Good books are a huge part of our family’s culture. We carry big hauls home from the library, read aloud together almost every day, enjoy great audiobooks, and “decorate” the house with bookshelves and precarious stacks on every flat surface. 😉
It has always been important to me that my children love books and enjoy them often. Even better to enjoy and discuss them together! And because books can be such a huge influence, as a Christian mom it’s important to me to be intentional with the books we read and the ones I hand to my children to enjoy on their own. So I make a point of gathering great Christian literature in our home.
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Books Have Influence… Stories Matter
Stories are important. They reflect and shape culture. They enrich our lives and spark our imaginations. Whether through literature, historical fiction, or biographies, stories help us connect with people, events, and ideas in an engaging and memorable way. They communicate values and complex concepts in a manner that is relatable and accessible.
We tell our children stories about their childhoods, read them epic tales at bedtime, and more. Reading and telling stories is woven into so many aspects of our lives! Even Jesus told stories and parables to his followers.
Why is it that stories are so powerful? I think it’s because they are designed that way. God uses story to help us know and understand him, as much as our minds can, and to share the greatest story of all: the gospel! And the very BEST books and tales are the ones that point us back to that greatest story. Christian literature is wonderful for this purpose.
Start With the Most Important Story
If we want to use stories and read alouds to point our children to Christ, we need to start with the most important story of all: the Bible! Not only is it a valuable and essential part of Christian family life, but the more familiar our children are with the themes and stories of the Bible, the easier it will be for them to see it reflected in other stories.
Make teaching your kids the Bible a priority in your home. If you’re ready to dig into Christian literature, start with Scripture. You’ll find poetry, history, narrative, and more. Enjoy it for the engaging story it is, study it together, and memorize verses.
Of course, Scripture is more than just a story. It’s the very word of God! Impress this upon your children and share these important truths about the Bible with them often:
- It is God’s revelation to us about His character and purposes, and His plan for our salvation
- God answers big questions and gives us practical tips for living a godly life.
- The Bible is the most true, accurate, reliable, and eternally relevant volume of books ever written.
- It equips us with biblical principles and helps us guard against lies and false teaching.
Reading the Bible is so important, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating! Just get started. Here are some ideas:
- Start with simple Bible readers for your younger kids. This past year we’ve been using the God’s Big Story books for individual reading practice as well as read alouds. They’re very well done and go more in detail with each level.
- Read aloud from Scripture. We read through 1-2 chapters of the Bible and discuss it together. It’s a great habit to begin! You can also use the Bible Road Trip curriculum along with your daily family readings for family devotions or homeschooling.
- I also highly recommend the book Help Your Kids Learn & Love the Bible by Danika Cooley. It’s a fantastic book for parents that helps equip you to teach the Bible in a simple and accurate way.
- Use the curriculum Sound Words: Lessons in Theology for family devotions or homeschooling. It will help you learn and discuss overarching themes and messages of Scripture. This is particularly helpful because it will make it easier to spot those themes in other literature you read.
Gather Christian Literature that Points to Scripture
As your kids are growing in familiarity with the Bible, gather books that echo the themes and big ideas of the Bible and enjoy them together. Look for ways that the story tells about God and His nature, about mankind and our need for a Savior, and points to Jesus and to the character of Christ.
It is such a joyful thing to be reading aloud with my children and hear them gasp “oh! that’s just like Jesus” or “hey, that reminds me of the story of Jonah!” The conversations we have in those moments are so moving and sweet as we go back to God’s Word to talk about the truth that was revealed there. Soon, they’ll begin to spot those same themes elsewhere: in a news story, in the history books, and more.
Of course, because God is the source of all truth, you can find hints of it reflected in many pieces of literature, whether they do so intentionally or not. We certainly enjoy a wide variety of books. But I really enjoy finding Christian literature that purposefully points to Christ and sharing those with my children. They inspire, edify, and build us up in the faith!
How to Find the Best Christian Literature for Kids
It can be challenging to find well-written literature that intentionally points our kids to Christ. Here are some resources for Christian literature that have helped me in that effort:
- Generations Read-Alouds – I love the read-aloud books and bundles at Generations. You can be sure that the books they provide are Christ-centered and enjoyable! Our favorites so far are Pilgrim’s Progress, Titus: Comrade of the Cross, and the Patricia St. John books. You can also find a find a free book list by them here.
- Lamplighter Ministries – We have enjoyed so many Lamplighter books and audio dramas! We pick one up every year at their booth at our local conference and their paper catalog is a pleasure to browse through. Our family favorites are The Giant Killer, Sir Knight of the Splendid Way, The Basket of Flowers, Teddy’s Button, and Sir Malcom and the Missing Prince.
- Rainbow Resources – This is a Christian homeschool curriculum site that has a great page presenting Christian children’s literature. Of course, you’ll want to check into books before you purchase them, but I love the categories they provide on this for easy browsing and finding new ideas for read-alouds and gifts.
- Christian Biographies – Fiction isn’t the only genre we use for family read alouds that point to Christ. Our family particularly loves Christian missionary biographies!
Other Resources to Consider – These resources don’t necessarily only recommend Christian literature, but they provide guidance for the Christian family navigating a wide range of children’s literature. We have them all and I’ve used them extensively. I do sometimes double check book reviews first if I’m going to hand them to certain kids, to check for sensitive topics or mature themes. But they’re great for finding read-alouds since you can edit on the fly and pause for discussion if needed.
