Kingdom Files Who is Jesus by Matt Koceich was a book my 6th grader read and she really enjoyed it as she read about all of Jesus’ journeys, miracles, and friends. He uses clues as he writes and he goes into details as he talks about the clues. He mentions quite a few of the stories in the gospels, but not all of them. It’s a good beginner book for someone seeking to know more about Jesus. He answers the question: Who is Jesus. He includes pictures in the book that kids would like. My daughter would encourage families to read it together and talk about what they are learning.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Teaching children the basics of the Bible. Who is Jesus, his life, his sacrifice, his importance. Great read for children.

This book for young people presents a biography of Jesus’ life. As many facts are given about his life in stories from the bible, clues are thrown in to present additional facts, references, and even conclusions about how Jesus’ actions impact life. Finally at the end actions are aimed at the reader such as read your bible, pray and worship, and believe.

I'm torn on this one. While it presents truths and facts about the real Jesus, it's in that boring history class way that causes a child's eyes to gloss over and mind to wander. Not something I can see kids reading or being able to focus on.

Kingdom Files is a collection of religious children's books published by Barbour for starting to create a strong familiarity with the various main characters from the Bible. The name: Kingdom Files says all.

These cute, colored books present various Bible's characters like, Daniel, David, Ether. The one I picked up is: Who is Jesus? by Matt Koceich, an inspiring biography of the Son of God starting with his detailed arrival to the world, his childhood and main facts characterizing his existence; we will explore His time, places where He lived in, people touched His existence, His miracles from the beginning of His activity, response of people and His action in this world. The book is divided in three sections: a Fact File, an Action File and a Power File
Many curiosities will be satisfied for the joy of children for ending with some meditations about the importance of reading the Bible everyday, being joyous, praying, loving others, having mercy, forgiving, and in synthesis being good people in this world.

Highly recommended.

I thank NetGalley and Barbour for this eBook.

Anna Maria Polidori

I had high hopes that this book, with an introduction addressed to a "Reading Detective", would be interactive and engaging for kids as they explore what the Bible says about Jesus. Instead, I was disappointed. The book gave a lot of information about Jesus, but didn't do anything a good children's version of the Bible wouldn't do. Not a bad book, just not appealing or unique. Review based on an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Liked the premise but not the execution. Read IMAGINE: The Fall of Jericho and thought this was a similar series. But it has too much facts, not enough narrative. My students wouldn't like it. THey want more adventure - the readers LOVE the I SURVIVED series and I thought this would be similar. Kids don't want to read just facts. Would have been better to fictionalized the story with a small What's True section in the back.

I have never seen such a unique approach to teaching children about Bible characters! Part research guide, part adventure, part detective, part Bible study, and more.

This is a fantastic book for the curious learner in your life. It's put together in a fun format which makes it engaging for children. I felt like this made Jesus more relatable and puts the details of his life and ministry in a way children can connect with that is different from how they might approach him while reading their Bibles. The text is Biblical and sound with a unique interpretation.

It reads like an adventure book with great spots for personal reflection and connecting to God too. I think this would be a fun first book club book for children, a family Bible study, or even a book for a homeschool co-op to use. Can't wait to see what other books in this series Matt Koceich puts out!

#KingdomFiles:WhoWasJesus is an excellent read. I was thankful to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic version of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

Kingdom Files: Who is Jesus
By Matt Koceich
This book along with the others of this series highlight a character of the Bible in a case study manner. This book gets straight to the point and discusses Jesus, his life on earth and as our Heavenly Father. I would say this book compared to the others is more of a devotional like study of Jesus. There were clues providing practical life applications throughout the book as well as the Power file which gave mini-studies on Jesus’s attributes that I thought were great for kids to learn from.
Overall this was a great study for early teens.

I was intrigued when I saw the premise for this series come across my radar. Back when I had the Minions full time I was forever on the search for books appropriate for their varied ages that also helped to solidify a strong foundation of faith in a means that was relatable to them. I've enjoyed the Imagine. . . series by this author so jumped in feet first. So far there are two books in the Kingdom Files series that I've gotten my hands on. Laid out in three distinct sections, each helps to bring the reader to truth from the Bible about each person. Fact File that gives relevant information about the person. Action File which gives Biblical truth about that person, including why they are important to our history and our faith. And Power File that provides additional Biblical stories, lessons and memory verses. Today we talk about Jesus. I personally enjoyed the timeline in this section.

