Kids’ Shelf
I wanted a place where I could recommend some good children’s books. I won’t showcase the popular ones like Elephant and Piggie, the Pigeon books, Dogman and Cat Kid, Magic Treehouse, or Boxcar children because we all know about those… [Also Paper Pie—formerly known as Usborne— has lots of unique and fun options]
This will be a place for unique and lesser known books. Books that are unique in illustration or story content, or share a good message and teach kids something important.
I’ll be up front that a majority of these will be Christian in nature and message because I participate in reviewer programs for The Good Book Company, Crossway Publishers , and Harvest House Publishing which all publish Christian books. Plus, if you’re looking for books that have good messages, it’s logical to find them in Christian books.
But not all the books will be specifically Christian or from those publishers. I will continue to update this page as I encounter books I want to recommend!
I have recorded myself reading some children’s books on my YouTube page so if any of those are posted here I will include a ‘Storytime’ link that will take you to the corresponding Youtube video.
Also the video linked on this page features most of these books as well if you want to see inside them!
Like Me
Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person by Laura Wifler
This is a story told by a little boy who shares what it’s like to have a little brother with a disability- like going to therapy or or giving him extra help with certain things. He is different than him but also the same!
“God made you, God loves you, God is kind to you” is the mantra in this book. Wifler wrote this book to help kids build empathy for those with disabilities and to treat them with love and kindness even if we look or act different from each other.
Buy at Harvest House
Do Great Things for God
Do Great Things for God series by The Good Book Company
This is a series of (at the time of this writing) 10 books that explore the lives of a variety of inspiring Christian women in history (including Maria Fearing, Corrie Ten Boom, and Helen Roseveare) and showing how God can use us and our abilities to build his kingdom.
Each book has an illustrated story and then includes a timeline in the back of the person’s life as well as a photograph of them in real life.
Buy at The Good Book Company
Good Pictures, Bad Pictures
Good Pictures, Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids by Kristen A. Jensen
I heard this book mentioned on a podcast by Mama Bear Apologetics so I got myself a copy and I thought it did a good job of talking about a sensitive topic (porn) on a level that kids could understand without giving too much detail.
The goal is to help kids have vocabulary to know how to talk to you when they see something they shouldn’t and have a plan of how to deal with it when they do.
WIth phones, porn is too accessible (even unintentionally) and sadly kids at a young age need to be prepared by parents for it.
God’s Very Good Idea
God’s Very Good Idea: A True Story about God’s Delightfully Different Family by Trillia Newbell
“This book celebrates diversity and will help children see how people from all ethnic and social backgrounds are valuable to God and how Jesus came to rescue all kinds of people.”
It gives a clear Gospel message about our sin and how we don’t always treat people well and how that is not how God designed it. It reminds us that Jesus died to save all people because all people are sinful and need him- not matter what color their skin or what hair they have, or what interests they have.
I also like how it encourages readers to be part of their church family.
Buy at The Good Book Company
Count Yourself Calm
Count Yourself Calm: Taking Big Feelings to a Big God by Eliza Huie
A great book to help kids regulate their emotions. (For ages 4-7ish)
“This beautifully illustrated and empathetically written book walks children through a calming exercise that focuses their attention on God and helps them manage their emotions.”
Using a combination of breathing and counting down from five and thinking of specific things, it will help kids calm down.
It also includes an emotion wheel in the back to provide more words we can use to label the feelings.
The Moon is Always Round
The Moon is Always Round by Jonathan Gibson
This was recommended in the adult book Held which is about grieving infant loss. This is a book written not only to help kids process the loss of a baby sibling, but to help them understand that God is still good even if it doesn’t feel like it. Just like the moon is always round even if doesn’t always look round (waxing/waning crescents, etc).
There are also further tips in the back of the book of how to communicate the book’s analogy to your kids.
It’s a simple mantra that means a lot and will be a good reminder for them to be able to easily bring up to themselves at later difficult times- God is always good.
Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible
The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible by Jared Kennedy
This is one of our favorite Bibles to read with our kids. Our oldest is 7 now and is more able to understand something advanced like the The Ology Bible, but this one is good for younger kids.
The pictures are very colorful and engaging to the kids, sometimes having them count or see what’s bigger or smaller.
But the best part of it is that with each Bible story (it covers Genesis-Revelation) it points to the Gospel and Christ, the story of redemption and God’s endless grace for us.
