A Book Review from Books At a Glance
By Kristin Stiles
The Little Lights series of biographies brings the lives of influential Christians to young readers. In her latest addition to this series, Catherine Mackenzie presents the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. With the current interest in Reformed theology, this is a name that many children will hear referred to from the pulpit, but do they have any idea who he was? Mackenzie does a wonderful job describing his life and explaining why he is still so respected today.
Written with simple sentence structure and controlled vocabulary, the author introduces young children to an everyday kind of guy that God called first to salvation and then to ministry as a preacher. The story of his life and the triumphs and struggles are all very interesting and cause the reader to respect Spurgeon while constantly being directed to give God the credit and glory for all the Spurgeon did. Also, liberally interspersed with the anecdotes of his life are gospel truths that declare our lost state as sinners, our need for salvation, the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and His exclusive offer of salvation.
This book is also visually appealing to children. The illustrations are colorful with a lot of detail to look at, and the font is large enough and spaced nicely for early readers who still need to track word by word as they read along. Pages are set up so that there is text on one page and the accompanying illustration on the facing page. With the illustration, there is also a single sentence of summary that encapsulates the main idea of the preceding text. I think this is also very helpful for young readers to help them follow the storyline.
I am a big fan of the Little Lights series and this is a wonderful addition to it. Biographies are such a great way to teach children biblical truths and also to challenge them to live lives that will bring glory to God.
Kristin Stiles is a home-school mom, a Sunday School teacher, and helps lead the “Young, Reading, & Reformed” children’s ministry at Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia, PA.
Buy the books
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON: WHO IS THE GREATEST?, by Catherine Mackenzie