Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

children's literature

Luther: The Graphic Novel

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I recently read all 144 pages of this graphic novel to my three-year-old daughter, and she loved it (even though some of it is over her head):

Susan K. Leigh. Luther: The Graphic Novel; Echoes of the Hammer. Illustrated by Dave Hill. St. Louis: Concordia, 2011.

This 32-page sample PDF illustrates the book’s format and style.

The story has five parts:

  1. Luther’s Early Years
  2. Luther the Heretic
  3. Luther the Outlaw
  4. Martin and Katie
  5. The Reformation Continues

It’s published by Concordia Publishing House, the publisher of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, so I’m guessing they know something about Luther.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5OtMaoHk-Q&feature=player_embedded

Related: My wife and I reviewed this book in 2008:

Paul L. Maier. Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World. Illustrated by Greg Copeland. Saint Louis: Concordia, 2004. 32 pp.

The Pilgrim’s Progress for Children (and Adults)

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My family loves John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Charles Spurgeon read this classic over one hundred times. It’s a pity that many Christians today have not read it even once. Here are some versions we enjoy:

1. Pictorial Pilgrim’s Progress, illustrated by Joanne Brubaker (Chicago: Moody, 1960).

  • It’s excellent for young children because there is a picture on every page, and the text is simple and straightforward.
  • The Kindle version includes all the illustrations.
  • The book is especially meaningful to me for reasons that are evident in the below correspondence I had with my former pastor, Mike Bullmore:

*******

[email from me to Mike Bullmore on 6/7/2010]

Dear Mike,

I’m in the process of cataloging my print and electronic library, and I just entered this book in my database:

Bunyan, John. Pictorial Pilgrim’s Progress. Chicago: Moody, 1960.

I opened it up and reread what I wrote on the inside cover:

I read this very book to Michael after he relapsed. He loved to look at the pictures as I read and explained Bunyan’s outstanding allegory. Now Michael is at the glorious end of his difficult journey, and I look forward to seeing him again in the celestial city!

Andy
4/25/2002

A little background:

I’m the second of seven children . . . . In December 1998 (during my freshman year of college), my family was shocked to learn that my youngest brother Michael, who was three years old at the time, had cancer—Stage IV Neuroblastoma. [Read more…] about The Pilgrim’s Progress for Children (and Adults)

Charlotte’s Web: A Model of Good Writing

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Last month Tony Reinke encouraged me to read E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (1952) to my daughter. Not only would my daughter love it, but I could learn a lot about how to write better.

That was good advice. My daughter Kara and I read it together in late April and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was her first “chapter” book without pictures on every page. I watched the 1973-film several times as a child, but I had never read the book (nor have I seen the 2006-film).

E. B. White knows how to write. Simple. Clear. Elegant. Magical.

That didn’t just happen. White worked tirelessly at it. He revised Charlotte’s Web many times until the wording was just right. (White contributes to the first of the “Six Useful Books on Writing” I list here.)

I love how the book ends. Someday I hope my friends can say this of me: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”

Heroes of the First Centuries: Children’s Books by Sinclair Ferguson

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Sinclair Ferguson is writing a series of children’s books called “Heroes of the Faith.” The first three books highlight heroes of the first centuries:

Click the images above for more information, including

  • sample PDFs,
  • descriptions of each book, and
  • Ferguson’s “personal word to parents” about his new series.

I read these three books to my 2.75-year-old daughter last week, and she enjoyed them (and has kept asking me to read the story of Polycarp to her again). But she got restless while I read them because there are a lot of words on each page and the prose is more at the level of elementary-school children.

Each book ends with a timeline that lists heroes of the faith that Ferguson apparently plans to write books about: [Read more…] about Heroes of the First Centuries: Children’s Books by Sinclair Ferguson

More Bible Memory Resources

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Two weeks ago I recommended Bible memory resources for young children, especially texts set to music.

I’ve updated that post in three ways:

  1. I added Songs for Saplings: 123 under heading 3. That CD just came out this month.
  2. I added heading 5: “Hide the Word (Mark Altrogge, Forever Grateful Music).” Altrogge, senior pastor of a Sovereign Grace Church in Pennsylvania, has set 182 Scripture passages to 9.1 hours of music. The genre is similar to Sovereign Grace Music, which has published several of Altrogge’s songs.
  3. I added heading 6: “Hidden in My Heart: A Lullaby Journey through Scripture (Jay and Trina Stocker, BreakAway Music).” Mellow.

I now have 20.8 hours of Scripture set to music. Grace.

Bible Memory for Young Children

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Jenni and I are frequently amazed at how easily our two-year-old daughter, Kara Marie, memorizes things. It’s amazing. So we’re trying to harness some of her brainpower by memorizing the Bible.

Jenni has taught Kara dozens of verses, and we’re using some additional resources to help these verses stick long-term. Texts in song are remembered long, so memorizing Scripture with music is especially helpful (though some of the songs mentioned below may be more “bumpy” than some prefer).

By the way, children are not the only ones who benefit from Scripture put to song. Dads and moms do, too! We frequently find ourselves meditating on verses like “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” or “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God.’”

1. Foundation and Fighter Verses (Children Desiring God)

  • “Foundation Versesare strategically chosen Bible verses for children preschool through age five.”
    • The verses are available on little flashcards with a picture on one side and the verse and verse reference on the other.
    • Eleven of the 68 verses are put to music, and those MP3s are available for free.

[Read more…] about Bible Memory for Young Children

Two New Children’s Books by Matthias Media

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Here are two new children’s books by Matthias Media that you can view online for free:

They’re not our favorites, but they’re not bad.

More info:

You can view them online for free in two ways:

  1. Read them online by clicking “Sample Pages” at the top of the screen (here and here).
  2. Watch them being read online via YouTube at the bottom of the screen (here and here). The resolution of the pictures is not very good, but the narrator has an Aussie accent. (Stories are more interesting with British, Scottish, Irish, or Aussie accents!)