The Action Bible

What The Action Bible is

The Action Bible is a full-color, comic-book-style retelling of Scripture, illustrated by Sergio Cariello and published by David C. Cook in 2010, with an Expanded Edition in 2020. It gathers 215-plus narratives — Creation, the patriarchs, the Exodus, the kings and prophets, the life of Jesus, the early church, and a glimpse of Revelation — and presents them chronologically as a single continuous story rather than book-by-book. Each narrative is drawn in comic panels with speech bubbles and captions, in a dynamic, action-forward style drawn from mainstream comics.

It is a retelling, not a translation: the dialogue and narration are paraphrased and compressed to fit the form, so it functions as a companion to a Bible rather than a substitute for the text itself. The framing is broadly evangelical and non-denominational, drawn from the Protestant 66-book canon, with the emphasis squarely on narrative drama and the overall arc of the story. Because it is comic art, every scene — including the face of Jesus and other sacred figures — is depicted and interpreted, which is standard for the illustrated-Bible category and worth knowing going in.

Why families reach for The Action Bible

Most children's Bibles are built around either soft, gentle illustration (the storybook-Bible tradition) or simple early-reader text. The Action Bible is built around a different premise: that a lot of kids — especially the nine-to-twelve crowd, and boys in particular — already consume stories in the visual, fast-cutting language of comics and superhero films, and that meeting them there is the fastest way into the biblical narrative. Cariello's panels move. People run, fight, weep, and pray with real motion, and the page turns like an action sequence.

That makes The Action Bible the rare children's Bible that a reluctant reader will pick up on their own. Parents report the same thing again and again: a child who would not touch a regular Bible will sit for an hour with this one, then ask what happens next. It is not trying to be comprehensive or devotional or scholarly. It is trying to make the story land for a young, visual reader — and on that narrow, important job, it is the best-selling option in its category for a reason.

The art: a working comics veteran draws the whole Bible

The single biggest practical difference between The Action Bible and the rest of the children's-Bible shelf is the draftsmanship. Sergio Cariello spent years as a professional illustrator in mainstream American comics — DC and Marvel titles — before applying that craft to Scripture, and it shows on every page. Anatomy, perspective, panel-to-panel pacing, dramatic lighting, full-color rendering: these are the tools of a seasoned sequential artist, not a generic stock illustrator, and the difference in quality is immediate when you set it next to a typical illustrated Bible.

This sounds like a small thing. In practice it's transformative for the target reader. A nine-year-old who has internalized the visual grammar of comics and films reads these pages fluently — the motion lines, the close-ups, the wide establishing shots all signal meaning the way they do in a graphic novel. The art is also frank: battles look like battles, the crucifixion is rendered with weight, and Revelation's imagery is vivid. That intensity is age-appropriate for most of the intended audience, but it is real, and it is part of why the book holds a child's attention rather than losing it.

Chronological storytelling: the Bible as one arc

Rather than following the order of the books, The Action Bible threads its 215-plus narratives chronologically, so a child reads the story roughly in the sequence the events are understood to unfold — Creation, the patriarchs, slavery and Exodus, the rise and fall of the kings, the prophets, the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, the spread of the early church, and a closing glimpse of the end. Captions bridge the gaps between scenes, and the whole volume reads as one continuous narrative rather than a collection of disconnected episodes.

For a young reader, this is the feature that does the quiet heavy lifting. Many kids absorb individual Bible stories — Noah, David, the manger — as standalone tales without ever seeing how they connect. Laying them end to end as one arc helps a child grasp that the Bible tells a single sweeping story moving toward a climax. It is the same instinct behind chronological reading plans for adults, applied to a visual format a child will actually finish. The trade-off, worth naming, is that the non-narrative parts of Scripture — much of the poetry, law, wisdom, and prophecy — get little room in a story-first design.

