Sparking Everyday Discipleship

In this continuation of our Back-to-School series, we look at several great books and resources for helping our children love geography, history, and social studies. For a transcript and links from the podcast, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/ You can also leave comments there on each blog post. We would love to hear from you!

In this episode Annette Whipple, author of Whoo Knew! The Truth About Owls and other great non-fiction books, shares with us. For links and show notes, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we continue with the theme of "Back to School" and look at some great picture books and devotional books about science. For links and a transcript to this episode, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

This is first in a series "Books that Spark" is doing on Back to School emphasizing great books for each subject area in school. In this episode we look at picture books and resources that promote math skills and encourage children to enjoy math. Included in the show notes are helpful links for parents as well. You can find the show notes and helpful links on my blog at https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss some writers whose birthdays are in August. Then we discuss building a legacy for our children. Please Note: We had some pretty terrible sound issues on this episode. I almost didn't post it because of that, but I want you to have the links and resources shared in the episode. Please excuse the sound problems. We are so sorry.

In this episode I talk with Danielle Hitchen, author of the Baby Believer series of board books and founder of Catechesis Books. We discuss starting discipling our children from the time they are babies. For the links to some great books and a transcript of the program, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss the interesting life of Beatrix Potter and her wonderful children's books. We also discuss picture books about the earth, conservation, and nature, and a book for Christian parents about environmentalism. For show notes, links, and podcast transcript go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss the great books that E. B. White wrote and the theme of friendship. We also discuss some wonderful picture books about friendship. And we finish with talking about Jesus who calls us His friends. For links and show notes, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode I interview author Marci Seither. We discuss parenting and schooling, grandparenting and passing on the legacy of faith, and some great books you'll want to check out. For the transcript and links go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

This episode begins our second year of "Books that Spark." In this episode we focus mostly on some wonderful books to help us as parents, grandparents, and caregivers in discipling our children and growing in our own faith. For transcript and links, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we check out some cookbooks and picture books that are about cooking or include recipes. It's a celebration of STEAM activities, cultures around the world, making memories, and preserving family histories. For links and the transcript, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we celebrate the genius of Eric Carle's books and illustrations. This week would have been his 92nd birthday. He passed away in May, but he has left a legacy of great children's books for our children to love. For links and the transcript, please go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we explore fun books about dads and Father's Day and some great books for Mom and Dad too. For links and the show transcript, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we explore fun books about dads and Father's Day and some great books for Mom and Dad too. For links and the show transcript, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss the joys of vacations and staycations and taking hold of those special teachable moments and defining moments that our times together can create. For links and the transcript to this episode, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we explore some great books about gardens, gardeners, and how to create gardens together with our kids. For a transcript of the show and links, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we share some great books for helping our kids honor our fallen soldiers, learn more about America, and prepare for Independence Day. For the script and links, please go to my blog at terriehellardbrown.com

May 23 is Margaret Wise Brown's birthday. In this episode we look at some of the many great books she wrote that have entertained children for three generations. For the transcript and links go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss several wonderful books for children and parents written by Asian Americans. For links and the show transcript, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at some great books about awesome teachers and some fun Mother's Day books. For the transcript and links go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss nursery rhymes, satire, and silly stories. For links and the show transcript, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at great poetry books, anthologies, and poetry writing activities. For links and transcript, please go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we explore books and ideas to give busy parents a break, help our kids develop independent learning, and end the school year successfully. For the transcript and links go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we celebrate Hans Christian Anderson's birthday and look at fairytales from around the world. Plus we discuss the true happily ever after we have in Christ. For the transcript and links, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode I share some lesson plan ideas and some great books about crayons and colors. For the transcript, links, and files, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at books about Easter for our kids and a couple for parents that will help us celebrate the gift of salvation Jesus gave us through His death and resurrection. For a transcript and links for the episode, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we share books celebrating St. Patrick's Day and Irish Heritage and books that help us in the areas t. Patrick valued most: praying, sharing the Gospel, and Knowing God. For links and a transcript of the episode, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we interview author Xochitl Dixon who wrote Different Like Me. To see the transcript and handy links for books and website mentioned in the episode, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we interview author Xochitl Dixon who wrote Different Life Me. To see the transcript and handy links for books and website mentioned in the episode, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss several of Dr. Seuss's books and a few fun ways to use them. For the transcript and links, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss some great books for celebrating Black History Month, but we also discuss some important books for parents to read to equip themselves for having important conversations about race. On my website terriehellarbrown.com you'll find a transcript for the episode, links for the books discussed, and several links to resources you may want to check out.