Moving on to the Fact File I started to feel a little all over the place. The writing was encouraging for a emergent or struggling reader while still keeping a strong or advanced reader engaged. However, the clues felt awkward placed and while they seemed intended to draw for deeper meaning and understanding they can potentially lead to distraction with some readers. While the information in this section was pretty encompassing of Jesus' entire life it felt a little rushed and too much information. Each 'chapter' in this section almost felt like and, and, then, and and it all just came at me. Example, the information about the beattitudes felt like a list of things that were said instead of creating engagement in their deeper meaning for the reader. Another area that felt like it was sloggy was the pages of names for Jesus, I mean pages people. I liked that they included reference verses where the names gained relevance but for a young reader this felt just too much. Gravy, for a cranky old woman reader it was too much! This section, for me, was where the most hiccups came from and where I feel like the most improvement can be made for future installments.

However, the Power File was were it was at for me. The lessons, the teaching, in these small stories could easily be used as a devotional opportunity. Each is bulleted (Love the Lost, Show Mercy, Forgive, etc) with a succinct teaching moment and accompanying memory verse. This book has 10 of them total which would allow a parent to go back with their child as a way of teaching more about Jesus, faith, studying and learning the Word as well as the value of a daily devotional and prayer. All in all this book was highs and middles for me. There weren't any lows. . . I think, when used correctly in the right atmosphere and the right environment the middles can be overcome and the highs can definitely be used to deepen the faith of a child, or adult.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. When I read the description and the short blurb, and by the cover of the book, I was expecting greatt hings from this book. I was sure it would appeal to kids. It looked like a great tool to get kids interested in learning about Jesus, by combining clues and what looked like a mystery, with biblical teachings. Unfortunately, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It just read like typical Bible stories we’ve all read in Sunday School. I couldn’t even really understand what the “clues” were for. Maybe it was due to the formatting of the early copy but I just didn’t get it. I was disappointed. I’d hoped to ise this with my own class but I’m going to give it a miss. Although it does teach sound Christian teachings and beliefs, It’s just not what I was looking for.

This was an innovative way to share the story of Jesus. It is presented as a file of accounts of His life, with clues along to way to help you apply the truths to your own life. I found it accurate and interesting.

One of a series of Kingdom Files biographies being released in August 2018, Who Is Jesus? is a solid, biblically-based biography written in an approachable style for young readers. In a "Dear Reading Detective" note at the beginning of the book, the author does a great job of setting up the reader to understand the intended purpose behind the different features of the book.

While the investigative file approach is fun, it feels imposed onto the text rather than having informed the way it was put together. The Clue Boxes, for example, are intended to show practical application and to help the reader keep track of their thoughts, but the contents were slightly inconsistent and might not necessarily help the reader in the way described. They also clutter up sections that contain quite a bit of information for a young reader to digest.

The ten Power-Ups, on the other hand, are much more successfully executed. Each Power-Up is a message or lesson taken from the story of Jesus followed by a memory verse (i.e. the Power-Up about showing mercy is followed by Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”). Showcased separately after the main biographical text, these are in a format that may be more successful than the Clue Boxes in helping young readers to understand a practical lesson and think about application.

Overall, this is a worthwhile purchase for parents to consider, as it is an engaging telling of the story of Jesus' life. It is quite thorough, including parables and major events, while remaining approachable for young readers.

This review refers to an e-galley read at the invitation of the publisher, via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book attempts to categorize Biblical characters and events into sections that are more easily digestible for younger readers.
First, Biblical persons are discussed in a short biography that is easy to read. Secondly, the Biblical facts and historical backgrounds and explanations of about the character are plainly showcased in a short, pithy section of text that is easily read and understood.
Finally, there is a section that helps the reader to apply what he has learned.
This book focuses on Jesus’ life and teachings in a way that is interesting for a junior high level student or a younger student with assistance can learn about the Bible and its teachings.