When I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, we visited a couple in France. We sat in their sunny garden chatting for hours. My pregnant tummy was getting very hungry, but neither of them got up to go and make food. Just as I was getting a bit desperate, they took us indoors to a … Read more
Title: Whistlestop Tales: Around the Bible with 10 extraordinary children Author: Krish and Miriam Kandiah Illustrator: Andy Gray Published by: Hodder Faith Price: RRP £12.99 Good for: Families with children age 5-13, who enjoy humour and bible stories re-told from different perspectives Best bit: My personal favourite was The Tale of the Girl who Didn’t Feel Well – the … Read more
Title: A smashing day – Jack and Bea’s survival guide to church Author: Emma Browne and David Painting Illustrator: Diane Notman Available on Amazon Price: RRP £4.99 Good for: Anyone who’s been to Sunday School and it wasn’t all that great. Also, people who like funny books. Best bit: Humour and honesty of the voice … Read more
Title: Next Steps to Following Jesus Author: Joanne Gilchrist and Shell Perris Illustrator: Gail Hanks Published by: Sarah Grace Publishing Price: RRP £5.99 Good for: Anyone with children age 6-10 wanting to read the explore the bible at home Best bit: 30 devotions with a variety of different ways to explore the stories plus colourful … Read more
Title: Welcome to Bible World Author: Mike Nappa Illustrator: Emiliano Migliardo Published by: The Good Book Company Price: Available from Eden for £7.99 (July 5, 2022) Good for: 4-10s who know a bit about the Bible and are ready to find out more. Best bit: It’s a child-friendly introduction to the different types of books in … Read more
Title: The Prisoners, the earthquake and the midnight song Author: Bob Hartman Illustrator: Catalina Echeverri Published by: The Good Book Company Price: RRP £8.99 Only £5.85 at Eden at the time of writing Good for: Children aged 2-8 years Best bit: It’s a hard call between Bob’s excellent storytelling and Catalina’s awesome pictures! Both are wonderful. Worst bit: … Read more
I love using the seasons in our faith at home. This is fairly easy in the run up to Christmas and Easter, and in the Autumn we celebrate the Biblical feasts. However, between Pentecost and October, there’s a dearth of significant markers. However, the natural ‘calendar’ is often useful, and in the summer our days … Read more
Title: Make Room: a child’s guide to Lent and Easter Author: Laura Alary Illustrator: Ann Boyajian Published by: Paraclete Press Price: £8.99 (Amazon) Good for: Families with children aged 3–10 years old who want to introduce them to the Easter story focusing on the transforming nature of the story Best bit: The book is written … Read more
Title: The Way of the Cross Author and Illustrator: Andrew McDonough Published by: Malcolm Down Price: £5.99 Useful for: children age 3-8 wanting to know the story of Easter Best bit: This full-colour picture book has incredibly well written, age-appropriate re-telling of the 14 traditional Easter readings from the gospels. It also includes really helpful notes … Read more
Maybe it was because I grew up in a protestant, evangelical tradition that I always thought anything to do with the saints was kind of catholic and probably a bit wrong. A few years ago, I went on a Godly Play retreat in which we explored twelve saint’s stories. To be honest, I wasn’t keen … Read more
Title: Who made God? Author: Joanne Gilchrist Illustrator: David Kuiavskii Published by: Sarah Grace Publishing Price: £5.99 Useful for: children age 4-7 with big questions about God Best bit: I like the bright, bold illustrations, the rhyming text, the way we’re introduced to the different characters and the use of child-appropriate similes to describe God, but … Read more
Build a story set for a Bible story using a construction toy e.g. Duplo, Lego, Jenga blocks). Plan the route the characters will take through the set. We built a set for the story of Ehud using Duplo and Lego combined. We then created characters for Ehud and the king, and played out the story … Read more