In this episode we discuss books to help us prepare for and celebrate Easter, understand Lent, and discuss tips for sharing the Gospel with young children. To access links and read the transcript, please go to my blog at terriehellardbrown.com

In this episode we discuss books to help us prepare for and celebrate Easter, understand Lent, and discuss tips for sharing the Gospel with young children. To access links and read the transcript, please go to my blog at terriehellardbrown.com

In this episode we look at books about love and enjoy some fun books that celebrate Valentine's Day. We also look at some great books for both parents and children about God's love. To see the transcript and handy links to the books discussed, please go to terriehellardbrown.com

In this episode we look at books for celebrating the 100th day of school and books that celebrate words. To see the transcript and handy links to the books discussed, please go to terriehellardbrown.com

In this episode we look at books that help our children understand problem-solving and critical thinking as we celebrate Puzzle Day, Lego Day, and Lewis Carroll's birthday. To see the transcript and handy links to the books discussed, please go to terriehellardbrown.com

In this episode we look at A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh books and other books about friendship and best friends. To see the transcript and links to the books discussed, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we discuss Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy. We also look at books that help children learn to stand up for others in helpful and creative ways. To see the transcript and links to the books, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at books that help create conversations leading to defining moments when we can encourage our children to be who God created them to be. For the transcript and links to the books covered in this episode, please go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at stories about missionaries and other heroes of faith as we end 2020 with a challenge to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world working to carry the Gospel to those who do not yet know Christ. You can find the full manuscript, links to books discussed, and other links at https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at books to help our children when they are grieving and are dealing with difficult emotions. You can find the full manuscript, links to books discussed, and other links at https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode, we discuss great bedtime stories to help our kids go to sleep, some excellent resources for parents trying to help their kids sleep through the night, and other resources for parents to take time to rest in God's presence. For details of this episode--books recommended and transcript, go to https://terriehellardbrown.com/blog/

In this episode we look at several books about other cultures and books for and about TCK's (Third Culture Kids). Books Discussed in This Episode: Transcript: Welcome to "Books that Spark" a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books, that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. I have some great books to share with you today. They are so fun to read, and they're about multiculturalism, about traveling, these are good for third culture kids. I'm going to just go through these. These are some of my favorite picture books. One is called Rice and Rocks by Sandra L. Richards illustrated by Megan Kayleigh Sullivan. And this is about a little boy who eats rice and beans all the time. And he calls them rice and rocks. Jasper is his companion, and he is a Congo African gray parrot. It's told in the first person by this little boy, and his friends are coming over. They're serving rice and beans, and he's embarrassed even though that's his traditional Jamaican dish that they do on Sundays. His bird friend teaches him differently. His bird takes him on an adventure, and they go to different countries. And in each country you get introduced to a different bird and you get introduce to a different meal that the people of that country eat, that includes rice and beans or rice and rocks. And so that goes through the whole story and it teaches you all these different recipes, all these different dishes from different countries. And then at the end, his friends all talk about how much they love his rice and rocks because at their house, when they're having a celebration, they eat this kind of food too. And when they're, you know, it reminds them of this, and it reminds them of that. And it just is so much fun to help a child recognize that they can embrace their culture, not be embarrassed by it, and enjoy the foods that are native to their country and culture. And that we're also not that different around the world. We all kind of appreciate the same things, and we celebrate our meals together. Different meals have different meanings. And I mean, every culture is that way in one way or another. It's just a very cute book. Another one (I have several about food) is called How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman and illustrated by Allen Say. This is about a mom who is Japanese and a dad who is American. Then when they start dating, they don't go to eat anywhere because he doesn't know how to use chopsticks, and she's afraid to try to use a fork and knife. Finally, they talk about it, and they wind up learning to eat each other's way. The man learns to use chopsticks and the girl learns to use a fork and knife, and they learn to appreciate each other's culture. And then of course, they get married and have a little girl named Ina. I love it because, of course, our family learned to use chopsticks. And I think they're way better to use than the forks and knives. But anyway— This other one is a beautiful book called My Breakfast with Jesus, written by Tina Cho, illustrated by Guy Wolek. It is worshiping God around the world. It quotes at the beginning, Deuteronomy 12 seven. There you shall eat before the Lord, your God, and you shall rejoice you and your households in all that you undertake in which the Lord your God has blessed you. And in the first part of the story, it talks about when Jesus met with the disciples at the seashore and he fixed breakfast for them after his crucifixion in John 21, it shows different places around the world and how they have breakfast and how in each situation they have what they eat. But the similarity in every situation is that they pray and thank God for their food. Then it talks about each of the meals that are presented. It doesn't give the actual recipe, but tells you about them and the name of the dish. So if someone wanted to look up how to make them, they could, I'm only sad that they don't have my favorite breakfast in here from Asia, but that's okay. Let me read you a short excerpt from one of the pages. It says, "Coffee diluted with milk warms Mariana's mug in Brazil. Her friends stop by so they can walk to school together. They gulp down ham and cheese with bread and pray together over school. A peppy way to start the day. A breakfast blessing." And then it has a side note. "Some Brazilian children drink coffee, which parents believe help them stay alert throughout the day. Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world." And on each page too, as they describe the different breakfasts, it has an adjective, "a peppy way to start the day," "a loving way to start the day," "a sweet way to start the day." And so, I liked that as well, because I love words and language. Another lovely book by Dorena Williamson illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright, and Ying Hwa-Hu is Colorfull (with two L's) Celebrating the Colors God Gave Us. And this one is more a multicultural book about the different colors around us,

