Meet My Baby - The Stack (of Paper)

The completed manuscript with sources, sketches, and documents

This is what I've been up to. Instead of blogging.

There is not much time left in my days (weeks, months) after planning, writing, editing, printing, sourcing, compiling, emailing, packaging, and mailing this baby.

Oh, yes. This is my baby. The first half of a 12-month activity book for preschoolers and missions has been delivered (emailed and mailed) to my faithful preschool resource team at Woman's Missionary Union.

The completed manuscript package and its twin - the emergency copy that can be mailed if the PO loses the original

Now they get to do their huge part.

And I will continue on with the above steps for the second half of the book.

The writing life is grand.   

A glimpse of the chaos that is my office, including desk, side table, and floor

Last Stop on Market Street ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Last Stop on Market Street
Words by Matt de La Pena
Pictures by Christian Robinson
(G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2015)

CJ wondered why his Nana and he had to go on the bus every Sunday after church. He was full of questions. CJ asked why they didn't have a car, why did it have to rain, and why that man couldn't see.

Nana was wise. Throughout the story, Nana lets CJ experience real life people. She guides him to see with his ears, appreciate people who look different, and enjoy the magic in a song.

The most wonderful thing that nana gives to CJ is the habit of helping others. At the last stop on Market Street, where buildings and people are run down and dirty, CJ helps serve lunch at a soup kitchen. CJ is learning to see beauty through the dirt.

Last Stop on Market Street is a beautiful book about diversity and reaching out to help others. Nana sets a wonderful example of how to be a giving member of a community.

Read Last Stop on Market Street if you want your readers to grow up willing and able to make contributions to society.

KID KANDY:

Help at a Soup Kitchen

CJ helped serve food with his Nana. Maybe you don't have a soup kitchen in your area. But you and your child can still help.

You could:

~ Make arrangements to serve a meal at a local homeless shelter (or other place that serves free meals).

~ Collect food and donate it to a program that feeds hungry families - food banks, homeless shelters, or community outreach centers.

~ Gather non-perishable food items (juice boxes, nuts, dried fruit, bottled water, crackers). Divide items among lunch sacks and store in your car. Give out snack bags whenever you see someone on the street corner asking for donations.

~ Give money to organizations that help the hungry - churches, shelters, community service centers.

Be creative. What is available in your town? How can you help?

Ask your child for ideas. You might be surprised.

Molly's Adventures in Missions - Terrific Tuesday Picture Book & KID KANDY

Molly's Adventures in Missions
Written by Joye Smith
(Woman's Missionary Union, 2009)

Molly's Adventures in Missions is a wonderful book that tells the story of Molly as she goes on her first missions trip. Molly learns about passports, trip preparation, and many of the things mission teams do when they go on missions trips in America and overseas. Molly is super excited to help others.

Molly's Adventures in Missions is the perfect book to read when you want to prepare your child to go on a missions trip. It can also be read to help your child understand what volunteer missionaries do on trips. I love how Joye Smith described the different ways we can help others - by going on trips ourselves or by supplying prayer, resources, and finances for others to go.

A missions lifestyle is embraced by Molly in this book. Just reading it makes me want to pack up and go!


KID KANDY:

Help a Missions Team

1. Find out who in your church is going on a missions trip.

2. Volunteer to help prepare for the trip. With your family, you can: gather supplies needed during the trip, collect items that will be given to help others (health items, baby things, etc.), give money to help pay for expenses, or help put together kits and materials.

3. Pray for the team member(s). Get specific prayer needs and post them at home. Let your child help you pray.

4. Get ready to hear all about the trip when they get back!


Maybe you and your family can go on a missions trip! You might have to wait for a few years, but that's ok. You can adopt a ministry in your city and do your own missions trips until everyone is old enough to go.

Or check out Familyfest, a missions experience geared towards families and children. Go to www.wmu.com/ and look under ministries to find out more.

And when you go, be sure to take Molly with you! She loves missions trips.

Molly traveled to France with us.

Terrific Tuesday - Let's Learn About . . . - Picture Book & KID KANDY

Let's Learn About . . .
Written by Angie Quantrell
(Woman's Missionary Union, 2012)

In the world of Christian education, there are 9 concept areas that encompass all of the things that preschoolers need to explore and learn about. Those areas, while mainly guidance for teachers, leaders, parents, and grandparents, are also good for preschoolers and young children to start labeling as they experience activities in each concept area.

Let's Learn About . . . is a book about concept areas for preschoolers. God, Jesus, Bible, Church, Self, Family, God's Creation, World, and Community are the nine areas.

Molly and Mikey, preschoolers who love learning about missions and going to church, go on a journey to learn about each of the concept areas. Miss Goodwin, their teacher, engages them in discussions and activities that are perfect for exploring in a hands' on way. Which, by the way, is the most perfect way for young children to learn. (Personally, this old child - myself - best learns through actually doing activities as well!)

