I’m Back! New PBT Posts Ahead!

Sometimes life gets in the way of doing the work you love! Thank you for your patience, feedback, and encouragement of me while I’ve taken a long break here at PBT. I assure you, my PBT work has not stopped! More about that later. 

I have made so many fabulous discoveries of picture books and their potential for use in churches, classrooms, and homes! You will love what’s coming! 

Today’s feature book comes from a great pair, a well-known children’s author and a popular children’s illustrator. Because this book is broad in scope, it has much potential for meaningful theological conversations for children, teens, and adults! 

Picture Book: Life

Author: Cynthia Rylant

Illustrator: Brendan Wenzel

Summary: All about love and change throughout life, this book is a celebration of God’s plan for us to grow, adapt, and learn. Rylant & Wenzel emphasize that “life begins small, even for the elephants. Then it grows.” They explore how life gets bigger and more complex. Throughout, animal companions in beautiful spaces teach. We are encouraged to “ask any animal on Earth, what do you love about life?” Animals respond with an answer that reflects their life journeys. For all, struggles are inevitable, but they lead to new paths. Every place is for loving, gratitude, protection, and connection. If you ever doubt the beauty and meaning of life, look to nature to steer you back home.

Hanna’s Comments: The pandemic has required us to change and adapt. Change is inevitable in all of life, even in viruses! This is God’s loving design, far beyond our comprehension, but we are learning! Such learning and growing deserves theological attention and conversation. Conversations about growth can be broad as in the subject of spiritual transformation or more specific as with learning to say no to people or temptations. As I have struggled through the pandemic, I have thought of Jacob wrestling with an angel in Genesis 32. The angel renames him Israel because he has struggled with God and with humans. This year I discovered in a Judaism course that Israel is a name for us all, for we all struggle! Life is a struggle, but it is full of blessings. We inhabitants of Earth are in these struggles and blessings together! Thank God!

Original Publisher & Date: Beach Lane Books, 2017

Age Appropriateness: Preschool & up

Formats other than Book: Tablet & Audio

Scripture Connections: Any scripture in which a character experiences great change such as conversion experiences or coming home, also scriptures about lessons brought forth by nature, Jacob wrestles with an angel (Genesis 32); ...do not be discouraged for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9); See I am doing a new thing... (Isaiah 43:19); For I know the plans I have for you... (Jeremiah 29:11); …all things work together for good (Romans 8:28); consider it pure joy when you face trials... (James1:2)

PBT Applications: Read this book to a group of any age and guide them to consider how life changes, we struggle, we grown, and we lean into natural experiences or God’s promises, God’s presence, God’s ways, or the hope we have in God.

GLAD I'M POSTING AGAIN? TELL ME.

Seed Parables

Picture Book: The Tiny Seed
Author & Illustrator: Eric Carle

Summary: It's autumn and a group of seeds begin their journey via the wind from tree to destiny. Carle asks if the tiniest of them will be able to keep up. 

One seed flies too close to the sun.

 One lands in ice that never melts.

 Another seed falls into the ocean. 

A hot dry desert is too much for one seed. Meanwhile, the tiny seed is pushed on with the others. 

When the seeds fall to the ground, one is eaten, but not the tiny seed. It is so small. It isn't seen. 

The tiny seed also avoids being a mouse lunch. 

It's spring; the seeds transform into plants. 

One plant is trampled.   

One is picked... 

to become a gift.

Amazingly, the tiny seed becomes a tremendous flower, taller than a nearby house - a giant! 

Birds and bees visit all summer. They too are surprised by its size. 

When Autumn returns, the wind blows petals (and seeds) about, continuing the circle of life.  

Hanna’s Comments: I hope you see the direct connections this book has to Jesus' seed parables. Those seeds metaphorically represented the gospel, the church, or The Kingdom of God. In each case, the giant flower offers a nice point of discussion about the growth and influence of these throughout history. A board book is photographed above, but because of the amount of text, this book is better for older children who might not like being read a board book. Instead choose a larger version or the video which is very well done and free if you are an Amazon Prime member. If you’re an Eric Carle fan, find more of his books at PBT [here] and [here.] There are many books here at PBT about seeds. Besides the direct connections to seed parables, they offer aspects of transformation & resurrection and a need for tender care. My 2 favorites which are very different in tone are [here] and [here]. Find a fabulous book about the mustard seed [here]. If you want to see many more books about seeds, use the search word "seeds."