Keeping Christ at the center of our Christmas celebration can be challenging. Observing Advent can help keep our focus on Christ as well as build memories and family traditions that can make Christmas even more meaningful for our families. Books Discussed in This Episode: Transcript: Welcome to "Books that Spark," a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. This has been one of my favorite weeks of the whole year on Thursday. We celebrated Thanksgiving and Sunday was the first day of advent. Today is the 1st of December, and in our house, we're already thinking of all things Christmas. Advent is not a traditional practice in my home church, but advent has always been important to me individually and especially as a mom. It has been important to me that we focus on Christ throughout the Christmas season. Traditions and making memories during this season are especially important to me. And I plan out the season each year, the best I can. When my kids were really little I'd plan when we'd bake cookies and watch movies and shop. And then a few years later, I became the choir director for our church, so the season was also filled with rehearsals and performances. And then I went back to teaching full time and the season got even crazier, especially because some of that time I was teaching in a country that doesn't have a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday. So we worked all the way through the season and even on Christmas day. Making the holiday special for our family and focusing on worship took a lot of determination. To help our kids focus on others rather than only on what they wanted, we would take them to Toys-R-Us, to shop for their siblings. It was so much fun. My best friend would come with us, so we could divide the kids up more and shop in different parts of the store. It was a great object lesson as they saw all those toys that they wanted but were required to think of what a sibling would want instead. And because our funds were always greatly limited, we would just have each child draw a sibling's name, so they could focus on that one person and we would give them an amount they could spend. And then we would shop. Of course, we also heard about every toy that they wanted to, but it became a fun event we looked forward to each year. It was also fun because we were shopping in an American store. Taipei had two Toys-R-Us stores back then. And so that was always really a treat for us. And one of my kids' favorite parts of celebrating Christmas overseas was working with another ministry that would do a live nativity flash mob sort of thing in several places around Taipei, usually at a mall or other public area. And they would dress up like Roman soldiers, shepherds and wise men, and the group had live animals, and each participant would walk among the crowd of people. The wise man would come in trying to find the newborn King asking where he could be found, and they would speak their native languages, which were not Mandarin. So it added to that sense of mystery to the situation. And soon a crowd would gather to hear what was going on as the missionary playing one of the wise men would share the Christmas story and share the gospel in Mandarin. It was exhausting, but wonderful. And I think I'll share a few pictures in the show notes, just for fun, because it was such a neat memory and such a neat event for our family. We have the tradition in our family on Christmas morning where we have cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, which is definitely not our normal breakfast at all. And then we read the Christmas story. And after that we open prisons, we watch each person open their gifts. We enjoy seeing their reactions. So we aren't one of those pandemonium-ensuing-at-present-time sort of families. It's a time of really cherishing each gift that is given and enjoying seeing each person enjoy what they receive. And then after we finish the presents, it's time to go to my aunt's house for a family lunch together. Now, when my mom was alive and we happened to be in the Midwest, Christmas was more complicated since my parents were divorced and we would have Christmas Eve breakfast with my mom and stepdad, and my sister's family would join in, and we would open gifts together at mom's house. Then we'd have Christmas Eve evening at my dad's with my sister and her family sharing gifts with Dad and his wife. And then Christmas morning was time for our immediate family. Then Christmas afternoon, we'd drive a couple hours away to my husband's family's Christmas. They always have Christmas lunch and open gifts in the late afternoon together. So that worked out very well. I'm sharing all these things to point out that each family has their rituals or traditions and ways of doing things. And these are the "right" way of doing Christmas in our kids' eyes. Whatever we develop as a tradition in our family becomes

