The Perseverance of Love

Picture Book: Love Matters Most

Author: Mij Kelly

Illustrator: Gerry Turley

Summary: After staring straight at the reader, 

an adult polar bear leaves her cave and begins a journey. 

A small yellow bird seems to guide her page after page. 

We are told the polar bear is looking for something. A storm doesn't deter her searching. Why? The journey must be long because the weather changes.

Stunning beauty doesn’t stop her. “The forest’s true magic dancing in light” is bypassed.

She's not searching for sustenance in berries 

or fish. 

Is she delighting in the snowflakes? 

The stars? 

No, we are told. She’s following prints. At times she seems to look at the reader, but what is her message? Is she asking for help?

What’s her destination? Finally, we are told she is looking for someone. 

Now we can guess. We know how determined polar bear moms can be. In another cave, she finds her babe. 

When they are reunited, the author reminds us that the world’s many treasures do not compare to that which matters most, love.

Hanna’s Comments: This rhyming story of mystery and beauty, loss and searching can be taken at face value to remind children in your family of faith, particularly during the Valentine’s Day season, that all great love comes from God and the love we have for our family is strongest. But like so many PBT books, there is enough under the surface for a deeper discussion with children, and even teens or adults. Think of Jesus’ 3 great lost parables found together Luke (The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost (Prodigal) Son. 

Besides the love of a mother for her child, this is a story of longing, focus, courage, guide, determination, and perseverance. Do these themes remind you of a character in scripture or verse in scripture? I also see the incredible beauty in this picture book as representative of God’s inspiration that can be our “North Star” (or Northern Lights) in a world that might not understand our search. Doesn’t beauty inspire you to keep going? And there’s the little yellow bird. Help your audience find the bird when on a page. 

Encourage your audience to consider the bird's purpose and meaning. Who are your guides? I see this polar bear as a metaphor for God, determined to find us, loving us unconditionally. If this book isn’t quite right for your purposes, remember to check out the PBT search engine for dozens of other great books about “love,” that which is “lost,” or “journeys.”

Original Publisher & Date: Little, Brown, & Co., 2016

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

Formats other than Book: Tablet

Scripture Connections: Fear not, for I am with you… (Isaiah 41:10); The 3 Lost Parables (Luke 15); Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to any age group and consider the power of love as God’s greatest gift and that which matters most.  

God's Many Colors of Us

(all photos, like this one are from The Colors of Us by Katz)

One of the reasons I write these PBT book features is to explore my theology, ground it in scripture, and offer picture book stories that you can use to explore these ideas in ministry or with those you teach or counsel or those you love most. At PBT, picture books form a bridge between story and scripture. 

Diversity is a core theological value of mine. Today’s feature reminds us that God created a diverse world and called it good. We humans are imaged of God; we are good and beautifully different parts of the whole body of creation. Because I am a Christian, I will add that we are all beautifully different members of the whole body of Christ.   

Picture Book: The Colors of Us

Author & Illustrator: Karen Katz

Summary: Lena, whose mother is an artist, decides to paint a self-portrait. 

Thinking of the brown paint she will use for her skin, she walks through her neighborhood and realizes brown skin comes in many, many shades. 

Lena is the color of cinnamon, not so her many neighborhood friends. 

Sonia is a creamy peanut butter brown. 

Isabella’s skin is chocolate brown and Lucy’s is peachy tan. 

Jo-Jin’s skin is the color of honey and Kyle's is reddish brown, like fall leaves. 

Mr. Pellegrino’s skin is the color of the pizza dough he makes, and Lena’s babysitter is like a beautiful jewel that is bronze and amber. 

We meet many more of Lena's neighbors, in all their glorious brownness. 

After her walk, Lena has friends over and thinks about their array of beautiful colors.

When her friends leave, she begins painting her friends. 

As she paints, she says the names of their colors, thinking how delicious they sound and how beautiful they are.

Hanna’s Comments: On Facebook recently, veterans of the church camp community that raised me began remembering some of our favorite camp song lyrics. Here's one of my favorites by Avery and Marsh:

Diff'rent is beautiful.

God bless variety.

Just look around and see.

Diff'rent is beautiful.

