More Books for Lent & Easter

Today I’m adding to last Friday's post with lists of PBT books I've featured more recently. Like before, I'll give you hyperlinks via the book titles. Books for younger children are first in each list. Keep in mind that some books could be in several lists. 

Remember these books may not directly relate to the themes I've listed. Instead, many books are starting points. Your job will be to steer your audience to the themes you most want to explore. For more explanation of these particular liturgical events, read my previous post.

Ash Wednesday and Lent in General

On this day, we remember Jesus' time in the wilderness being tempted by evil. Lent in general is a time of being inspired by Jesus' devotion and humility. Prayer and repentance are other important themes. These books will help you talk about these difficult subjects:

It's Okay to Make Mistakes

Spuds

We Found a Hat

Flossie the Fox

The Want Monsters

With You All the Way

Because I Love You

The Fisherwoman

Wind-Wild Dog

These books could lead to a conversation about refraining from distractions or waiting with hope for Easter:

Owl Moon

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Snow by Usher

These are books about prayer:

You Are With Me
Thank You Prayer
Pray to God (in series listed at end of post)
Give Me Grace
Psalms for Young Children
This is What I Pray Today
The Quiet Book
How Do I Pray for Grandpa?
Now
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
The Day the Crayons Quit
Before Morning

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a celebration of the hope that Jesus brings and abounds with praise that he deserves. In this list are books about both of these concepts:     
About Hope:
God's Dream                                      

The Little Engine That Could
Can I Be Your Dog?
Chocolate's Dream
He's Got the Whole World
Come On Rain!
Come with Me
Jessica's Box
One Day
The Water Princess
A Child's Garden

About Praise:

Psalms for Young Children                         

Sing, Sing a Song
All of Me
Baby Wren and the Great Gift
One Love
For the Beauty of the Earth                   

The Upper Room (Maundy Thursday)

Here we have the first communion ritual (bread, wine, and a call to remember) and Jesus washing his disciples’ feet (a call to service).
These books connect with at least one of these themes: 

    How to Heal a Broken Wing
Bear Feels Sick
Miss Maple's Seeds
The Catawampus Cat
Lilla's Sunflowers
Aunt Mary's Rose
I Have An Olive Tree
Knots on a Counting Rope
What Do You Do with a Problem?
The Wall
Sadako
Flowers for Sarajevo
The Tsunami Quilt
An Angel for Solomon Singer

Good Friday

Connect these picture books with the story of Jesus on the cross because they are either about the concepts of sacrifice, forgiveness, death or grief:
The Rainbow Fish

I Will Love You Anyway

Curious George and the Pizza Party

Three Bears in a Boat

Miss Fannie's Hat

Life Without Nico 

The Story of Ruby Bridges

Crazy Horse's Vision

Easter

The pivotal event of the Christian faith is a celebration of joy, beauty, divine power, possibility, and transformation. At least one of these themes are connected to these picture books:                                     

God Gave Us Easter (in series listed at end of post)
All in a Day
Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise
Planting a Rainbow
Love Matters Most
The Stars Will Shine
Alfie
Turtle Spring
God's Great Love for You
A Bus Called Heaven
Bring Me a Rock
The Night Gardener
All You Ever Need
Eight Days: A Story of Haiti    

PBT Favorite Posts #7

In celebration of my 700 PBT post (!!!) and the start of February (the month of love), I give you a favorite PBT post. It is a tribute and sort of memorial to my favorite picture book author, Amy Krause Rosenthal. You may recall her NY Times article You May Want to Marry My Husband. Since AKR's death, a TED talk by her husband has had over a million views. It is such a loving tribute to a woman who lived well and an honest testament to the heartbreak of terminal illness and grief. Check it out [here]. And now, that favorite post... 

Last Friday, I posted a tribute to author Amy Krouse Rosenthal after reading that she had a terminal illness. Sadly, AKR died on Monday (3/13/17). [Here’s] an obituary that gives you the breadth of her great work. Below is a post about her most recent publication. I've heard more original works will be published posthumously. I’m glad and very thankful for her life and her work.

