This week New Leaf Press sent me copies of their “Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers” series to review and share with you all. I ripped open the envelope as soon as it arrived and AG was quite delighted to find that we had received new books! This of course necessitated that we sit down and read them immediately. :)

The “Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers” series by Joey Allen is so exciting. It is aimed at children from ages 4-7 years old, and clearly explains some very complex topics!

The Gospel, not surprisingly, is about the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ! In this book “Gracie” is on each page, explaining the gospel with very child-friendly terminology and illustrations. From having a sinful heart, to deserving punishment for our sin (just like deserving punishment from parents for disobedience), to Christ’s substitution and taking our punishment for us, Gracie walks us through the truths of Scripture. Soteriology for kids!

This book is clear that when we trust in Jesus for salvation, that the Holy Spirit comes to live within us! I love that salvation is explained this way! We far too often lay the groundwork for later confusion when we tell kids that Jesus lives in their hearts. This book also carefully explains that we can’t be good enough to go to heaven, and that we have to trust in Jesus alone for salvation. It also makes clear that we are set free from sin (sin no longer “bosses us around”), but that even when we still do bad things God will love us no matter what!

The Scripture is a great explanation of the Bible. In this book, Gabe is our friendly face on each page guiding us through the complex study of bibliology! :) Inerrancy, inspiration of human authors, the basic purposes of the Old Testament and New Testament and how they point to Jesus, the assembling of the canon, the languages of the Bible, reliability of Scripture, and the Holy Spirit’s use of Scripture to sanctify us – all of these topics are covered in kid-friendly language! I am amazed by this book!

The Trinity is the book that originally caught my attention about this series. An explanation of the Trinity for a 4 year old? This I had to see. Our little guide in this book is appropriately named Angel (a little corny, but that’s ok). :) God’s holiness, self-sufficiency, omnipresence, omniscience, knowledge of each individual, authority as Creator, and uniqueness are again covered in easy to grasp language. Then Angel explains that there is one God in three persons who are all distinct but all one God – I love that the next page says that we can’t completely understand it because God is unlike anything in this world! This truth is applied personally in that the persons of God live in community, and we were created for community, too. The basics of salvation are then covered in this book, as well, explaining the roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit in our salvation.

The Mission just might be my favorite in this series, if I had to pick. The mission explains God’s love for the world, and again explains salvation. The people He created are lost, but has has a plan to fix everything – and He wants us to be part of His plan! Missionaries get to help share the best news in the whole world and invite people to the party in heaven where we will all be singing and dancing and praising God!

Mikey explains, “everyone is invited to trust in Jesus. Some people will not trust in Jesus, but many people have never even heard of Him… So many people need Jesus, but there are not many messengers. God wants to use you to tell other people about Jesus and invite them to the party in heaven. You can be one of God’s messengers!… God has a big job for us to do. God has told us to go to all the world and tell people about Him. Jesus is not just for people in America. He is for people in Africa, Asia, and Australia, too!”

Mikey then explains that even as little kids, God has given each person special talents and abilities that can be used to show others how great God is. You can tell your friends (“You don’t have to be afraid to talk about Jesus. He promised He would be with you and give you special help when you talk about Him.”), learn more about God and His Word so you can tell others, and “you can help missionaries in other countries by praying for them, writing them letters or emails, or sending them presents.” You can even tell your parents that you want to learn more about missionaries and other countries!

I love that these books have simple, colorful illustrations on each page that capture the essence of what is being talked about without trying to depict God in any way. Excellent. Each page also has Scripture references at the bottom that parents can use with their kids for further discussion and study!

I wasn’t sure if my daughter would want to sit through all of these books, since they aren’t “stories,” but she begged to read them one after another! When a three year old loves hearing a book about the Trinity and another on Biblical inspiration, the author has done something right! Thank you, Joey Allen, for these valuable additions to our bookshelf!

FYI, if you are reading this and wishing you had some copies of your own, keep watching because I will be posting a giveaway for The Gospel very soon! A free gift of the best Free Gift!

**For more information or to purchase a copy, click on the book cover images to be taken to the publisher’s website. I am an affiliate and will receive a small percentage of the sale of this or other products. I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my review from New Leaf Publishing Group. The opinions expressed in this review are my unbiased thoughts as in keeping with my disclosure policy.