I recently came across a wonderful series of children’s Christian board books and immediately fell in love. Catechesis Books produces Christian literature with the aim not only to teach the basics of Christian theology to young children, but they also effectively and beautifully illustrate these essential truths. If you’re like me, I am always on the lookout for children’s books where the artwork matches the content, and let me tell you, Catechesis Books thoroughly succeeds in this. Danielle Hitchen provides the content while Jessica Blanchard provides the art – they are quite a team!
As parents, Ed and I have a deep desire to share the rich truths of the scriptures with our boys, but at times it has proven hard to fully express these concepts to them. As any parent knows, there are plenty of teaching moments throughout the day – especially with ‘threenagers’, am I right? I have found myself giving long, deep, theological explanations as I try to guide Edward in the way of the Lord and showing him the joy that we can experience when we obey God. However, as any parent with little ones knows, their attention span seems to be less than that of Dory from the movie Finding Nemo. The only question I am asked by the end of my admonishment is, “Can I have a snack, mommy?â€. I’ve completely and totally lost him and am left utterly discouraged (again!) by the fact that things just aren’t quite ‘clicking’.
With that said, Catechesis Books is the perfect solution to the not-so-long attention span of our little ones. The truths they express are short, sweet and to the point, and they make learning these essentials of the faith so much fun. Just recently, Edward has shown great interest in numbers and counting. I was so happy to find that Catechesis Books has a book entitled: First Bible Basics: A Counting Primer. What more could I ask for? Numbers paired with theology – yes, please! This book has not only become one of our favorite nap time go-to’s, but it has also become a great guide and resource for our preschool number lessons. Danielle pairs each number with a verse, a quote from a hymn or a quote from a theologian so nicely.
First Bible Basics: A Counting Primer is aimed for children ages 0 – 4. Next on my list to get from their series is their new and upcoming Psalms of Praise: A Movement Primer. It releases February of 2018 – just in time to get those Easter baskets ready! As follows, you can get a glimpse into each ‘Number’ in the book and see how the glory of God is upheld and the truths of the scriptures shine through each page, helping our little ones to store up these treasures in their minds and hearts.
ONE: One speaks of God being the ‘I AM’. Isaiah 44 is quoted on this page.
TWO: Two speaks of Jesus being both fully God and fully man. Charles Wesley is quoted on this page. While some may find it distracting to encounter a picture of Jesus, the truth of Christ being both fully God and fully man is made, nonetheless.
THREE: Three speaks of the existence of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The great St. Augustine is quoted on this page.
FOUR: Four speaks of the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
FIVE: Five speaks of the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Old Testament. If you can get your 3 year old to say ‘Pentateuchâ€, he/she may be marked as a theological prodigy!
SIX: Six speaks of the 6 days of creation and quotes Genesis 1 and 2.
SEVEN: Seven speaks of the seven ‘I AMs’ of Jesus. I particularly like the illustrations that are paired with each I AM.
EIGHT: Eight speaks of the Beatitudes and quotes Matthew 5.
NINE: Nine speaks of the fruits of the Spirit – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. If you’re like me, you’re singing the song you learned as a child now!
TEN: Ten lists, you guessed it – the Ten Commandments. The first 4 touching on how we treat God and the last 6 touching on how we treat man.
I have found that the Children’s Catechism and the Songs for Saplings CD’s pair wonderfully with Catechesis Books. We use all three resources simultaneously and have seen each resource help Edward to memorize these truths. Do yourself a favor, and go check these wonderful books out: http://www.catechesisbooks.com/shop/
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