Jesus Story Book Reading Guide for the Jesse Tree

     So today, being November 30 (aka the day before the 1st of December) I told my kids about my great idea of reading from the Children’s Bible to go with the Jesse Tree Ornament crafting (from my 3-D Printable Jesse Tree Ornaments Ebook).  And of course, when you have a great plan for something, and you share it with your 6 year old, she will have her own ideas.  She wants to read out of the Jesus Story Book Bible instead.  (That’s an affiliate link, I get a small commission if you purchase something from Amazon using this link- thanks!)

     The Jesus Story Book Bible is a really lovely book, in case you’ve never seen it.  It’s exactly how it’s named, a story book.  It has most of the Old Testament stories, and the neat thing is each story is concluded with how it points towards the coming of Jesus.  Many of the famous stories about Jesus are included as well.  The Jesus Story Book Bible also has some really cool illustrations which I love.  The writing is easy for my daughter to read, and fun to read aloud. I think it’s really cute, but to be fair I’ll share some of my complaints as well.  (Not that this is a complete review of the book). 
     While it’s whimsical writing is cute and enthralling for children, I felt the author took it a bit far, and embellished parts of stories unnecessarily.  I know that sounds harsh, but I don’t see the need to over dramatize the Bible.  It’s already the greatest story ever told!  Another complaint is specific to our being Catholic, but the wording in the story about the Last Supper definitely points towards the Protestant view of the bread and wine as symbols.  However, if you’re looking for something fun to read with your little kids, and you aren’t too concerned about theology… I definitely recommend it. 🙂

     I created a NEW Jesse Tree reading guide as best I could using the Jesus Story Book Bible. You might be wondering, why?, after I shared my complaints.  And the answer to that is, because I’m a human mom, and I want this season to be joyful anticipation of Jesus’ birth- not an argument with a 6 year old about theology in a Children’s book.  lol.  So, yea, it’s not my favorite Bible book, but it IS fun to read, and my kids DO really like to hear the stories, and the pictures are awesome, and most importantly I’m the one reading it and my kids won’t know if I change the words around will they? 😉 I still plan to pull out our Golden Children’s Bible for some of these stories in addition to the Jesus Story Book Bible versions.

Here’s the printable guide:

The Jesus Story book Bible Reading Plan for the Jesse Tree

    Some characters come in the book in a different order than in the Jesse Tree, so you’ll have to decide if you want to skip around in the book, or skip around in the ornament making. And, also I just did the best I could with the O’Antiphons.  Really, it doesn’t matter to me if you do them all out of order- the main event here is reading about Jesus’ genealogy- all the people leading up to our Savior’s birth as we prepare for Christmas.  Making Jesse Tree ornaments and reading from your Bible, Children’s Bible, or even a story book Bible are wonderful ways to focus on Jesus this season instead of on all the gifts we want/need to buy.

    Oh yea, I also wanted to share our plan for displaying our ornaments this year! I got this idea from another mom who is using this to do an Advent Calendar (she attached goodies in paper bags to her tree).  As we craft each ornament from My Jesse Tree E-book, we will hang it on this cool ‘stick tree’ hanging I put together with my kids this afternoon!

Also, after all the storms in our area last night, it was a good reason to make my kids pick up all the sticks in the yard!

How are you planning to display your Jesse Tree this year?

I hope no matter how you incorporate the Jesse Tree and Bible readings or stories,you truly make this season about Jesus! 

Thanks!

Kristen

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