Gentle Readers!
I am working on a proposal for Denominational Magazine for a series of ten articles that will explore scriptural themes as illuminated in children’s literature. I have a few books in mind, namely Because of Winn-Dixie and one or more Madeleine L’Engle books, but I need some other ideas, especially current books.
If you have suggestions of beloved books that could be explored from this angle, please leave them in comments, or e-mail me at reverendmother03 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Thanks!
40 Responses to “wanted: children’s books”
Leave a Reply
Search
Asides
» I have been remiss in posting SBJ’s latest stats: 23 pounds and 27 inches at six months. Yes, I’ve got the big mama biceps.
» Aaaaaand little she-who-is lost another tooth this week!
» SBJ is four months old, 19 pounds 5 ounces, and 26 inches tall. GIGANTOR!
Links
Join | List | Prev | Next Random | Prev5 | Next5
Skip Prev | Skip Next
Join | List | Prev | Next |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
The Old Turtle books. Especially “Old Turtle and the Broken Truth”.
What about the “Runaway Bunny”?
Do they have to be books for older kids? (such as the ones you mentioned) — if not, then “The Runaway Bunny” comes to my mind immediately. No matter what the little bunny does he cannot get away from his mother’s love. I used this in a devotional I did at school last year.
Lol More Cows — I think we were posting at exactly the same time. Two votes for the Runaway Bunny. (he is very cute too)
The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola.
I will try to come up with others also.
The first ones that come to mind are all middle reader books…
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry…a brilliant fantasy that tackles free will in very interesting ways. (1993)
“Bridge to Terabithia” (don’t blame the book for the bad movie) Katherine Paterson (1977)
“The Higher Power of Lucky” by Susan Patron, a wonderful take on the concept of God by a girl who eavesdrops on 12 step meetings. (2006)
definitely the giver. our sunday school class discussed it for ~6 weeks last year and got lots from it.
So, it takes a loooong time to get there, but Lemony Snickets’ last installment of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” It’s jam-packed full of Jewish theology, and I’ve never read any reviewers who got it. Critics were disappointed by his inability to tie up the loose ends, but didn’t get the theological message that usually loose ends can’t be tied up.
Daniel Handler recreates the Garden of Eden, with a tree that combines the sweetness of apples and the bitterness of horseradish (Sedar illusions) and a snake. It’s very interesting and I would love to see you take it on!
“The Name Jar” by Yangsook Choi (Dell Dragongly Books)
A story about a young Korean girl who moves to America and is afraid the children won’t know how to pronouce her name. Spiritual themes, as I see them:
-power of being named
-power of friendship/community
-power of your “roots”
I’ll think of more….
Do you want chapter books or pictures books or both?
*lighbulb clicks on and I rush out to start re-reading “Series of Unfortunate Events*
Narnia is, I suppose, too obvious? I suspect that almost my whole theology rests upon it …
Holes
The Giver and the rest of the books by that author
Horton Hears a Who
The Lorax
Mama, Do You Love Me?
Dairy Of Anne Frank
When I get home, I’ll look through our more “African American Literature” and see what I can find in there.
The list is endless!
The Lorax is a fav along with Horton Hears a Hoo. I also like The Treasure or The Secret Room bt Uri S. Click Clack Moo also a winner.
Definitely “Click Clack Moo”…I wrote an essay for the Texas Association of Mediators newsletter about it!
My girls enjoyed the series All of a Kind Family, by Sidney Taylor. It’s about a devout Jewish family with 5 girls, and eventually one little boy, who live in New York City in the early 1900’s. Good storytelling for ages 5-10, and a lot of explanations of the Jewish faith and practices.
It’s a picture book, but Big Momma Makes the World is a fantastic retelling of the creation story.
Even more so than Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson’s Jacob Have I Loved explicitly uses scripture in ways that are very central to the story.
“The Hello, Goodbye Window” is such a beautiful children’s book, and for some reason it makes me think about intergenerational connections and imagination and what we pass down to our children (she wants to grow up to marry a man like her grandfather). I’m not sure exactly where you could take it, but may send it to you if you don’t have a copy!
I’m not sure about these, but:
The Giving Tree
The Little Prince
“Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge” by Mem Fox & Illustrations by Julie Vivas
A beautiful story about a young boy who tries to help an older lady (in nursing home) find her “memory” again. Very powerful.
The Devil’s Arithmetic- by Yolen, it is about the Holocaust, very powerful, and about the importance of spiritual practice (on some level)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (mentioned by many others)
The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher, deals with death and coping with so-called spiritual people, and discovering/empowering spirituality within yourself
Hope Was Here by Bauer The title says it all… actually it is about a girl who has traveled around the country, and how she finds friends/home in a small town
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, a personal favorite, how do we deal with people who are different?
Not A Box by Antoinette Portis is a picture book, talks about what we see, and all the ways that it could be different- there are some deep things there
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, possibly one of my favorite quotes “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.”
Needless to say, I have a special place in my heart for children’s literature!
YECC *your east coast cousin*
Ooo, Ooo, yes, Sharon Creech…….probably has written some of the best books for the preteen child. There is another one she wrote that is set in a boarding school for ex-pats in Europe.
The Boy at War series. Those are the only books my dyslexic son will willingly read because he “respects” the main character. (his words, not mine)
Okay, this is definitely my area of expertise!
If you are looking for books that you can read through a religious lens (rather than books with overtly religious themes, like Old Turtle) try just about anything by Patricia Polacco and Eve Bunting.
