PBT Question # 5 to ask about any secular picture book:

Does this book have the potential to positively affect the behavior or future of those who experience it?

Good teachers teach to improve the quality of audience members' lives. With this last question, Picture Book Theology (PBT) encourages you to consider the future of your listeners' understanding of God, their places in a family of faith, and their relationships with ALL that is Holy.

PBT is all about connecting the content in picture books to scripture and/or spiritual truths so that spiritual growth can be more personally meaningful. Longer lasting learning occurs when theological ideas are connected to realistic situations or meaningful concepts. What affects you connects you!

Asking yourself how a picture book will positively affect your listeners is a worthy consideration that gives focus to your planning and teaching.   

As a nationally certified school psychologist, I’m passionate about improving social and emotional skills; those include spiritual skills. Modern psychological research is finding that social and emotional learning (SEL) and its affects on behavior is crucial for success in all relationships as well as in academic learning. For more on this critical link, check out www.casel.org. CASEL has identified 5 Interrelated Sets of COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE, AND BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision Making.

Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg (see my PBT post [here]). It's a story of a careless boy and his discovery of an array of environmental concerns. Connecting this story to God’s desire that we have respectful and intelligent guardianship of Earth’s inhabitants and resources might inspire listeners to evaluate their relationship with the Earth. They could find connections between their behavior and the Earth’s health and see this as a God-ordained relationship. Additionally, this book addresses all 5 of CASELs competencies listed above. 

Here are a couple of amazing illustrations from Van Allsburg. First, I show a scene from Walter’s bad dream. 

Here is a “post-dream” scene in which Walter plants a tree for his birthday:

This book is only one of many possibilities. Think of an important social and emotional skill, find it or a related word in the large list of search words at the bottom of this screen (on the web version), and see the vast potential PBT has for your ministry and/or your family. May your own SEL learning be enhanced as you teach, Hanna

PBT Question # 4 to ask about any secular picture book:

Does the book contain or encourage a spiritual practice? (Compassion, Generosity, Gratitude, Prayer, Praise, Hospitality, Peacemaking, Reconciliation…)

This PBT question is a little easier to grasp. Do keep an open mind about what defines a spiritual practice. These are not just spiritual disciplines, like praying or fasting, nor are they always specific behaviors such as peacemaking. A spiritual practice might be an orientation towards others as in the case of compassion. You may know someone who is very generous although they have little money to give.

When approaching a picture book with this question, consider what in the picture book would please God. That question might help you focus on a spiritual practice. Then you can read the picture book to a group of children or adults and help them learn more about that practice in a context that is very real. Here’s an example:

Contemplation is a fuzzy word. Contemplative prayer is hard to define and much harder to perfect. Puzzling over a problem is sometimes called contemplation. However, contemplating God’s amazing world is a spiritual practice that we often engage in spontaneously without identifying it as a spiritual practice. Think of when you arrive at the beach or when you see a full moon. Just because you don’t express your joy with words doesn’t mean you aren’t moved and thankful.

Contemplation is beautifully abundant in the title character of The Incredible Peepers of Penelope Budd (Day 294 on February 7, 2015). Here are a couple of illustrations where Penelope is being especially observant and delighted. 

  

Helping children and adults identify what spiritual practices looks like will affirm the good inclinations and behaviors they already have while offering rich information for potential spiritual growth. Isn’t spiritual growth what all of us want?

In a day or so I’ll be wrapping up my explanation of the 5 PBT Questions to Ask about Any Picture Book by exploring Question #5. 

                           

                                    May your spiritual practices delight God, Hanna

PBT Question # 3 to ask about any secular picture book:

Does the book remind you of scripture?                                                                               

 (a Story, a Character, or a Verse)

Often times answering this question takes some thought. However, as you read a picture book, a connection with a Bible story, character, or verse may jump out at you. That’s fun to discover! When there are no obvious links but I’m still hoping for a biblical connection for a picture book I love, I rely on a Bible concordance or a list on a website.

The Open Bible website offers a search engine for key words. Here’s the link: http://www.openbible.info/topics/. This site allows you to search by a biblical name, a religious theme, or a phrase in a Bible verse. This site also offers nice lists of the most popular Bible stories for children, but don’t use this link only when you are doing children’s programming. Adults will respond to those same stories. Here’s that link: http://www.openbible.info/labs/kids-bible-stories/.

Make sure you are not just thinking about the major characters/stories of the Bible. Those characters/stories are often well-known. Your audience deserves new material! Consider some of the lesser known stories such as those in the Acts of the Apostles or those referenced in Paul’s letters. Don't forget the parables that Jesus told. 

Also, don't forget the stories of women and girls in the Bible! Rich faith development involves girls learning about female biblical role-models and boys hearing the important roles that women had in our Holy Scriptures. There are many women’s stories in the Bible that offer meaningful lessons and conversations. Sadly, females are often unnamed so finding their story is harder.

Here are 4 women in the Bible that you may not have considered for a lesson, 2 from each testament:

Name or Description                                                          Bible Reference

Rahab                                                                                    Joshua 2

The Widow of Zarephath                                                  1 Kings 17:7-24

The Bent-over Woman aka The Crippled Woman       Luke 13:11

Dorcas/Tabitha                                                                   Acts 9:36

I’ve included here, a peek at 1 of the amazing illustrations in The Quiltmaker’s Gift (Day 14 on May 3, 2014). This story directly relates to the valuable but rarely-mentioned story of Dorcas (scripture reference listed above). 

Another problem occurs when a key figure is labeled negatively. We tend to shy away from those stories, especially when teaching children. I suggest that those labels don’t have to be used. For example, you don’t have to call Rahab a prostitute. Focus on how she was a crucial figure who helped the Israelites. The Eunuch in Acts 8 can be referred to as a man from Ethiopia. His story is so powerful! The woman caught in adultery in John 8 can be described as a “woman who got into trouble.”

In contrast, don’t shy away from age-appropriate negative attributes. These descriptions make characters more human. They are easier to relate to, more believable, and more relevant. God’s great mercy is all the more powerful when complicated characters are changed for the better. 

Apart from stories, children and adults can learn a great deal from key phrases in Bible verses. I like to have children repeat a simple phrase throughout a lesson so that it lingers in their minds afterwards. Adults can benefit from this method too. For instance, in a lesson using a picture book about rocks. Talk about how God is like a rock, and have your audience say intermittently this phrase from Psalm 71:3: “Be to me a rock of refuge.” You'll likely have to define refuge. 

Sometimes you have to allow a picture book to soak into you for a while and let God do the work. Then a Bible connection pops into your mind when you aren’t even thinking about it. Just set the book aside, say a little prayer for guidance, and give God some time to help you see the connections.

Perhaps PBT question # 4 is where you will find the most potential for a picture book. I’ll expand on that question in a few days.

                  

                                        May your Biblical knowledge grow, Hanna