Engaging Children in Spiritual Conversations Through Children's Books

Abstract

Children's books are a brilliant medium for nurturing children and youth in their spirituality. When children are provided with the proper time, space, and context for discussing the various facets of a story, they can explore their innate ability to discuss deeper thoughts and ponderings about life, relationships, and experiences beyond their immediate circumstances. This chapter provides guidance to teachers on how to create, within the school day, time for spiritual discussions by using children's read-aloud books for deeper conversations. Educators will learn that activities can be implemented before, during, and after the reading that can unlock new possibilities for learners to internalize and express newfound spiritual concepts and goals for themselves personally, and as a class. A preliminary list of relevant books is presented at the end of the chapter, which were selected based on the research-based framework of the seven spiritual identities to allow young learners to experience their spirituality in a variety of ways.