The Clown of God

The Clown of God Tomie dePaola Harcourt Brace, 1978 I’ve loved The Clown of God for a long, long time. I remember checking it out from the library over and over as a child. Before I had kids – and thus, before I had any sense about what a new mom might need – I [...]

Glory

Glory Nancy White Carlstrom and Debra Reid Jenkins Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2001 “Glory be to God for dappled things,” wrote Gerard Manley Hopkins in “Pied Beauty,” a paean to the unchanging God who is nevertheless author of “all things original, counter, spare, strange”. Creation, in its dazzling multiplicity, calls us to praise in [...]

Just the Way You Are

Just the Way You Are Max Lucado and Sergio Martinez Crossway, 1999 Good news!  I’ve found another book by Max Lucado (in addition to You Are Special) that I think is well worth reading, especially during the present season of Lent.   Just the Way You Are is the tale of five orphans who find out that [...]

Shoebox Sam

Shoebox Sam Mary Brigid Barrett & Frank Morrison Zonderkidz, 2011 Let’s get to straight to the point: I love this book.  Really, really love it.  It has everything that Sarah and I look for in great theological children’s literature and is easily in my top 10 favorite books that we’ve reviewed here on the blog. [...]

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Brother Sun, Sister Moon Katherine Paterson and Pamela Dalton Handprint Books, 2011 According to tradition, Francis of Assisi composed The Canticle of the Sun (or Laudes Creaturarum, “praise of the creatures”) toward the end of his life, around 1224. Written in the Umbrian dialect – rather than church Latin – it is a beautiful song praise [...]

Song of the Stars

Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story Sally Lloyd-Jones and Alison Jay Zonderkidz, 2011 Last weekend, I had the treat of actually getting to visit with Haley in person, over the Thanksgiving holiday, at our lake place. The kids were with their grandmothers, and we got to have a long conversation. And of course, on [...]

Dangerous Journey

Dangerous Journey arranged by Oliver Hunkin, illus. Alan Parry Eerdmans, 1985 It’s almost upon us, friends. Advent begins in less than two weeks, and here at Aslan’s Library we’ve been thinking about books and resources your family might want to use during the upcoming season of waiting and preparation. And let’s face it, most of [...]

All Things Bright and Beautiful

All Things Bright and Beautiful Ashley Bryan (and Cecil Francis Alexander) Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010 For some strange reason, it took me a long time to warm up to the idea of songs-as-picture-books.  Earlier this year, though, I found one that I loved, which made me think that maybe there might just be [...]

Morning Has Broken

Morning Has Broken Eleanor Farjeon and Tim Ladwig Eerdmans, 1996 When I was in high school, my dad used to wake us up on Sunday mornings by bursting upstairs with an ear-splitting rendition of Eleanor Farjeon’s hymn, Morning Has Broken. (And I do mean ear-splitting. My dad is a wonderful man, but vocal solos are [...]

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa Demi Margeret K. McElderry Books, 2005 For those of us who grew up in the closing years of the twentieth century, Mother Teresa is something of an icon. She stands for everything that is saintly, good, and – well, all too often, unattainable. “What do you expect,” I remember friends in high school [...]