We Believe: An Alphabet Primer

We are big fans of the Baby Believer primers by Catechesis Books, and I am so excited to share with you the newest addition to the series – We Believe!

Books are a huge part of our life, and I especially love the Baby Believer series. I was first introduced to these books when I was gifted one at Vivian’s baby shower and have since gone on to purchase the rest of the collection. Set in a baby / toddler friendly board book format, these books are exquisitely designed and not only visually appealing to all ages, but they help teach little ones crucial tenets of the Christian faith. Each one is full of rich truth, almost entirely comprised of scripture, which is honestly one of my favorite things about them.

We Believe: An Alphabet Primer is the seventh book in the series (full list of titles at the bottom of this post), and is a worthy addition. It takes you through the alphabet, using words common to Christianity and a correlating verse or quotation to give context / explanation. This book quotes scripture and the Nicene Creed, as well as the Apostle’s Creed, and also includes text from the author, Danielle Hitchen.

I love the contemporary, yet elegant and winsome illustrations of these books. We Believe in particular is very color-coordinated, with lots of orange and turquoise, and is so tastefully put together. This book is a slightly different size than the rest of the series, standing at 8.25″ x 6.25″ rather than the other books’ smaller 6″ x 6″ dimensions. While this bothers the OCD side of me, I do think it is still a great size for little hands.

As far as the Baby Believer books go, I do feel like this one is the most ‘mature’. It is the longest book as far as amount of text / read time, and also contains many words that young ones won’t be familiar with. However – that is the beauty of these books! They are educational and inspire conversation; they are a tool to help you teach your child about the Christian faith, and they are designed to grow with your little one. My daughter is not quite three years old but she already loves this book and will happily sit through the entire reading. The more we read it, the more she asks questions about words she doesn’t know and I find myself challenged (in a good way) to define these words in a helpful and age-appropriate way. She is learning about God and language at the same time.

Baby Believer® primers are designed to grow with children, from early infancy through elementary school. In addition to basic Bible theology, Baby Believer® board books are filled with quotations from the Bible, creeds, hymns, church fathers, and other articles of faith to help reinforce the content and provide intellectual handholds for older children who possess a greater capacity for learning and memorization.
– DANIELLE HITCHEN –

As mentioned earlier in this post, the author’s use of Scripture is one of my favorite things about these books. While there is a time and place for simplifying hard-to-understand truths, there are so many “Christian” kids books out there that alter the text in a way that changes the meaning. I believe that this is dangerous. While not all the nitty gritty details need to be shared with the very young, there are also elements that you can’t afford to leave out – such as the death of Christ! I’ve seen numerous children’s books about Easter Sunday that don’t even say that Jesus died and rose again. How?! If Christ did not truly die and come back to life, then all of Christianity falls apart. This is no mere detail, it is a cornerstone and not something that we can afford to leave out.

Our children need to be taught the gospel, not sanitized stories about a watered-down Jesus. They need to be taught realities of our life and faith. While greater depth of understanding is something that comes with time, I still believe that it is important to start with a solid foundation – and what better foundation than scripture itself?

All of that being said, I love that she uses the Bible to impart knowledge and truth, even when at times the words themselves may be above their heads. We are encouraging them to grow, to learn, and to bask in the richness of the word of God. What a beautiful gift.

These books are beautifully put together and are a wonderful educational resource for babies and kiddos alike. Check out the links below to find which one you want to add to your library first!