No surprise then that I wrote this post! Here are some ideas: After you read this book, be ready to share the name you have given your shade of your skin and encourage your audience to do the same. Help them connect their shades to other God-creations in nature. Having lots of naturally brown items in the room will help. Find ways for the array of their various shades to be displayed, perhaps with legs (as in this book) or with hands or feet. Declare again and again how God’s creation is good and all humans are created in the image of God. Then consider what that means to you as individuals, to your family of faith, your country, and our world.

Original Publisher & Date: Henry Holt & Co., 1999

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

Formats other than Book: None at present

Scripture Connections:  God created us in God’s own image (Genesis 1:27); God arranged the members in the body… if all were a single member, where would the body be? (1 Corinthians 12:18-19); for by God all things were created through God and for God (Colossians 1:16); I looked and saw a great multitude, all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book as a central activity in a lesson on God’s diverse creation or the meaning of being made in God’s image. 

Refugees

(all illustrations are from the featured book)

Today’s PBT feature book is the latest I’ve shared about refugee children and their families. In the wake of recent political events, people in your faith communities may benefit from hearing stories of refugees and discerning their appropriate responses to the issues and to families who immigrate.

Picture Book Theology is perfect for exploring potentially contentious issues across age groups because people feel comfortable and nostalgic around picture books. Also, sometimes people are wary (and weary) of information from the internet or other media outlets. Picture books are a nice change. No matter your sources, always connect the story or information to the ideals of scripture and your faith traditions and encourage faithful and respectful questions and responses.

You’ll find the other PBT posts where I featured several books each about refugees [here] and [here]. The book I featured about Jesus’ family and their refuge experience is the 2nd book posted about [here.] Choose wisely. These stories have power. And listen empathically to the concerns of people on all sides of this issue.

Also, I just heard an excellent interview about this issue and the political differences within churches. Adam Hamilton, pastor at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection spoke with NPR. Find it [here]. My church just happened to be finishing this past Sunday a sermon series called Refuge, planned months ago. For that series, we placed 2 identical banners on our church which have received lots of attention. Check out an article and photo of our banner [here]. Now today's wonderful story:

Picture Book: My Name is Sangoel

Author: Karen Lynn Williams & Khadra Mohammed

Illustrator: Catherine Stock

Summary: Sangoel is a young Somali refugee who has been living in a refugee camp. 

While saying goodbye before he leaves to immigrate, his wise mentor reminds Sangoel to be proud of his name, the Dinka name of many of his ancestors. “You will be Sangoel even in America.” 

Sangoel waves a final goodbye to his friends and gets on a “sky boat” that takes him, his mother, and sister to America. 

In the airport, they are amazed by the people, their pace, the noise, and all there is to see. After seeing Sangoel’s name on a poster, they meet Mrs. Johnson. 

She greets them and has trouble pronouncing Sangoel’s name which is both his sir name and family name. 

They are taken to their new apartment where they are again amazed by the stove and TV. As Sangoel transitions to new environments (their apartment,

the doctor’s office,

school, 

and soccer) 

people are not able to correctly pronounce "Sangoel." This disturbs him until he comes up with an ingenious way for others to remember how to pronounce his name. 

He finds a white shirt from the used clothes and toys he has been given, and creates a code for pronouncing his name. 

At school, Sangoel’s code is popular and other children spontaneously begin creating codes for their own names. Can you decipher their codes?

The teacher is pleased and encourages this creativity and compliments Sangoel on his name. He explains the importance of his name and declares that he is Sangoel, even in America.

Hanna’s Comments: Besides the obvious connections this story makes to biblical themes of practicing hospitality, immigration, and refugees, there is an opportunity to explore the importance of names, another biblical theme. I thought of the concept of dignity as I read this book. The pronunciation of Sangoel’s name seems to be crutial to his dignity and pride.  There is an Author’s Note in the back of the book about the Dinka traditional names and the experiences of many refugees.

Original Publisher & Date: Erdman’s, 2009

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

Formats other than Book: None at present 

Scripture Connections: All are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); when a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong…(Leviticus 19:33-34); strength and dignity are her clothing (Proverbs 31:25); … I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matthew 25:35); you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28); do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group in your faith family when considering the issues of immigration & refugees and the practice of hospitality.