Children ages two or three to six do not need long read alouds, but you will want to start early in reading aloud to your children to build a love and attention span for it.
The books and materials I am going to list today and tomorrow are those that are especially appropriate for a devotional type of situation (“morning reading” at the Reishes). You will need to experiment with your children and the various “levels” of books. Some children as early as three years old can sit for lengthy picture books while others will only want a “quick” type of read aloud time.
The books are sort of listed by age range—youngest to oldest. Thus, the first ones listed are even appropriate for two to four year olds. I am making a few notations for the items, as well as listing authors and links.
Additionally, I am grouping them according to Bible story books, sets, picture books, prayer books, etc. Most of them are available at your library—though I admit that I own all of them (after twenty-seven years of parenting!) and recommend that you invest in a few favorites so that you can use those over and over. (Yes, I drive a $450 van, but have a library worth thousands of dollars—vehicles aren’t that important to me, but books (especially faith-teaching ones) are!)
Being the owner of a small press publishing company/small vendor of materials ourselves, I like to purchase books from small companies (especially family-owned ones) whenever possible. However, they (and we!) cannot provide all of the bells and whistles that large ones, such as Amazon, can provide. The links given for many of the materials are links to larger providers because these companies can provide the “look inside” feature, which I find especially helpful in purchasing picture books since you can actually look at a few pages and check out the text size, pictures, amount of text on each page, etc. However, if you know of a small vendor who carries these books, I encourage you to purchase from them!
Also, most of these products are available from your library. Even if you are holding these (or checking these out) from your library, you can go to one of the seller’s sites and check out the guts to see if it is appropriate for your child’s level before holding it from your library.
1. Very young Bible story books and Bibles:
a. The felt books and felt playsets continue to be good for this age group; my earlier review of this: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-thirty-one-start-young-with-bible.html
b. “Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes” (my earlier review of this is here): https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-thirty-two-start-young-with-bible.html
c. One of my favorites for two to three year olds—a set of five hardcover, fully illustrated: “My Bible Friends”: https://www.thebiblestory.com/mbf/index.php
d. One of the few early Bibles that are appropriate for reading aloud to your toddlers and having your new reader use as a reader to practice his decoding skills: “Beginner’s Bible”: https://www.beginnersbible.com/
e. Very young Bible story books—one story per book; hardcover: The “Me Too” books– https://www.clcbookshops.com/marilyn-lashbrook_a573.html
2. Prayers, Hymns, and Rhymes:
a. “Prayers for the Very Young Child” by Donald S. Robert (out of print, but some used ones here) https://www.abebooks.com/search/isbn/0570040515
b. “My First Hymnal”—I did this one every day for years and years with my toddlers and young preschoolers: https://www.amazon.com/o/asin/0917143353/mockerybird/ref=nosim
c. “Bible Time Nursery Rhyme”—my review is here: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-thirty-one-start-young-with-bible.html
3. Character Building Books and Stories:
a. “Child’s Book of Character Building: Growing Up in God’s World”—one of the first character teaching tools we had, and we used these for years. (Now our daughter Cami, twenty years later, uses these same books (our copies!) for her disability ministry to adults with cognitive disabilities)– by Ron and Rebekah Coriell- https://www.amazon.com/Childs-Book-Character-Building-Growing/dp/0800754948/ref=pd_sim_b_2#reader_0800754948
c. “God’s Wisdom for Little Girls” by Jim and Elizabeth George: https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Wisdom-Little-Girls-Proverbs/dp/0736904271/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
d. “Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories” by Arthur Maxwell—okay, I have used these for twenty-seven years—and just read aloud from them with Jakie (age eleven) last week! ‘nough said! https://www.uncle-arthurs.com/
4. Creation books—many of the creation picture books are more appropriate for ages six through ten or so; however, many vendors have the “look inside” option as described above.
a. “Daddy Is There Really a God?” by John Morris https://www.christianbook.com/daddy-is-there-really-a-god/john-morris/9780890511886/pd/11888
b. “Noah’s Ark, Noah’s Flood” by John Morris https://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Noahs-Ark-Noahs-Flood,4378,184.aspx
More preschool “devotional” items tomorrow—including “older” Bible stories, creation products, and “catechism” type items!
b. “God’s Wisdom for Little Boys” by Jim and Elizabeth George: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736908242/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0802840353&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=14KZJYBNXBQPPMWNYZ5Q
