Looking for Children’s Books
If there are pastors out there that work in education, any recommendations for books?
As part of the Thomas Nelson blogger's review program, I requested "The Jesus Book" by Stephen Elkins.
My first impressions as I unwrapped this book from its shipping carton was that it was beautifully illustrated. Every page is covered with primary colors, depictions of Jesus that we’ve all grown up, and even a few maps to cover the areas in which Jesus actually visited. I am always super sensitive about depictions of Jesus, and I could probably go on and on about how we need to mid-Easternize Jesus more, but I won’t go there here. As advertised, the book’s target audience is geared towards kids ages 4-8, but after perusing this book, it’s apparent that the illustrations should appeal to younger children, but the language that is used is definitely geared towards advanced readers.
One cool feature--the book is conveniently divided into six sections that aids in addressing questions that kids might have about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
1) Who Jesus Is
2) What Jesus Did
3) What Jesus Taught
4) When It Happened
5) Why It Happened
6) How It Happened
What’s not so helpful that I was actually looking forward to? The CD that accompanies the book is outdated, at least for our church. It might work for toddlers and maybe preschool, but definitely not for school age children.
The verdict? The book is worth a try, but the CD isn’t what you’d probably expect!