Miss Goodwin also shares a note to parents, Bible thoughts for preschoolers, and one activity for each concept area.

The 9 concept areas are the building blocks of Christian education for preschoolers. Mission Friends, an age level organization for preschoolers, is the perfect place to use Let's Learn About . . . But any gathering of preschoolers would benefit from the focus on these foundational concept areas.

If ever you need to know which things to focus on when you are teaching your child, or a group of littles, Let's Learn About . . . will show you the way and give you ideas.


KID KANDY:

Make Your Own Let's Learn About . . . Chart

1. Draw a chart with nine columns on poster board.

2. Print the name of one concept area at the top of each column. Let your child decorate the chart with markers and stickers.

3. Plan an activity for each area (not all at once, of course, but spread out through a month or six months or a year).

4. Each time you do an activity that ties in with one area, put a sticky note or star in the corresponding column.

5. Make a goal to do something in each area.

6. Start again!


Read Let's Learn About . . . for more ideas and explanations of Christian concept areas.

To order:

Call: 1-800-968-7301
Online: www.wmustore.com; Go to Age Levels: Go to Preschool: Go to Books

Thank you! I offer my most humble thanks and blessings to you.


Angie Quantrell loves working with preschoolers and young children. They say the most interesting things and have a zest for life. With children, anything can be fun if you are willing to be a little crazy!

Terrific Tuesday - I Can Do It! - Picture Book + KID KANDY

I Can Do It!
Written by Angie Quantrell
Illustrated by Cathy Lollar
(Woman's Missionary Union, 2003)

I Can Do It! is the partner book I wrote as I was writing I Can Give (featured last week on Terrific Tuesday). Both books turned out beautiful, but I seem to remember some mental chaos along the line.

I Can Do It! is a story about Meiying and her family. Meiying is Chinese American. Illustrations and language features reflect Chinese heritage and language. I love the Chinese characters running down the sides of the pages. They are amazing.

I Can Do It! is a story about the many things Meiying can do to learn about and do missions. Missions include things like helping, loving, sharing, telling about Jesus, and more. Meiying loves interacting with her family, church, and community. She shows how even preschoolers can be on mission with Jesus.

Missions activities, a note to parents, Bible thoughts for preschoolers, and suggested Bible readings for adults are included in I Can Do It!

I'm very proud of I Can Do It! and think it is a wonderful book for preschoolers. Cathy Lollar did a fabulous job illustrating I Can Do It! I hope you think so, too.

KID KANDY:

One activity Meiying helps with is collecting food for the hungry. Here are some ways to gather and give food with your child.

~ Go shopping together. Let your child choose several items to give.

~ Go shopping in your cupboard. Help pick out healthy food items to give.

~ Coupon together. Let your child be in charge of handing coupons to the cashier. Use the money you save to buy food or donate to a program that feeds the hungry.

~ If you participate in a specific program, make up a flyer and go door-to-door with your child to ask neighbors for help in feeding the hungry.

Be sure and say thank you!

Where can we give the food we collect?

~ Homeless shelter

~ Women and children's shelter

~ Church hunger ministry

~ Community collection site

~ School outreach programs (like weekend backpacks of food)

Angie Quantrell loves picture books with great illustrations, lots of color, and fun features like language phrases. She enjoys teaching boys and girls about missions.

I Can Do It! is available through Woman's Missionary Union:

Phone: 1-800-968-7301
Online: www.wmustore.com (Go to age levels, preschoolers, and then books)

Families on Mission, Ideas for Teaching Your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care

Families on Mission, Ideas for Teaching Your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care by Angie Quantrell (Woman's Missionary Union, New Hope Publishing, 2005)

Families on Mission, Ideas for Teaching Your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care was written when I was deep in the midst of preschool and early childhood education. After teaching four and five-year-olds for several years, I was full of ideas of ways to involve preschoolers in missions. This book is a catalog of simple activities for families to do along with their young children.

For preschoolers, missions is loving, caring, and sharing. Learning to reach out to other people in loving ways, helping them, praying for them, and caring for them, are important concepts that families need to teach and live out as they raise children that grow up to continue doing the same thing. The world is really a small place. Becoming a caring member of any community is important in our world.

Loving, caring, sharing, praying, giving, doing, helping, my friends, my church, my neighborhood, and my world are the themes for the eleven chapters in this book. Each topic has multiple activities, ideas, and suggestions for parents. This book is also appropriate for teachers, grandparents, families, daycare workers, and anyone else who works with young children and wants to model a lifestyle of reaching out and loving others. The ideas are geared for young children. Some activities revolve around the nuclear family. Other ideas involve extended family, church members, or community members.

Make a difference in the life of your preschooler. Choose and adapt the ideas for your situation. Have fun!

Enjoy missions - loving, caring, sharing, praying - with your preschooler.