Thursday, February 1, 2018

Review: Bible Answers for Parents of Curious Kids 101 Kid-Friendly Q&As by Ed Strauss


SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:
“Mom, how big is God?
“Dad, why do people get old and die?”

Kids have questions—important questions. And they expect their parents to have all the answers. But what do you do when your children come at you with those head-scratchers that are sometimes hard even for adults to understand?

Bible Answers for Parents of Curious Kids is a fantastic resource for moms and dads of 5- to 8-year olds. This book includes 101 questions and answers written for parents, giving you the tools you need to engage your children in kid-friendly, faith-building conversations.

Other questions and answers include:How could Jesus walk on water?Why do we pray if God already knows everything?Does God have a mom and a dad?What will people do in heaven?How did so many animals fit on Noah’s Ark?How could a fish be big enough to swallow Jonah?Why did God make germs? Every answer is backed up with scripture and includes questions for further discussion, making this little book perfect for families with curious young minds!
MY TAKE:
The summary of this intrigued me. Sometimes, kids ask questions that are hard to answer, and I thought this would be an interesting and useful read.

The book is pretty straightforward. There's one page of introduction, before it goes straight to the questions, which are the headings, and each question gets 1-2 pages of answers, which are all simple, easy-to-understand explanations. The answers also include quotations from the Bible and include the specific books and numbers.

I liked that after each answer, there are follow-up questions you can ask your child to keep the discussion going. It could lead to some very interesting conversations. Plus, this is one of those books which you can either read in one sitting or just when a particular question comes up.

Some questions in the book are:
Did God have a mom and a dad?
What does God look like?
Why did Jesus pick Judas to be his disciple?
Why did God make germs?
Why doesn't God answer all my prayers?
Do I have to forgive everyone who hurts me?

Some of the questions, like Why did Jacob trick Isaac and Why Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave, I was already familiar with the answer before reading the book.

I actually learned quite a few things from this book, such as that God once made an iron axe head float (2 Kings 6:1-7) and that the Bible may have talked about dinosaurs (Psalm 104:26).

There are some questions, though, like How Could Jesus Walk on Water? wherein the answers aren't as definitive.

I would also have loved it if there had been some illustrations, even just small ones.

The book was good overall. However, I'm Catholic and love learning about other religions, and I saw a statement or two that I didn't agree with, such as Jesus being the only way to heaven. Also, in the answer to the question about reincarnation, there is mention of Hinduism and how millions of Hindus have become unhappy with their religion and have converted to Christianity. I don't know how accurate this is, but the inclusion of the statement about their conversion and how they once believed in reincarnation and now they don't so why should you believe it, made me a little uneasy. Maybe it was the way it was phrased?

Perhaps, I'm just not the target audience for this book, but if the other things I said about the book are to your liking, you should consider giving the book a try.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:
But what if you're a tiger cub, and that ferocious Siberian tiger is your dad? Well now, that changes everything. And you have that kind of relationship with God.
RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?



Note: This post contains Amazon and Book Depository affiliate links.

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