Thinking Outside Our Box

For Children's Book Monday, hosted by Elise at A Path Made Straight, I will highlight two books that you can share with your children about other peoples and cultures around the world. In America, we live rather egocentric lives on the whole. The world can seem to revolve around our culture. As Christians, I believe it is so important to teach our children about people around the world, to pray for those people and the missionaries sent to bring them the gospel of Christ. We want them to "think outside their box." Through this focus on others, we teach to follow Christ's example of compassion and service to others.

All the Children of the World by Karen Mesek Leimert is a book that highlights twelve children from various countries, in addition to the United States. It describes how they live and important cultural distinctions, giving parents a great starting point for discussion. The illustrations are amazing, as well! You may find a new copy at biblio.com or search for a used copy at amazon.com. I found mine at the used book store.

From Abeku to Zapotec by June Hathersmith is a book that we read a part of the Sonlight Curriculum. The subtitle is "a book of Bibleless peoples." From A to Z, it highlights 26 peoples around the world that still do not have the Bible translated into their language, from the Abeku and Zapotec peoples to the Kulango and Safwa peoples. It gives a brief description of the people accompanied by beautiful illustrations by Alice Roder.

Blessings!