Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic are excellent. Bernstein recorded these for CBS from 1958 to 1972.
My three daughters and I just finished watching all 25 programs in this Special Collector’s Edition 9-DVD Set. Each program is a little under an hour, and we watched one together each Saturday morning. [Read more…] about Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts
Kevin DeYoung. The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015.
This book targets children ages 5–12. As with Kevin DeYoung’s other publications, he writes clearly, creatively, and soundly. It’s short enough that I read the whole book in one sitting to my three girls (at the time ages 7, 4, and almost 3). They followed it intently. And a few months later my wife read it to the girls in several sittings.
This book isn’t ideal to use to teach children the Bible’s detailed storyline; it’s too brief for that. It makes more sense if you already know the Bible’s basic storyline so you can follow the witty story-telling and fill in the gaps. But what it does, it does very well. No wasted words. Compact. Crisp. Compelling.
Kevin explains the book’s background here.
See also some brief reviews:
Update (9/1/2016): The book is now available as a 26-minute video. Here’s a preview:
Charles Spurgeon read John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress over one hundred times. Many Christians today haven’t read it even once. That’s a tragedy!
The Pilgrim’s Progress is a favorite story at our home, and we’ve used several good resources for our children. We’re delighted to add one more: a dramatic reading for kids. This abridged reading is 1 hour and 44 minutes. Our kids love it.
(This abridgment, which J. I. Packer endorses, has corresponding curriculum that becomes available this month. I haven’t seen it, but I suspect that it’s good.)
This (very) short children’s book releases today in the states:
James M. Hamilton Jr. The Bible’s Big Story: Salvation History for Kids. Illustrated by Tessa James. Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013. 24 pp.
My endorsement:
This poetry memorably summarizes turning points in the Bible’s storyline and views the whole Bible with Christian eyes. My kids love it!
On his blog, Jim explains the book’s history and rationale, and he challenges dads to “step up and play the man.”
Andrew Peterson is currently finishing the last volume in the Wingfeather Saga, a four-part fantasy series for young readers. I gave the first three volumes to my daughter for her birthday earlier this year:
I read all three aloud to my daughter, who also listened to the audiobooks for books 1 and 2. [Read more…] about The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
I recently read this book to my daughter Kara, and she hung on every word:
Starr Meade. Keeping Holiday. Illustrations by Justin Gerard. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 192 pp. 
Here’s what Jenni and I wrote about it in 2008 in a Themelios review entitled “Theology for Kids: Recommending Some Recent Books for Younger Children”: [Read more…] about Keeping Holiday: “You don’t find the Founder; he finds you. He’s not just the Founder; he’s the Finder, too.”
There’s a sale this week (through Nov. 25) for God’s Love: A Bible Storybook:
I interviewed the author, Champ Thornton, about this children’s book in July.
After living in Narnia with our daughter for about the first half of the year, we moved to Middle-earth.
C. S. Lewis would approve. He wrote this in a letter to a girl named Lucy in 1957:
I am so glad you like the Narnian stories and it was nice of you to write and tell me. . . . Do you know Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings? I think you w[oul]d. like it. (C. S. Lewis Letters to Children 
[ed. Lyle W. Dorsett and Marjorie Lamp Mead; New York: Macmillan, 1985], 75.)
It’s been a delight to live in Middle-earth.
Middle-earth has been more challenging than Narnia since only one of J. R. R. Tolkien’s four books is for children (The Hobbit) and since The Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) is so long and complicated. But we persevered, and it was worth it.
Here are ten resources we used to enjoy Tolkien’s world:
These are classy, sturdy hardbacks with a smattering of illustrations: [Read more…] about Ten Resources for Enjoying Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings