3 fantastic Christian children's books

These three picture books are all by the team of Stephanie Carmichael and Jessica Green and are wonderful for how they demonstrate how parents can “easily and naturally talk about God with [our] children throughout the day.” In that way the books are as much for parents as they are for the kids - the mom and dad in these pages serve as examples to us on how we can seize on the many little opportunities that pop up throughout the day, to show our little ones the wonders God has wrought.

You can try these three books out before buying them by visiting Matthiasmedia.com/growth/childrens-curriculum where you can read all of them, in their entirety, online (There you will find a fourth book in the series, called The Birthday Party, but it is not recommended because the lesson the book teaches - that God loves everyone - is not true. See Psalm 5:5; Lev. 20:23; Prov. 6:16-19; and Hos. 9:15).

The Rag Doll
24 pages, Hardcover, 2010

Luke, Ben and Emily loved seeing their Auntie Sarah, because “Auntie Sarah loved seeing them.” And it didn’t hurt that she had all sorts of toys at her house. Emily’s favorite is an old rag doll called Polly. A few days after their visit to Auntie Sarah, Emily’s mum surprises her with a rag doll of her own, which, of course, makes little Emily ecstatic. She names her doll Annabelle and thinks her Mum is quite clever for knowing how to make a rag doll. Mum points out that she is “not as clever as God, though. God made you. And he made you so that you can grow and laugh. You can do a lot more things than Annabelle can.” Emily realizes that not only did God make her, he made Mummy too, and her little brother Ben! The story ends with Emily thanking God for making them all.

Grumpy Day

24 pages, Softcover, 2011

On a rainy day the family is stuck inside, and the kids are all a bit grumpy. Emily can’t get her dolls to sit up like she wants them to, and little Ben can’t get the blocks to stack the way he likes. But with a little help from mum, and a hug from her too, these problems are overcome. But nothing mum does can fix Luke’s problem. He wants to go kick his ball, but you can’t do that in the rain. He wonders why God can’t make it rain some other day. Mum explains that God can  make it ran another day, but that He might want it to keep raining today. They can tell God that they are unhappy - grumpy - about the current situation, but that we need to know that “God is God, and He is in charge of the whole world [so] He knows what is best.” So they pray together, and then mum and Luke head to the kitchen for an orange, while the soccer ball sits “next to the back door, ready for when God decides to stop the rain.”

Over the Fence
24 pages, Hardcover, 2010

Luke loves to kick his soccer ball. But he doesn’t have anyone to kick it around the yard with him: his sister Emily likes dolls, not soccer, and his little brother Ben is just too little. So when a new neighbor moves in, with a boy the same age as Luke, he is eager to find out if this boy likes soccer too. He is so eager he races to his dad to find out more. His dad is busy fixing the mower, and promises that they can go visit next door after he is done. But Luke wants to know now! If Dad doesn’t know more about the boy, who does? Dad explains that the boy’s parents do, and his old friends, and, of course, God too, because God made this little boy. Just like he made Luke. A face to face meeting finally occurs, and Luke is happy to discover that yes, the boy likes soccer too!