Review

Reasoning that children make sense of their world through stories and that Jesus taught through parables so that we could connect his teachings to our lives, the author directs us to 450 books for this purpose. Beyond giving a synopsis and a review for each book, Granahan gives plenty of suggestions and ideas for leaders to extend the stories. She mainly looks at biblically-based books and ones on prayer and the nature of God, and also devotes chapters to social justice issues such as environment, interfaith and how to teach children about the Holocaust through literature. She is particularly sensitive to gender issues and points out books with inclusive language. This is a superbly valuable resource to teachers, storytellers and church libraries.