What's New on My Shelf: Book Recommendations

Here are some new books that I have added to my shelves recently that I recommend. 

"Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints" by Daneen Akers is an illustrated children’s storybook featuring the stories of people of diverse faiths who worked for more love and justice in their corner of the world, even when that meant rocking the religious boat. These are people from different religions and time periods who spoke truth to power and did the right thing, even when it was the hard thing. These are not perfect people, but they are people we can glimpse the holy through.

This book is illustrated with a variety of artistic styles (more than two dozen artists created original portraits). Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints emphasizes the stories of women, LGBTQ people, people of color, Indigenous people, and others too often written out of religious narratives. The book is written for middle-grade age children (and their adults) ages 8 and up."

You can order it here: 
https://www.holytroublemakers.com

Here is a look at the Table of Contents and some samples of the illustrations:

"When Kids Ask Hard Questions: Faith-Filled Responses for Tough Topics" edited by Bromleigh McCleneghan and Karen Ware Jackson.  


I ordered this one a while ago and am finally getting around to reading through it. I have read several other books that provide parental guides to questions answering children and youth's questions about things that might be hard to answer. This book I think is the best one I've read so far.  It's a series of essays written by a person with particular expertise in the area in which they are writing. 

each essay was written by a person with particular expertise in the area they were writing. There are essays on topics I don’t have any personal experience with, such as divorce, blended families, suicide, and pregnancy loss. But as a pastor, I know that a lot of families I love and care for go through these situations, and it was helpful to read about these topics I haven’t put a lot of thought into, because I’ve never had to. Whether these come up in my own family or not, having this book on my shelf will make me a better pastor.  The essays are thoughtful and personal. I love that essay writers go beyond giving the readers a script of what to say. The essays offer tools for the reader to think critically about what they believe and engage their faith and scripture in the conversation.  I think these essays can be helpful in helping parents develop a language and practices that communicate their values to there kids.  There are touch topics for sure (see the table of contents below) but they are dealt with and written about in a very lovely way.  Each chapter includes a resource list for further exploration and support. 


Here is a look at the Table of Contents to give you an idea of the topics addressed: 

"The Family Time Bible" by Dr. Mary Manz Simon and illustrated by Fatima Anaya. 

I just added this story Bible to my children's Bible collection. There are 52 Bible stories in this book that are perfect for families with kids ages 4-8. I am not the biggest fan of the illustrations, But, what I do love is that each Bible story has "fast fact" about the story, a key verse, and a discussion question. There is also a note to parents after each story that focuses on the theme of the story, relates it to everyday situations, and offers some suggestions and guidance. My favorite part is the authors have provided a prayer after each story for families to say together. 

The two books above can be ordered by your favorite booksellers. 

·