Christian Books for Burgeoning Readers

This summer I’ve been on a mission to find books with specifically Christian content for my kids.  We get plenty of great literature from the local library, as well as from family members.  Plus there are the junior readers at Target, an outstanding investment for just $1.  (We’re reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm right now.  Very fun!)

What doesn’t usually fall into my lap?  Great books with outright Christian themes or content.  So that’s what I’ve been hunting for recently.  And here are a few I’ve found worth mentioning.  (DON’T MISS OUR GIVEAWAY AT THE END!)

The Lion Bible in Its Time.  By Lois Rock, illustrated by Steve Noon.  Lion UK.  64 pgs.  Ages 5-up.  Many of you may have seen The Children’s Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings.  It’s a story Bible with the familiar DK treatment–sidebars with lots of pictures, informational paragraphs, and charts that help give historical context to the stories.  The Lion Bible in its Time is a lot like that, only it focuses more on visual information, presented in striking two-page paintings that portray a moment in Biblical history.  There are still brief stories to help orient the child to the particular story, and as a whole, the book serves as a brief visual encyclopedia about each time-period represented, including Noah’s flood, the time of the tabernacle, and Solomon’s heyday.  By portraying one slice of everyday life, the book gives kids a glimpse into various pursuits like making bread and dying wool, while other people are portrayed swimming or hunting nearby.   And for busy moms and dads with limited time to read out-loud, this is a book your kids can pour over by themselves and still learn a lot.  Which might actually be the best way to use the book.  Some of the stories are told with a seeming hesitancy about the historicity of the Biblical events.  For instance, the author often uses phrases like “the story goes…”  or “the Bible says…” to introduce events that are miraculous.   A few other places in the text gave me pause.  But I have to wonder if some of this doesn’t have to do with differences in British and American English.  (Maybe for folks in the UK, these kinds of phrases don’t call an event into question?)  And for kids who are well-grounded, my feeling is this won’t trip them up too much.

Worldview: 3.5 out of 5

Literary Value: 5 out of 5

Rachel Yoder Story Collection 2: Growing Up: Four Stories in One by Wanda E. Brunstetter.  Barbour Books.  576 pgs.  Ages 8-up.  Wanda Brunstetter has written oodles of books set in Amish country for kids–mostly girls.  (Here is her website for young readers.)  It’s sort of the young girl’s version of Karen Kingsbury, so far as I can tell, and I pulled this one off the shelf of my local Christian bookstore to get a peek at her work.  My hope was that it would provide a wholesome story with some extra spiritual value for my budding readers.   This book is actually four books in one, and as such, it’s 500+ pages long.  My oldest daughter, reading at about a third grade level, jumped in and basically didn’t come out again until she had read it twice.  I still haven’t had a chance to read the story myself, but Rebecca says that the stories are usually about small problems–in one, protagonist Rachel gets glasses and has to learn to live with teasing about it.  There are sprinklings of Scripture (see the podcast below for more on this), but these aren’t religious books.  I was a little disappointed that a story about a supposedly Christian child wouldn’t include more of her spiritual experience, but in so far as wholesome reading, this one measures up pretty well.  At the least, children don’t have to deal with competing worldviews being handled by a secular author, as in the American Girl series.

For those who’d like to know more about this title, here’s a short interview I did with my daughter about this book:

[powerpress]

Worldview: 5 out of 5

Literary Value: 4 out of 5

Tell Me About The Lord Jesus Christ by Derek Prime.  Published back in 1965 by Moody Press, this book was THE diamond in the rough for my girls this summer.  We actually found it in a $2 bag of books at Goodwill, and it was tattered and looked like maybe even a first copy.  But I scanned it, and found it didn’t look heretical, so I tossed it to my kids.  My oldest devoured it, but unlike many books she read, she couldn’t stop talking about it.  I decided to read a bit of it myself, and boy, was I pleasantly surprised.  It’s about a young boy whose grandmother dies, and thus he goes to stay with some friends while his family makes funeral preparations.  The family is Christian, and the parents and kids have the awesome opportunity to comfort him with the gospel in this sad time in his life.  The storytelling at times gives too long of a sermon, but you won’t just find the gospel hinted at here–it’s spelled out very plainly in the same way you might preach to your own children.  And no wonder, since Derek Prime, as described by www.pastorandpeople.wordpress.com, “is an itinerant minister and writer. A former president of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, Mr. Prime has served as a pastor for more than 30 years, the last 18 as minister of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh.”  This particular book is out of print, but you can still get used copies like mine.  You can also check out Derek’s series that is in print, his Sarah and Paul books.  I think this book actually ended up ministering to my oldest daughter more than any other after my mom’s recent passing.  (One last caveat–Remember I haven’t read the Sarah and Paul books, but I’ll try to report on them sometime later in the year.)

Worldview: 5 out of 5

Literary Value: 4 out of 5

For more Christian book reviews, see Picture Books on Death: 5 Recommendations, Janie’s review of Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan, and The Bible in Brickbats.

Have you guys read any good Christian kids’ books lately?  I’d love to know about them!  Also, head on over to our Facebook page today and enter to win a copy of The Lion Bible in Its Time.