In this episode we discuss the series of books Little House on the Prairie and several companion products to add to your experience with the series. Books Discussed in This Episode: Transcript: Welcome to "Books that Spark," a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. Today. I wanted to talk about one of my favorite sets of books, Little House on the Prairie books. And I know they're very popular with many of you, and this time of year, for some reason, makes me feel like, you know, family gathering around. And it just reminds me of when we would read the Little House books and the family atmosphere throughout the books. And so I thought I would share some great resources that you can use to make this an even more meaningful time together as a family. If you're homeschooling, of course, these are like essential. If you're homeschooling in the United States, if you're homeschooling in Canada, I know most of my Canadian friends actually read Anne of Green Gables like we read Little House on the Prairie here, which I thought was really interesting. And that's another great series of books. In fact, I probably should do an episode on series of books that you can read with your children as a read aloud time as a family, that would probably include, Oh, it would definitely include Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, The Boxcar Children, Chronicles of Narnia, and I like The Magic Treehouse. And I know some people don't want magic stuff when they're reading to their kids, but I love The Magic Treehouse series as well. We have it in both Chinese and English. So those are some good series of books for middle elementary through upper elementary even that you could read with your kids. And if you're reading to your children, I think even starting in first grade, most of these would be fascinating to them. First of all, of course, we have to have the series, the Little House on the Prairie series and they have a new set of books that you can get where it's just in two volumes. That would be really nice to have the most common set of Little House books that we would find today written by Laura Ingalls, Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams. Those are the ones we've had for quite a few years. If your children are still picture book age, you're not quite ready to jump into chapter books together, then I would recommend A Little House Picture Book Treasury, which is Six Stories of Life on the Prairie adapted from Laura Ingles Wilder's books, rewritten by Renee Graef. These are available in one volume for the six stories, and it's a really pretty book. The pictures are inspired by Garth Williams. So they're very similar to the ones that are in the other books. For digging a little deeper into the Little House lifestyle--Annette Whipple, which is this wonderful writer. I was so blessed to get to talk with her at a recent conference. She's very knowledgeable, and she writes a lot of educational books. She has written The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide. And it's by Annette Whipple. This is the first book I would recommend if you're going to be teaching the Little House books or you just want to embellish your time of reading together, to dig a little deeper into the culture, to talk with your kids about what it was like to live during that time, and to answer more questions or to try some recipes or crafts that they did. This book is what you need to get. It's got 75 activities in it. It goes chapter by chapter, through all of the Little House series books. It's a great companion to the series. Then there are several books that I recommend if you want to go even further, but if you're only getting one supplemental book, this is the one I would recommend. And that's The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide by Annette Whipple. Let me give you an example of what she gives you within this great resource. In Chapter One in the "Dig Deeper" section, it says, "Little House in the Big Woods, which is the first volume in the series takes place in 1871 to 1870 so about 150 years ago. On the opening page Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that there were no houses near the Ingles' family. Though they couldn't see any homes from their cabin. They did have neighbors. Relatives lived nearby. They could even walk to their houses." So these are bulleted points that just give you a little bit more information. And that goes chapter by chapter through all of the books. It says, "Salting meat preserved it by keeping germs from growing. It also gave the meat extra flavor." And then, "Laura Ingalls Wilder was born seven miles or 11 kilometers Northwest of Pepin, Wisconsin in 1867. Pepin is still a small village today." Then she has a paragraph on butchering time and explains that. And then it goes on to Chapter Two. So it just gives you these little snippets of information th

