A fantastic series of books for children 9 months up
David Couch
I really like this series of children's books. Particularly, the simple formula that the stories follow: the child's issue, the parents addressing it from the Bible, and how that affects the child's outlook.
The illustrations for the books are done really well, and the combination of Nicky’s story telling and Ruth’s drawing is perfect. The books have their own style, and continuity, so you can recognise all the characters immediately. The colours are vibrant, and my little girl enjoys looking at them.
Other than being good stories, these books work on another level. They teach parents how to parent well. What I mean by that is that they demonstrate to a parent how simple it can be to bring Scripture into a child’s life, without it feeling unnatural. I’d love it if, when my daughter reads these books, she thinks to herself ‘that’s like what Mummy and Daddy would do’.
My daughter sits and listens to the stories. She is fascinated by the illustrations, and enjoys stroking the pages. I look forward to reading these stories to her for the next few years, and hope many more will come out by then!
I highly recommend all three of these books. Recommended for children ages 9 months+.
Parenting and story rolled into one
Lucy Rycroft
I hope there are more books to come, because the initial three are very promising. They look at three common experiences of small children: taking part in Sports Day, preparing to welcome a new sibling and having a bad dream. Each one is written simply, in language which appeals, with a really straightforward message of how what the Bible teaches us about God can help us when we’re feeling proud, nervous, left out or scared. The stories expand upon a problem encountered by Rosie or her brother. When things come to a head, either Mum or Dad are there to listen, provide reassurance, and point them to one or two helpful verses from the Bible. I love the simplicity of these books, and I don’t mean that in a patronising way. They don’t try to do too much and thus go over the head of the children they’re designed for. Each one has a very clear aim: a problem that kids will relate to, followed by a Bible passage which can be easily understood and applied. The Rosie books have a subtler function too: they can provide us parents with some examples of how to share God naturally with our kids, how we can base their understanding of the world on what God has revealed in the Bible, and what kind of language we can use. These stories appealed to my 4 year old boys, who loved the illustrations and could easily follow the clear storyline. Even my 7 year old, who realised she was probably a bit old for the target audience, admitted to enjoying them quite a lot! I would suggest that 2–5s would get the most from the Rosie books, but for an older child with a lower emotional age, I’m sure they would go down well too.