An Important Reminder About Children’s Literature
Book lists and recommendations only get you so far. It’s important to remember that in the end evaluating whether a book or series is appropriate for our child is up to us. This is true for Christian literature, too. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Pray for wisdom and guidance – Ask the Lord to help you navigate all the selections out there and to teach your children to do the same.
- Use tools for book reviews – Find some resources to help you do quick book review checks. Sometimes I’ll just google a book, but I’ve also used the PluggedIn site, searched this FB group, or asked for input in the Homeschool Successfully fb group if I’m not sure about a book. And of course, sometimes I don’t find anything and I read ahead to make sure.
- Be careful in the library – Library runs include checking out books on my phone before we check out. Most often, though, we review and check out books ahead of time to pick up at the library.
- Read aloud and discuss regularly – Reading books aloud is not only a wonderful way to enjoy stories together, but it makes it easy to edit on-the-fly or to pause and discuss. This is a great way to model for your kids how to handle books in a God-honoring way when they’re reading on their own, too.
- Know what your kids are reading – If you do all these things, you’ll have a good pulse on what your kids are reading. this is very helpful and will give you a heads up when a book or series isn’t appropriate for your family.
- Regularly discuss worldview – As you’re doing read-alouds and evaluating books, discuss worldview with your children. The worldview of the author, the character, and the culture is important, and either honors God or doesn’t. Being able to recognize and discuss these points in books is an important life skill for Christians. And don’t forget to have those same discussions when watching movies or listening to music! reflected in books and other media –
- Transition from control to influence – Eventually you’ll want your children to learn to evaluate and handle books in a God-honoring way all on their own. For us, depending on the child’s maturity level and spiritual growth, we’ll begin this process in middle school. Continue having great discussions with your teens about the books they’re reading and providing guidance in their selections, giving them increasing opportunities to make those choices on their own. We model this same approach with our homeschool studies and appreciate the approach that Generations takes with their literature progression.
I hope these ideas and tips are helpful for you as you use Christian literature and read-alouds to point your children to Christ!
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This Post Has 27 Comments
These are beautiful books!! I think I would to get Pilgrim’s Progress for Young Readers, Captive and John Chrysostom. Thank you!
The three books I would choose out of Generations Timeless Christian classics would be: Robinson Crusoe, Foxes Book of Martyr’s, and Captive
Our family loves books so this was super helpful! We have already enjoyed some of the kids’ biographies included on the 1st grade set. I would love to have more from Patricia St. John, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, and more kids’ biographies.
I’d pick the third grade set. Our family hasn’t read most of those books.
Hello, Tauna,
I would choose The Pilgrim’s Progress for Young Readers from the Classic List. My other two choices would be from the first grade read aloud list: Hudson Taylor and George Muller.
Ooh, it’s a tough decision which books I’d pick. I already purchased the grade 6 literature set and also got Swiss Family Robinson. So, maybe I’d get Robinson Crusoe, Martin Luther, and The Princess Bellaheld.
The Dragon and the Raven (we enjoyed an audio drama of this so it would be fun to read together!)
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
The Giant Killer
From the Generations read aloud sets, three books that caught my attention are biographies on Martin Luther, Hudson Taylor, and John Knox from the grade 1 set.
I might choose “Heidi”, “Robinson Crusoe” and “The Pilgrim’s Progress for Young Readers”.
Hello! Entering the Giveaway, the three books I might pick from the Generations Timeless Christian Classics set are: Foxes Book of Martyrs, The Holy War, and The Swiss Family Robinson. God bless!
I would pick G.A. Henty’s The Dragon and the Raven, Patricia St. John’s Treasures of the Snow, and Adoniram Judson biography.
I think that I would pick The Giant Killer and Sunshine Country.
I really liked your suggestions on reading the Bible with our kids. Thank you for all these resources.
I’m really interested in the “Swiss Family Robinson”, “Titus-A Comrade of the Cross” & “The Life of Henry Martyn”.
I can’t pick! I would probably choose something from either the 3rd or 5th read aloud pack, or the timeless Christian Classics. I own some of those, but not all. They all look great!
I would to love to win a set of books! I’m interested in the, the Christian Classics: Swiss Family Robinson, Heidi, and Pilgrims Progress
There are so many great books to choose from, but one of my three would probably be Titus: A Comrade of the Cross.
I’ve never heard of the Generaton books before! I love learning about these kind of resources, so thank you for sharing this! We’d probably start with the third grade collection. I’m going to check it out more.
Would love to read Swiss family, Bella head and Heidi to my kids!
I would pick Treasures of the Snow, The Dragon and the Raven, and Star of Light.
The three we would pick would probably be “The Princess Bellaheld”, “Titus, Comrade of the Cross” and “The Dragon and the Raven”
I would love to have these on my shelf for my family to enjoy! Stepping Heavenward, Titus
A Comrade of the Cross, and The Dragon and the Raven. Thank you!
I would be interested in the following titles from the Timeless Christian Classics bundle: Titus, The Pilgrim’s Progress for Young Readers, and Captive
Thank you for this giveaway. All of Generations readers look so interesting. I love books so it is difficult to choose just three, but since it can only be three I think I would pick The Giant Killer (or Mary Jones and her Bible), The Princess Bellaheld, and The Dragon and the Raven…and now I’m second-guessing myself;)
Princess Bellaheld, Mary Jones and Her Bible, and the Elisabeth Elliot biography.
I might choose Sunshine Country, Treasures of the Snow, Star of Light
This article is fantastic! Thank you, Tauna! I’m bookmarking this one to share with others! God bless. 🙂