PBT Series: God Books #6

One of my newest series is to repost about my PBT God books. God books are picture books that explore the nature of God. Some are secular, with allusions to God that are not obvious. Most, like the book below, have God as their subject. When mentioning God books, I use Old Turtle as an example. It’s a very popular book from the 1990s, but many people don’t know about the two other books in the series. I'll post about them next week! Check out all three books. There are many ministry applications for they are rich with provoking ideas about humans, God, and God's intentions for Earth. 

Picture Book: Old Turtle

Author: Douglas Wood

Illustrator: Cheng-Khee Chee

Summary: Long ago the animals & other inhabitants of Earth argue about God. Each attributes to God characteristics like themselves. The wind argues that God is never still. Then the rock insists that God never moves. The lion describes God as a hunter. The robin claims that God is gentle. Eventually, Old Turtle stops the arguing, offering a description of God that incorporates all the previous ideas and ends simply with “God is.” Old Turtle forewarns of a new animal coming who would be even more like God. Humans do come, but they forget to be like God. When the humans argue about God, they use their power to hurt others and the Earth. A new response comes from the other Earth inhabitants who declare God’s presence in a variety of sources. After a lonely and scary time, the people listen and even begin to see God in one another and the beauty that surrounds them. Old Turtle and God smile.

Hanna’s Comments: This is a fabulous fable exploring ecological responsibility, peace, and our human legacy as being made in God’s image. Interconnections with other inhabitants of Earth are emphasized. Look for posts about the other  two books featuring Old Turtle's wisdom to follow on PBT next week! For you music lovers, a choral symphony has been written based on this picture book.  Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has written a similar book titled In God’s Name. I highly recommend it as well. It is published by Jewish Lights, a publisher of books for “Peoples of all Faiths, All Backgrounds.”

Publisher & Date of Publication: Scholastic, 1991

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 6 and up, 1st and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet, Youtube video

Scripture Connections: Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), I am that I am (Exodus 3:14)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book before taking a group of children from your faith community to a zoo or in a lesson exploring ecology or being made in God's image.

PBT Grab & Go #6 – Old Turtle

Today I offer another in my PBT Grab & Go series in which I post again about a picture book that is extremely easy to use in sacred settings. Today’s feature book is a PBT God book, one of the few PBT books that seem to be about the nature of God. Most PBT books are secular; these are the exception.

Picture Book: Old Turtle

Author: Douglas Wood

Illustrator: Cheng-Khee Chee

Summary: Long ago the animals & other inhabitants of Earth (the oceans, the rocks, etc.) began arguing about God. The animals gave God characteristics like themselves. The wind argued that God was never still while the rock insisted that God never moved. The lion described God as a hunter; the robin claimed that God is gentle. Eventually Old Turtle stopped the arguing and offered a description of God that incorporated all the previous offerings and then ended simply with “God is.” Then Old Turtle forewarned of a new animal coming to join them who would be even more like God. The humans did come, but they forgot they were to be messengers of love. The humans also argued about God’s nature and used their power to hurt others and the Earth. Then new kinds of responses came from the inhabitants who had argued before. This time they offered one another’s attributes as aspects of God. After a lonely and scary time, the people listened and even began to see God in one another and the beauty that surrounded them. Old Turtle (and God) smiled.

Hanna’s Comments: This is a wonderful fable of ecology, peace, and our legacy as being made in God’s image and interconnected with other inhabitants of Earth. A choral symphony has been written based on this picture book. There’s also a sequel: Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has written a similar book: In God’s Name. I highly recommend it as well. It is published by Jewish Lights, a publisher of books for “Peoples of all Faiths, All Backgrounds.”

Publisher & Date of Publication: Scholastic, 1991

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 6 and up, 1st and up

Formats other than Book: Tablet, Youtube video

Scripture Connections: Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and other aspects of the Genesis 1 creation story; I am that I am (Exodus 3:14)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book before or after taking a group of children from your faith community to a zoo. Encourage them to talk and think about how the animals they see might reflect God’s nature.

