A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Kristin Stiles
Creation is the latest installment in the Big Theology for Little Hearts series. This set of board books is geared toward infants and toddlers with the goal being to expose them to sound theology at the very youngest age.
One would expect that this book would take the child through the six days of creation explaining what was made each day, but instead, it takes a much broader view of creation. The following concepts are presented: creation out of nothing, man created in the image of God, marriage, roles of men and women, the command to be fruitful, the goodness of creation, the fall, and the promise of new creation. For each of these topics, there is a one-sentence description. While these are fairly simple, they do contain words and concepts that will most certainly be over the heads of small children. Devon Provencher uses words like “existence,” “communion,” and “responsibilities.” He doesn’t shy away from such language with little ones, because the objective is to get these concepts and this vocabulary into the sponge-like brains of the children, and then as they grow, parents can reinforce these ideas. It’s like planting a seed. No one expects that seed to immediately spring up and bear fruit, but by placing it there, it can be watered and nurtured and, according to God’s good pleasure, may one day mature and bear the fruit of repentance and faith.
I really appreciate these books. They have beautiful illustrations and a clear, fun font. They are a joy to look at. Beyond that, though, each works well together with the other books in the series to provide a first glimpse of the gospel, of God’s character, of who Jesus is, and here, of how things began. I encourage parents of infants and toddlers to plant these seeds by reading these books and praying that God will use them as a means of grace in the lives of your little ones.
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
CREATION, by Devon Provencher