Around the Web:

Ninja Hits the Target

Have you read Hello Ninja? N.D. Wilson’s board book is an absolute delight. I have it as an iBook and my nieces and nephews and I read it multiple times during Christmas week last year. Well, Ninja has come to Target, and provides a great opportunity to the book’s fans. Doug Wilson notes:

• As it happens, Target has picked up a Canon title to carry, which is now for sale in all of their stores (except for the ones that have sold out). The book in question is Hello Ninja, and it would be good for pretty much all concerned if Target had a great experience with this title moving off their shelves at a rapid clip. They like that kind of thing.

Read more at Blog and Mablog.

How Can Christians be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World?

There are many ideas in Christianity that have become trite with familiarity. When we’ve been followers of Jesus and readers of the Bible for a long time, it’s quite easy to read the familiar phrases of Scripture and let them just roll over us without stopping to think about what they really mean. One of the joys of having children in our lives is the way they open our eyes to new ways of seeing the familiar.

• “I won’t call names or hit people,” says Heather, 8.That’s a start. Being the light of the world doesn’t call for knocking everyone else’s lights out. Jesus had something different in mind when he told his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13a & 14a).”I could give kitties and other things,” says Brian, 10. “After that, I could tell people to believe in Jesus to have eternal life.”

See how other kids think about being the light of the world over at Crosswalk. Read more.

A Mother’s Repentance

Our own Rebecca Reynolds has an excellent piece up over at The Rabbit Room this week. In it, she confesses her fears as a mother, and how she is learning to hand her teenage children—and herself in the process—to God.

• At twelve years old, Jesus left his mother and father, and he wandered into the temple so that his individuality could intersect with a world that was bigger than his little family. This is a complex story, because Jesus was a Divine child; I’m certainly not drawing “how to” principles from it. What I do know is that if I had been Mary, I probably would have been there standing in the doorway of the temple with hand sanitizer. That would not have been a good thing.

Rebecca’s fears, and her prayers, are familiar territory for so many. Read more.

How To Talk With Your Kids About Pornography

Randall Goodgame shares at Slugs & Bugs some great advice on addressing a difficult topic with your children. 

• First of all, nobody wants to have this conversation. I avoided it for months after I thought it needed to happen. However, I’ve now stumbled through a few awkward talks with my kids (my oldest are 13 and 11), and I’m really, really glad I did. If you’ve got kids, and you live near a computer, eventually you’ll need to address it with them yourself. It will be uncomfortable, but here are 5 things to remember as you move forward into these waters.

Read more.

Around the Warren:

There And Back Again: The End of an Amazing Beginning for The Green Ember

We celebrated the successful conclusion of our Kickstarter campaign this week. It was a grand adventure, and S.D. Smith took a few moments to explore the journey for us.

• I see faces, faces of people who have given generously to back our project. Over and over. People piled into our house and sat around talking, celebrating an exciting event in our life. People drove up from Charlotte, skyped in from Charlotte! People posted on Facebook, Twitter, sent emails, and told their friends. Our friends and backers have given us a gift we’ve longed for.I have wanted to be an author for a long time. It was, in fact, my earliest childhood dream. It’s one I recovered as a man in the wake of an illness I didn’t think I was going to survive. I’ve worked at it ever since.

Read more.

“…pay attention…”

Jonathan Rogers’ words. Paul Boekell’s graphic.

Doing the Voices

Laura Peterson speaks to the value of reading aloud and provides some great resources for finding the right books to read.

• It is my considered opinion that few things equal the joy of being read aloud to. Don’t you think so? While I’ve lost count of the many books that I’ve read in my life, the books (or portions of books) that have been read to me seem to stick in my memory in a different, brighter way. Even now, when I open certain books, the voices of beloved readers come floating out of them as I recite the words in my head. My mom readingThe Polar Express. My dad pausing for dramatic effect before reading in a Nancy Drew book, “And then, she was knocked unconscious!” My friend Laura giving voice to gruff but lovable Podo Helmer in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness as we road-tripped to Nashville. Weekly “storytimes” in my college dorm when my friend Nicole would read aloud from George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin. 

Read more.

Rabbits With Swords (and Rewards!)

Something to Do with Your Kids:

A few years ago my niece told me she’d made a movie. I wasn’t sure what to expect; she was only seven or eight at the time. When she pressed play, I was delighted—she’d used Lego people in a village she’d built to create a stop motion animated story. Stop motion is a fairly simple process, and kids can make movies using everyday toys. Here are some tips for making your own stop motion movies.

And Something to Watch

This is long, but it’s a delight. My sister talks of the joy she finds in watching her children play and create and use their imaginations together. There is a certain gladness in watching children play. Take a bit of time and explore imagination with these children playing in the woods–then maybe take your own kids out and let them explore the worlds of their own imaginations.

Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.