Review "Close as a Breath," "Jesus Saves Me," "Little Seed: A Life"

I have 3 new board books to review today that teach children about Christ! They are called Learn, Absorb and Praise books and are published by Graham Blanchard and written by Callie Grant.

The “Spring Pack Set” includes

“Jesus Saves Me” from the Knowing My God series is for ages 0-7. It is a Learn book and teaches children about The Good Shepherd–Jesus– through the Scripture John 10:14-16, photographs of sheep with shepherds, and explanations about what sheep and shepherds do. There are several different ways to use the book. For toddlers, you can simply read the Scripture phrase that is on each page. For preschoolers, you can talk about the photos and what they see in them. And for older kids, you can read the explanations and questions and discuss what it means for Jesus to be our Good Shepherd.

“Close As a Breath” an Absorb book for ages 0-6. In it we experience a young girl’s magical day out with her dad during the autumn. She constantly asks her father questions about things she sees in nature and finally asks a question about God. Her dad shows great love for her and answers all her questions.

“Little Seed: A Life” is a Praise book for ages 0-5. It follows the life cycle of a seed. We see it fall to the ground, buried by a squirrel, protected during the winter weather, softening and growing in the spring, and fully grown in the summer. But then it produces many seeds which then start the new life cycle. This is an important concept for children to understand as it is such a common illustration in the Bible.

My younger children enjoyed listening to me read all three of the books, as well as looking through the illustrations themselves. I liked reading all three as well, and especially enjoyed exploring the themes with my kids. Little Seed: A Life is fun to read this time of year because they are seeing things growing outside. I want them to know that some of those seeds had been there all winter, and for them to picture what the roots look like under the soil. But I really want them to know about how our lives can be fruitful like the one seed and can (and should) produce many more seeds. Close as a Breath is a great book to read during the fall, since its nature references (changing leaves and water freezing) relate to that time of year. But its main point of God being as close to us as a breath is important to learn any time of the year. Finally, Jesus Saves Me was the most fun to read to my toddler. It has short phrases on each page (as well as the optional longer discussions) and great photos for little ones to look at. And I want my kids to know why Jesus is the Good Shepherd and what that means for us. If you’re looking for some great board books to help your children learn important concepts about God, you won’t be disappointed with these!

Graham Blanchard Inc., a Christian Publishing company based in Austin, Texas, is on a mission to encourage and equip parents to effectively reach their kids about God, even at a very young age. For more information please visit www.grahamblanchard.com.