Some scones with that book?

**Dear kind readers, today was supposed to be a review of Anytime Prayers by Madeleine L’Engle. Alas, due to a confluence of overambitious home projects and a four month old baby – well, let’s just say it’s not going to happen. But it’s a beautiful autumn day, and hey! Scones make everything better! Enjoy my [...]

That Sentimental Feeling

One thing the old Puritans weren’t: sentimental. Most of our kids now learn their ABCs in brightly illustrated books with apples and cats. The New England Primer (first published at the end of the 17th century), on the other hand, goes right to the heart of the matter. The letter A? “In Adam’s fall, we [...]

The Miracles of Jesus

The Miracles of Jesus Tomie de Paola Puffin, 1987 Tomie de Paola’s The Miracles of Jesus is really a very simple book, and that is why I like it. It’s a collection of twelve miracle stories from the Gospels (primarily John and Luke), straightforwardly and faithfully told and lovingly illustrated. It’s a lovely little volume [...]

The Noah Problem

We’ve all see them: Noah’s ark toys, Noah’s ark nursery bedding, and of course Noah’s ark books depicting cutesy animals trotting by in their characteristic two-by-two fashion.  It’s a curious choice, really, for an introduction to the Bible.  It’s not exactly a feel good tale, and if I had to choose one story that was [...]

Parables Jesus Told: The Tell-Me Stories

The Tell-Me Stories: Parables Jesus Told Ella Lindvall & H. Kent Puckett Moody, 2000 It’s surprising to me that more Christian children’s books don’t focus on Jesus’ parables.  They’re simple yet profound, short yet expandable, imaginative, and easily illustrated.  More importantly, they convey powerful truths about the Kingdom of God in a way that people [...]

Children’s Books for a Grownup Audience (or, “I Like This Book So Much More than My Three-Year-Old Does…”)

I was a philosophy major in college, a voracious reader of hefty novels, and I have a half-finished masters degree in systematic theology. Needless to say, my taste in books trends nerdy. I like books  - for me and for my kids – that deal with complexity, that aren’t sentimental, and that make me think. [...]

Come Worship With Me

Come Worship With Me: A Journey Through the Church Year Ruth Boling and Tracy Dahle Carrier Geneva Press, 2001 There’s a large “clock” on the wall at my daughter’s preschool, with a marking for each week of the liturgical year. The teacher moves the hand each week when the children gather. As they progress through [...]

Poor Writing (or, “How Hard Can it Really Be to Write a Christian Book for Kids?”)

“Ever since there have been such things as novels,” observed Flannery O’Connor, “the world has been flooded with bad fiction for which the religious impulse has been responsible.” She goes on: “The sorry religious novel comes about when the writer supposes that because of his belief, he is somehow dispensed from the obligation to penetrate [...]