The wider ecosystem: from comic to study Bible

The Action Bible is the front door to a whole family of products in the same visual style. The most significant is the Action Bible Study Bible, which is a different kind of book entirely: it contains the full biblical text — available in the ESV or the NIV — wrapped with Cariello-style illustrations, book introductions, and kid-oriented helps. There are also devotionals, a handbook, and companion volumes, all sharing the art language so a child who starts with the comic can step up to the actual Scripture text without leaving the look they connected with.

This matters because it answers the most common objection to a comic-book Bible — that it is a paraphrase, not the text. A family can use The Action Bible to hook a reluctant reader on the story, then graduate them to the Action Bible Study Bible for the real words, then onward to any standard translation or study Bible. Treated as the first rung of that ladder rather than the whole ladder, The Action Bible does its job well, and the ecosystem makes the next step an easy one rather than a jarring switch.

Pricing

Where The Action Bible falls behind

Not the biblical text. The Action Bible is a paraphrased, condensed retelling shaped to fit comic panels, not a translation. That is the right call for what it is trying to do, but it means the book is a companion to a Bible, not a replacement — a point David C. Cook makes itself, which is why the separate Action Bible Study Bible exists. Families wanting their child reading the actual words will need a real translation alongside it.

Everything is illustrated. Because it is comic art, every scene is drawn and interpreted — including the faces of Jesus and other sacred figures. This is standard for the illustrated-Bible category and unremarkable to most buyers, but some families and some traditions specifically prefer that sacred figures not be depicted visually, and for them this is a genuine consideration rather than a feature. Worth knowing before you buy rather than discovering on the page.

Selective coverage. A story-first, chronological design naturally favors narrative, so the patriarchs, the Exodus, the kings, and the Gospels get rich treatment while large stretches of poetry, law, wisdom, and prophecy get little or none. The 215-plus narratives are well chosen, but a child who reads only this will come away with the Bible's stories far more than its psalms, proverbs, or prophetic oracles.

Intensity and violence. The art renders warfare, the crucifixion, and judgment scenes with real weight. For the nine-to-twelve target audience this is generally appropriate and part of the appeal, but for sensitive or younger children it is worth previewing — some pages are vivid, and parents reading aloud to a five-year-old may want to choose narratives selectively.

Not a reference tool. There are no cross-references, study notes, maps, or original-language helps in the core volume. That is by design — it is a reading experience, not a study Bible — but anyone wanting those tools should look to the Action Bible Study Bible or a separate study Bible rather than expecting them here.

The Action Bible vs. The Picture Bible vs. The Jesus Storybook Bible

These three are the shortlist when people ask for a children's Bible, and they do genuinely different jobs. The Action Bible (Cariello, 2010) is the modern comic-book retelling — high-energy graphic-novel art, chronological, aimed squarely at reluctant and visual readers around 9–12. The Picture Bible (David C. Cook, 1978) is its direct ancestor — the older, gentler comic-strip Bible that generations grew up on, still in print, with a softer vintage art style and a lower intensity that suits younger or more sensitive readers. The Jesus Storybook Bible (Sally Lloyd-Jones, 2007) is a different animal entirely — a narrated storybook for younger children that frames every story as pointing toward Jesus, with warm Jago illustrations rather than comic panels.

Different strengths. The Action Bible is the best at grabbing a reluctant older child and the most cinematic of the three. The Picture Bible is gentler and a good fit if the dramatic intensity of The Action Bible is too much, or for a slightly younger reader who still wants the comic format. The Jesus Storybook Bible is the best for reading aloud to little ones and for a single unifying theme, but it is a storybook, not a comic, and covers fewer stories. If your reader is a nine-year-old who loves superheroes, The Action Bible. If they are younger or more sensitive, The Picture Bible. If you are reading to a preschooler at bedtime, The Jesus Storybook Bible.

All three are retellings rather than the biblical text, all three use the Protestant 66-book canon, and all three illustrate their scenes. They are widely used across Protestant homes and churches, and many families own more than one — using a storybook Bible for the youngest, a comic Bible for the grade-schooler, and a full translation as the child grows.

Alternatives to The Action Bible