The chilly air bites your face as you gaze out at a vista of the Swiss Alps; you carefully canoe across the river, sweat dripping down your face as the Amazonian sun and threat of piranhas causes you to perspire; the aroma of spices, the dazzling array of bright colours and the cacophony of auto rikshaws and market traders makes you know that you’ve arrived in India…
Descriptive writing is evocative isn’t it? One minute you’re sitting on you living room sofa with your kids, the next you’re transported to another continent, another millennia, to outer space even! That’s the power of story.
We started reading “Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time*” by Jamie C. Martin and were instantly hooked. The first few chapters are all about creating a culture at home where you are interested in other nationalities, cultures and cuisines. Written from a Christian perspective, the author gives lots of practical ways to help children to engage with the wider world. It reminded us of a blog post we had written on the same topic.
The last two-thirds of the book* are reading lists of books that will transport you and your children to other parts of the world. There’s a chapter for each continent in the world, and books are divided into age categories and countries. There’s helpful descriptions of the content of the books so that you can make an informed decision before you buy.
One word of warning though: if you are a slight book-buying addict (like us!), you may need to exercise some restraint! There are so many wonderful recommendations and many of them are available second hand on ebay and amazon.
We’ve already bought a couple of books – and we are absolutely thrilled with them. One book “Babu’s Song*” is set in Tanzania, and is a sweet and heart-warming story about a young boy who can’t afford to go to school, but in the end – well, we won’t spoil it for you! We decided to get this one because we sponsor a child in Tanzania to go to school. Stan is 4 years old, just like our eldest son, and they are becoming penpals. We thought reading a story set in Tanzania might help our son to understand the world that Stan lives in, and help him to be more empathetic towards and interested in him. The book really captured his imagination and definitely had the desired effect.
The second book we bought is called “Katje the Windmill Cat*” set in the Netherlands. We picked this book because we are going to Holland over Easter break. The book is very quintessentially Dutch, with beautiful illustrations of windmills, tulip fields and traditional clothes. It is a sweet adventure story involving a cat saving his family from a flood. We will give it to our children as a gift just before we go as a way to create some excitement and understanding about the Dutch culture.
“Give your child the world*” really is a great reference book. How else would you know where to find a children’s story book (with age guidance, content and Christian recommendations) set in Argentina, Afghanistan or Australia for example?
God calls us to love the world that he made, and the peoples, nations and cultures within it. What better way (perhaps short of hopping on a plane and experiencing it first-hand?) to immerse your children in a different land and culture? They’ll grow in their empathy for different types of people, they’ll grow in their fascination of different landscapes, and if you and the Spirit prompt them, they’ll (hopefully!) develop a heart after God’s own heart – for him to be made known in all nations.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
Psalm 98:1-3
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
*Please note that this post contains affiliate links. If you use one of these links and go on to purchase, we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. We’ll only ever endorse things we ourselves use and love.