Category Archives: Recs: Early Readers

picture books, and early chapter books, including Acorn and Branches books. Generally to about 3rd grade, but depends!

God’s Story & The Jesus Storybook Bible

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At Gracepoint Berkeley church, we are still very full from the spiritual feast we experienced this past weekend at our annual Thanksgiving Retreat! We’re praying for all the church plants, who are having their retreats this weekend (and two weeks from now for our church in Taiwan). The theme of this year’s retreat was about God’s Story, and how each of our stories are like threads woven into this larger, grand tapestry God has been weaving since the beginning.

jesus_storybook_bibleI don’t want to give away too much for the readers who are from the church plants, but wanted to give a little plug for The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones (2007), from which we excerpted some text for…a special something. 🙂 The book draws from key Bible passages to present God’s Story in a seamless whole.

The full title of the book is The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. Each story from the Old Testament links to the larger arc of God’s salvation plan, foreshadowing and linking to Jesus. And as I’ve observed the kids in Bibliopolis reading to themselves, to one another, and discussing with each other, I’ve noticed that they are “getting it.” For example, as they read and asked questions about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, they made the connection that it was like how God gave Jesus, his son as a sacrifice. And if you notice, there is continuity in the artwork, and that helps them make this connection as well.

It’s a wonderful book to read aloud with kids. It’s very reasonably priced at ChristianBook.com, and just in time for Christmas presents for cousins, nieces, nephews, family friends, or whoever! Even if you don’t have kids of your own, it’s a great book to have at your house for when kiddos come over as well.

Do you have any stories to share about reading The Jesus Storybook Bible with your kids? 

Throwback Thursday: Reading Memories

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TBTThrowback Thursdays will feature posts that are a “Blast From the Past” in one way or the other. The age of the author of the post will determine how far back the blast is coming from. As for today, I’m the author, so the blast is coming from the 80’s, y’all. (1980’s, not 1880’s.)

charlotteswebMrs. Trujillo was my 3rd grade teacher at Cerritos Elementary School, and she read us Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White, which was already a classic, having been published in 1952. I don’t remember as much about the book as I do about the whole experience. Every day after lunch, we knew it was reading time when Mrs. Trujillo pulled the brown wooden rocking chair to the edge of the circle rug at the front of the classroom. We would rush to be able to sit on the rug, and to be as close to her as possible so that we could see the pictures. I remember learning “salutations” and “runt” as vocabulary words.

I moved to a new school for 4th grade, and I chose to re-read Charlotte’s Web on my own. Part of the reason I was drawn to the book was because it reminded me of home, which in my mind, was still in Southern California. It was a familiar old friend anchoring me in a new place. Years later, I took a bunch of kiddos from Gracepoint Berkeley church to watch the 2006 movie version, and I cried like a baby during that one part (I won’t spoil it for those of you haven’t read the book yet.). Each encounter with the story left a powerful memory in me that makes me nostalgic every time I hear mention of the title.

So when I recommend the book to kids and parents today, I realize I’m recommending so much more than the story of Charlotte, Wilbur and Fern, though the story is wonderful in its own right. It’s a book I love for many reasons, and when I recommend parents and kids read it together, I’m thinking about how this is one of those books that just might help them create a powerful, lasting reading memory together. The kinds of memories that are integral to fostering book love that lives on beyond childhood and into adulthood.

Do you have a favorite reading memory? What book evokes a reading memory for you?