See the Bible's Big Story

It is no small feat to condense and summarize a 1,042 page book into just over 100 pages of artfully illustrated pages a child will want to sit on your lap and listen to you read aloud. Even more daunting is winsomely capturing the big theme that runs through those 66 diverse and complex books and making it understandable to a child without watering down its strength. That's what Kevin DeYoung has managed to do, along with illustrator Don Clark, in his new book, The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings us Back to the Garden. It's hard to overstate the effectiveness of DeYoung's words -- the way he tells the whole story of the Bible in so few words ( the Bible is already a minimalist book that uses every word on purpose). But to see those words alongside such bold, vivid, and interesting illustrations is what makes it remarkable. DeYoung says of Clark's work, "Amazing. His illustrations are bright and captivating for a child, yet full of theological care and artistic sophistication for an adult to enjoy."

Here is a short clip that gives you the essence of a book that gives you the essence of the Bible. It's a shorter version of a short retelling with animated versions of the already eye-catching art. Watch it. And feel the power of the biggest story.

[embed]https://player.vimeo.com/video/135876132[/embed]

The Biggest Story isn't meant to be read instead of reading the Bible together as a family, but rather to help kids grasp the big ideas that tie everything in the Bible together. It's a compelling way to help your kids (and you) pick up the threads of sin, righteous wrath, and redemption that run from Genesis to Revelation.

Mei Fuh, a Treasure

In my recent search for living geography books I came across Little Pear, a short chapter book with whimsical illustrations about a boy growing up in a small Chinese village. Unlike dry textbooks, which are often written by a committee, living books are typically written by a single author who is passionate and knowledgable about his subject. Such books have a rich variety of vocabulary and are well written. Living books are memorable, lovable ways to learn about everything from history and literature, to math, music, and biology.

Before we were halfway done reading Little Pear aloud, however, we figured out the formula. The boy, Little Pear, is like an Asian Curious George. Every chapter is full of mischief but he never faces any consequences. As much as we wanted to learn about another culture in a faraway place, the lack of real-life cause-and-effect was disappointing. Even the dangers of running away from home to a big city, falling into a vast river, and lying to his parents resulted in happy coincidences, rescue, rewards, and increased privileges. Thankfully there are better books to choose from.

Enter Mei Fuh: Memories from China, an out-of-print treasure by Edith Schaeffer that I borrowed using our public library's interlibrary loan. The best kind of children's book is one that the youngest in the family loves nearly as much as the grown ups and big kids. Edith Schaeffer's Mei Fuh is such a book. A memoir of her life as a baby born in Wenchow China to missionary parens, Mei Fuh takes you into the life of a child who speaks more Chinese than English, knows how to eat rice and drink tea simultaneously, and has silk worms for pets.

Mei Fuh contain Schaeffer's earliest memories of life. Yet she adds the benefit of decades of reflection, and a Christian worldview, to delve into complex themes of private property and theft, love for nature and animals, and the sanctity of human life. Schaeffer weaves her memories into stories as skillfully as the Chinese woman who used her chopsticks to transform the silkworms' cocoons into luxurious silk for a dress.

As we read the book aloud, we felt the foreignness of being a stranger in a strange land. Schaeffer helped us feel what it was like to transition from the country of your birth to the country of your citizenship—how missionary life can resemble our residency on earth as citizens of heaven. These aren’t things Schaeffer tells her readers, but rather, her skillful stories show it. They left me drawing parallels, mulling over, meditating. Most memorable was God's providential care of the details—directing Schaeffer's birth in a far flung province of China, ordaining a childhood shaped by the customs and culture that would remain an influence on the rest of her life.

Having read Schaeffer's L'Abri before reading Mei Fuh, but both in the same year, I marveled to think that this twirling girl who loved the feel of smooth bamboo and the sights and smells of oiled umbrellas in a walled compound in Wenchow would grow up to the be the woman who would host so many seekers at the shelter, L'Abri. Her upbringing must have affected how she cooked, hosted guests, and thought about God's world and her place in it.

Moralizing books tell you what you should think. Elegant, living books show you such treasures through stories. They leave you asking questions and wanting to uncover the truth.