Patricia Polacco writes a lot of books about herself and her family when she was growing up. Her family was Polish, if I’m remembering correctly, and there are a lot of Jewish characters and traditions in her books. Of these, one of the best is Chicken Sunday. (It also explores a friendship between kids of different races.)
Eve Bunting has many books that touch on social justice issues, including homelessness, the LA riots, illiteracy, elder care, migrant workers, etc. One, called December, is a lovely story about a homeless woman and her child who take in a stranger on Christmas Eve. I think you can explore her books through a scriptural lens (Beattitudes, parables, “do unto the least of these”, etc.)
Although her books are usually discussed with an eye toward racial prejudice and injustice, Mildred Taylor’s books would be excellent for exploring scripturally, I think, especially The Friendship (a white store owner shoots his black friend in the leg for coming into the store - even though the two had been friends since childhood) and Mississippi Bridge (a group of black townspeople must give up their seats on a bus to the white folks, and then fate intervenes….)
The Polacco and Bunting books are picture books; the others are short chapter books. Great for book clubs (I use them to teach book clubs to elementary school kids.) Can you tell I really like this proposal??? I have many, many more ideas!
I wanted to add that Chicken Sunday is about forgiveness and making ammends. It would be very good for the project you’re talking about.
P. S. I think CGAuntie needs to come to your house to read books to C! I could probably pack a whole suitcase just of books for us to read together!
Look up anything by Sandy Eisenburg Sasso. Some of her works are explicitly theological (she’s a rabbi) and some are exquisite works of fiction. “God in Between” is a favorite of mine by her.
Yay! I love my readers!
I’m with revkah. Mk favorite book by Sandy Eisenburg Sasso is God’s paintbrush…it’s beautiful.
personally, I would like to do something like this myself, I actually have thought about “theological themes in children’s literature, so I don’t know how I feel about giving this, but:
1. Holes, has a LOT of themes in it, in my humble opinion.
2. I just got done reading The Miraculous JOurney of Edward Tulane.
so, I’m mad (not at you, at myself) for not getting on the stick and proposing something like this, myself.
What a fabulous idea! Mine are already listed, The Lorax and The Giving Tree. I also think that Frog and Toad and the friendship and adventures they share would be interesting to look at. Fun fun! Keep us posted!
I did a whole series on Dr. Seuss for my congregation a few years back– actually it was sort of based on Seussical: the Musical, but it incorporated a whole bunch of the stories. I’d be happy to share what I did if you want it.
I vote for Runaway Bunny as well. Just beautiful.
If I were doing a series, I don’t think I’d look for obviously theological books, like most of Sasso’s, though I love her stuff. I think I’d look more at less obvious themes. Paticia Polacco is one of my favorites, too. I’ve also used “Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge” to talk about the gifts that even the youngest of us bring. Has anyone mentioned “The Quiltmaker’s Gift”? Beautiful illustrations, and themes of letting go of all our stuff, of turning away from ourselves and toward others, of sacrifice. It may even be too obvious.
I sure hope this works out for you– it’s an area that I love as well!
Most of my favorites have already been said!
But also Max Lucado’s children’s books are good. Particularly “You are Special” and the rest of that series.
Also, The Quiltmaker’s Gift (and prequel) by Jeff Brumbeau
What Does Love Look Like by Janette Oke
The Three Trees by Angela Hunt
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
Those are all picture books. For a middle reader, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Will you direct us to the articles when you write them? I’d love to see them.
you might want to know that there is actually a book out now, “The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss.” I think it’s by the same man who did the Peanuts book, but I’m not sure. Someone just showed it to me.
I also liked All of a kind Family when I was growing up…
For those who loved All Of A Kind Family: If you ever get to New York, there’s a tenement tour.
Oh, I forgot to mention: Cat, You Better Come Home, by Garrison Keillor. If you don’t know this one, it’s worth looking for. It’s the story of the prodigal cat. The pictures are priceless, and the text is pure Garrison poetry.
Hi, everyone. I read a lot but don’t comment much - but couldn’t resist adding my thoughts this time.
I love using children’s books with adults as devotional material - I think most adults love hearing children’s stories once again (or even for the first time). And the stories help open us up to looking at life differently.
I also recommend anything by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
Others are:
Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus (I use this one with teens, too)
The Spyglass by Richard Paul Evans and
The Tower by Richard Paul Evans
Blessings!
I’m too late to the party….all mine have been mentioned.
I love this topic…this is my third comment….
Look for the books that have won the Corretta Scott King award. That will give some books that honor children and issues of color, prejudice, African history and cultural differences.
Velveteen Rabbit
Oh, please do let us know when the articles come out. Mine are mentioned already as well. Max Lucado’s Punchinello is good, but of course id designed to have a God theme. The Wind in the Willows, and the enduring friendships, and the lessons learned, is one of my favorites.
Awesome list! WOW!
I loved All of a Kind Family, too! It is not often that I come across people who read those books! Thanks for the link to the tour, Keith!
I love books by Ray Buckley. He’s a First nations author/illustrator that I have used quite a bit: “The Give-Away” is a Christmas story about how we give of ourselves; “The Wing” is about disabilities; “God is Like…” is just as the title says… a number of different ways of understanding God.
Another book that got me (a non-mushy person) bawling was “Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth” by Douglas Wood, about a boy whose grandfather teaches him that all of creation prays. A really touching story.