You know what I love about reading children's christians books and teaching sunday school curriculum? I understand big things much more simply. That's the skill of children's authors; they take something big and beautiful and they put it in story books and sunday school lessons and they weave an amazing story for kids to be able to grasp.
There is one section of scripture in particular that I've always been too embarrassed to ask about. Everybody loves it, but I never understood it. Yup, Psalm 23. The language has always seemed so different, lying down in green pastures? When would I get to do that, right? So when I come to that Psalm (and I haven't in awhile) I just put up this intellectual barrier. "Don't get it. I'll just move along." But Sammy & His Shepherd
by Susan Hunt has been so helpful.
This children's book is split into 10 chapters. But it's not a chapter book necessarily for elementary kids.
This book could easily be read to preschoolers. Each chapter is about 2 pages with beautiful glowing illustrations to compliment each chapter. Then in the back of the book there is scripture references and questions to ask the child you are reading with.
"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." Okay it's time for a confession: I always thought "If the Lord is my Shepherd, why would I NOT want him?" (Knowing punctuation really helps) But this first chapter really helped me.
A taste of the story...
Sammy lives in a lush pasture. One day he meets another sheep from the other side of the fence. He soon finds out that the other sheep was never given a name and is always hungry & scared. Sammy on the other hand was given a name as soon as the good Shepherd bought him. Sammy lives happily because he knows that even if he were in danger his shepherd would lay down his life for him. Sammy says this "Of course I'm happy. I have the best shepherd in the whole world. I know that I will never want for anything." (emphasis-mine) That's when it clicked, "Aha, I shall not want for anything!"
What a great and simple way to introduce children to the good shepherd. Susan Hunt does a delightful job in showing children how amazing the good shepherd is. I am excited to show children this book at a young age-that they may understand the beauty of this passage and how it points us to our Good Shepherd.
There is one section of scripture in particular that I've always been too embarrassed to ask about. Everybody loves it, but I never understood it. Yup, Psalm 23. The language has always seemed so different, lying down in green pastures? When would I get to do that, right? So when I come to that Psalm (and I haven't in awhile) I just put up this intellectual barrier. "Don't get it. I'll just move along." But Sammy & His Shepherd
by Susan Hunt has been so helpful. This children's book is split into 10 chapters. But it's not a chapter book necessarily for elementary kids. This book could easily be read to preschoolers. Each chapter is about 2 pages with beautiful glowing illustrations to compliment each chapter. Then in the back of the book there is scripture references and questions to ask the child you are reading with."The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." Okay it's time for a confession: I always thought "If the Lord is my Shepherd, why would I NOT want him?" (Knowing punctuation really helps) But this first chapter really helped me.
A taste of the story...
Sammy lives in a lush pasture. One day he meets another sheep from the other side of the fence. He soon finds out that the other sheep was never given a name and is always hungry & scared. Sammy on the other hand was given a name as soon as the good Shepherd bought him. Sammy lives happily because he knows that even if he were in danger his shepherd would lay down his life for him. Sammy says this "Of course I'm happy. I have the best shepherd in the whole world. I know that I will never want for anything." (emphasis-mine) That's when it clicked, "Aha, I shall not want for anything!"
What a great and simple way to introduce children to the good shepherd. Susan Hunt does a delightful job in showing children how amazing the good shepherd is. I am excited to show children this book at a young age-that they may understand the beauty of this passage and how it points us to our Good Shepherd.
It does sound very good. I have bought many of these types of books for my grandchildren here in Australia and they love them. They do also teach adults in a simple way..especially as they read to the child. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a gracious thing that God has ordained: As we teach, we learn. Do you have any books that you recommend for children Crystal Mary, I'd love to check them out!
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