Parents! Grandparents! Godparents! You’re looking for books for Christmas gifts for your little ones, aren’t you? I mean, I know it’s still October. But I also know how hard it is to find the perfect book. This year, though, for once, it’s easy. If your little ones are the right age for board books, they need Goodnight Jesus, Angie Isaac’s new story about a little one kissing everyone good night.

Of course they need it! Books are good for little ones. And bedtime routines are good for little ones. And books about bedtime routines? That’s pretty close to perfection already.

But your children and grandchildren and godchildren undoubtedly already have Goodnight Moon. And Sandra Boynton’s Going to Bed Book. And maybe they have Twenty Yawns and Good Night, Baddies too. So why do they need Goodnight Jesus?

They need it because it starts with the little one kissing icons of Jesus and Mary. Then he kisses Andrew and Peter and “John in scratchy clothes.” He kisses more saints. He kisses the Gospel book and the cross. Of course he kisses his family. He kisses a picture of his grandmother. He kisses his stuffed bunny. And he even blows a kiss to his goldfish!

All that kissing is so sweet and so happy and so thoroughly Orthodox.

But wait … let’s back up a bit. I’ve been calling the little one “he,” and I shouldn’t. Because both Isaacs and Nicholas Malara, the illustrator, were careful to make the little one just a little one. A mostly bald head, a few wisps of blond hair, green polka dot pajamas. The child in the story could be a little boy or a little girl. He or she. It doesn’t matter to the story one bit.

Celebrating Diversity Through Art

Malara made another choice in his illustrations. “Orthodox Christianity,” he said, “is rich with cultural diversity, and we wanted to celebrate that a little through the artwork in this book.” R.J. Hughes, the illustrator for Catherine’s Pascha felt the same way. That’s why Catherine and Elizabeth attend such a diverse church. But Isaac didn’t send the little one in her story to church. It was bedtime. They were all home.

Yet Malara “wanted to represent as many ethnicities in the book as possible so that there would be no potential for any family reading the book to feel excluded.” So he made the very interesting choice of making the little one’s family a transracial family. The little one has blond hair and big blue eyes. Neither of her parents is blond, nor are any of her three brothers. Her parents could be Greek or Palestinian or Lebanese. Her brothers are each of a different race: one is Black, one Asian, and one perhaps Hispanic.

Every year for the past 20 years, between 7 percent and 14 percent of the children’s books published included characters who weren’t white. Only a small portion of those include interracial or transracial families. So a child whose family includes people of more than one race will rarely see a family like hers in a book. That’s a problem. And it’s a problem, too, because other children who never see a family like hers in a book, either.

All children need to see people who are like them in books. And all children need to see people who are not like them. As parents and grandparents and godparents, we must be intentional about seeking out books that show the rich cultural diversity of our world and our Church.

And Goodnight Jesus has just made that easier to do.

Read More

A Child Who Never Sleeps: When my children were young, sleep was a huge issue in our house. My kids didn’t sleep easily. They didn’t sleep well. And kids who aren’t getting enough sleep – it’s a problem for me. If it’s a struggle for you, too, here’s some stuff I learned that might help.

Twenty Yawns: A Review: Let your little one yawn along with the sleepy people in this adorable book, and it might just make sleep come a little easier.

17 essential picture books for Orthodox Christian kids: These delightful books all have engaging stories and Orthodox Christian people as main characters.

Buy the Books!

Catherine's Pascha and The Saint Nicholas Day Snow
These delightfully diverse books will give Orthodox Christian children the chance to see themselves in books. And they’ll give other children the chance to see books that feature cultural practices they may not be familiar with.

Catherine’s Pascha

FINALIST IN THE 2015 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS
Catherine doesn’t like vegetables. She doesn’t like naps. She doesn’t like it when her mom combs her hair. She loves hot dogs, chocolate cake, and her best friend, Elizabeth. Most of all, she loves Pascha! Pascha, the Orthodox Christian Easter, is celebrated in the middle of the night, with processions and candles and bells and singing. And Catherine insists that she’s not a bit sleepy.

Celebrate the joy of Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine’s Pascha. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, and my webstore.

The Saint Nicholas Day Snow

Shoes or stockings? Horse or sleigh? Does St. Nicholas visit on December 6 or on Christmas Eve? Will a little girl’s prayer be answered? When Elizabeth has to stay at Catherine’s house, she’s worried about her grandmother, and worried that St. Nicholas won’t find her. The grownups, though, are worried about snow.

Celebrate the wonder of St. Nicholas Day through the magic of a book: The Saint Nicholas Day Snow. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or my webstore.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!