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 60

Picture Book: Koko’s Kitten

Author: Dr. Francine Patterson

Photographs by: Ronald H. Cohn

Summary: Koko, an amazing gorilla in an experimental communication program since the early 1970s, has not only mastered 2,000 or so words in American Sign Language (according to recent info.), but the art of loving as well. After communicating that she wanted a cat for her birthday, Koko is given a kitten who she names All Ball. This story records her anticipation and her loving relationship with All Ball including Koko’s obvious grief when All Ball is run over by a car. Eventually a new kitten, Lipstick, is found for Koko and a new loving relationship begins.

Hanna's Comments: More recent editions of this book will have up-dated information about Koko in the Author's Note and Preface. This author has a more general book about Koko and her abilities: Koko's Story. Koko has been a celebrity for decades so there is a great deal of information about her on the web, especially at www.koko.org. 

Publisher & Date of Publication: Scholastic, 1985                                         

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

# of Pages: 32                                                                                            

Available in Spanish? Not at present 

Formats other than Book: None at present, see videos of Koko on www.koko.org, a feature length video about Koko is available for purchase at Amazon.com and on Youtube.com

PBT Category: Non-fiction, Pre 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: affection, animals, brokenness, death/loss/grief, depression/despair/sadness/sorrow, differences, the environment/nature, family, friends/friendship, loneliness, love, mothers, pacifism/peace/peaceful/peacemakers/peaceable kingdom, pets, wonder

Scripture Connections: Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth… (Job 35:11), Peaceable Kingdom (Isaiah 11:6)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this before you take your community’s children to the zoo. While at the zoo engage them in conversations about the mysteries of animal abilities, God’s creative imagination, and our responsibility as caretakers of the Earth’s creatures.

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 27

Dynamic Duo: Book 1

Picture Book: Old Turtle

Author: Douglas Wood

Illustrator: Cheng-Khee Chee

Summary: Long ago the animals & other inhabitants of Earth (the oceans, the rocks, etc.) argue about God. Each animal gives God characteristics like themselves. The wind argues that God is never still. Then the rock insists that God never moves. The lion describes God as a hunter; the robin claims that God is gentle. Eventually wise Old Turtle stops the arguing, offering a description of God that incorporates all the previous ideas and ending simply with “God is.” Old Turtle forewarns of a new animal coming who would be even more like God. Humans do come, but they forget to be like God. When the humans argue about God, they use their power to hurt others and the Earth. A new response comes from the other animals. They declare God’s presence in a variety of ways. After a lonely and scary time, the people listen and even begin to see God in one another and the beauty that surrounds them. Old Turtle and God smile.

Hanna’s Comments: Part 1 of a dynamic duo, this is a wonderful fable of ecology, peace, and human legacy as being made in God’s image. Interconnections with other inhabitants of Earth are emphasized. A choral symphony has been written based on this picture book. A sequel is tomorrow’s PBT Dynamic Duo picture book offering. Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has written a similar book titled In God’s Name. I highly recommend it as well. It is published by Jewish Lights, a publisher of books for “Peoples of all Faiths, All Backgrounds.”

Publisher & Date of Publication: Scholastic, 1991

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 6 and up, 1st and up

# of Pages: 56

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: Youtube video

PBT Category: Pre 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: arguing, differences, the environment/nature, God’s nature, humanity, image of God, mentors/teachers, pacifism/peace/peaceful/peacemakers/peaceable kingdom, pride, unity, wonder

Scripture Connections: Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), I am that I am (Exodus 3:14)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book before taking a group of children from your faith community to a zoo or in a lesson exploring ecology or being made in God's image.

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 11

Picture Book: Whoever You Are

Author: Mem Fox

Illustrator: Leslie Staub

Summary: This book celebrates the diversity of the world’s human beings, while exploring the ways in which people are alike and different.

Hanna’s Comments: The affirming text and vibrant illustrations invite discussion of how the global community is connected yet beautifully diverse.

Publisher & Date of Publication: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2006

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Preschool and up

# of Pages: 32

Available in Spanish? yes

Formats other than Book: Youtube video

PBT Category: Non-fiction

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: beauty, body of Christ, community, differences, diversity, earth/world, family, humanity, image of God, pacifism/peace/peaceful/peacemakers/peaceable kingdom, unity, wonder

Scripture Connections: made in God’s image (Genesis 1), wonderfully made (Psalm 129), body of Christ (Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4)

Idea(s) for Application: This book would be a great gift from your faith community to families with new babies. It could also be used in a program for training foreign missionaries or a faith community that is serving or welcoming a group of refugees.