Illustration from Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg
The
ninth entry in this series of simple statements that you can say while reading the
particular books below involves the heart of God’s love and Jesus’ mission.
There
are many secular books for young children that involve a poor decision and end
in forgiveness and mercy. While reading one of these books, simply say or
paraphrase, “All bad choices can be forgiven. God/Jesus loves us no matter what we do.”
The
first PBT offering is a great story about 3 young bears who live by the sea.
When they accidentally break their mom’s prized blue shell, they naively venture
off in a boat to find a replacement.
They encounter
several sea vessels with interesting characters that seem to have some familiar
literary or artistic significance. See how this crew of characters is in a boat
named Melville?
I assume this is a tip of the author/illustrator's hat to Moby Dick. I didn’t get all the allusions, but I sure enjoyed puzzling
over them. This is not for your children to do however. Back to the story…
When
told by a sea captain where to find such a shell, they venture off to “an
island shaped like a lumpy hat.” Before they leave he explains, “if you look in
the right place, I reckon you’ll find it.”
They
pass a number of interesting islands and have some memorable experiences,
eventually making it to their island destination. However, after looking high
and low, no shell is found.
They return to their boat, grumpy, disappointed,
and missing home. Then the blaming begins.
Meanwhile, a storm comes and tosses
them so that they no longer care about blame. Instead they confess while clinging
to each other for safety.
The storm
ceases, and they see their home island ahead. As they pull their boat onto
shore, they find a beautiful blue shell. Home was the right place after all.
Mama
greets them at the door with a face and posture all little bears fear, but they
confess and offer her the new shell.
Forgiveness, hugs, kisses, supper (but no
dessert) provide the happy ending you and your children will desire for these 3
little bears.
Besides
the great story with simple but profound lessons, this is a really big book
with many beautiful double page illustrations so it’s perfect for reading to a
group.
Picture Book: Three Bears in a Boat
Author & Illustrator:
David Soman
Original Publisher & Date: Dial,
2014
Age & Grade Appropriateness: 3
and up, Pre and up
Formats other than Book: Tablet
My other PBT offering that
connects to this statement is from the Curious George series. Keep in
mind that many Curious George books would connect to this statement for he does
have a way of making a mess of things, but loving forgiveness often ends George’s
adventures.
In this Curious George
episode, he is invited to a pizza party. Since George loves parties and pizza,
he is especially excited.
The man with the yellow hat reminds George to be on
his best behavior before sending George on to the party.
Upon arrival, each child and George is given
an apron, chef’s hat, and a piece of dough to make his own pizza. While the
children leave the room to play Pin the Pepperoni on the Pizza, George stays in
the kitchen since he’s curious about the pieces of dough.
He gathers all the
children’s dough together and begins making a giant pizza.
A mess ensues and George
realizes he should have left the dough in the original small pieces so he gets
scissors and cuts the dough into shapes.
Eventually the mom discovers
the mess and threatens to send George home, but the children like the idea of making uniquely
shaped dough and help him clean up so that he can stay.
The children are inspired
to make various shaped pizzas of their own and even the mom is thankful to
George for the great-looking pizzas.
Curious George is a great
character to help children connect with their life in God because George is
delightfully innocent and troublesome, kind of like most children, and
redemption, in some form, always follows.
Here at
PBT I offered another Curious George book (Curious
George Saves His Pennies) and tied it to faith concepts of stewardship and generosity.
Find that post [here].
Picture Book: Curious George and the Pizza Party
Author: Cynthia Platt
Illustrated in the Style of H.A. Rey by
Mary O’Keefe Young
Original Publisher & Date: HMH,
2010
Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4
and up, Pre and up
Formats other than Book: Tablet,
downloadable audio
Other
PBT books that connect with links to posts:
When Sophie
Gets Really, Really Angry - 6/3/14
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse - 6/23/14
Beautiful Oops! - 8/12/14
I Love You, Stinky Face - 9/3/14
Rainbow Fish - 12/3/14
You are Not My Friend But I Miss You - 1/16/15
It's Okay to Make Mistakes - 1/4/16
Too Tall Houses – 3/22/16
Virgil and Owen series (2
bks) –
4/5/16
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