The Action Bible: God's Redemptive Story
by Sergio Cariello
A comic-book retelling of more than 230 Bible narratives, drawn by Sergio Cariello and arranged in chronological order across 832 pages. Built for older children who would rather read pictures than prose.
Updated August 2026
Key features of this book.
- More than 230 narratives in chronological order
- 832 pages of full-color comic art
- Illustrated by Sergio Cariello, published by David C Cook
- The 2020 updated edition, God's Redemptive Story
How to use this book.
For bedtime reading
- Read one story per night for a calming routine
- Use gentle, soothing tones
- Point out illustrations and ask questions
- End with a simple bedtime prayer
For family devotions
- Read together and discuss the story
- Ask: "What did you learn about God?"
- Connect the story to your child's life
- Draw or act out scenes together
We recommend this one honestly, so we will be honest about ours too. If your child likes hearing their own name in a story, that is the book we make ourselves.
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Explore more Bible story categories.
Bring The Action Bible: God's Redemptive Story home.
Recommended for ages 8-12 years.
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What we checked against Scripture.
We read the passages behind the stories in this book and note where a retelling compresses, paraphrases or adds. We compare editions and read what other parents report. We have not tested this book with a classroom.
Order
More than 230 narratives are arranged chronologically rather than in the order the books appear, which helps a child see the sequence and quietly moves material like Job and the psalms away from where they sit in a Bible.
Dialogue
A comic needs speech on nearly every panel. Much of what the characters say here is written for them rather than quoted, including in scenes where Scripture records no conversation at all.
Violence
Battles, executions and the crucifixion are drawn. The Bible reports all of it, and a picture is a different experience from a sentence, which is the main reason this one sits at 8 and up.
Questions parents ask.
Is The Action Bible accurate to the Bible?
It follows the events of the passages it retells and arranges them in chronological order, which genuinely helps a child see the sequence. It is a comic, so nearly everything is dialogue, and most of that dialogue is written rather than quoted from a translation. Faces, clothing, battles and weather are the illustrator's work. Read it as a retelling with a strong visual voice.
Is The Action Bible a full Bible?
No. It is an illustrated retelling of more than 230 narratives across 832 pages, published by David C Cook and drawn by Sergio Cariello. No chapter or verse is printed in full, and large parts of the Bible, most of the law, the poetry and the letters among them, are not represented. A child who wants the text itself needs a translation alongside it.
What age is The Action Bible for?
David C Cook recommends ages 8 to 12 and Amazon's listing gives a grade level of 3 to 7. That sits at or above the top of the 3 to 8 band this site is written for, and we would not hand it to a five-year-old. The artwork draws real violence: battles, executions and the crucifixion are shown rather than described around.
What is different about the updated edition?
The 2020 edition, subtitled God's Redemptive Story, adds 128 pages of illustration and expands several storylines over the original 2010 printing. Both are still sold and the covers look similar, so check the page count, 832 rather than 752, or the ISBN before ordering if the newer one is the one you want.
The Action Bible or The Biggest Story Bible Storybook?
Both are long books for children past the picture-book stage. The Biggest Story is prose with painted illustrations, 104 stories, aimed at 6 to 12. The Action Bible is a comic, more than 230 narratives, aimed at 8 to 12, and it moves much faster. Reluctant readers nearly always pick the comic; families who want the words to do the work pick the other.
Will it work for a reluctant reader?
This is the book most often bought for exactly that. A comic page gives a child a reason to turn it, and 832 pages of one is a genuinely long read that does not feel like one. If your child has refused every storybook Bible you have tried, the format is the variable worth changing before the content is.