Picture Book: That’s Me Loving You

Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Illustrator: Teagan White 

Summary: Each page of this gorgeous book explains how a particular child might find additional meaning in particular experiences of nature. A shimmering star is "me winking at you."

A drifting cloud is "me thinking of you."

The ocean is "me waving at you."

And even a clap of thunder is "me raving about you."

Even insect encounters are given new meaning. A persistent mosquito is "me bugging you"

and a butterfly, "that's me hugging you."

All these nature experiences are moments of transcendence 

and moments of love in the absence of someone who is missed.

Hanna’s Comments: Check out AKR's 1.5 minute short film [Today is a Gift]. Similar sentiments under-gird this book. Knowing the plight of AKR, her words here have bittersweet meaning. She dedicates the book to her 3 children and others who are obviously close to her. Mother love has been featured as a sort of parallel to God's love in other PBT posts. Here are links to 2: the ever-present love found in The Runaway Bunny and the unconditional love found in I Love You Stinky, Face. The kind of love that is expressed in today's PBT book can also be a parallel to God’s unfathomable love and ever-presence. In the United Methodist Church, we hear about prevenient grace, a wooing sort of love that is holy and wonderfully prevenient (anticipatory and constant). Like the mother's love in this book, it is found in God’s generous creation. Find more PBT books that connect to prevenient grace [here]. Children are not too young to hear such an usual word. With their magical thinking, they get that love can transcend time and place. They can find comfort in knowing that God’s presence (and that of an absent parent) can be found in creation in all sorts of ways through acts of contemplation and simply through beauty. Thanks be to God!

Original Publisher & Date: Random House, 2016

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 3 and up, Pre and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: My presence will go with you (Exodus 33:14); In your presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11); Where can I go from your Spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence? … (Psalm 139:7); I (Jesus) am with you always (Matthew 28:20)
Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of children who are learning about how God’s loving presence is with us and can be particularly meaningful when experiencing God’s creation.

PBT Redux #25 – Our Tree Named Steve

Here's one of my favorite books from that first year of PBT when I featured a book a day. If for adults, just read it and hear them make easy connections to scripture and their personal spirituality. If for children or teens, you might need to coax a little. Like many of the other 364 PBT books that year, this book is full of inspiring illustrations. These are especially funny!

Picture Book: Our Tree Named Steve
Author: Alan Zweibel 
Illustrator: David Catrow 
Summary: A father writes his children a letter in which he celebrates all the gifts that have been given to them by Steve, the large, unusual tree near their home. Steve (how the youngest child said "tree") has become an important part of their family history: playmate, shelter, place of important milestones. Dad explains that the tree was knocked down by a storm but has been transformed into a tree house in another tree in their yard and will continue to nurture & protect them. 
Hanna’s Comments: This comical tale has such rich symbolic undercurrents and is full of potential for ties to scripture and spiritual transformation. You'll easily elicit conversations about important elements of family life such as play, ritual, protection, & sacrifice. Tie these to all that is holy at church and in nature. Allusions to Jesus' sacrifice are here as well as Steve as a symbol of God who is ever-present, ever-nurturing, and ever-loving.
Publisher & Date of Publication: Puffin, 2005
Age and Grade Appropriateness: 5 and up, K and up
Formats other than Book: None at present
Scripture Connections: God’s presence with us, giving us rest (Exodus 33:14), God’s plans for our welfare & future (Jeremiah 29:11), Jesus’ sacrifice (John 3:16), I am with you always (Matthew 28:20); Zacchaeus in the tree (Luke 19:1-10); Like the father here, Paul wrote letters to convey the meaning of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. 
Idea(s) for Application: Consider reading this book at an Arbor Day Celebration, a faith family festival, a family reunion, or in a church Sunday school class during Lent. 

