I was contacted recently by Wilberforce Publications who asked me if I’d heard about their latest release. I hadn’t. So, they explained, children’s book ‘Noah and the Nestling’ by Mary Williamson seeks to teach the value of human life to the very young. WP generously sent me a free copy, and being about to release a book on the abortion issue myself, I was pleased to take a look. ‘Pro-life’ books are scarce and I don’t think I’d ever come across one for kids.
WP’s website describes ‘Noah and the Nestling’ as ‘heart-warming’ – I’d have to agree. It tells the story of a boy, Noah, and his family, who find a nestling bird in their garden. The family takes care of the abandoned bird until he is big and strong enough to be released back into the wild – but not before he shows Noah and sister Janey how precious life is.
Janey doesn’t warm to the nestling at first – to her, it doesn’t even look like a bird. In response, her parents show the children a 12-week scan of Janey, and compare the development of a bird in its egg to the development of a child in the womb.
The book includes drawings of these stages – a great visual tool. Turns out, it’s not that hard to teach kids that life’s value doesn’t depend on size, level of development, environment or degree of dependency (aka, the SLED argument; a must for anyone seeking to understand and defend the pro-life position).
‘Noah and the Nestling’ would make a great resource for a Sunday school’s library.
In summary, these are my thoughts:
• Children connect easily with nature – the bird analogy is simple and effective.
• WP’s website says the book is for ages 2-7. I would personally recommend 2-5. It is short – about 3 mins from cover to cover.
• A subtle point, but I liked the use of the name Noah. God charged Noah to save and take care of every kind of creature – another nod to the value of all life. If the animals are of such importance to God, how much more are we?
• In the constant ideological battleground we live in, it seems to me that it is more important than ever for parents to take some responsibility for aspects of their children’s education. This is a really effortless way to help your child understand life’s value as the Bible defines it, before they are exposed to the default ‘pro-choice’ worldview. It’s actually quite genius in its simplicity.
- Camilla writing for 'the accessible Christian'