Sea dragons, a desperate quest, and a final battle carry Warden and the Wolf King to the end of the Wingfeather Saga

by Harrison and Zoe Watters

Today the Warden and the Wolf King was released broadly. In Wolf King Andrew Peterson weaves a treacherous journey toward a glorious resolution of the Wingfeather Saga. The collection of books is a saga, of course, because it's the fourth in the series and "The Wingfeather Quadlogy" doesn't roll off the tongue so well. It's also a saga in that it fulfills every word of the definition of a saga--a "long story of heroic achievement." For those who may be new to the saga, let's go back to 2008 where Peterson begins On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness:

Just outside the town of Glipwood, perched near the edge of the cliffs above the Dark Sea, sat a little cottage where lived the Igiby family... [A]nd except for all the good, warm things that filled their days there like cider in a mug on a winter night, they were quite miserable. Quite miserable indeed, in that land where walked the Fangs of Dang.

In a world where man-sized lizards rule over all, and where deadly toothy cows rampage Glipwood Forest, Janner, Tink and Leeli (the Igiby children), live their relatively boring lives. The only thing that takes away the monotony is the annual "Dragon Day Festival" held in the nearby Glipwood Township. On the day of the festival, the small town overflows with visitors from haughty Torboro and grimy, thieving Dugtown. Visitors swamp "The Only Inn (Glipwood's only inn)" and fill the Green with tents. It's there at the festival the Igiby children make enemies with Slarb, one of the deadly Fangs of Dang, starting an uncontrollable chain of events which will destroy the life they hold dear and set them on the run to the only safe place left in Skree: the Ice Prairies. Many miles north of Glipwood, the barren Ice Prairies are the only place where the Lizards can't survive. But when a menace arrives from Dang, even the snowbound wasteland isn't safe from the monsters.

Each adventure in the saga shows the Igiby children seeking to evade the monsters and growing in courage and faith in the maker along the way. And now in Warden in the Wolf King we find them along with the valiant warriors of the Green Hollows in an all-out struggle with the monsters of Throg. Janner, the warden is challenged to protect his brother, the wolf king. Tink, also known as Kalmar, must destroy Gnag before the wolf inside destroys him. And Leeli must play her whistle harp to defend the Hollows from the fearsome Bat fangs. Together, they must save what little of the world is left to defend against the minions of Gnag.

I [Harrison] was hooked from the first chapter and raced through the 519 page book in two days. With each cliffhanger I quickly turned the page only to find the story shifting again and drawing me further in. I felt the pain of Kalmer, the courage of Janner, and the endurance of Leeli. I also felt (as I believe any reader could) great indignation for Gnag the Nameless and Treacherous Bonifor Squoon. As happens with the best books, their story became my story as I read. I hope they become your story as well.

I [Zoe] found Warden and the Wolf King to be an adventurous page-turner with a wonderful ending to a dangerous, unexpected journey. As we come to the end of this saga, I hope this book (and the whole series) will entertain and encourage you. Oh, and watch out for the toothy cows.

Our family enjoyed the opportunity to be personally invested in this final book in the saga when Andrew Peterson decided to launch a “Wingfeather Kickstarter Campaign” to finance book publishing. We were glad we came in at the Cave Blat level with our pledge of $35 because it not only provided us with a book and an e-book, but also with incentives for "stretch goals" (additional books, audio books, a map, etc.). Within a day of launching the campaign, Peterson met the first of six stretch goals and within a week he passed four others. By the end of the campaign, supporters  helped Peterson reach all six original goals along with two added toward the end. Wingfeather fans covered the $14,000 initial goal and then pushed it beyond $90,000.

Now after over two years of intensive writing and many years of dreaming, Peterson’s Wingfeather saga is complete. The saga that gave us fangs, toothy cows, cheesy chowder and “Get the Boot” has finally come to an end. Right?

Help for the Risks We're Called to Take

by Harrison Watters

It's easy for me to admire people like Ernest Shackleton, John F. Kennedy, and Harriet Beecher Stowe for the way they overcame the odds and survived a near-death trip to the south pole (Shackleton), swam two miles towing a wounded soldier away from a sinking ship (Kennedy), and challenged the status-quo on salvery by writing the book that President Lincoln purportedly said started the Civil War (Stowe). Even more so, as a Christian, I am inspired by men and women of Christ like Jim Elliot, Amy Carmichael, and William Booth, who by the power of the Spirit, took the gospel to Ecuador, India, and England (respectively).

