One of the great things about children’s Christian books is how they stay with you for life.
These titles influence what you read as an adult and the memory of them calls you back to foundational truths that anchor you.
I realised that this morning as I reread Each New Day by Corrie ten Boom. This devotional book has been with me since my teenage years. I have over the years gravitated back to its sound Scripture, profound spiritual application and warm-hearted prayers. As I shared one of these devotions at a staff prayer time I noted how the story of Corrie has been with me since I first read Jean Watson’s biography The Watchmaker’s Daughter (ISBN 978 1 857 921 168) in my early teens.
Today, even younger children can read about this heroic woman of faith in ‘The Little Lights’ series (ISBN 978 1 845 501 099) and in ‘The Do Great Things for God’ series (ISBN 978 1 784 985 783). The book that is written by Laura Wickham also has an ebook version.
Slightly older children will enjoy the chapter on Corrie in the book Ten Girls who Changed the World by Irene Howat (ISBN 978 1 857 926 491) and the hardback illustrated book Courageous World Changers by Shirley Redmond (ISBN 978 0 736 977 340).
An older teenager should be able to read Corrie’s own material such as The Hiding Place (ISBN 978 0 340 863 534), In My Father’s House (ISBN 978 0 340 863 756) and Tramp for the Lord (ISBN 978 0 340 863 763).
The beauty of Corrie’s story is how it continues to inspire future generations as well as new writers.
Dayspring Macleod’s new book 10 Women Who Were Spiritual Mothers (ISBN 978 1 527 109 728) opens up a new facet to the story of Corrie ten Boom and nine other Christian women who demonstrated God’s gift of motherhood in different situations. Corrie ten Boom, a single woman from the last century, shows that the reality of motherhood is far greater than we might at first realise. Books like this are excellent tools to expand our spiritual horizons and those of the next generation of spiritual parents.
