Wow! I Love This Book Pack!
I’m a mum with three young (and lively) kids, and focusing on reading the Bible with them can be challenging! On our best days, we’ve been wowed by God’s love and faithfulness as we’ve read through storybook bibles like these and learned about his beautiful character as we’ve read through series like these. But now my eldest two are 5 and 7, I’d love to see them develop a more personal, proactive faith that moves beyond simply knowing Bible stories and a general sense of Jesus’ love for them (wonderful as that is!) as they grow as young disciples of Christ.
I’ve found the Kid’s Guide To….pack a wonderful and inspirational starting point for this type of family discipleship. Wow God! Thank You, Sorry, Please is author Simon Camillieri’s first book on this topic, and it’s all about prayer. Previously, when I’ve encouraged my kids to pray, they’re stuck for ideas or end up praying the same thing without really thinking. But Simon picks out four basic types of prayer from the Bible: ‘prayers of praise, thankfulness, apology for sin and asking God for what we need’ and breaks these down into memorable phrases that kids (and adults!) can easily remember: Wow God! Thank You, Sorry and Please.’
The book begins by talking about what prayer is, how you can do it and finally, the four big ideas for what you can say. Simon’s simple rhyming style alongside Dominic On’s exquisite illustrations work beautifully to break down any preconceptions about prayer being too ‘lofty’ or complicated for a child (or adult!). The second part of the book then looks in more detail at the four types of prayer, and points parents to some really helpful downloadable resources.
When I set the time aside to go through this properly with my 7 year old, it was wonderful to see him really think about what he was saying, knowing that he had a framework from the Bible to work through. Using the book also challenged me in my own prayer life, especially to think of more ‘Wow God!’ moments in my everyday life. I’ve not tried the extra resources on the website yet but the free downloadable posters with those beautiful illustrations and the kids' prayer grid where you can draw out what you’ve thought of to pray about, seem like fantastic resources to root the habit of prayer even more firmly down into our kids’ hearts. There’s a wonderful story of how another family has benefited from the prayer grid here.
Read, Think, Pray, Do is Simon and Dominic’s second venture into helping parents work on family discipleship. Perhaps aimed at a slightly older audience (7 and above?) it’s a way of helping young disciples to engage more actively with the Bible for themselves. As stated in the ‘Parent’s Guide’ at the beginning of the book, Read, Think, Pray, Do:
“...is a simple and kid-friendly guide to reading God’s word with your children. It…introduce(s) them to four easy steps: READING the Bible, THINKING about what it means, PRAYING about what we’ve learned and DOING what it teaches. Read, think, pray, do.”
I found the book really tackled the barriers children (and adults!) face when trying to read the Bible; where to start, its sheer size...and I can’t stress what a winning combination Dominic’s inspiring illustrations alongside Simon’s rhyming text was for me personally; to move my heart as well as my head, in wanting to read my own Bible (and to want to help my kids to do it too!) The addition of the ‘Time to Read’ section at the back is a wonderful way of helping parents put it all into practice with their child.
In short, I wholeheartedly recommend the Kid’s Guide To…pack for all parents wanting a helpful tool for family discipleship. I feel it really meets the needs of parents looking to help their children learn the key things of faith, but are at a loss about how to do so…and as a mum, I have no doubt you’ll feel inspired in your own walk with Jesus as you work through these books.
Rachael Anderton, Marketing Assistant, 10ofthose.
To watch the author read this book aloud, visit here.
For the free downloadable resources, click here.
To buy the book pack, click here.