What about you? Who are your heroes? I suspect we admire them in part because we would love to be like them in courage and endurance. But if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we wouldn't be able to do those things. You watch movies like, "End of the Spear," and think, "Wow! How did he do that? I'm glad I'll never be in his shoes!" In quiet, middle-class America, it's hard to think of risking all, of letting go of our lives for anything. Just keep plugging away at the job, have a nice home, wife, a couple of kids, two cars, and regular vacations and life will be great. Live the simple life.

These aren't bad things--some of us have been blessed by God with these things. We won't necessarily be called to missions, but we still need to be faithful to the work we are called to do.

As Christians, we are called to something greater than we could ever think of on our own--"something awesome." Which is exactly what Owen Strachan, professor of church history at Boyce College in Louisville, KY, shows us in his book, Risky Gospel. Strachan makes it clear that risk is precisely what we must do, but that we can't do it on our own. We need someone to help us do the works God has prepared for us. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

We are called by the Master to do His work. It won't be easy or comfortable, but we must do it. Strachan says, "We will have 'tribulation,' which means pain, hardship, suffering. I don't know what you were promised when you became a believer, but this is Jesus' promise to us." But it's not without comfort. "God doesn't leave us alone. He calls to a great mission, offers us tremendous adventure, but then surprises us by telling is that he will be right beside us."

Strachan shows how believers can make a difference in the broad categories of faith, identity, spirituality, family, vocation, church life, evangelism, public witness, and finally, failure.

In the late 1800s a seemingly unknown man by the name of Henry Crowell founded the highly succesfull Quaker Oats company in Ravenna Ohio. Over the years, that company has grown to be one of the leading cereal producers in America. But unlike most wealthy entrepreneurs, Crowell wasn't intrested in creating a monopoly or racking up ten-digit numbers in his bank accounts. He was more concerned about furthering the Kingdom of Christ on earth. (That may be the reason he is so unknown by today's generation. Those who do the work of Christ are bound to be shunned by the world.) This is just one person Strachan brings to our attention in the pages of his book.

We are surrounded by heros of the faith who faithfully do the work God has given them to do, whether that be ministering in poor communities or serving in a health clinic, teaching children in a classroom or around their kitchen table, waiting tables or stocking shelves. We are called especially to be faithful to Christ in our vocations and workplaces, in our families and friendships and in our churches. To be a faithful witness to a coworker, to a brother or sister, to a fellow churchmember, is a beautiful thing in the eyes of God.

The stakes are high: risk all and gain everything, risk nothing and lose everything. Jesus said, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39).

Read this book, then ask yourself, what are you willing to risk for the cause of Christ?

Harrison Watters is the eldest son of Steve and Candice Watters and an avid reader. This is his first contribution to the blog.

How to Find Good books, part 1

"Is that a good book?" I asked my friend, picking up the hardback her son had set on our couch. "I don't know," she said, "I hope so.” She seemed uncertain. “He reads so fast I have a hard time keeping up with him." She said she tries to stay a step ahead, scanning his library selections ahead of time, but not really knowing what's in the books he's reading.

I understand her challenge. Having kids who love books is a good thing. Having readers who are hard to keep up with is both challenge and joy. I'm glad our kids like to read a lot, even as I'm aware of my responsibility to guide their selections. I want them to read creative, excellent, inspiring books. But it can be hard to find those among the weeds on the library shelves. That's increasingly a problem as they advance to middle school and beyond.

With so many bad choices available for kids, how can you find the good ones?

Enter books of books.

These are collections of some of the best of children's literature, mostly classics, with some recents. Officially called "annotated bibliographies," these books contain lists of children's books with a sentence or more describing each book. And they're a great help. When my kids are ready for more books, these are the resources I go to again and again.

