(See also Children’s Audio Books to listen to these books!)
My kids love, love, LOVE to read. While they see it as a fun pastime, I see it as a resource that can explicitly teach or indirectly reinforce Bible stories, spiritual teachings, and life lessons in an enjoyable way.
Over the next several months, we plan to post a weekly book review to highlight some of our favorite God-centered books for children and young adults beginning with Christadelphian authored books. Hopefully you will find these posts helpful for building your own collection of book resources! 🙂
First up – four children’s books that are fantastic for their specific “Christadelphian-beliefs” content. You won’t be able to find these in a Christian bookstore!
Josh and Jenny Go to Meeting (by Janet Ribaudo, illustrated by Martha Sales) is a short picture book that is easy to follow with cute illustrations. It describes Josh and Jenny’s enjoyable Sunday morning experience at meeting.
“The Memorial Service is a very special time for Josh and Jenny’s mother and father. There is also time for singing praises to God. Josh and Jenny love to sing along with all the people.”
This is a great little book that will create a feeling of warmth and eagerness for Sunday mornings beginning at an early age.
Josh and Jenny Go to a Baptism is a short picture book describing Josh and Jenny learning about baptism when “Aunt Linda” gets baptized. 
“Mother and Father were so excited. ‘Aunt Linda has asked to be baptized,’ they told Josh and Jenny. ‘What is “being baptized”?’ asked Jenny. ‘Do you remember we read about Jesus being baptized? He went to his cousin John. He went down into the Jordan River and was covered by the water. Jesus said that everyone that wants to follow him must be baptized.'”
This is a great book for learning what baptism is all about a level for young children. It would create great discussion to read this with your children right before or after a baptism.
Prayers for Young Children (written by: Hannah Carter, Laura Parkin and Jo Cave; illustrated by Mary Jane Abel and Julie Snobelen) is a beautifully illustrated collection of prayers for all sorts of circumstances including: Praise, Thankfulness, Morning, Night, When I’m Sorry, The Kingdom, Travel, Worries, Illness, Mealtimes, and “Oddments” at the end.
“Dear God, Please send Jesus back soon to be the King of the world so that everyone will want to please and worship You. I am glad that all the badness in the world will go away, so we will be able to play outside in the streets as You have said and not be frightened. Please send Jesus soon so that we can make friends with all the animals too. Thank You for giving us this hope. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.“
This collection of prayers is good for a quiet reading time and also as a tool for scaffolding children as they learn to pray.
Would YOU like to be in God’s Kingdom? Written by Sharon Abel and illustrated by Martha Sales. This book is a gem! Full of Kingdom illustrations and written in prose style, it is a great introduction to what the Kingdom will be like and what we must do if we would like to be there.
“Would you like to be in God’s Kingdom? / God has promised to make Earth a beautiful place. / It’s hot desert lands will no longer lie waste. / Through the dry thirsty soil, streams of water will flow, / And gardens of fruit trees and flowers will grow!
This book is hard to find, but is worth getting your hands on if you can (sources for purchasing are listed below). It’s a solid gem for your child’s book collection! You can listen to this audio book here: Would you Like to be in God’s Kingdom – Audio Book.
You can find the Josh and Jenny books at all of the following online Christadelphian bookstores, and possibly your local ecclesial library. Prayers for Young Children is currently available at The Christadelphian, Thousand Oak Library, and the CSSS. The only place that I can find that has Do You Want to Be in God’s Kingdom currently in stock is the CSSS in Australia.
The Christadelphian Office: https://thechristadelphian.com/ (England)
The Detroit Book Supply: https://www.christadelphianbooks.com/category/65 (USA)
Thousand Oak Library: http://christadelphianlibrary.com/ (USA)
Christadelphian Scriptural Study Service: http://www.csss.org.au/childrens-books-en/ (AUS)