I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
From Eden to Bethlehem by Danielle Hitchen Illustrator: Jessica Blanchard
Published by Harvest House Publishers on October 2, 2018
Genres: Christian, General, Juvenile Nonfiction, Religious
Pages: 10
Source: NetGalley
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Children Can Explore Scripture Through God's Animal Menagerie
Your family will love this unique board book! Using colorful, engaging artwork, From Eden to Bethlehem introduces little ones to the coming messiah - from fall to prophecy to Incarnation - using the animals of the Bible to tell the story.
Children will delight in the beautiful illustrations and learning about key animals in the Old and New Testaments. The creatures featured in From Eden to Bethlehem follow the narrative arc of Scripture and help children understand Jesus's coming as the central story of the Bible.
You will appreciate the artistic design, theologically sound content, and helping your little one gain a greater understanding of the animal kingdom, as well as the coming/establishing of God's kingdom on earth.
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Baby Believer primers are designed to grow with children, from early infancy through elementary school. In addition to basic Bible theology, Baby Believer board books are filled with quotations from the Bible, creeds, hymns, church fathers, and other articles of faith to help reinforce the content and provide intellectual handholds for older children who possess a greater capacity for learning and memorization.
I’m forever on the lookout for good Bible based books for the Minions, now my niece (who is 3) and nephew (just a baby) to learn and grow with. When this book crossed my Net Galley radar I knew I needed to review it. This is a new author to me who brings an intriguing idea to mind that I wanted to grasp hold of. The idea that you can take a book with truths you want to impart to your child and use the same book through different age stages to reinforce the idea. The book is billed for ages birth to 4. Something, that in the right environment, can truly bring home the Biblical truth of redemption. However. . .
OK, I loved the illustrations. They were bold and colorful and easily identifiable for very young toddlers and children. However, once you get past some of the obvious ones such as the snake and the donkey they lost me just a little bit. I think the loss was in the idea that the Bible versus were not tailored to the understandable vocabulary of a young child. You get into the section from Isiah that tells of the coming of Christ and how the lion will lie down with the lamb and the lion shall eat straw like an ox, etc. Honing in on these animals is a great way to reach children and again the pictures were so capturing but the words that accompanied it are beyond the grasp of my niece.
Starting out with the first image we have words like enmity and betrothed. I truly believe that children can and should learn the Bible (I’m not quite as adherent to a specific version as I know others are) but I also believe that if we want our children to choose the Bible through their lives and want to study the Bible we have to make it approachable for them. I remember as a child struggling to care about reading from the Bible as the words and phrasing were over my head (and I was an advanced reader!). I remember that it wasn’t on my radar of want to read books like so many others I buried myself into. I can’t help but think that if there had been more approachable, more to my level of understanding, options available that I might have developed a stronger appeal to God’s Word than I did. And perhaps I might have actually put forth the effort and desire to study it sooner in life than I did.
About Danielle Hitchen
Danielle Hitchen founded Catechesis Books in 2016 in order to build out a collection of biblical and theological resources for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. In 2017, she partnered with Harvest House publishing to continue to produce the Baby Believer Primers.
Danielle desires to create beautiful books to help parents have better faith conversations with their children. She is the mom of a clever, compassionate, energetic three-year-old daughter and a sweet, oh-so-charming one-year-old son. Her children are her primary inspiration for writing and publishing the Baby Believer books.
Her professional background includes communications consulting, radio and TV production, event planning, and non-profit and church administration. Danielle is a graduate of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University where she earned her B.A. in Humanities. She presently resides in northern Virginia where she loves enjoying a good story with her husband, local playgrounds, serving at her Anglican church, wine tasting, reading to her kids, and her adult coloring book.
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