There are 52 stories so we go through the whole thing multiple times in a year. Our Bible is worn and well-loved by now, but the kids have not tired of it!
Twirl
Twirl: God Loves You and Created You with Your Own Special Twirl by Emily Lex
“Help your children celebrate their specialness as you share this sweet story about a girl who discovers the truth of who God made her to be, with a little help from her adorable animal friends.”
This is the story of Audrey girl who loves to twirl. But when she sees the rabbits, ducks, and butterflies ‘twirling’ different than her, she tries to be like them. She can’t do what they do.
But God didn’t make her to twirl like a duck. She was created with her own twirl. We thrive when we operate within God’s design for us. And what he has for us is special. It won’t always look like everyone else, but because he created us, we know he didn’t make a mistake.
Buy at Harvest House
The King and the Dragon
The King and the Dragon by James W. Shrimpton
This book “teaches children the story of redemption in the Bible through the lens of dragon slaying. With a memorable rhyming style, engaging artwork, and theologically grounded storytelling, this book is perfect for teaching children the story of Christ’s defeat of sin, death, and evil.”
We had two girls first so we tended to have more books like Twirl that were more geared for girls. This is a good one for boys who engage more with dragons and dragon slayers. (To be fair- our girls love this one too)
Kids learn from an early age that there is good and evil, a story that frames that in a biblical way is important!
Buy at Crossway
Polly & the Screen Time Overload
Polly and the Screen Time Overload by Betsy Childs Howard
Screen time is a major parenting decision for everyone now. We need to teach kids from a young age how to steward that time well.
In this story Polly gets an iPad (they call it an iTab but I always change the word when I read it) for her birthday while visiting her grandparents. She ends up spending all her time on it and missing out on a lot of things she used to enjoy doing.
By the end she realizes that screen time isn’t bad, but too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing.
Conversations can go even further with this book when we consider other things that must be used in moderation.
Buy at Crossway
The Power to Choose
What Should Danny/Darla Do? Power to Choose Series
These are ‘choose your own adventure’ stories! Each book has 8-9 different paths depending on what choices you make.
The idea behind these books is to teach kids how to use their power to choose to make good choices. By choosing poor choices we can see how our choices affect others and make our day less than what we would want.
Kids have power over their choices so this is an interactive book that helps them recognize that power and inspire them to use it properly!
You can choose from a variety of books- What Would Darla Do? and What Would Danny Do?
Wherever You Go, I Want You to Know
Wherever You Go, I Want You to Know by Melissa Kruger
This book reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book Oh the Places You’ll Go!. It’s got a similar rhyming style and talks about the things kids might do when they’re older whether it’s flying planes, planting crops, etc. and has that ‘graduation’ vibe to it.
Some adventures may be happy or sad, sometimes they’ll win or lose, but no matter what they do or where they go, “there’s something I want you to know.”
The message is that as parents, our kids could go a lot of places and do a lot of things but our biggest dream for them is to always love and trust Jesus. He made them and loves them and that’s the best place to start any endeavor they would choose!
Buy at The Good Book Company
Who Is Jesus?
Who Is Jesus: 40 Pictures to Share With Your Family by Katie Hox
We got this book to do with our kids over Lent and have really been enjoying it! It’s 40 different devotionals so it works well with Lent, but you can do it during any time frame.
I love how it looks at both Old and New Testament stories to show us how they point to Christ and tell us who he is.
Each devotional has a corresponding picture to help them remember what they’ve read.
For example: the story of Joseph is depicted by his coat. The devotional tells Joseph’s story but then talks about Jesus being both betrayed and our Savior just like Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, but then saved Israel during the famine.
I’m even learning new connections as an adult!
Brave Books- Freedom Island
Brave Books: Freedom Island
This is a whole series of books written by a variety of authors but housed under the ‘Brave Books’ Umbrella.
You can just buy a book here or there or you can choose to join their monthly subscription (linked below). There are a variety of book bundle options as well.
Brave Books’s mission statement is: “To be the brand parents trust with their children's imaginations by creating a world, characters, and stories that not only enthrall them but build their character while doing so.”
They talk about foundational morals and ethics but also tackle common cultural topics surrounding race and gender.
So far we’ve only read one, but I thought they took a big topic and made it understandable to kids and fun to read. Plus the book had a family game time lined out in the back that was a fun addition!