I was lucky enough to have another opportunity to review a children’s book for Crossway. This time they sent a copy of The Church History ABC’s: Augustine and 25 other heroes of faith by Stephen J Nichols & Ned Bustard. This is a lovely hardcover book with very high quality pages. I love that about Crossway books–they are always quality books that will survive many children and much love without wearing out.
In addition, the “A is for…” format will allow it to appeal to a very large range of children’s ages. You can start out with just getting them familiar with the names, then you can add the small blurb on the page and if they want more, there is a more detailed bio of each person in the back. The illustrations are lovely and they have a very diverse group of people represented.
As a Catholic, I am very pleased with how many Saints are in there and how they are represented. I’m also pleased with the particular Saints chosen. They are all very influential saints. If, however, you are a Catholic, this probably isn’t going to be a book you will add to your faith library as it does include such figures as John Calvin & Martin Luther. When I personally think of church history I think of MY church (Roman Catholic) not Christianity in general. It would make a nice famous people in history supplement, though.
The other nice thing about this book is that the author’s have a website that has coloring pages, mazes, word searches, and a timeline, as well as handwriting practice pages to make this book a true homeschool resource. You can visit the website at http://www.ChurchHistoryABCs.com. The kids can also submit pictures of their favorite historical figure and have it added to the gallery.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to share Christian faith figures with their children.
This book was provided for review by Crossway. Thanks!
This post will be linked to the Fall Festival of Children’s Books @ 5 Minutes for Books.
Jennifer@5 Minutes for Books
23 September 2010 at 6:18 AM (14 years ago)Thanks for linking up!
Great review. I think I’m going to check out that website now. I don’t homeschool, but my first grader could sure use handwriting practice!!
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admin Reply:
September 23rd, 2010 at 11:10 AM
I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for visiting :).
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katklaw777
22 September 2010 at 12:35 PM (14 years ago)I like the fact that this book shows diversity in religion.
I wish to expose my children to many different types of faith so they will be tolerant to all the wonderful differences we have in this wide, wide world!
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