Every parent desires to have the children of the home gain an acquaintance with the best that is in the Bible. Heretofore no text has been prepared which exactly met this need, giving appropriate passages for children of various ages. These volumes are especially designed to make "Sunday afternoon" reading attractive to children, putting the fascinating stories of the Bible in the same dress and on the same footing with the secular classics which have { 10} always charmed. With such an arrangement it is believed that the child will read the Bible as freely as any book.
The plan of the Readers gives unity to each story and selection. Each story or episode is given in a complete form, and not merely as an extract. Passages which are clearly not relevant to the story or which involve unnecessary difficulties to a young reader are omitted. Obsolete words are modernized. Many versions, both ancient and modern, together with the original texts, have been compared in determining the translation. In every case the graphic, pictorial word which would appeal to the imagination of the child and enlarge its vocabulary has been sought. At the same time the effort has been made not to impair the literary strength and beauty of the older versions. Nothing has been omitted which is suitable to the mind of the child, and everything has been arranged with the end in view of meeting the needs of the child.
This series does not aim to supplant the ordinary texts of the Bible nor to take the place of the common versions any more than literature readers take the place of literature. The editors have endeavored to select such passages of the Bible as are particularly suited to the child's mind, to present them in a novel and attractive form, and thus to arouse the interest of children, stimulating them to more careful study in later years.
This series is not, however, intended simply for children's reading. The editors believe that for general { 11} reading for the older members of the family no version of the Bible will be found more satisfactory.
There is no Book which so lends itself to illustration as the Bible. Palestine in relation to the New Testament has been called a "Fifth Gospel." For the child especially the actual locality is the best commentary on the text and the best means of arousing interest in the text.