Original Publisher & Date: Little Simon, 2009

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

Formats other than Book: Video

Scripture Connections: The seed parables particularly The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, & Luke 8:4-15) and The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 31-32) Any Bible story about resilience or starting out small. 

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of children when studying one or more of the seed parables.

Iowa Presentation: Book #2

Here's a re-posting featuring the 2nd book I offered at the CEF conference last week. In this post, I featured 2 books. The first is the secular book that I talked about in Iowa. Here's the post...

At present I’m writing a children’s curriculum for my church that connects to The Revised Common Lectionary. This week one of those scriptures is a portion of the story of Jonah. Jonah’s story is one of my favorites in the Bible so I thought I’d feature a couple of beautiful books, one secular and one sacred, that could be used in a lesson about Jonah. Enjoy!

Picture Book: The Boy and the Whale

Author & Illustrator: Mordecai Gerstein

Summary: In this powerful story, a boy and his father discover that a whale is caught in one of their nets. 

The father is concerned about his net which he cannot afford to replace; the boy is focused on the whale. 

They dive into the sea, assuming the whale is dead, 

and the boy remembers being caught in a net as a younger child. 

Then a surprise 

 and a rush for air!

Papa leaves, hoping to beg a relative for another net. Although the boy is forbidden to do so, he drives the boat out to the whale because he remembers how terrified he was to be caught in a net and how he needed his father to rescue him.

As the net is cut, the boy hopes the whale will wiggle to freedom, realizing how dangerous the situation is. 

He talks to the whale and apologizes for the net, explaining that fishing is "how we live." 

Looking again in the whale's enormous eyes, the boy begs the whale not to die. 

 The nets begin slipping away 

so the boy pulls the nets into the boat. 

Suddenly, the whale dives. As the boy stands, hoping to see the whale one last time... 

it springs out the sea, spinning and crashing again and again. The boy wonders if it is a dance of freedom or a dance of gratitude. 

When the boy returns to shore he realizes his father has been watching. After the boy admits to disobeying his father, his father simply says that what he did was foolish but brave. Then they go to repair an uncle's net.

Hanna’s Comments: One of the amazing aspects of Picture Book Theology is how children will be able to connect two very different stories. They've been taught to do this at school and may be more skilled at this than adults. The Jonah story could be presented via a children's Bible reading (it's a whole chapter in the Bible), another picture book like the one below, or by simply telling the story. Encourage them to find similarities and differences between these stories. They'll leave the lesson with a better understanding of Jonah in the Bible, and they'll have another great story in their experience. 

Original Publisher & Date: Roaring Brook Press, 2017

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

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: The Book of Jonah; Courage/God with us (Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 41:10, Philippians 4:13, 2 Timothy 1:7); Breath (Psalm 150:6, John 20:22); Defiance as a sacred practice (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 2:23-28); Justice for the Captive (Luke 4:18, John 8:32, Galatians 5:1,13)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of adults and ask them to consider how defiance can be a spiritual practice and how Jesus models such action for us in the gospels. 

Picture Book: Jonah’s Whale

Author: Eileen Spinelli

Illustrator: Giuliano Ferri

Summary: This is the traditional story of Jonah told beautifully through the point of view of the whale. It begins simply: "God made Whale. God gave Whale a home in the blue-deep waters of the sea."

It focuses on the job God gave Whale and Whale's faithful response. But first, the whale is lonely so God gives Whale a family. Whale is hungry so God gives Whale "silvery sea-clouds of fish." 

God also gives Whale a "joyful song to sing" 

and the ability to move so that Whale can disrupt fishermen's lunches. 

And God gave Whale beauty.  

One evening a storm comes, and Whale spies a boat that is about to be torn apart by the waves. 

Whale hears a man confessing to his shipmates, saying that he is the reason for the storm. 

When the man jumps into the sea, God tells Whale to save the man so Whale does so in the way only Whale can. 

The man lands inside Whale, who burps and thinks, "Now what?" 

The first day, Whale does only gentle swimming for the sake of the man while the man prays in Whale's belly. Whale waits for God's instruction.

