Customer Reviews

The First Christians: The Acts of the Apostles for Children

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What a great book. My kids love this book and so do I. When reading aloud, you can answer any questions they have but it brings the acts of the Apostles alive for them. I highly recommend this book.

In "The First Christians," Hunt retells the history recorded in the book of Acts. She has a gentle encouraging tone, perfect for reading aloud to younger children (about ages 6 and up).

This book is not meant to be a substitute for reading the book of Acts itself. The author suggests (within the text) reading Acts, reading the book, then reading Acts again (chapter by chapter).

The Apostles are real people to her (as, of course, they should be for us all) and she delights in asides to bring them to life for children. For example, she mentions how much she likes the name Tabitha and wonders why there aren't more girls with the name. Comments like these make it seem like the author is sitting with us, cozy before a fire (which I mention because I wish I had a fire in the fireplace right now) telling us a story of danger and adventure. Hunt often reminds us how exciting the time of the Apostles must have been.

The book was originally titled "The First Catholics" and it is certainly written with young Catholics as the audience. In general, I believe this book could also be enjoyed by non-Catholic Christians. You may want to read it aloud, though, as there are a few places where alterations in the text may be warranted. For example, she mentions at one point that Christian always means Catholic. There are also a few statements about Peter as the first Pope that would probably be strange for non-Catholics.

Another reviewer commented on some of the more gruesome references in the book (like how the Apostles were martyred). I often read stories of the saints to my children with references to how they died or were tortured. The children never seem to have any problem with it. I think touching briefly on such subjects while reading a valuable book is much less likely to disturb children than anything they'd see on the nightly news or many TV shows (which my children do not watch). Seeing things is more frightening than reading. I will be reading this book to my son next year for second grade, but I don't think he would have any problems with it this year as a first grader.

I bought this book for my 8-year-old daughter; after reading it myself, I decided against giving it to her.

To give it credit, it is a very well-written retelling of the Acts of the Apostles for children (something that is surprisingly difficult to find). But the author seems to be unable to resist throwing in odd little asides, some of which reinterpret the Acts in a completely anachronistic and Roman Catholic way.

We are Episcopalians, leaning towards the Catholic end of that church, and have read with our children many books of saints etc. that are aimed at Catholic children -- we have no problems with the Catholic perspective per se. But, to give a couple of examples: we are told that, during the period that the Acts describes, "Our Lady" was attending the Temple and responsible for the birth of the Contemplative Orders, while the apostles whose activities are described in Acts started the Active Orders, both of which are needed in the Church -- a grafting back onto primitive Christianity of medieval monasticism. Elsewhere, when we are told of martyrs professing that they are Christians, the readers are instructed that where they read "Christian" they can understand "Catholic" (note: this book was first published under the title of "The First Catholics"). Another example of a different sort: after telling the story of Ananias and Sapphira (itself a rather gruesome story for children, but anyway), the author hectors the reader about how much God hates hypocrisy (which is no doubt the case, but it is stated in a way frightening for young children), and then goes on to speculate quite gratuitously about whether the couple struck dead for lying to Peter were then sent to the torments of Hell. Almost every page or two there is a jarring note like this.

In my judgement, it is not an appropriate book for young children. Non-Catholic parents who want their children to read it to get an idea of the early church should, I think, read it with them, so as to address the frequent distortions of Scripture. I imagine that even Catholic parents might have some qualms about their children reading such a "partisan" and unscriptural account of the first decades of the Church.