Book Reviews June 2013

Growing through the Church: A practical and theological vision for all-age worship

Russell Herbert Kevin Mayhew, 2013, £11.99

An excellent resource that really impacted my ministry

For those who feel that all-age worship is important, this book will add knowledge – and for those who lean towards keeping ages separate, it’s a book to be wrestled with. But watch out: it might change your mind.

Growing through the Church is not primarily a book of ‘how’ to do an all-age service, but rather ‘why’. It is theologically and scientifically grounded, and doesn’t sidestep detail, so it’s more an academic than a light read. It is very effective in highlighting the potential pitfalls of all-age services.

It could have been a little shorter and slightly more practical in places, but as a book that provides a theological basis for all-age worship while encouraging you to reflect on the subject, it’s a must read.

Dave Hill is team leader at Ivy Kids, Manchester, director of Hilltop (hilltopandco.com) and a freelance scriptwriter for the BBC

Table Talk: The Book of Beginnings

Alison Mitchell The Good Book Company, 2013 £3.49

An excellent resource that really impacted my ministry

About six months ago, my husband and I realised that we had lost the routine of reading the Bible with our children before bed. We decided it was time to adopt a fresh approach, and began to use Table Talk over our family evening meal.

Our girls – aged nine, seven and five – really enjoy Table Talk. The questions to get you thinking practically about the Bible story are creative and fun, and the Bible passage is short enough to keep the children engaged. There is an activity following the Bible reading to help embed what the children have been challenged about and a prayer to complete the study, enabling the kids to ask Jesus for his help in applying what we have talked about.

We definitely plan to continue using this helpful resource. Our kids show their enjoyment of it by reminding us to use it most days!

Ruth Dowsett is a mum of three combining parenting with leading in her local church

Review Roundup: Prayer Books for Under 5s

The Lion Book of Prayers for Me

Christina Goodings Lion, 2012 £5.99

Worth your time - a solid resource

Psalms, Prayers and Praises

Sophie Piper Lion, 2012 £6.99

Worth your time - a solid resource

Both books are hard-wearing hardbacks and are a suitable size for little hands. They also include pages for gift presentation. Prayers for Me is suitable for pre-schoolers and early readers; and Psalms, Prayers and Praises is better suited to older children, or for reading together as a family, due to its more complex vocabulary and the concepts explored. Both have beautiful illustrations, but Prayers for Me will appeal most to young children. It contains a collection of simple, generally short prayers – some original; some well-known; and some based on Bible passages. Psalms, Prayers and Praises contains prayers of saints as well as prayers from the Bible.

Hayley Smith is mum to a rather lively three year old. In her spare time she is the young families pastor at St Mark’s, Battersea Rise

Prayers for Girls and Prayers for Boys

Gabrielle Mercer Make Believe Ideas, 2012 £4.99

An excellent resource that really impacted my ministry

These two bright and colourful board books are identical but have either a blue or purple jacket to appeal to either boys or girls. The title of the books is slightly misleading; my daughter thought they were like most prayer books and had pre-written prayers to choose from. Instead, these books helpfully encourage children to think about prayer; what it is, how, where, when, and what to pray about. Written in the form of a poem that children will enjoy, these books introduce very young children to the idea of a relationship with God in a lovely way. As they are board books (with little handles so that they can be carried around – I am unsure of the real value of this) one would assume they are suitable for babies and toddlers, but in fact the content is more appropriate for over 2s.

Ellie Wilson has been the under 5s adviser for Wakefield Diocese for eight years

My Little Family Prayer Book

Maite Roche Catholic Truth Society, 2011 £2.95

A few good ideas but also some major flaws

Bella, my five year old daughter, and I have been using My Little Family Prayer Book as the basis of our prayers over the last week. This book is primarily written for families from a Catholic faith tradition and includes prayers to the holy family, as well as to Jesus.

The devotions contained here are beautifully illustrated with colourful, interesting pictures. Bella and I enjoyed discussing the pictures and using our observations as a basis for our prayers. The language is simple and jargon-free.

This book represents a traditional view of family, with prayers for families with a mother, father, grandparents and siblings. This could discount a significant number of children who experience a different expression of family today. In addition, the main characters in the pictures were of white heritage, which could also exclude many readers.

Dr Alex Owen is the award leader for the undergraduate children and family work and ministry degree at Oasis College