The second day, Whale becomes queezy and worries he might throw up. No instruction comes.   

By the third day, Whale becomes discouraged and knows the man must be discouraged too. Whale begins singing the song God has given him, hoping it will lighten the heart of the man. 

Eventually, "a whisper in the music" comes. God tells Whale to spit the man onto dry land. Whale does just that and then swims out to sea. 

Whale never forgets the man. Whenever he sees other boats in distress, he stays close and waits for requests from God. The man never forgets Whale either. Later, he walks beside the ocean and listens for Whale's comforting song.  

Hanna’s Comments: I hope you can see why I chose this book for my preschool lesson. It is beautiful and poignant. There are many picture books about Jonah ranging from board books for toddlers to this more complex tale. Choose wisely with the age and attention spans of your audience in mind. Also, notice where the story ends. In my opinion, the last part of Jonah's tale, the part where he is sitting outside of Nineveh feeling sorry for himself, is important. However, you'll see it left out of most picture books about Jonah. 

Original Publisher & Date: Erdman’s, 2012

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

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book about Jonah to a group of elementary children and challenge them to consider how they are like Whale and like Jonah.

Yesterday I received a gift from a reader. I was so grateful! It reminded me that it's been a while since I mentioned my PayPal Donate button in the upper right of this website. I do this work for you for free. I love it, but it takes a lot of investment of my time, energy, and money. Please consider showing me your gratitude with a donation so that I am encouraged to keep telling you about great picture books for your family, ministry, or classroom. Thanks! Hanna

Fruit of the Spirit: Love

Picture Book: Love

Author: Matt de la Pena

Illustrator: Loren Long

Summary: This beautiful new book begins with the birth of a child, but the story is about several children. The word "you" refers to each of them. This allows the images and ideas to more easily apply to the reader as well. In your case, your audience.

Sounds, smells and other sensory experiences of these children's lives are celebrated as evidence of love, as in this urban scene and...

 

the sky above a trailer home. 

The delight of an urban summer day and playing with the big kids is one of many examples of love here! But these moments are not all joyful. Love comes at hard times too.

When fire alarms interrupt your sleep, a neighbor reassures you that stars shine with love long after the flames die out. 

Sometimes love is harder to find such as when there's violence in your home 

or when there's violence on the TV and no one will explain. 

You might go to bed and face bad dreams, but then 

awake to find loving arms to hold you. Then you hear, "It's okay. It's okay." That's love. 

Some love gets unappreciated like the love of a parent who is at work in the morning but leaves breakfast to share. 

Love is in each deep crevice of the face of a granddad who will fish with a grandchild. 

Love is in a young girl's daydreams 

your uncle's stories, 

and the love songs of the man who sings on the street. 

Most importantly, love is in the face you see in the bathroom mirror. 

And then one day, you'll be off on your own, surrounded by family wishing you good luck, 

but it won't be luck you'll have.  Instead you'll have the love they've given you all along. Love. Love. Love.

Hanna’s Comments: This book is a celebration of the universal bonds of love, across cultures, diverse family situations, and various milestones. This is not a straightforward book. I suggest you read each double-page spread and then discuss that situation. Begin by simply asking, "Where's the love?"  You might have to start with, "What are the feelings being experienced?" Help your audience expand the sources of love from human to divine. Consider talking about God's hope or Jesus' examples and how those might apply. Ask: "Where's The Holy Spirit?" in each situation. "What are people being called to do? Why?" Try to encourage many connections to the book and across your audience. This will build meaning and perhaps lead to transformation. 

This author's last publication was so impressive that it won the prestigious Newbery Award for 2016. This is unusual for a picture book. Like today's feature book, Last Stop on Market Street is all about a loving relationships but via a soup kitchen and a child's first exposure to poverty. [Here's] my post featuring that book.

Original Publisher & Date: Putnam’s Sons, 2018

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

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: In addition to The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: ... love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18); A new commandment I give you that you love one another (John 13:34); The Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13); Let all you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14); Above all these, put on love which binds everything together (Colossians 3:14); Above all, keep loving one another earnestly (1 Peter 4:8)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of new parents or those who are anticipating parenthood. OR Read this book during a lesson series for elementary children on The Fruit of the Spirit.