I Am Whose I Am

Despite having the same title, the books above are very different! The first book I describe below is a PBT God Book – a book about the nature of God. The great I Am, may be called by all these names and more. The second book is a book about the nature of human beings. One of God’s names, I Am, found in Exodus 3:14, serves as a core theological perspective for both books.

Both books here are board books so refrain from reading them to older children. Instead, present their ideas to older children in other ways, such as offering only the text as poetry or storytelling. Better yet, let ideas inspire you to design a game, craft, or drama.

You may not see the connection between these 2 books. Let me explain with another crucial scripture:

All humans carry in them the Image of God. Genesis explains in 2 places and then declares us good (God created humans in God’s own image... And God blessed them and called them good. Genesis 1:27 & 28a, 31). 

The 2nd book below about human nature, empowers our goodness (Dare I write God-ness?) and blessing in each of us. No matter which name we call God, “The Great I Am” is in us and provides for our resilience!

Picture Book: I Am: The Names of God for Little Ones

Author: Diane M. Stortz

Illustrator: Diane Le Feyer

Summary: Each double page of this resource book (not to be read all at once) includes several components: The Name of God, the word/phrase in its original language, a bit of a key scripture, a paraphrase of that scripture or another, a short prayer, and a beautiful illustration. Here is a quick summary of all pages. The names of God are in bold.

Creator - Elohim (Genesis 1:1)

God All-Powerful - El Shaddai (Genesis 17:1 - Abraham’s Star Promise)

I Am – Jehovah (Moses & the Burning Bush – Exodus 3:14)

God Who Saves - El Moshaah (Moses & the Red Sea – Exodus 5, 14 & Psalm 68:20)

The Lord Will Provide – Jehovah Jireh (Abraham & Isaac – Genesis 22:14 & Manna - Exodus 16)

The Lord Who Heals - Jehovah Rophe (Exodus 15:26 & Naaman 2 Kings 5)

Son of God – Luke 1:35 (Jesus’ Baptism – Matthew 3)

Teacher – Rabbi (Matthew 5-7)

Good Shepherd – (John 10:11 & Luke 15)

Savior – (Titus 1:4 & Luke 23-24)

Friend – (John 15:14 & 21)

King of Kings – (Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19-22)

Hanna’s Comments: Very cleverly and efficiently designed, this book gives so much in its pages! Appropriately, it is sensitive to the violence of some of these stories.

This author has also written Say and Pray Bible: First Words, Stories, and Prayers for infants and toddlers. I love its design! It uses word bubbles for building simple vocabulary around a few Bible stories. 

Original Publisher: Tommy Nelson, 2018

Age Appropriateness: 3 and up

Formats other than Book: None at present

Scripture Connections: See above

PBT Applications: Insert components of this book at the end of a children’s worship or children’s moment. Also, use it to inspire you to design a lesson for older ages about the various names for God. Encourage them to share what names they prefer for God.

Picture Book: I Am! Affirmations for Resilience

Author: Bela Barbosa

Illustrator: Edel Rodriguez

Summary: The author calls this book a tool kit for building self-esteem and self-worth. Connect it to the scriptures mentioned above and you will help build your listeners' sense of being precious children of God, endowed with goodness, strength, and resilience. The first pages offer a bit of an emotional assessment: How do you feel on the inside? 

This book offers ways to feel better. For each double-page spreads you'll find a description of feelings, directions for a stance or fluid movement, and words to say. I encourage you to insert deep breathing, explaining that the Holy Spirit is God's breath. 

Hanna’s Comments: Movement is crucial while reading this book so have a person as a designated book holder or use a book stand while you lead the movement. Reading all these pages at once would be too much. Choose a few or use this book as a resource and insert an idea into a classroom ritual or lesson’s closing prayer. Because the body is the focus here, you can glean ideas for a lesson about The Body of Christ. Certainly, we gain strength from others too!

Original Publisher: Rise X Penguin, 2020

Age Appropriateness: 2 and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: Any scripture about God’s strength, such as Habakkuk 3:19 & Isaiah 12:2 (God is my strength.) OR about resilience, such as the story of Ruth & Naomi. Remember PBT scripture connections can be spiritual ideas (the first example) or spiritual stories (the 2^nd example).  

Connections to The Revised Common Lectionary: I listed both books in my Trinity Treasures preschool curriculum when the RCL listed the story of the Burning Bush (Year A). The 2nd book I listed for the lesson on Isaiah 12 (Year C -theme: My Strength).

PBT Applications: Use ideas for this book and integrate them into a lesson for teens about how we find strength in The Body of Christ. Together create body postures and transform them into body prayers. 

If you are interested in learning more about my Trinity Treasures, a scripture based preschool Sunday school curriculum that features picture books & children’s Bibles, contact me at hannaschock@bellsouth.net. Right now, free lessons are emailed if you agree to fill out the monthly feedback form.