Honey for a Child's Heart, by Gladys Hunt

This is my oldest book of books. Written in 1969, Honey is now in its fourth edition. I have the 1978 copy my mom used when we were kids. I've read and re-read it, beginning with the inviting introduction by Stony Brook's Frank Gaebelein. He writes, "The home is still the greatest educational force, and parents who make reading attractive contribute immeasurably to their children's intellectual, emotional, and spiritual development."

Hunt inspires me further, writing,

Children and books go together in a special way. I can't imagine any pleasure greater than bringing to the uncluttered, supple mind of a child the delight of knowing God and the many rich things He has given us to enjoy. This is every parent's privilege, and books are his keenest tools. Children don't stumble onto good books by themselves ...

Hunt makes it her aim to help parents find those good books so they can lead their children well with  chapters like What Makes a Good Book?, The Pleasure of a Shared Adventure, and Who Influences Your Children? She follows these with lists of books organized by grade, from picture books for toddlers all the way up to hard chapter books for teenagers.

Read for the Heart, by Sarah Clarkson

This book of books is full of wonderful classics. Clarkson sorts her recommendations by category: Picture Books, Golden Age Classics, Children's Fiction, Fairy Tales, History and Biography; Spiritual Reading for Children; Poetry; and Music, Art, and Nature. I especially like her Appendices that list Caldecott and Newbery Medalists, as well as three well-loved series: G.A. Henty, Trailblazers, and Landmark History. I've been using the lists to build our library of out-of-print classics through used-books websites.

Read Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease

When I was pregnant with our first-born, my friend, a grade-school teacher, gave this book to me. It outlasted all the onesies and receiving blankets I received and set me on my way to reading to our children. Trelease convinced me early on of the vast benefits of reading out loud to your children when they're little, and never stopping. He says,

Extensive research has proven that reading aloud to a child is the single most important factor in raising a reader. It is also the best-kept secret in American education. This inexpensive and pleasurable fifteen minutes a day—either in the home or in the classroom--is more effective than worksheets or any other method of reading instruction.

You never outgrow being read to. I still like it when Steve reads to me while I make dinner. I get to hear articles I probably wouldn't find time to read otherwise and we get to talk about what we're reading, thinking through ideas together.

Additional books of books to buy or borrow:

Books Children Love: A Guide to the Best Children's Literature, by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson, with a foreword by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, daughter of L'Abri's Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

Though not primarily a book of books, Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise's The Well-Trained Mind includes a robust annotated bibliography as part of their list of resources for educating at home. If you're looking for living books by subject (e.g., history, art, literature) and grade, this is good go to.

The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids, by Sarah Mackenzie, founder and host of the Read Aloud Revival podcast.

If you have a good library near by, I suggest getting all of these in turn to decide which will best meet your needs and fit your style of reading. One good book of books will keep your library basket full of great books for a while.

That first baby shower is a distant memory now. But I’ve since followed my gift-giving friend's example and give one of these wonderful resource books to expectant moms. Second only to a silver cup or spoon, books outlast all other shower gifts. You may not be able to eat out of a book, but well chosen, it will nourish your soul forever.

How to Find Good Books, Part 2

One of our favorite things about summer's longer, less-structured days is all the time we can spend reading. To make the most of the time, I'm calling ahead by pre-ordering a bunch of books from our local library using their website, something that's available in most public library systems.

Today my focus is geography books. With so many to chose from, how can I know which ones to order? Especially for kids that range widely in grade and reading level? My favorite online book-finder resides at SimplyCharlotteMason.com. It’s a searchable database of “living books” (the sort that make a subject come alive). If you don't know about Charlotte Mason, see Karen Adreola's Charlotte Mason Companion, a fine way to kick off your own summer reading.

Today I was looking for geography books for all of our kids (ranging from Pre-K through 8th grade) so I simply clicked the geography category with no set grade range. The site generated more than 20 pages of results. Lots to choose from. Many are available from our local library. A few that looked especially good aren't, but they’re likely on Thriftbooks.com or Abe.com.

Happy reading!

What to Expect When No One is Expecting

Jonathan Last has written the best book to date on the dramatic global retreat from family making.  It has the creative title What to Expect When No One is Expecting and we mentioned it briefly here where we included an excerpt published by the Wall Street Journal. Recently, Last gave a talk for the American Enterprise Institute that provides an excellent overview of the book.