Beauty in Response to Violence

The following post was written last week so I do not mention yesterday's massacre in a Texas church. Violence at a place of worship is particularly hard to bear. Prayer is our most crucial tool so I pray for those affected by the madness of yesterday. Picture books and art, such as the music in the story below, are other tools that can benefit faith families reeling from violence, but allow time for the settling of those emotions and deal with most urgent needs first. Stories more easily bring healing when we can sit and listen with open hearts, not hearts burdened with fear and grief. 

Next Monday in the USA, we will be honoring our veterans so I've been saving this book, a true story, that reminds us violence, via war or otherwise, affects not just our veterans but entire communities. Additionally, art such as music as in this book or other artistic expressions, can be a balm of healing. If you are a veteran, thank you for your service and many sacrifices. If not a veteran but violence has touched you recently, my prayer is that healing can come through ritual, beauty, and community.

Picture Book: Flowers for Sarajevo

Author: John McCutcheon

Illustrator: Kristy Caldwell

Summary: Drasko, a young Yugoslavian boy, enjoys helping his father, Milo, sell flowers on the street. 

There Drasko enjoys Sarajevo's diversity of Serbs, Croats, Muslims, and Christians. Despite their differences, most go home with Milo's flowers. Milo loves their differences, even Goran, the cranky merchant next to them, is enjoyed by Milo. 

But war begins quickly, and Drasko's father leaves for the battlefied. 

Drasko works hard to keep his family fed by remaining on the streets, selling flowers. Tensions increase across those who remain, 

and Drasko gets pushed to the worst corner. At least he's near where the orchestra practices. Lonely and missing his father (the music reminds him of their dancing), 

Drasko doesn't know war is about to enter Sarajevo's streets. 

An explosion shatters a wall in the bakery nearby. Chaos ensues. Those who can scatter.

Twenty people have been killed while in line for the bakery. Still Drasko returns to the emptier street the next day. 

When the church bell rings at 10, a man exits the orchestra 

and carries his cello and a chair amidst the rubble.  

At the site of the bomb, the musician sits and plays. Silently, a diverse group gathers, is moved by the music, 

and then watches as the musician leaves also in silence. 

Drasko is so heartbroken, he gives his roses away. 

The musician solemnly repeats daily for a total of 22 times, his ritual gift for the city, a performance for each lost life. 

Drasko begins a ritual too. Each night he prays 23 prayers, one for each who died and one for his father. 

Routine forms again and sellers, even the bakers, are open for business. Mean Gorin brings a customer to Drasko and compliments his flowers. Drasko returns the favor with a rose as his father often did. 

At each day's end, Drasko leaves roses at the bakery and at the orchestra's door. 

He places a rose at Milo's place at the table. Like his father, Drasko is determined to help Sarajevo remember and return to its beauty.

Hanna’s Comments: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia was a diverse city whose glory days you might remember from the 1984 winter Olympics. During The Bosnian War, a bomb did damage the last bakery, killing 22 people. For 22 days, cellist Vedran Smailovic honored the inhabitants with Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor, a piece known to have miraculously survived a bombing in Dresden, Germany during WWII. Later, Sarajevo was under siege for 1,425 days, the longest for any capitol city in modern warfare. Thousands of inhabitants lost their lives. The beautiful city that had been celebrated only a decade before, was a war zone. Smailovic became known as The Cellist of Sarajevo. In the back of the book, you'll find the score, lyrics, an Author's Note, and a section called A Region Shaped by War which gives a summary of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. An audio CD was included in my book that contains lots of supplemental material such as conversations and the author reading the book with page turn prompts. 

Original Publisher & Date: Peachtree, 2017
Age & Grade Appropriateness: 6 and up, 1^st and up

Formats other than Book: Audio CD

Scripture Connections: And my God, my soul is cast down within me. (Psalm 42:6); When I remember God, I moan. (Psalm 77:3); These days should be remembered and kept through every generation. (Esther 9:28)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of adults when studying the spirituality of art or resilience. Use this book as an example of the power of rituals of remembering or lamentations and mourning. Consider giving this book as a gift of gratitude to musicians in your faith family.

PBT Series: God Book #8

Here is the last of the Old Turtle series.  