It's Love! - a Little Late

Sorry I got sick and couldn’t feature these books earlier in February, the month of love. I have 2 new publications that are rich with meaning but very different visually and in tone. Both offer profound ideas about God’s nature and God's greatest gift. I also give you links to other “love-ly” books here at PBT.

Picture Book: Love

Author: Stacy McAnulty

Illustrator: Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Summary: The profound question “What is love?” is the "heart" of this book. Sorry for that very bad pun! Everyday moments, sometimes unexpected, are highlighted. There's lots of fun and diversity in character and deed, but the context is consistent - families and friends loving on each other!  

Loving spiritual practices and loving situations abound such as gifts of hospitality, generosity, and that most precious gift - presence. 

Hanna’s Comments: If your country celebrates St. Valentine's Day, this is a perfect book for that occasion, but it's applicable all year long! I adore the illustrator’s choices here! Check out the cover. Within these pages you have lots of examples of how we communicate love including the American Sign Language sign and other simple signals with our body. I used all these gestures for a preschool lesson about 1 Corinthians 13. This author’s fun book Excellent Ed was featured at PBT [here]. And [here's] another favorite book all about how our bodies (hands this time) show love. 

Original Publisher & Date: Running Press Kids, 2018

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet 

Scripture Connections: God is love. (1 John 4:8b); The Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13); Let all you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14); Above all these, put on love… (Colossians 3:14)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of young children, and practice all the ways in these pages love can be communicated with your body. Then create some new ways.  

Picture Book: My Heart

Author & Illustrator: Corinna Luyken

Summary: This author/illustrator urges us to let our hearts be our guides and listen to the loving voice within us. Sounds like The Holy Spirit to me! There’s a lot of abstract metaphorical language, but don’t let that keep you from sharing this with younger audiences. Sometimes they get such messages when we adults are stuck in the concrete.

Hanna’s Comments: You’ll want to play with these metaphors yourself before you read this book to an audience. What does it mean to say “My heart is a slide, a fence, or a stain? 

I used to collect hearts. There's no red in these pages! What Luyken does with that simple design and the colors yellow and black is amazing! Be sure to have your folks find the hidden hearts in these pages. Spend time with each image’s meaning. Does it remind them of a personal experience or a possibility or hope? Can they make up or dramatize a simple story inspired by an illustration? So much potential here! Keep connecting to scripture and you have a fabulous Sunday school or Bible Study experience. [Here's] another book about loving the world, but it's so very different looking. Kids might like experiencing both and then using all the images to compare, contrast, and create. If you're a preacher, this book could serve as rich visual stimuli for a profound sermon on what it means to love. 

Original Publisher & Date: Dial, 2019

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: Create in me a clean heart O God… (Psalm 51:10); Keep your heart with all vigilance… (Proverbs 4:23); I will give you a new heart and a new spirit…I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh (Ezekiel 36:26); Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of children or adults who need some reminders about how to love one another better. This book would also be a beautiful reading for spiritual direction or other bibliotherapy contexts, particularly if someone is struggling with important relationships. For more on that, check out [this post]. 

Grab & Go #14 – Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

A PBT Grab & Go book requires little planning because its content aligns obviously with theological ideas from The Bible. Bucket Filling is all about love. There are numerous resources, including other picture books, about the concept of bucket filling as a metaphor for the importance of loving attention. I've scattered a few covers of some of those resources in this repeated post from 2014. 

Picture Book: Have You Filled a Bucket Today?                                                     A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids

Author: Carol McCloud

Illustrator: David Messing

Summary: Based on the adult book How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, this picture book puts those authors’ ideas in an inviting format for children. The guiding metaphor here is that each of us has been carrying an invisible bucket since birth. The purpose of the bucket is to hold good thoughts and feelings about yourself. You need others to fill your bucket by being loving to you, and they need you to fill their bucket by being loving to them. What’s wonderful is that the act of filling someone else’s bucket fills your bucket as well. You feel good when you help others feel good. However, you might sometimes be a “bucket dipper.” Bucket dipping occurs when you take away someone’s good feelings by saying or doing mean things to them.

Hanna’s Comments:  I chose this "bucket" book because it teaches children how to fill others’ buckets and focuses on how our actions influence others’ well-being. This is an important aspect of any faith community. Another strength of this book is the way in which it teaches empathy, an important skill for personal resilience and functional community. Find an introduction by the author. For more information and resources including free downloads, visit www.bucketfillers101.com.

Publisher & Date of Publication: Ferne Press, 2006

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet, Amateur videos on Youtube.com where there is also a song about being bucket fillers.

