In a new book, children tell best-selling author how they see God. The responses showcase more similarities than differences between children of different religions."
OMG is sweet inspiration, a reminder of an innocent time when our imaginations ran free.
Monica Parker invites us to listen to a wealth of original insights flowing from free sprits, and to marvel at the images these spirits create.
This little book wins a place on my bedside table, to be revisited whenever I need to remember that all is not self-determined.
Monica Parker's new book with children's answering questions about God, completely charmed and educated me. I've been pretty stuck in my own vision of God, so hearing what young, imaginative, thoughtful, hilarious, non-judgemental and non-fundamentalist children thought about god gave me plenty to think about and actually consider expanding my own thinking about the subject. So many wonderful quotes and ideas, but my favorite - when asked what God can do one child answered - "God can do everything except stack chairs."
What a great present for kids, parents and grandparents to share and initiate such an important subject. Great job Monica! Thank you for creating such a wonderful book!
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I loved this book!!!! I'm going to buy it for my friends and family members and give it as a Christmas gift.
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Children are so literal. Children believe in fairness. Children are direct and clear because they have not yet been overly influenced. Some adults talk about how much they miss their childhood homes, or a more innocent time, a simpler time. Perhaps they also miss a time when questions came from curiosity and not as a challenge, not an argument about whose right and whose wrong. Children are so saavy they can hack into almost any parental controls and see whatever there is out there. So for me, part of the miracle of Monica Parker's gathered quotes and drawings is how much wit children now mix with their observations, and how getting and receiving are treated with an innate sense of justice. "God controls the weather and all the disasters", Mav age 7. "God lives in heaven" and above it a picture of a man standing in front of a jail cell. A 5 year old named Jordan wrote about God, "He can make human beans". I LOVE that. Children do listen, and they hear what it sounds like we're saying which can be quite different from what's actually being said.
Talking to children about God is not easy when you don't believe in him yourself. On the other hand, how can anyone look into the eyes of a child and not see God in there. I wish I'd made a book like this, a book to remind adults how we used to see the world, and how children still do, even as they hear the news on the television, radio and computers, and understand more than we think about starvation, murder and loss. Children hear their parents argue and they still go to their own bedrooms, kneel in front of the window and pray.
It's so great to find a book that you can share with the young people in your life, and enjoy on your own, too. With a writer's clarity and a comedienne's quick wit, Ms Parker has chosen quotes and illustrations that examine spirituality through the lens of children's innocence. She asks the questions you would ask if you wanted to open a discussion with your kids about faith, and the kind of questions Art Linkletter did ask when he was trying to get a laugh! Great fun and food for thought.
A must read for anyone wanting to broach this topic with children!! Stop wondering and start asking your kids questions about God! This book will make you laugh your heart out. Don't be surprised if you find yourself tearing up and longing to ask your kids some of life's more challenging questions. Love this book!!!!!
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