“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” –Oscar Wilde
I could tell you the story of my Christian faith through a stack of books. An old, yellowing paperback version of the Westminster Shorter Catechism that my Mom helped me memorize before I could read. The Lord of the Rings, read out loud by the fire one Christmas break after we lost power during an ice storm. A Barry Moser illustrated edition of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. My first Bible, a pocket-sized NIV with my name on the front–which lost its concordance and back cover to our teething puppy and yet remained readable and still sits on my desk. Shusaku Endo’s Silence, read during my culturally confused high school years as a missionary kid in Japan. Tim Keller’s A Reason for God. Paul Miller’s A Praying Life. Matthew McCullough’s Remember Death. Bavinck’s Wonderful Works of God. Dane Ortlund’s Gentle and Lowly.
Oscar Wilde had it right—you are what you read. And therefore Christians should be particularly concerned with the books that fill their homes and churches. This conviction is at the very heart of our ministry at the Westminster Bookstore; we believe that books play a profound role in the life and health of the church. But the question remains, why Westminster Kids?
Jesus was not making a new point when he commanded “Let the little children come to me.” Perhaps this is why his response is tinged with rebuke—the disciples should have known better. Scripture had already been commanding God’s people to teach God’s word(s) “diligently to your children,” to “train up a child in the way he should go,” and to “tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord.”
We spent nearly 3 years building Westminster Kids because we’re convinced books remain one of the most effective tools at our disposal to fulfill the commands of Deuteronomy 6, Proverbs 22, Psalm 78, and Matthew 19. Books that distill rich theology for the youngest minds; books that make big truths delightfully simple, but not simplistic; books that fight against moralism and point to Jesus; books that remind our children—and ourselves—to set their hope in God.
At Westminster Kids, we’ve collected the best biblically faithful children’s books we could find and cataloged them in a beautifully curated new website. We also built a new heuristic tool into the site that will allow you to sort by age, use, and category, along with special considerations like filtering out any book that contains images of Jesus. In addition, you’ll find a growing archive of free blogs, videos, and audio content by Westminster faculty and staff, also featuring some of our favorite authors.
It is our prayer that Westminster Kids might become the primary online source for biblically faithful kids’ books for parents, grandparents, educators, and caregivers. If you’re looking for some fresh bedtime reading, resources to supplement a homeschool curriculum, or a gift to celebrate a special occasion, let me warmly invite you to visit westminsterkids.com—a ministry of Westminster Theological Seminary built to serve you in equipping the next generation with resources that tether their wandering hearts to the truth, that when they are old they will not depart from it.
