Children's Focus Bibliography

Children's Focus Bibliography www.uuwausau.org/resources

Stories for use in Worship, Home, or Children’s Religious Education

First Universalist Unitarian Church

PO Box 1448

Wausau, Wisconsin 54402

Introduction

The Children's Focus is a regular segment of our Sunday Service. Following our gathering song, the children congregate toward the front of the sanctuary around a storyteller/reader and enjoy a story on the theme of the service. Afterward, they leave for their classrooms. Below is a list of stories appropriate to this setting. Most are about five minutes long (some require a little judicious editing), and are relevant to and consistent with the principles of our worship tradition.

Most of these are picture books. In a very small sanctuary (or summer or children’s worship), a picture book is an easy way to reach the whole group. But if anyone is being left out (too often the adults) because they cannot see the pictures, the format should be modified. Most of these stories can be adapted to be told rather than read, and telling usually makes them more captivating and alive. In the second column, I’ve marked those especially well suited for telling with a “T.” Or, pictures can be scanned into slide presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint) and projected onto a large screen. This is a great way to celebrate the ministry of the visual arts. Those stories for which visuals are especially helpful are marked with a “V.”

Others are marked “S” for sure-bet – these are excellent, and broadly applicable. My favorites are marked, “F.” These "favorites" may challenge your congregation more than some of the others, but I have found them richly meaningful. Which brings up an interesting question about the children's focus: how emotionally heavy can you get, here? When I select material for the Children's Focus I am well aware that at times I am bringing up serious issues, with little time for debriefing. So there are some great books that I cannot use. But still, I don't shy from serious issues of life and death, fear and struggle.

Some stories are marked “D” for drama – those that should be acted out... and “M” if they have a musical component. And speaking of music, I’ve had wonderful experiences with solo accompaniment coordinated to move with the flow of the story. Finally, some stories are marked “L” for long...that is, they are so long that they become major components (if not the central component) of a one-hour program. This can work in a variety of ways: in a program with a series of stories, or with a story serving as the ground for a discussion, or with the story broken up into a few pieces separated by music or other traditional service elements. For best results, augment with additional visual, vocal, dramatic, and/or participatory techniques.

Updates

Many people have contributed to this project – Thank you! Since I review every book personally before adding it to the list, I have not gotten to (or been able to find) all of your suggestions yet. Still, I welcome and appreciate your ongoing contributions and corrections. I continue to add to the website, and eventually I hope to add links to related resources, texts to hard-to-find stories, musical accompaniment, and some deeper discussion about the meaning, purpose, techniques, and alternatives for Children's Focus. If you are reading this from another source, look for updates in Adobe Acrobat format at www.uuwausau.org/resources.

Search Tips

Use the binoculars icon (the “find” command in the “edit” menu). A search will lead you not only to words in the “Themes” column, but anywhere in this document. Search for root words, such as “vot” to get “vote” and “voting.”

Alternate names for this part of the service

Small Talk; Story for All Ages; Moments for Young People

Songs to exit by

Go Now in Peace (SLT #413); Spirit of Life (#123); From You I Receive (#402); Turn Around (Malvina Reynolds); many congregations have developed an in-house children’s blessing.

Collections of UU Stories and Intergenerational Worship Activities

Windmills, Worship and Wonder: Ideas for Intergenerational Worship, Abby L. Winkler Crowley, editor, Paint Branch UU Church, Adelphi, MD

Hide and Seek with God, Mary Ann Moore (Skinner House)

What if Nobody Forgave?, Colleen McDonald, editor (Skinner House)

A Bucketful of Dreams, Christopher Buice (Skinner House)

Creating Effective Intergenerational Worship Services: http://www.uuintergenerational.org/

REsources: www.rec-room.org/REsources/books.html

Themes		Title	Author	Synopsis/Comments
(Mis)judgment, creativity		Emily’s Art	Peter Catalanotto	When the judge of the art contest misinterprets Emily’s art, she learns to deal with her disappointment.
Ability, empowerment		Elena’s Serenade	Campbell Geeslin	Elena is told she’s too young... and girls can’t be glassblowers. She imaginatively discovers a musical way to identify with and participate in her father’s art.
Absurdity, identity, self-acceptance, friendship		A Porcupine Named Fluffy	Helen Lester	Fluffy finds that he’s not fluffy. So he tries to change himself. He can’t. He’s upset...until he finds a new friend: a rhino named Hippo.
Actions speak louder than words	T	Fruits (in A Bucketful of Dreams)	Chris Buice	A traveling family learn that a thorn bush that calls itself an apple tree is not an apple tree...and a man who calls himself good is also a fake because he's only interested in the appearance of goodness.
Adoption, birth		Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born	Jamie Lee Curtis	A child remembers happily the story told by her adoptive parents of her coming into the world and this family.
Adoption, children	M	Happy Adoption Day	John McCutcheon	A celebration of adoption. Simple sheet music included.
Adoption, family		Saving Sweetness	Diane Stanley	Sweetness runs away from the orphanage and is followed by the sheriff. First she saves the sheriff from Coyote Pete, then convinces him to save her by adopting her.
Adoption, letting go, love		The Coffee Can Kid	Jan M. Czech	A father tells his adopted daughter the story of her birthmother and the difficult, loving decision she made.
Adventures in reading and learning		The Bee Tree	Patricia Polacco	A silly chase through a meadow leads to grandfather’s presentation of this wisdom to his little girl: learning/reading is as sweet as honey, and it is worth the effort to chase through the pages of a book.
African American history, crafts		Circle Unbroken	Margot Theis Raven	The tradition of basket weaving transcends the changes of centuries, one generation teaching another.
African culture	V	Ashanti to Zulu	Margaret Musgrove	A to Z descriptions of a variety of African social, family, and religious traditions. Long. It could be done as a series over 3-4 weeks.
Aging, memory, grandparents, music		Georgia Music	Helen V. Griffith	A girl comes to love her odd, aging grandparent just in time to see him decline. When he seems no longer able to communicate, music, silence, and the sounds of nature connect them. Long but editable.
Aging, teaching mentoring, generations, grandparents	SV	Can You Do This, Old Badger?	Eve Bunting	Though Old Badger can no longer do a lot of things, he can still teach Little Badger some of the essentials of life.
AIDS, grief		A Name on the Quilt	Jeannine Atkins	A child confronts her grief as her family prepare a panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Alzheimer’s, aging, grandparents, mental illness, disability		Grandma’s Soup	Nancy Karkowsky	A young girl confronts her grandmother’s growing confusion and disability from Alzheimer’s disease. Eventually grandpa begins making the soup, though he still calls it “Grandmas’ Soup.”
Ambiguous loss, absent parent