In this episode we look at books to inspire creativity, teach about the humanities, teach art skills, and a couple for parents to read to inspire themselves. Books Discussed in This Episode Books to Inspire Creativity in Children: Books with Examples of Great Artwork: Books for Working on Art Skills: Books to Encourage Mom and Dad in the Calling to Creativity: Transcript: Welcome to books that spark a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books, that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. Today. I have some great books to share with you. We're going to be talking about creativity. And first I'm going to talk about a few books that can spark the desire to be creative and the encouragement to help our children take that step. That is sometimes a scary step to show their creativity and to enjoy it and to celebrate it. One of my favorite books about this is called The Dot written by Peter H. Reynolds, and Reynolds has written several books about creativity that are really, really good, and also about being yourself and taking a chance and stepping out of your comfort zone to express yourself and to make a difference in the world through your own creativity and your own style of creativity. But this a very sweet book. It's about a little girl named Vashti who doesn't think she can draw. And so her teacher has her draw an orange dot on a piece of paper, and she said, "Sign your name to it." And then her teacher frames that picture and that encourages Vashti to try more and more and more. She winds up making a whole gallery of pictures. The book ends with another child coming up to her and saying, I love your artwork. I wish I could draw. And it says, "Vashti smiled. She handed the boy a blank sheet of paper, show me the boys. Pencil shook as he drew his line, Vashti stared at the boy's squiggle. And then she said, please sign it." We see her passing on the same thing to another child to encourage him to try to be creative. I just, I love the book because it celebrates, even if we think we don't have a whole lot of talent, what we can each do. He has two different three-book collections or boxed sets. One is called The Big Dreams Collection and it includes Happy Dreamer, The Word Collector and Say Something. There's the box set Creatrilogy by Peter Reynolds. That includes the book, The Dot that I just mentioned and a book called Ish, which I just love. And a book called Sky Color. In Ish, it's also about a little boy. Who's drawing pictures and his older brother makes fun of him. And so he stops drawing because he thinks he's draws terribly. He tries and tries and tries and he just keeps walking up the paper and throwing it down. And he notices his little sister comes along, takes his crumpled paper and disappears with it. And he's chasing her down like, "What are you doing? Give me back that picture. You know, it's, it's not good. It's trash." And he goes into her room and she has covered her walls with all of his pictures. And he says, why are you doing this? These aren't any good. He's she's like, that's supposed to be a vase with flowers in it, but it doesn't look like a vase with flowers. And she said, yes, it does. It looks vase-ish. Every picture is something-ish. And so it's like, even though he doesn't feel like it's a perfect drawing, it's elephant-ish. It's, you know, dog-ish. And so that's why the book is called Ish. And it's so cute. And, of course, the pictures are really cute that he's drawing, but it encourages him to keep trying and to keep having fun with his drawings, even if they aren't what he would call perfect. And even though his brother gave him a hard time. Sky Color says, "Marisol was an artist. She loved to draw and paint. And she even had her very own art gallery." And her art gallery is on the refrigerator. "Not all her art hung in a gallery. Much of it she shared with the world. She painted posters to share ideas she believed in." And it shows "save the ocean." "At school Marisol was famous for her creative clothes, her box of art supplies in her belief that everybody was an artist. Yes, Marisol was an artist through and through. So when her teacher told the class, they were going to paint a mural for the library. Marisol couldn't wait to begin the classroom buzzed with the sound of brainstorming. The students talked and sketched together. They made a great big drawing. Then they marched to the library. Marisol shouted, 'I'll paint the sky!' Marisol rummaged through the box of paint but could not find any blue. How am I going to make the sky without blue paint? The bell rang. It was time to put their brushes down for the day. As she climbed aboard the bus, Marisol kept wondering all the way home. She stared out the window. The sun lowered closer to the horizon later at home. Marisol watched the day, turned into night. That night, Marisol settled into a deep dream. She drifted through a sky swirling with colors, the

