Tuesday, July 6, 2010

In Store Now - The Church History ABCs

Church history for kids?  Yea, and what fun it is!  We got our copies in of The Church History ABCs by Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard and it is every thing I imagined and more.  You can see two of the pages here on Jonathan Edwards and Martin Luther.  The writing is simple and clear and the illustrations are fun.  It's time we put some fun into the study of Church history and Nichols and Bustard have given us a great start.  A pleasant surprise for me was to find additional material in the back of the book on each character to help "fill in the picture."  It provides the dates when each person lived and provides some extra details plus an explanation of some of the details in the illustrations.  For example, here's what it says about the illustration of Luther:
"Engraved on the head of the mallet is Luther's seal or symbol, which consists of a black cross in a red heart in a white rose against a blue sky, all enclosed by a gold circle.  All of these have meaning for him.  Perhaps you can do some detective work and find out why.  He's also hold a lute, an early version of the guitar.  Luther loved music and wrote a number of great hymns, such as 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.'"  (32) 
There is also a website for the book with some fun activities and some marvelous illustrations by kids including one of R. C. Sproul with the caption "This is R C Sproul.  He makes me fall asleep."  You gotta love it. 

Finally, let me add a personal thank you to Stephen Nichols for signing a copy for me.  My manager brought it back from a recent trade show convention in St. Louis along with the happy news that Stephen has actually read my blog.  I wish this book the greatest success.  Our kids will only benefit from knowing the rich history that has preceded them.  It is only right that they get a chance to meet them.  I have three grand kids who will be growing up reading about them.  

The Church History ABCs is a hardcover from Crossway with 34 pages and sells for $15.99.  It is 9 x 12 inches. 

Stephen J. Nichols has written twelve books and is a research professor of Christianity and culture at Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School.

Ned Bustard is a graphic artist and has written and illustrated many children's book, including Ella Sings Jazz, The Story of Sir Galahad, and The Sailing Saint.

2 comments:

Andrew R said...

I've heard about this book. It sounds interesting.

(While reading this post I had one of those surreal moments that come with being a new parent. I thought "I need to pay attention to books like this now..."

Weird. And fun!
AR

Louis said...

Andrew,

It's never too early to start building your little ones a quality library!