The underlying text of the Internationals Children’s Bible is The New Century Version (NCV) translation, widely used by creators of Bibles and Bible resources for children and teenagers. The NCV is the product of the Church of Christ affiliated World Bible Translation Centre (WBTC) in Ft. Worth, Texas.

In 1978 the Church of Christ WBTC created an easy-to-read Bible specifically for the deaf, titled the English Version for the Deaf (EVD). The EVD is primarily the work of WBTC’s Senior Translation Consultant, Ervin Bishop. In 1983, the EVD was slightly modified, repackaged and published as the best-selling International Children's Version (ICV), New Testament. In 1987, the Old Testament was also released. The ICV was revised and rewritten to a higher reading standard (grade 5) in 1987 and named the New Century Version (NCV). Ahead of the fashion among late 20th century translations, a gender-neutral version was first published in 1991, making it one of the first – if not the first, mainstream Bible to do so.

The New Century Version text, supplemented with application study notes containing advice on teenage issues, is published as "The Youth Bible". Updated in 2007, it is the bestselling youth Bible for early and mid teens. The NCV forms the basis for many specialist Bibles created for particular groups, such as ‘The Everyday Bible’ (endorsed by Billy Graham); ‘The Holy Bible: New Century Version: Traveler's Edition’, ‘The Youth Bible’; ‘Extreme Teen Bible’, ‘The Revolve; Bible’, ‘Time With God’, ‘The Answer’, ‘The Secret Kingdom Edition’ and the Bikers Bible.

Finally, the NCV was returned as a children’s in its present form: The International Children's Bible (ICB) aimed at young readers and those with low reading skills or limited vocabulary in English. It is written in an early reader style that is nondenominational, but broadly conservative and evangelical in its scriptural interpretation – just like the NIV and other popular modern English translations. – Les Ellison

The International Children's Bible (ICB) stands alone as the only totally new translation of the original Bible text - from the Greek and Hebrew language - specifically for children. Until the launch of the New Century Version (NCV) International Children's Bible, it was impossible to give children a Bible that they could read and understand for themselves from age the early reader age of 6 years. Although there are many so-called 'Children's Bibles' available, most have words and expressions that are clearly not part of the vocabulary of a typical 6-12 year-old.

The International Children's Bible is different. It is not an adult Bible with a child-like cover, nor is it an abridged version of adult text or a 'storybook' Bible. This Bible is written especially with children in mind and translated from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and illustrated throughout. Other features include a dictionary and colourful maps and British English spellings and grammar for more natural reading. For many, it is the pick of the crop as the best available junior Bible.