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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Explaining God to an almost 5 year old
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Anonymous
| I am looking for resources-books especially-that deal with the topic of who/what God is. We are Jewish and my son has been asking about why some of his friends celebrate Easter for example and we don't (although he was relieved to hear Halloween is generally "celebrated" by most). Can anyone share resources or what they have told their children about God and even what is the simplest way I can distinguish "Jewish" from "Christian" for him. TIA |
Anonymous
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Goodness. I don't have a suggestion, but kudos to you for addressing this. Unanswered questions for little ones are tough.
I am a Unitarian Universalist, and one woman in my adult education class was raised Jewish. She faced a similar situation as you. But her child asked her, "Mommy, who are God's mommy and daddy?" |
Anonymous
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There's a book called "The Little Golden Book About God" (by Jane Werner Watson). I read it to my daughter just the other day and found the words very poetic - it was also beautifully illustrated. I'm not Christian, but I do believe in God, and the text was pretty "non-denominational" overall... So you might start with that.
I'm not sure about books explaining the difference between Judaism and Christianity, but there *have* to be some introductory picture books on Judaism that you could find, say, on Amazon. BTW, I bought the Golden Book at Walmart for only about 3 bucks (!) |
Anonymous
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Don't even bother with the regular book stores for decent Jewish material. Some of the JCCs may have books available.
When I talked about Christianity to my child, I talked simply about how Judaism helps us make good decisions about right and wrong. Christianity does the same thing for other people. We don't have to believe their stories about religion, but we don't have to tell them that. (Less is always more with little kids.) |
Anonymous
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God, and simply religion in general, is hard to understand for adults nevertheless a 5 year old child. Because religion is so abstract I find that less is more - simple answers otherwise it may lead to confusion and/or unneccessary fear.
Finding a children's book is a great idea. However, also consider speaking to a rabi and/or a priest. Maybe you could set up an informal meeting or ask the rabi when leaving synagogue. |
Anonymous
| I have told my child that God is like Santa Claus, but for adults. |
clarabow
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Brilliant -- accurate (in my personal view, no offense) and age-appropriate too! |
Anonymous
| My son loves it when we read Greek Mythology. I cannot say that it makes it easier to explain the whole religion issue to him, but it gives him some perspective about different beliefs. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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One of my favorite kids books - perfect for this time of year - is called "The Matzoh Ball." It's about a little boy who goes to an Orioles game with his friends during Passover. A miracle happens where he catches the ball with his matzah (okay, I'm not explaining it well), but I think it could be a good intro to some of the subjects he's asking about, you jus t might need to simplify some of the text. Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Matzah-Ball-Passover-Story/dp/0929371690/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207426145&sr=8-4
I bet you could also try one of the Jewish book stores in the area or do some googling for some books. We have some nice books on holidays - I would think there would be some about god, as we |
Anonymous
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PP here:
Another great book is by Lemony Snicket. I think it is called the "Latke who couldn't stop screaming." It is a really good book for children sorting out what it means to be a religious minority. You have to like Snicket, though. |