Review: THE BOOK OF BELONGING

The Book of Belonging: Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids by Mariko Clark, illustrated by Rachel Eleanor is one of the most recent purchases made for our church library. In an effort to try to update the library we created a wishlist and parishioners have been purchasing books off of it. I added this book to the list at my daughter's urging. She said she was trying to locate books about the Bible with a Christian message of love and acceptance. This book was ranked #1 on that list. Now I know why.

One of the most special things about learning stories from the Bible is that they teach us about who we are. We get to learn the names God has for the us, the people God made. There are three big names that seem really special and show up over and over again in Bible stories:

Belonging

Beloved

Delightful

The Bible is filled with stories of God telling his people, "You belong to me!" No matter how lost or forlorn one feels, there is always a place for us with God. God loves us all. We are all beloved: Beloved Me, Beloved You, Beloved Us. Before we did or said anything God was delighted with us. The Bible is also full of stories full of God reminding his people they don't need to earn his delight or hide from him when they make mistakes.

Each of the stories highlighted in The Book of Belonging are from the Bible, Genesis to Revelations, and each emphasize one of these three names and all leave the reader with a profound understanding of God's love and faithfulness.

"The sun! The moon! Stars and planets! Good. Good. Good."

The first chapter, "A Very Good Song", from Genesis 1 and 2, is the creation story. Everything God creates he thinks is good, good, good. On the sixth day he creates man (and woman) and they are especially good, good, good. This chapter concludes:

God had a dream of togetherness in a world where everything matches the good, good goodness of God. And guess what? Even though God had finished and creation was ready, the enjoyment was just beginning. In fact, God is still enjoying God's good, good creation and inviting us to enjoy it, too. You belong with God. You are loved by God, And you are very good.

Imagine reading this book with a child and seeing the world through their eyes. Wouldn't you want to reinforce that God is a loving God and he is delighted with all his creation, even them! What a positive message.

The illustrations help draw the reader into the story. Sometimes the illustrations are small and off to the side of the page, other times they take up the whole page, sometimes they seem like a cartoon, while other times they help the reader to understand the sequence of the story, like this story of Jesus walking on water, and Peter's decision to join him:

The stories about the Last Supper, Crucifiction, Resurrection, and Pentecost (the infilling of the Holy Spirit) are all handled gently and explained in a way that children can understand but won't be overwhelmed. 

I liked everything about this marvelous book of Bible stories and agree with its subtitle, it is perfect for kind and contemplative kids! I highly recommend it and I'm so glad I got it for our church library. If you are raising your children in a Christian home and want them to understand how much God loves them, this is the book for you!

-Anne