In this episode we discuss helping children appreciate and enjoy their names, others' names, and the names of God. Books Discussed in This Episode: Transcript: Welcome to "Books that Spark" a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. Today I'm so excited to share with you some really sweet books about names and how God knows our name and the meaning of names and the importance of our name. The first book is a fun book that I have loved for years. And it's called Mommy Doesn't Know My Name by Suzanne Williams illustrated by Andrew Shachat. So it's a cute book about how we use pet names with our kids. It starts out, "My mommy doesn't know my name. When I wake up in the morning, she comes in to get me. 'Is That my little chickadee?' She says. I'm not a chickadee. I'm Hannah. After I'm dressed, we have breakfast. My cup slips, and I spill orange juice. 'Oh No!' I cry. 'It's Okay, Pumpkin,' says Mommy. 'Accidents Happen to everyone.' Do accidents happen to pumpkins?" And she says, "I'm not a pumpkin. I'm Hannah." And so it goes through the whole book with all these different names that her mom calls her throughout the day. And as she's going to bed that night she has one more time that her mom calls her a little mouse and she says, "I'm not a mouse. I'm Hannah." And she says, "'Yes, I know,' says, mommy. She gives me a hug. 'Your Hannah, my very own happy little, funny little girl.'" And I just love this book. I think it is so cute and such a sweet book to share with our kids. And I think it would cause a lot of giggles and laughter as you share it together. Another very sweet book is called Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. This book deals with the different names that people have, especially from different ethnicities and how sometimes those are hard for us to say and encourages a positive outlook on it--that the name is a song. It's beautiful, and it has its own rhythm and its own meaning. So this little girl takes time to learn people's names. And her mom teaches her instead of being upset about her name and the teacher having trouble pronouncing it, to help the teacher pronounce it correctly. And then also to learn her friend's names and to kind of sing their names because the name is a song. And so it's just a really wonderful book. I really appreciate the message in it to be patient with each other. First of all, when we mispronounce names or don't know quite how to pronounce them and to also encourage children to not be embarrassed by their names if people mispronounce them or tease them about them, but to embrace our names that we've been given and to understand the importance of those names and that they are beautiful. My Chinese name, my mom has always said was it doesn't sound pretty in English, you know, to an English ear. But to any Chinese speaking person, they always say, "Oh, what a beautiful name?" I think that's so interesting because our ears are used to hearing names a certain way, sounds a certain way. And we have to learn to understand in other cultures and in other languages, the names are beautiful to the ears of the people, and we need to help each other learn that everyone's name is beautiful. And then Debbie Anderson has a very cute book: God Knows My Name. And this little book talks about how God knew us before we were born, that he created us and that he's the God of the universe. And yet he knows our name. The illustrations are colorful and cute. And it's just a lovely little book. And there's also a pamphlet that you can get--a pamphlet version of the book, which is nice because you could get a pack of 25, and it shares the gospel in this same way--God knows my name. So in this book it says, "God made everything and God knows everything. God knows me. He even knows my favorite color. What's your favorite color? Surprise. God already knew it. God knows my name. He even knows how many hairs are on my head. Can you count how many hairs are on your head? What is your name?" And it gives scripture to go with each one of these. "Before God made the world, he knew about me. Before I was born, God knew what would happen every day of my life." It's just a cute little book and shares the gospel and how God has known us before we were born. Another book that's really cute about names is Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. And this is a cute story of a little girl who loves her name thinks that it's just perfect until she goes to school, and the children tease her about her name. She goes through a terrible time, and she doesn't think her name is perfect. She thinks it's dreadful. And then her parents talk to her when she gets home, and she likes her name again a little bit, and it goes back and forth. And then finally the music teacher helps the students to understand that her name is great, and all names are great. And the kids decide to take on flower names themsel

In this episode we look at books about the history of Thanksgiving, the traditions of today's Thanksgiving, and building an attitude of gratitude in our families. Books Discussed in This Episode Transcript: Welcome to "Books that Spark," a podcast for parents and caregivers celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. Today, we're going to look at books that go with Thanksgiving. And since this is the beginning of November, I thought we could take time to talk about books of Thanksgiving, so you have time to get them if you want to read them for the Thanksgiving holiday. First, let's look at some great books--picture books and story books--about the history of the American Thanksgiving. I want to share some books with you that I just have loved over the years. I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday because of the family time we have together and the being thankful, helping our kids to understand the importance of Thanksgiving, of being thankful for what God has provided for us. I think teaching our children to be thankful is one of the most powerful things we can teach them. It helps them to be grateful for what they have and to look at the blessings in their lives, even when going through hard times. And so I think as parents, we really have the responsibility to help them understand the power and the importance of being grateful. And part of that with Thanksgiving is also the history. And I know that some today would rather us change the history or not talk about what happened back then, but history is history, and we learn from history when we teach what history really was all about. I think it's also important to help children see things from another person's perspective, and part of that is understanding that the mindset back then, right or wrong, was what it was. I think sometimes we vilify historical figures because we're judging them from a 21st century perspective. And we have to help our children understand that their attitudes were different. Their understanding was different. I mean, even Mark Twain--his family owned slaves, and it wasn't until he met his wife. From what I understand of the history, he met his wife and she was an abolitionist. She was from Connecticut. She did not agree that slavery was okay. Well, for Mark Twain, he had never even thought about it. It was just a way of life in his family at that time. And in his culture where he grew up and sad and as horrible and evil as it was, he had no other understanding. And so then when he was exposed to this other way of thinking, he started realizing this isn't right. And you see it in his writing of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There's one line, my favorite line in the whole book--I feel like it is the climactic line, the turning point for Huck Finn's understanding--is when he realizes that Jim is a person; he realizes he has pain from missing his family and regrets for the way he treated his daughter. And he sees him for the first time as a human being. And to me, that is so powerful. And we know that Mark Twain changed his viewpoint. He changed his attitude about slavery once he was exposed to the other way of thinking. So what we need to do is when we study history and we see these attitudes that today we find appalling and of course would never want our children to think slavery was okay, or to think that it's okay to go and just take over someone else's land. So when we teach our children, we need to help them understand that we learn from history. We learn from the mistakes of the past; we help our kids to understand the thinking that was prevalent back then, why they did what they did, and then, was it right? Would it be right for us to do that today, and help them to think through these things. We want to raise thinkers. We want to raise people who can reason and debate and think through, and not just accept everything that they're fed at face value. We have a foundation of character traits and biblical teaching of the truth of what is right and wrong. What is good and bad. And we live our lives. According to that, we want to help our children to embrace those values as well. And to understand how to then look at whatever situation they face and understand how to navigate the complexity of life as they live it out. If we just jump on a bandwagon without really examining what the people are teaching and what their foundational ideas are, why they did what they did, the motivation behind what's going on, we wind up just being blind followers who buy into whatever sounds good at the moment. It's a recipe for disaster in many situations. So I think when we're talking about Thanksgiving, we need to help our children have a wider view and understand what was going on at the time and what the thinking was at the time. Okay. So I'll give you a really quick little history lesson. And if you remember your history, the Puritans were the Protestants

