The NIV Kingdom Girls Bible is an excellent Bible for preteen girls, bringing to life the stories of 125 women in the Bible.
If you’ve studied women of the Bible for any length of time, you’ve likely run across a resource or two by Jean Syswerda. I was first introduced to her books many years ago when my mother gifted me Women of the Bible by Jean E. Syswerda along with Ann Spangler. From that one-year devotional book, I fell in love with Bible women and their stories. Apparently, that book resonates with many other women as well, as it has sold over a million copies!
In her fifty years in the publishing business, Jean has worked on many Bibles including My Bedtime Story Bible and the NIrV Super Heroes Holy Bible for children. Now she has a new Bible specifically for young girls, and guess what it features? Amazing stories of females in the Bible!
NIV Kingdom Girls Bible Review
If you’ve got a girl in your family, you’ll want to put this Bible on your list. Let me tell you about it. First, it’s purple, a beautiful, two-tone Leathersoft cover. It also comes in teal hardcover, but the purple is just so girly. The interior design features colorful images.
Each book of the Bible includes a helpful introduction to help better understand that particular book. The stories of 125 Bible women are highlighted. 75 are deep dives. The others are articles about lesser known and obscure women.
Also included throughout the Bible are action plans such as prayers, art projects, outdoor activities, and music. There’s also “Step Into the Story” sections that help readers to relate to stories. “Take it to Heart” verses highlight verses worth memorizing. And a subject index helps readers to search by subject to find exactly what they’re looking for.
My absolute favorite feature of the Bible, however, is the “Letter to Myself.” At the very end of the Bible is a letter for each girl to fill out and save to read at a later date. What a special memory that will be to be able to come back and treasure the girl she was and the girl she’s become.
You can visit the NIV Kingdom Girls Bible website to get a sneak peek into the Bible and all the little goodies it offers.
An Interview With Jean Syswerda
When I found out about this new Bible and saw who the author/editor was, I immediately reached out and asked if I could interview Mrs. Syswerda. I’m so excited to be able to share pieces of her heart as she talks about this Bible and her love of women in the Bible.
You’ve written much about women in the Bible. When did you first develop a passion for women in the Bible?
I honestly think my passion began when I was quite young, being raised in a Christian family and encouraged to read the Bible on my own. As a female, the Bible’s females fascinated me. At that time, I probably enjoyed the romance and intrigue more than these women’s part in God’s story. That understanding came later. Only as I matured in my faith did I begin to realize that these women’s stories weren’t just stories. They were God’s story.
Who is your favorite woman of the Bible? How are you like her?
That’s the easiest question to answer. Abigail has been and likely always will be my favorite. Her strength of character, her bravery, her determination to move outside of cultural norms to preserve the character of a man she had heard of but probably had never met. Wow!
I can just picture her jumping off her donkey, bowing in the dust before David and his band of rough soldiers. No hesitation, no question. She simply did what she knew she should. She didn’t know how these rough soldiers would react! Her quick actions and her courage inspire me. My desire is to be that kind of woman today, one who does what is right without hesitation.
What woman in the Bible makes you uncomfortable?
All the women who were mere pawns in the eyes and actions of the men around them: Hagar (Genesis 16; 21:1−21), Dinah (Genesis 34), Jael (Judges 11:29−40), Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), to list just a few. But my discomfort is alleviated when in the New Testament Jesus arrives and gives women a place they had never held before. He lifts them up and gives them honor: a woman with faith (Matthew 15:21−28), the sinful woman (Luke 7:36−50), the sick woman (Luke 8:43−48), the Samaritan woman (John 4:1−26).
The contrast between how most men treated women and how Jesus treated women gives us hope today. While those Old Testament stories are hard to read (many are too painful, too graphic, to include in a Bible for young girls), the New Testament stories lift women up to a place of respect.
As an editor, you’ve worked on many Bibles. What is the greatest challenge when producing a Bible?
First and foremost, being true to what Scripture is saying, not extrapolating or generalizing something that we might like to say but that isn’t there. It can be easy to pick up on a word or phrase and provide a teaching or a thought that simply isn’t what the passage means. So, working with God’s words requires care and respect. Second, simply the scope and size of such a project. The Bible is a big book!
What Bible(s) are currently on your nightstand?
My go-to for most reading and study is the NIV Quest Study Bible. Its notes provide the answers and understanding I’m often seeking. For further study, I might get out my old(er) copy of the NIV Study Bible. For just pure reading, I enjoy The Message and its fresh approach.
What is your process when studying the Bible?
When I was young and part of a program my denomination had for girls, we were given monthly cards and encouraged to read every day. The idea was to read until something spoke to our hearts, then record the verse and its message. That pattern became so engrained that I still employ it somewhat today. I read until something causes me to pause and want to dig deeper. I might search out comparison verses or do a word study.
Also, I’m a fan of taking notes within my Bible’s margins, recording important truths, insights, or the way a passage speaks to my current situation. I use a particular Bible for about ten years. By then it is so marked up that I need a new one to begin again. My Bible notes record joys and sorrows, trauma and rejoicing, verses I’m praying over family members, abbreviated notes from sermons, and even passages that form prayers and songs of worship.
What do you think is the most important Scripture passage or story that women of today need to read and study?
I’m not sure there’s any one story or passage that I could say is most important. Each passage, each story, is part of a thread that winds its way beautifully through Scripture, deepening our understanding and gratitude to God for his story. My prayer for women of today is more simple: that they would read and study and fall deeply in love with God through his Word.
Tell us about the NIV Kingdom Girls Bible. What is your prayer for this Bible?
Of all the many projects I’ve been a part of in over 50 years in publishing (in one way or another), the NIV Kingdom Girls Bible has captured my heart like no other. As I wrote I prayed. I could almost sense girls looking over my shoulder and smiling, perhaps seeing for themselves that God’s Word is not an abstract thing. It’s his letter of love to them, to all of us. Writing these notes involved my whole heart and soul. I pray God uses his Word and my efforts in the lives of many girls as they grow into strong women of God, women after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22).
Jean E. Syswerda Bio
Jean E. Syswerda is first and foremost a wife, a mom, and a grandma. She has three grown children, all married, and ten fabulous grandchildren. She and her husband of almost fifty years live in Allendale, MI. Jean is an author and a former editor and associate publisher at Zondervan Publishing House, where her passion grew for exceptional Bibles that encourage readers to dig deep into God’s Word. She has written numerous books and Bible studies, including the bestselling Women of the Bible (co-authored with Ann Spangler), which has sold over a million copies. She is also the author of My Bedtime Story Bible and the NIrV Super Heroes Holy Bible for elementary-aged children.
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