Happy to introduce a new partner company- The Good Book Company This company happens to have published some of my very favorite children's books in recent years. I finally looked them up, and discovered a treasure trove of resources from this company. This is a link to their blog, by the author of the book that I am reviewing today.
Things I like about this book
Details: Specification
Age range: 2 - 6
Author Sarah Parker Illustrator Andre Parker
ISBN 9781784984748
Format Board book
First published May 2020
Dimensions 8.5" x 10.2" x 0.4"
Language English
Pages 18
Publisher The Good Book Company
Other information
Each Bible story is retold in just a few words so as to be understood by the youngest children. But each page also gives the Bible reference so that older children and their families can read the biblical account for themselves.
Things I like about this book
- Theme-the book begins with a welcome from the author and illustrator. This sets the real theme of the book from the very start: learning about Our Awesome God and what He is like. On each page after a brief synopsis of the specific bible event, there is a statement about God. Examples:
- God rescues His people.
- God is the strongest!
- Content- each bible event is given a title, then the passage in the Bible where it can be found. It's followed by the synopsis of the event, the statement about God, and then each page has 10 items to seek and find, counting item number 1, you find 1, item number 2, you find 2, etc.
- Writing-the author uses great descriptive language, not only in her retelling of the events, but in the description of each item to find. The adjectives animate the events and items, just as the amazing illustrations bring the images to life.
- Illustrations- as a seek and find book, the pictures make or break it. These illustrations do not disappoint! They are engaging, warm, friendly, and best of all, full of expression! It has an animated quality not found in many books.
- Physical book- this is a magazine size BOARD book. The cover is thick and sturdy, it's a non glossy page on the front and back so it will not look dirty after many readings. Inside the book, the pages are high quality board pages with just a little shine for effect. The illustrations look life-like, and finding the hidden items is a fun challenge.
- Options-this book has over 450 items to find. When you see my list of educational connections, it goes on and on. I completely remember my boys at this age group from 2-6 even through age 9 loving this type of seek and find book reminiscent of Where's Waldo, especially on long summer trips in the car and at our destination.
- Website Store-the companies sales page has links to two printable coloring pages and will let you see inside three of the events/pages of the book before your purchase it- sort of a test run.
Wonders:
- Will there be more books like this? I sure hope so!
- Will children over age 6 enjoy this book? I suspect that anyone who picks it up, will be inspired to read it, find some if not all of the items, and from the front cover the bonus items.
- Will the author's next book change the language of the title to be Bible Events (instead of Stories)? I'm still learning to change my language to be even clearer to the children and adults I interact with. The bible is true, and it contains a review of history, a guide on how to live, and a plan for eternity. Children often believe stories are made up, and adults often envision a story as fiction or enhanced. But the bible speaks of real life events and God's work and character are revealed throughout it.
- Will other authors convince Andre Parker to illustrate their books? He oversees the art work and children's illustrations for the Good Book Company, and I sure hope he continues illustrating children's work directly. I don't love the illustrations in a picture book easily.
- Trusting there will be more books by this talented team... what themes will they make fun and thread throughout future books? I sure hope that they have volumes of both OT and NT events, and I'd be happy with a whole series about who God is. But I'd also like to see them include concepts like sin, repent, eternal, the names of God, a book that shows Jesus throughout the Old and New Testament. And I can see all these as seek and find, but also timelines, a book of theological vocabulary, explaining the gospel? anything is possible.
Educational Connections:
The 2-6 year old crowd loves to learn, to discover, to test out their understanding of new concepts, and to show how much they have already picked up with life experience. This book does not disappoint in the rich language choices to discuss as you read, re-read, and perhaps memorize aspects of this fun and enjoyable child friendly book. Here are some quick suggestions to highlight and make it more engaging for you and your littles.
- counting: numbers 1-10 are on every events seek 1, then seek 2, ...
- colors: when you are to seek a watermelon- it's green, poppies are red, blue dragonflies
- concepts like
- sizes: little, tiny, tall, long
- physical attributes: sharp, pointy, prickly, hard
- emotional/feeling descriptors: friendly, happy, sleepy, trust, curious
- actions: slithering, laughing, flapping
- physical items: barrell, bundle, sacks, jars
- animals: sloth, hummingbirds, snake, geckos, kiwi bird
- plants: dandelions, lillies, lilypads, wheat
- tools: axe, ladder, sickle, well, wheelbarrow
- Historical items: sickle, spears, jars of spices, wheat bundles, silver cups
- With the concepts ask you child to:
- find the example of that word.
- compare and explain what a happy vs. sleepy animal is like.
- research historical items like sickle -even find other biblical event common items.
- practice observation skills and sharing- why is a waterfall splashy? how else could you describe it.
- talk about how some descriptive words sound like what you would hear near that animal, person, thing or place.
- talk about nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
- talk about how good writers and illustrators use their style to convey a feeling, tone, or mood. What examples of colors, numbers, dates, places, size, etc are in the book, how do the illustrations and word choices bring this book to life.
- Add to the events. Read the bible passages, and ask the children what other items could be pictured? what words could also help set the tone or mood of an event?
- Draw more of their own seek and find items for this event.
- Use this as a springboard and have individuals, pairs, or teams create their own seek and find pages by drawing or using clip art and graphics to illustrate and write a God theme, as well as an event synopsis. (this would be a fun youth group activity even, and would help the teens gain perspective and think critically while laughing and enjoying one another.)
Thankful to be a new Good Book Company partner and be offered this book to review. I hope there are many more reviews with this publisher in my future. Next month, I'll introduce you to a new book from a series of books that I can't resist, I may just own every one of them.