Scripture Connections: This is my commandment that you love one another (John 15:12); rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15); be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32); all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, love, a tender heart and a humble mind

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book when doing a lesson for children on your faith community’s loving interdependence and God's call to live in this way.

PBT God Book #11

Picture Book: God’s Dream

Authors: Desmond Tutu & Douglas Carlton Abrams

Illustrator: LeUyen Pham

Summary: Along with his co-author, Archbishop Tutu’s offers young children his vision of God’s dream for all people. Sharing, caring, and reaching out to hold hands are a part of God’s dream for us but so is saying sorry and forgiving when we hurt each other or are hurt by someone. The authors explain that we all carry within us "a piece of God’s heart" so that when we love each other, God’s heart becomes whole. God wishes everyone would see themselves as family members across the globe even when they are different in their looks, languages, and ways of speaking to God.  How do you make God’s dream come true? By simply knowing we are all one family of God’s children and loving each other accordingly. This book is also available in board book form for young children. 

Hanna’s Comments: This picture book offers the wise vision of Anglican Archbishop Tutu, a charismatic leader who has captured the world's attention with his desires for justice in South Africa and his message that ALL are beings made in the image of God. Here he encourages young children to lead the world towards God’s dream for humanity: a dream of empathy, tenderness, respect, forgiveness, reconciliation, and joy. Grabbing this book for a children's lesson in your place of worship would be a no-brainer. Reading it to your child or grandchild would be a privilege. Teaching it to the children in your private school classroom would be a treasure passed on to the next generation. 

Original Publisher & Date: Candlewick, 2008

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 5 and up, K and up

Formats other than Book: None at present

Scripture Connections: Made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18 & Matthew 7:12); God’s plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11)

Idea(s) for Application: This would be an easy book to use with children who are learning about these concepts: God's hope for God's kingdom, our being made in God's image, or The Great Commandment.  

Do You Have a Shimmery Trail?

Picture Book: Escargot

Author: Dashka Slater

Illustrator: Sydney Hanson 

Summary: Escargot, the snail who narrates and stars in this hilarious book, doesn’t mind you staring at him. 

He knows he is beautiful and he so wants to be your favorite animal.

A race with the reader to the salad (“with a few croutons and a light vinaigrette”) at the end of the book is the tres magnifique plot device,

along with some cleverly placed French phrases. 

The race is slow as Escargot confesses that he doesn’t like to hurry, but if he wants to, he can run like a cheetah, like the wind. 

Escargot knows that when he wins the race to the salad, he is sure to be the reader’s favorite animal, explaining that sadly “no one ever says their favorite animal is a snail.”

Along the way, Escargot encourages compliments, 

offers opportunities for kisses, 

and confesses his disdain for carrots. 

Escargot argues that snails are not slimy. Au contraire! The trails he makes are “shimmery trails of…shimmery stuff.” 

Then he asks, “Do you make a shimmery trail?” 

Escargot explains that he is “quite fierce!” This is the face he makes when confronted with wild lions, boars, or carrots that should not be in his salad. 

Then he asks for a fierce face from the reader.

When reader and snail arrive at the salad, Escargot declares that both are champions and suggests celebrating by eating the salad until...

 the carrots are discovered!

When the carrot doesn't respond to his fierce face, Escargot bargains with the reader to have some carrot too. Then he will try it. He takes a small bite.  

It is delicious! So delicious Escargot eats them all.

Escargot worries that he won't be the reader's favorite animal since he didn't share the carrots. 

C'est la vie, Escargot does not give up. Affirmations and kisses end the story as we finally see the human reader. 

Escargot announces the reader is HIS favorite animal and gives a kiss. Mwah!

Hanna’s Comments: By the end of this book, Escargot very well may be your favorite animal (character). A French accent was so prominent in my head as I silently read this delightful book. If you can, find someone who can pull that off when reading it to your audience for full effect and laughter. My theatrical son has a decent French accent so I loved his reading.

You might say, "Such a silly book could never offer anything for ministry." Au contraire! Besides the desire for loving relationship, which is at the heart of all faith families, you have here a flurry (make that a trickle-this is a snail after all) of affirmations. Affirming someone is a magnifique spiritual practice to teach any faith family. In the middle of this tale, you'll find this marvelous question: “Do you have a shimmery trail?”

Explore that idea with children or adults. Do you affect the world in a positive way? Even bigger, will your life help to bring forth the kind of world God desires? Have fun with those ideas. Want some more? check this out. 

Original Publisher & Date: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: Abraham and his legacies are blessed to be a blessing (Genesis 12); Learn to do good; see justice; correct oppression; bring justice to the orphan; plead the widow’s cause (Isaiah 1:17); What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8)

Idea(s) for Application: Read Escargot’s story and then explore the spiritual practice of affirming others or the idea of leaving “a shimmery trail of shimmery stuff.”