that it was written simply--but it wasn't dumbed down theology.

One of my favorite quotes is from the chapter on 2 John.

"Christians should be known for the way we love. But your love needs boundaries, like a fence around your yard. Having boundaries means you have to speak up when you see sin in someone’s life. You need to find the kindest, gentlest way to do it, but you should still do it. The world usually believes that loving someone means you never speak out against their choices or beliefs. But sometimes you have to, especially as a Christian! If you don’t, then that person might never learn the truth of the gospel. Love and truth should always go hand in hand. In this letter, John was worried that some Christians weren’t sticking to the truth. If they weren’t, false teachers could sneak into the church and teach whatever they wanted. So John said that if a preacher didn’t preach the truth of Christ, believers shouldn’t welcome him. They needed to keep false teachers from spreading their lies.
Where’s the Gospel? Jesus loved everyone, but He also told everyone the truth. A lot of people didn’t like that. He laid down His life in love so that we could be saved from our sin. But that sacrifice was necessary in the first place because we are sinful beings! So there are two sides to the gospel, truth and love: (1) The truth is that we sin and need to be saved, and (2) Jesus loved us enough to die for our sins and save us."

This is a easy to understand clearly written bible, good for younger children and engaging them with the biblical stories. Ideal for the classroom.

Skip Heitzig's latest book, Soaring Through the Bible, offers readers a journey through the Bible. The author seeks to help readers discover the joy of studying the Bible, providing key information on each book of the Bible and helping readers grasp the true meaning of what they're reading in Scripture. Perhaps one of the best features of the book is Heitzig's "Where's the Gospel?" in each chapter. Even though the Bible contains 66 books, they are all part of one grand story, the Gospel, and Heitzig helps readers understand how each individual book fits into the big story of the Bible.

Each chapter focuses on a different book of the Bible and contains the following features:
- Check Your Location, which gives basic information on the author, historical setting, and key theme(s) of the book
- Plot Your Course, which gives readers a summary of the book's main ideas and meanings
- Enjoy Your Trip, which helps readers identify key ideas in each book and how to apply those to every day life.

Other special sections in Soaring Through the Bible:
- help readers understand what some words meant in the original languages the Bible was written in,
- highlight key places, events, people, cultural practices, and surprising facts, and
- show readers how to live out what they learn.

Whether you've been studying the Bible for a long time or you're a newbie, this book offers you a great go-to manual for reading, unpacking, and applying God's Word to every day life. Written by a trustworthy, sound author, you can't go wrong with this one.