The Malta Bible Society has just launched three innovative Bible products aimed at different audiences.
These consist of an interactive CD for adults, an interactive CD and set of booklets with stories from the Bible for children and a printed children's Bible with stories fully illustrated with vibrant art, text and stories that bring the good book to life.
The children's Bible contains 90 stories from the Old and New Testaments spread over 512 pages with easy-to-read text and attractive illustrations by Kelly Pulley. The Bible is hard bound and sewn to make the book sturdy and durable.
The publication was made possible after the Malta Bible Society secured the rights from Lion Hudson plc, one of the largest companies in the UK that publishes Christian literature.
The second project is a CD Rom designed to make the Bible accessible to children in an enjoyable and educational manner. Its design is based on the set of nine books with stories from the Bible published by the Malta Bible Society.
"Both the Bible and the set of books have proved to be very popular with children of all ages and with their families and educators," Bible Society general secretary Grace Cilia said.
"The CD contains a mix of exceptionally good ideas and features that definitely make it a first in Bible software developed in Malta. A special feature of this software is that it has been designed in a bilingual format, in Maltese and in English, with the specific aim of making it a tool that could also help in the teaching of both languages.
"Additionally, each story is fully illustrated with happy, colourful pictures and children have the facility to listen to the stories being read in either Maltese or English.
"There is also a game in the form of a crossword puzzle with questions and answers on each story, helping the children to enjoy their achievements of getting the right answers by interacting fully with the programme," she said.
"Music is very much part and parcel of this educational and fun-to-use tool: 10 theme songs were composed and sung by Frank O'Neil."
Ms Cilia said the CD Rom was the result of the combined effort of many people who offered their time and energy enthusiastically.
"This software was produced and designed by Traffic Company Ltd which is a Maltese registered application development and commercial research company operating for the local and international markets. Olga Kataeva was the main software engineer who developed the programme with the technical assistance of David Mifsud," she said.
To make it affordable, the Bible Society is subsidising this product thanks to a small number of sponsors who made this possible.
For a full demo version of the programme, visit the Bible Society site: www.maltabible.com. Orders can be made via e-mail: info@maltabible.com.