Here’s another one of my early posts that is worth sharing again. This little book is a treasure. It’s been in print for over 70 years and is typically read to very young children. In the post below, I suggest you consider a broader audience and give your faith family a chance to see the connections between this little guy's faith in a carrot seed and their own faith.
Picture Book: The
Carrot Seed
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Crockett
Johnson
Summary: This classic
has a simple story but a powerful message about a lone boy’s faith in a carrot
seed which he has planted and continues to nurture despite his family members
saying repeatedly, “It won’t come up.” Eventually the greens pop above the
soil’s surface. Then the boy pulls a huge carrot out of the ground and loads it
onto a wheel barrow. I wonder if he shared the carrot with his family.
Hanna’s Comments: This book was
published 70 years ago, but its simple message of faith and nurturing that
which only you believe in is universal and timeless. I think it should be in
every toddler and preschooler’s library. Certainly it should be in your faith
community’s nursery, preschool rooms, and community-wide library. Don't limit
it's audience to just little ones. With elementary children and adults talk
about naysayers and critics. Discuss the concept of nurturing your faith as the
boy nurtured his carrot seed. Be sure to point out that the carrot seed might
have died had the boy not been so faithful to it. Ask them, “What are some of
the ways we “water” and “weed” our faith gardens?” Think this is too abstract?
Offer some personal explanation of how you do this and what your faith garden
looks like. I bet you’ll be surprised at how they will catch on.
Publisher & Date of Publication: Harper
& Row, 1945
Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and
up, Pre and up
Formats other than Book: There
are several videos to choose from including “Uncle Wally” Amos reading this
book as a part of the Read it Loud library program on
Youtube.com, Audio cassette
Scripture Connections: Other
seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some
sixty, some thirty. (Matthew 13:8); If you have faith the size of a
mustard seed (Matthew 17:20)
Idea(s) for Application: Because
the concept of faith is so abstract, children (and sometimes adults) have
difficulty understanding it. This little book offers a delightfully simple, but
profound explanation of faith that is easy to relate to. Read this book in a
Sunday school or other small group context and explore the concept of faith and
how to "tend" and "nurture" it.
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