For Young Readers

Questions and Answers

What is the For Young Readers collection about?

It gathers the faith told simply, for children and those who read with them — the great story of the journey home, in language a child can follow. Its keynote is Matthew 19:14, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven": the shelf brings the classics and the gospel within reach of the youngest, and grows as more is retold for them.

Which works are included?

Among them are "The Pilgrim's Progress in Words of One Syllable," "Divine Songs for Children," and "Brave for God" — retellings and writings that carry the substance of the faith to children in language they can understand, so that even the youngest may come to Christ.

What does Matthew 19:14 mean for the shelf?

"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" is Christ's own welcome to children, and the charter of the whole collection. It sets the shelf's purpose plainly: not to keep the young waiting at the edge of the faith, but to bring them to the Saviour who called them to Himself.

What is Pilgrim's Progress in Words of One Syllable?

A retelling of John Bunyan's great allegory of the Christian's journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, put into the simplest possible language so that a child can follow the pilgrim's road. It carries the substance of the classic — the burden, the wicket gate, the trials, the triumph — in words the youngest reader can take in.

What are Divine Songs for Children?

Isaac Watts's hymns and verses written especially for children — simple, singable poems teaching the truths of the faith in a form a child can learn by heart. They bring to the shelf the oldest way of planting the gospel in young hearts: through song and rhyme that stay in the memory long after childhood.

Who is this shelf for?

For children, and for the parents, teachers, and older friends who read with them — books simple enough for a child to follow, yet true to the great story of the faith. It exists so that the journey home can be told to the young in their own language, and so that the shelf can grow as more is retold and written for them.

Where should a reader begin?

"The Pilgrim's Progress in Words of One Syllable" is the natural entry — the whole Christian journey told simply as a story; "Divine Songs for Children" plants the truths of the faith in verse; and "Brave for God" holds up courage for the young. Any of them can be read to a child or by one just beginning to read.

Why read the faith to the young?

Because Christ Himself called the children to come, and the truths planted early go deepest. This shelf answers His welcome by putting the great story and the great truths of the faith into words a child can follow — so that the kingdom which belongs to such as these may be opened to them from the very start.