Transcript: Welcome to "Books that Spark," a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. Today, I'm going to be talking about sign language, being deaf, and some wonderful books that have to do with this subject. For some reason, this has just been on my heart to talk about. I think my heart and my mind have been thinking a lot about ministry and what we can do with our kids in ministry and how we can help them to have a heart for ministering to others. And I've always loved sign language. My great grandparents were deaf. I did not know them, but because of that, my family has always known a little bit of sign language. So, I've always wanted to learn more, and I've taken some sign language classes and have done a little bit of signing in ministry, but I have loved every minute of it. It has been such a blessing to try to communicate and to try to be a catalyst to help bridge the communication gap. Whether I'm dealing with second language learners or someone who is deaf, I like being that bridge to bridge the gap in communication and getting the word of God into the hands of whomever God brings into my life. This is something that I've just always loved. And I think the language is so beautiful and visual. I love learning that. And, of course, we have found with autism and even with very young children, teaching them sign enables them to communicate easier and earlier in life. So, let's talk a little bit about some really wonderful books. And one is an older book, but it's called I Have a Sister. My Sister Is Deaf, and it's by Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray. And it's this sister telling about her little sister who is deaf and what her daily experiences are like. But what I love about it is not only does it help a child to understand what it might be like to be deaf and then how to be able to respect and help someone or be sensitive to someone, but to understand what they're going through and what their experience is, which is always a good thing to help our children learn empathy. But it's so beautiful the way she discusses life with her sister. You can sense the love she has for her sister and the joy that she has and happiness that she has in living life with her little sister. For instance, on one of the pages they're sitting at the piano and she says, "My sister can play the piano. She likes to feel the deep rumbling chords, but she will never be able to sing. She cannot hear the tune." I think it just really opens our eyes to what it would be like to not be able to hear. In one picture on one page, she's talking about how she covers her ears and tries to experience what her sister might experience. And this page, I just love. She said, "I understand my sister. My sister understands what I say too. Especially if I speak slowly and move my hands a lot, but it is not only my lips and fingers that my sister watches. I wore my sunglasses yesterday. The frames are very large. The lenses are very black. My sister made me take them off when I spoke. What do my brown eyes say to her brown eyes? That I would really rather play ball than play house? That I just heard our mother call, but I do not want to go in yet?" And so it points out that not only does a deaf person look at our gestures and read our lips or sign language, they look at our expressions and our eyes and they take it all in to communicate. I used to have a deaf friend and if the phone rang, of course, she couldn't hear it. So it would ring. And, all of a sudden, we all just looked over at the phone, and she's like, "Whoa, what's going on." Instead of the conversation being centered around where we were talking with her, everybody naturally just looked toward the phone, and she figured out, "Oh, the phone must be ringing." It's kind of cool how this book breaks that down and clarifies that for a young reader. So that one is called. I Have a Sister. My Sister Is Deaf. Another book I really love is by Alan Say. It's called Silent Days, Silent Dreams, and it's the story about an artist named James Castle who was born deaf, nearly blind and also had autism and possibly dyslexia. His story is fascinating. Because he was born in 1899, he didn't have a lot of help, and he taught himself to draw. Most of his life, he was just ridiculed and abused by the children around him and even some of his family members. But eventually, his genius was understood. I love his story so much because it shows the determination of a person who has that gift of art. And they cannot walk away from it, no matter how many people try to keep them from doing it. It shows the determination of someone with disabilities who's trying to reach the outside world and to make his own world in his case, as kind of a reaction to the world around him. We'll never know exactly how he experienced what he went through because he could not speak, but the

