I’ll be the first to admit that there are not a lot of great Christian kids books. I feel like I’ve read all of them. Every time I walk through a Christian book store I’m disappointed in the titles and even illustrations. But really, I’m disappointed with the quantity. But I never give up looking through the shelves for new books by some of my favorite authors!
This week at the library I happen to see a Zonderkidz label on the edge of a book. Zonderkidz is the kids arm of Zondervan, a Christian publishing company. So, I checked it out. The book is called The Grimy-Slimy Bug Safari. It’s about a little girl named Tracy who goes outside to hunt for bugs then hangs upside down from a tree to see them all. Honestly, I’m not really sure what the message was…the illustrations are fun, the rhyme is cute but it was just about a girl hunting bugs. Nothing more. Nothing less. BUT. The more we read it, the more it grows on me.
The message isn’t life changing, it doesn’t have any scripture, there isn’t anything for me to even make a teachable moment out of. I like that it quietly mentions God and His role as Creator. I like that a normal fun colorful book has the same God-ward worldview that I try to have in our family. And. My kids love it. They ask me to read it every day! The fun of the book to them is that it’s a “topsy-turvy” book–every picture of Tracy hanging from the tree, you can turn upside down to see what she sees.
Not to mention, I started having all these great ideas about doing a bunch of bug crafts and bug hunting hikes and teaching Lydia to hang upside down on monkey bars!
Plus, finding this book gave me a great idea! I went to my library’s website and searched for “Zonderkidz”. It only brought up 22 books, but it was 22 Christian-themed books I’d never read to my kids! Then I searched for more Christian publishers that have kids’ extensions: Tommy Nelson, Standard Publishing and Concordia. I’m going to place a few on hold and see if we can find anything we like!
What’s your kids’ favorite Christian book?
linked to Feed me Books Friday hosted (today) at Mom Tried It!
I love the idea of bug hunting hikes. We go on hikes and collect things, but don’t do bugs. That is until now.
I can’t wait to read about the books you discovered.
What a great idea! I’ve lamented the lack of Christian kids’ books available in the public library, so I just did a search – 10 Zonderkidz books to try out!
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Do you know any of the books by R.C. Sproul? They are WELL DONE — beautifully illustrated and crystal clear message of the gospel. My favorite is The Priest with Dirty Clothes and The Prince’s Poison cup. I’m not sure how old your children are, but these are really REALLY good.
I used to work at a Christian bookstore, but I don’t remember any exceptional books, although I did think some of the illustrated/kids’ Bibles were cool! I think the Max Lucado kids’ books might have been all right, though…
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Our favourites are The Lost Sheep series… they’re by an Australian author and are quite quirky and fun… with a simple message, and some parent tips in the back for questions etc.
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