At 5 Minutes for Books, we are proud to feature books across many genres for children and adults. This week is all about highlighting children’s books, but if you’d rather spend some time browsing our Christian category, you will find Christian fiction, apologetics, biographies, and women’s interest titles.
Read the anchor post to find all of the Fall Festival of Children’s Books reviews and see how you can link up and enter to win the Grand Prize.
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You may not know Francis Chan. I don’t really know much about him either, but I know he’s gotten a LOT of attention for his book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God.
When these children’s books arrived on my doorstep from David C Cook, Kyle, 6, not only picked up and looked at Halfway Herbert, but he read it from start to finish as well.
I can see why he’d pick it up. The cut paper/collage style of illustrations by Matt Daniels are very appealing.
After he read it, I asked him why he liked it. “It’s funny,” he said.
When I read it to him another day, he showed me the cover, and said, “See, he only brushes half his teeth,” and in fact on the cover, his top teeth are white, and his bottom teeth are yellow.
Herbert does everything halfway, and it gets him in trouble. He only listens to half of what his parents and teachers say, he only ties one shoe, he only eats half of his meals, etc. etc. I guess Kyle found that to be funny (it is told in a light tone, meant to show how silly that would be). Then the application comes in (after Herbert especially got into trouble because of his careless habits) about how God wants us to do everything with our whole heart.
It was a little heavy-handed, but a seamless part of the story, because it occurred in the form of a talk that Herbert’s dad was having with his son, which is a very natural situation in which such a conversation would take place. I also smiled a bit at Herbert’s transformation after this truth set in, which was a bit instantaneous, but if it helps young ones understand the truth that God can and does indeed transform us (though not usually overnight), I guess it’s okay in my book.
Kyle deemed The Big Red Tractor and the Little Village “babyish,” and didn’t want to read it — I guess because of that adorable tractor with personified eyes.
The farm setting of this books gives illustrator Matt Daniels a chance to really shine. Chan’s text and story is a bit simpler, making it appropriate for a preschool set, but an older child not as quick to judge as Kyle is would enjoy the story as well. In fact, I really enjoyed this story about how the villagers used the tractor to plow their fields by pushing it, until Farmer Dave found the owner’s manual and found out what the tractor could really do with a little preventative maintenance.
By using the tractor the right way, they were able to yield many more crops that they could share with others.
And of course, I saw the spiritual application coming — that the Bible is our owner’s manual that tells us how to live, and that God gives us power in the Holy Spirit to love others and do great things. Again, this sort of “preaching” seems to just come out of nowhere after what was a great story, but when I thought about it more, it was exactly what Jesus did in the parables — telling a story, then applying it to our life in Christ.
These are both great stories that obviously appeal to children (I still haven’t read The Big Red Tractor and the Little Village to Kyle, but I will, and I know he will like the absurd humor of them trying to push the tractor and not believing it could work by itself). If these are the lessons you want to reinforce with your children, these beautiful picture books will help you do it.
Jennifer Donovan often chides herself for not talking more about God’s goodness with her children, so while it seems trite, she appreciates the lessons taught in these books. She recounts other parenting failures at her blog Snapshot.
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Hmmm…very much intrigued! I have Crazy Love sitting on my shelf here. Jonathan read it, liked it, and wants me to read it. I just haven’t gotten to it yet.
Grandma gave these books to my kiddos while we were on vacation. We enjoyed reading them together and they just cackled at “Halfway Herbert.” Their reluctance to brush their teeth has even subsided some thanks to the great cover!
Heavy-handed spiritual or moral lessons may seem a bit much for adults, but I think my kids grasp the concepts better when it’s spelled out for them. These look interesting, and the illustrations are certainly eye-catching!
Heather–I think that was the conclusion I came to. I think that I’m a bit prejudiced because of when it appears in adult Christian fiction, which we don’t need spelled out to us, and so I’m cautious about it across the board.
But my son didn’t seem to skip a beat when the tone changed into the moral.
We’re reading Crazy Love in our Bible study this fall… so far we’re only on chapter 3, but whoa, it’s gotten ahold of a lot of us right where we are. It’s short reading, but you can’t read much of it at once, there’s that much to think about. Highly recommended so far! The group videos that come in a leader’s guide are really good too.
Tho these books are not of a style I would give to my children…I do appreciate your review of them, thanks.
I had no idea that Francis Chan had children’s books out! I will have to look into these.
I think I’m sometimes leery of books with overt moral lessons because I’d rather start with the story and then get to the lesson on my own with my son, but as you said, kids don’t seem to mind it. Perhaps they’re ready for the lesson – whether it comes from the parent/reader or the author.