In this episode we explore the strength found in joy and empowering our kids to bless others by sharing joy and kindness. Remember, we have a drawing for a signed copy of Little Mole's Christmas Gift. To enter, comment on this blog post. Books Discussed in This Episode: Insanity of God Video Sheep Among Wolves IDOP (November 1, 2020) Transcript: Welcome to Books that Spark, a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion, leading to teachable moments with our kids. I'm so glad you joined me today. I'm excited today to talk with you about kindness and joy. I had another episode actually planned for this week, but after interviewing Glenys, I am just overwhelmed by the joy and the kindness that comes through her books. And I feel like with our situation right now, that's something that our kids really need. Not only because it comforts us, but I think we forget that it strengthens us. When we're thinking of helping our children to find joy and to find peace and to be kind to others, we're equipping them to live their lives as a testimony for God in the strength of the Holy spirit, because the fruit of the spirit includes kindness and joy and peace and all of those wonderful attributes that we long for with the very innermost part of our being. And so, I found some really cute books to share with you today about joy and kindness. The first one is actually called Joy, and it's by Corrinne, Averiss and illustrated by Isabelle Follath. It's a very cute story about a little girl who adores her Nanna. Her name is Fern. Her Nanna has been sad and not full of joy. It's like she's lost her joy. So she wants to try to help her Nanna find joy again. And it really exemplifies encouraging one another. And it exemplifies the Philippians 4:8 verse where it says to think on these things. And it's just an adorable little storybook. And she tries to go out into the world and find joy for her grandma so she can share it with her. And she takes all these little things and it's a British written in British English. So we have mum and she takes a tin instead of a can. And so there's several words in there that are the British English, and it's very sweet and quaint, but anyway, she tries to catch joy. She goes to the park because people are always joyful at the park and she's trying to find joy and get it in her little tin. And, of course, it won't go in the tin. So, she's very disappointed and goes home to her Nanna and tells her, "I tried to find joy to give to you." And she tells her about all the incidents of joy that she saw. One is really cute. It's a dad tickling his little kid's feet on the swing and, you know, just adorable. Anyway, her sharing the experiences she had helps Nanna to smile and to be filled with joy. And so, Nanna gives her a big hug and tells her she's her cause for joy. She's the reason she's joyful again. But I love that it shows that a child can make such a difference just by their attitude and by what they share with others and what they say. And so this is a really cute book called Joy. And two adorable books that I just came across a few weeks ago, and they are so cute, is Ordinary Mary. There's two books in the series that I know of. Anyway, there may be more, but Ordinary Mary's Positively Extraordinary Day by Emily Pearson and Fumi Kosaka is the illustrator. She goes through her whole day, and it's just an ordinary day. And it shows how the little things we do, again, the little things we do can make a difference in someone's life and can make a difference in the outlook and of what's going on in the day and in the world. And so I love that. And just about, I think all the books I'm sharing with you today pretty much are books about this, where we can teach our children that what they do matters, even if it's just a small kindness or a small word of encouragement, it can make a difference. And then, not only does it help the other person find joy, it helps nourish our soul and help us find joy. And so, these books are really good for this: Ordinary Mary's Positively Extraordinary Day. And then her other one is Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed. And both of these are beautiful books. And, and I, I just I've. I think both of them were worth getting both are by Emily Pearson and both are illustrated by Fumi Kosaka, but they're just very sweet books and show the power a child has to do and make a difference in the world. Another one is called, Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller and illustrated by Jen Hill. It's a very sweet picture book. And this little girl is trying to figure out how to make this other little girl feel better because she spills her grape juice on her dress, and it stains her dress. She's trying to say the right things and do the right things to encourage this little girl and to encourage others. And it's a very sweet little story, and it shows the frustration of sometimes you try to do the right thing and it doesn't come