Augustine of Hippo: The Doubter Who Became a Church Father
Joshua D. Chatraw
Illustrated by
Cinzia Battistel
Picutre Book, Biography, Church History, EE-OT Unit 1
This book is really fun and quite educational--it doesn't skimp on historical facts or theological ideas, but it stays simple enough that young readers can have a good time reading it and not feel bogged down. There is also a search and find feature, that helps to hold the attention of the younger audience.
Synopsis
Beginning with Augustine's childhood, the narrator takes the reader through Augustine's life, explaining his mother's faith, his drive to become famous in a search for love, his conversion, and his teaching and preaching following his conversion experience.
What I Love
I love that this book starts with Augustine as a child and includes information about this parents. I think this makes the story much more relatable for children. I also found the discussion of his experiences in a non-Christian culture as a kid to be very helpful in starting conversations with our kids. I also love that the story focuses directly on Augustine's story, keeping the message of his conversion simple yet moving.
Weaker points
As a playful feature, the story is "narrated" by a hippo that is occasoinally drawn into the pictures. At first this seemed odd to me, but as I read it with my kids, it did not detract from the story at all, and they seemed to enjoy it, so I do not have any issue with it. The part of the story that explains when Augustine first read a Bible and discovered that the answer to his search for love was Jesus confused me a bit--it felt like I needed more context to the story to fully understand it. However, the core ideas and story of Augustine's life are not disrupted by this minor issue. And, my kids did not seem confused or bothered by it at all.
Details
Age: 4-8
32 pages
Note: There is a "parent connection" resource available on the publisher's website.
About the Authors
This book is part of the Here I Am! series from B&H Kids. Joshua Chatraw is Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism and Cultural Engagement at Beeson Divinity School and Samford University. He has written several books for adults, including on the topic of Augustine. This is a neat interview with him.
Where To Find
Check your church library.