I am an ordained minister with over 10 years of experience serving as a pastor in both the hospital and church settings. I’m also a mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7. I routinely get asked for resources to help raise children in the Christian faith. As both a pastor and a mother, I am a strong advocate for teaching children a theology they won’t have to heal from. All the books I recommend are progressive, inclusive, and diverse. I’ve done extensive research when it comes to faith-based literature, and I’m passionate about finding the best books to recommend to families.
I love this book because it broadens a child’s imagination about who God is.
God is not Santa Claus – a white guy with a beard in the clouds looking down on children in judgment, evaluating whether they’re good or bad. God is gracious, generous, and loving, and God gives and nourishes life to all, like a faithful mother.
“Dear Mama God - Thank you for the earth and all living things.” So begins this wonder-filled prayer of gratitude from a child addressed to Mama God.
Combining stunning illustrations with simple yet profound prayers, "Dear Mama God" is the perfect children's book to introduce children (and their adults) to the heart-expanding practice of referring to the divine in feminine form. The text thanks Mama God for trees for birds to nest in, hula hoops for dogs to jump through, paper to draw on, cozy fires, loving hearts, and the universe that is our home. The illustrations invite readers into…
If your kid is curious and loves to know wild, random facts, this is the book for you.
This book is chock-full of interesting, obscure details about life in the 1st century. This book not only teaches kids what the world was like when Jesus was alive, but it increases their engagement with their faith. It’s fun, silly, and you’ll need more than one copy if you have multiple kids, because they’ll inevitably fight over it, just like mine.
Jesus often told stories using everyday objects to help his listeners understand life with God. But for most of us, the deep imagery and meaning behind those objects has been lost to history. This book helps kids discover the world Jesus lived in through maps, charts, graphs, and other infographic elements. They'll learn about the culture Jesus lived in-his Jewish religion, the power of the ruling Roman Empire, the role of fishermen and carpenters and shepherds. It's an invitation to explore the stories of Jesus in their cultural context, bringing new life to familiar biblical events. This beautifully illustrated book…
A delightful and distinctive picture book biography about Dr. Virginia Apgar, who invented the standard, eponymous test for evaluating newborn health used worldwide thousands of times every day.
You might know about the Apgar Score. But do you know the brilliant, pioneering woman who invented it? Born at the turn…
If you’re a parent who wants to raise their children in the faith, this is a primary resource to have on hand. Kids are always wondering what God is like. This book is a useful tool in showing children just how good God is. It explores all kinds of diverse metaphors and instills the important truth that God loves us all.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The late, beloved Rachel Held Evans answers many children's first question about God in this gorgeous picture book, fully realized by her friend Matthew Paul Turner, the bestselling author of When God Made You.
Children who are introduced to God, through attending church or having loved ones who speak about God, often have a lot of questions, including this ever-popular one: What is God like? The late Rachel Held Evans loved the Bible and loved showing God’s love through the words and pictures found in that ancient text. Through these pictures from the Bible,…
The illustrations are incredible, and the language invites readers of every age to imagine how expansive God is. I love the use of the female imagery for God. This has been lost for too long. If you’re looking to instill a theology that’s broad, diverse, and full of wonder, start here.
Teach your kids that God's love transcends single-gender expression--God is creative, fierce, protective, and her love as a Mother knows no bounds.
With lyrical, rhyming text and exquisite illustrations, Mother God introduces readers to a dozen images of God inspired by feminine descriptions from Scripture. Children and adults alike will be in awe of the God who made them as they come to know her as a creative seamstress, generous baker, fierce mother bear, protective mother hen, strong woman in labor, nurturing nursing mother, wise grandmother, and comforting singer of lullabies.
This gorgeous picture book welcomes children into a fuller,…
Citizen Scientist begins with this extraordinary statement by the Keeper of Entomology at the London Museum of Natural History, “Study any obscure insect for a week and you will then know more than anyone else on the planet.”
As the author chases the obscure Western red-bellied tiger beetle across New…
Not every person prays the same. It’s not helpful to teach children that the only way to pray is with eyes closed, heads bowed, and words uttered.
Children are all different – they learn different, and they express themselves different. This book teaches kids that you can pray in a number of different ways, especially the ones that come most naturally to you. Prayer can be done in word, dance, song, service, and so on. If you want to teach your kids about prayer, this is an excellent resource.
When words are hard to find, prayer blooms in unexpected ways.
Sparrow wakes each morning, ready to sing a prayer of thanksgiving. But not today. Today his words get tangled and knotted in his beak like old yarn and straw. He feels sad and gray, and he's not sure why. So Sparrow decides to ask his friends Turtle, Mousie, and Buck for advice on how to pray. Each friend shows Sparrow a different way to pray without words, through generosity, art, and movement. As the day ends, Sparrow meditates on a rose aglow in the evening light and has an…
Encounter God's unlimited presence and unconditional love in this joyful picture book that helps kids discover God in all parts of creation, from the mountains to the anthills and, most of all, in our hearts amid joy, sadness, calm, and chaos. In this poetic book for 4 to 8-year-olds, a child asks her mother "Is God here, or is God there?" and begins to understand that God's attention, kindness, and comfort are everywhere.
Artemis Sparke has had it with humans. She heads to the nearby salt marsh to hang out with the birds, plants, and mollusks who don't make a big deal of her stutter. The shoreline sanctuary is predictable, unlike her family and friends, and the data in her science journal proves…
What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It’s none of those! This picture book’s spare, lyrical text offers many suggestions for enjoying stargazing – but there’s really only ONE thing you need to remember,…