Picture Book: Old Turtle: Questions of the Heart

Author: Douglas Wood
Illustrator: Greg Ruth 

Summary: Earth’s people have so many questions for Old Turtle. They ask an old woman if Old Turtle is real and how to find her for it was the old woman’s own grandmother who, as a little girl, found Old Turtle. The old woman says to “follow the whisperings of your heart” along the old, overgrown paths to find Old Turtle. Then she says she wants to come along. After a long journey, they find Old Turtle who encourages their questions:

What is our purpose in life?

How do we find happiness?

What about family?

Can you tell us about play?

What is evil?

And the old woman’s question: What of death?

Old Turtle wisely answers each and tells them of another, more important question:

Who are you and how will you live this day?

Once they understand this last question, the party leaves with this comfort from Old Turtle:

There is no question the heart can ask for which it cannot find the answer.

Hanna’s Comments: This book was published to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of Old Turtle. It is dense with philosophical and spiritual ideas as Old Turtle answers each question over several pages. If you are going to present this book to an audience of young children, paraphrase rather than read all the text. They will love the illustrations. For older children or adults, consider reading this book over a series of lessons.

Original Publisher & Date: Scholastic, 2017

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 7 and up, 2nd and up 

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: Each question offered to Old Turtle has connections with scripture, particularly in the wisdom literature: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and more in the Apocrypha. Asking questions of wise ones is a long-standing religious ritual that is evident in stories throughout the Bible. 

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to continue an Old Turtle series of lessons while exploring important spiritual questions and emphasizing the developmental importance of doubt and questioning.

New PBT Series: Theme List: Picture Books about Memory Rituals

Here in The States, we’re headed toward Memorial Day on Monday so I thought I’d give you a demo showing how helpful the PBT search engine can be. 

You’ll find a large list of search words at the bottom of your screen if viewing PBT on a computer. If you’re on a phone, you must click on “view web version,” a choice found under the comments of a post or at the bottom of the list of recent posts. Play around with it and you'll be amazed at the variety of books you'll find here at PBT, over 600!

This first entry in a new PBT series highlighting books that share a particular theme all have in them some sort of memory ritual. To use the PBT search engine, I clicked on the search words “memories,” “remembering,” and “war.” I found ten stories that have this element.

In the list below, I give you the title, the author, and the PBT postdate. Click on the date, and you’ll go to that book’s post. Not all of these books are appropriate for Memorial Day, but they give you some ideas for creating your own memory rituals which are useful for such a holiday.

Memory rituals you find in these books include hanging objects on an ancient tree for remembering an ancestor (immediately above) and collecting a string of buttons which once belonged to a deceased mother and then using them like prayer beads to remember her (immediately below). 

I’d love a comment about any of these books that you’ve read. Perhaps you have ideas on how they can be used. Some are simple like this one (immediately below) which has the animals publicly sharing what the late Badger taught them. 

Some are complicated and particular such as an usual arrangement of roses created after the destruction of The Twin Towers (immediately below). Ask me a question, if you see some books that interest you but you aren’t sure how to use them at home, a classroom, a therapy session, or with your family of faith.

You might choose to not read the picture book to others. Instead you let the story inspire you to create a memory ritual for yourself or for your group. Memory rituals are healing. They are especially meaningful and found in most religions. In Christianity, communion, remembering our baptism, creating altars, and wearing particular jewelry are just a few ways we remember crucial events and important people. Sometimes creating your own ritual makes such experiences all the more meaningful.

These books highlight some secular ways to remember sacred ideas, pivotal events, or loved ones who are missed:
Lila’s Sunflowers by Kosinski - 11/11/16

September Roses by Winter - 9/11/16

The Wall by Bunting - 5/23/15

I Have an Olive Tree by Bunting - 3/12/15

Sadako by Coerr - 2/15/15

Grandpa Green by Smith - 8/7/14

Badger’s Parting Gifts by Varley - 8/8/14

The Tsunami Quilt by Fredericks - 11/6/14

Aunt Mary’s Rose by Wood - 8/4/14

The Memory String by Bunting -  7/28/14