Customer Reviews

The One Year Devotions for Preschoolers (Little Blessings (Tyndale))

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want your children to connect their daily lives to Biblical principals in language your preschooler will understand, then this is the book for you. The author, a speaker and writer for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) grabbed my son's attention from the first sentence. The beauty of the short, but sweet devotions is that they are interactive. Simple questions get right to the heart of the day's story and offer a chance for your child to share their feelings.

Here's an example from December 27th's devotional titled, "Win or Lose"

"Parker and Jack are having a snowball fight. Each boy hopes he will win! Do you like to win when you play games? Everyone likes to win. But when you play games, everyone loses now and then. Did you know there is something you can never lose? You can never loes God's love. No matter who may be against you. God will always be on your side."

Notice that this is a Winter story? I've found that the more relevant the situation the more my son get's out of our devotional time. The day about "Working for Fun" caught his attention since he loves to bake cookies:

"Kaitlyn, Jack and Parker are making Christmas cookies. It will take a lot of work. But when the cookies are done, they will get a reward - they'll have cookies to eat together! The Bible says that hard work often brings happy rewards. When the kids eat their cookies, do you think they will be happy they worked so hard?"

Seeds are being planted in my son and that makes me one happy Mama! But what about actual scripture verses, you ask? Not to worry! At the bottom of each page is a Bible verse and a prayer. The prayers rhymes, which I love. I have my son repeat every few words after me.

"Lord, when there's work that needs to be done, help me remember that work can be fun. (December 18th's Working for Fun devotional)"

This book is awesome. I like this one even better than the original 365 Blesssings for Young Children. This book has different daily stories and devotions all with the same charactors as in the I'm Zoey, I'm Kaitlyn, I'm Parker... books. Very sweet. Excellent for 3 year olds.

We end each night's book reading with the daily reading from this book - my girls love it they ask for more each night. The stories are relatable to children (and adults, alike) - there are questions within the stories that you can choose to ask your preschooler or not - and the pictures are just right for little ones. We end by reading the short Bible verse at the bottom of the page and our girls "repeat after me" the small rhyming prayer at the end, that also relates to the story. We are finding this is a wonderful way to introduce the Bible to our small children (3.5 years and 2 years).

Utilizing the One Year Bible by Tyndale, Devotions for Preschoolers is a great introduction to daily quiet times with God. The Little Blessings collection features four children: Kaitlyn, Zoe, Parker and Jack. This book is no exception. The book is organized by dates and includes 366 (one extra for leap year) one-page devotions designed specifically for preschoolers. Each offers a short story about one or all of the main characters followed by a Bible verse (or two) and a prayer. All the stories are highly applicable to children in the target age group. The prayer is told in rhyming verse, usually just two or three lines.

Crystal Bowman, the author of this book and numerous others, is a former preschool teacher. She is also a writer and speaker for MOPS International. The illustrator, Elena Kucharik, has over 100 children's books to her credit including the entire Little Blessings collection. She was also the lead artist for the Care Bears.

What I Like: The format is great! It's short and sweet, perfect for kids this age. The stories are of high interest to preschoolers. They talk about what they want to talk about: playing dress up, painting, sharing, animals, books, toys, friends, family... then tie those topics into elements of faith. The Scripture applications are age-appropriate. I love the illustrations! They are so tender and very colorful.

What I Dislike: I found nothing wrong with the book, but did feel a void in content. I would like to see an introduction for parents explaining the importance of daily devotions and how to use this book.

Overall Rating: Very Good.

Tanya -- Christian Children's Book Review

My son received this for his third birthday and he loves it! We read it every night at bedtime and he always asks for more. He loves looking at the illustrations on his own, too. It's a very simple but effective way to introduce a child to daily devotions. We have bought it as a gift for several of his little friends, too.

We have a 3-year-old who, I'm sure like every 3-year-old, is stretching his wings and testing boundaries and the patience of his parents! It seems like a constant drum beat of telling him the importance of obedience, in one form or another. One night, after I was at my wit's end of trying to put him to bed, I thought to myself that I've got to do something different. The nightly ritual of 2 "regular" books + our prayers had been working, but I wanted to end the day with our 3-year-old having Jesus in his thoughts, and in his heart, knowing that with our Creator, He can do great and mighty things--even in a pre-schooler. After tucking the lil' guy in bed, I searched online for a good devotional Bible, and came across this one. I like the One Year Bible (I myself have one and find in it's simplicity that it's very profound), so I felt comfortable purchasing this book for our son. I'm so glad that I did! We now read it every night before he goes to sleep. It teaches so many Godly, good principles. I love how it has short Bible verses and prayers to conclude the "day"...our son has already memorized a couple scriptures, which is so cool because we draw upon them when the going gets tough. Highly recommend this book for any parent and youngster!

This book was given to my 3+1/2 year old for Christmas, 2007. We have been reading the one page devotions every night before going to bed. I really enjoy the short sweet messages, prayers and scriptures. My daughter talks about Parker, Zoe, Kaitlyn and Jack as if they are a part of our family now! The illustations are adorable. A few words of caution...some of the readings bring up subject matter that might prompt a few questions from your little one (Holy Spirit, Heaven, death etc.) I would certainly recommend buying this for a parent and child to share together.

I spent about an hour in the Christian book store searching for just the right devotion book, not one that would teach the bible stories (Noah, Adam & Eve, etc, we have those) but one that would actually talk about qualities of Christ-like behavior. This one is perfect! The devotions are short and each have a verse and prayer at the end of them. However, my 2 1/2 year old always wants to read multiple ones every day and it is so cute when she asks for her "degotion" book :) The stories are easy for children to relate to, I highly recommend this book for anyone who has small children and is wanting to introduce them to the principles of Christian living.

I ordered this when my daughter was 4 and wanted something that could focus our mind toward God first thing in the morning. I was surprised to find there to be quite a lack of material out there for this age level (most seemed to be either a baby picture book or something more in-depth). This proved to be just the right combo. Not too short, not too long...just right! The illustrations are beautiful (done by the illustrator of Care Bears, I believe) and often capture my daughter's attention. Love that they include a verse and a little prayer. Super!

We love this book! We have been using it since our oldest was 2 years old (he is now four). For each day of the year, there is a Scripture verse, a short story about the four characters pictured throughout the book that relates to the day's verse, and a brief, rhyming prayer. The stories are a great length for the attention spans of 2-5 year olds, and the stories and pictures and rhyming prayers are engaging and encourage their participation (answering questions asked in the stories, saying the prayer along with you). We get this book for every two-year-old's birthday we know and it is great to use for years. Our four year old still enjoys it for a bedtime devotion, and, since there 365 stories for the year, it would take years for them to get old.