Interviews with Danielle Hitchen
Interview with Danielle Hitchen
After featuring Danielle Hitchen’s new project on Monday, I wanted to ask her a few more questions about the counting primer specifically and about more general work that she is doing with Catechesis Books. So in this brief interview, we’ll hear how Danielle (and artist Jessica Blanchard) chose the visuals for the book, selected text excerpts to feature on each page, and more....
Creating ‘Baby Believers’
Danielle Hitchen (’10) knows that raising kids is hard. As the mom of a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, Hitchen is well aware of the challenges that come with motherhood. But about a year ago, Hitchen found herself facing a task she never anticipated having to tackle so early: her kids’ spiritual formation....
Christian Moms Launch 'Bible Basics' Book Series to Teach Core Tenets of Faith to Babies and Toddlers
A millennial entrepreneur has launched a book company for the express purpose of teaching the Bible and core tenets of Christianity to babies and toddlers....
Authors and Parents Are Rethinking Ways to Foster Kids’ Love for Scripture
While a focus on Bible knowledge and upright living remains essential, several emerging authors are taking a fresh look at how contemporary parents can introduce children to Scripture in ways that cultivate an authentic relationship with God and a committed affection for his Word.
The Good Shepherd’s Comfort
Podcasts
Reviews
Ep. 175 || Emily & Laura's Favorite Things
The Baby Believer series was recommended by the team at Risen Motherhood as the best gifts for new moms!
Words for Little Ones
Hitchen’s Baby Believer series (First Bible Basics, Psalms of Praise) combines inviting illustrations and simple Bible truths geared for young audiences. Her latest installment, Let There Be Light, reads first as an opposites primer—light and dark, alone and together. Hitchen includes related Scripture verses young children can grow into…
This board book introduces babies and toddlers to basic Christian truths. Unlike other books that count Bible characters or animals on the ark, Hitchen numbers gospel accounts, fruits of the Spirit, and the like. Short Bible verses appear on many pages, helping little ones become familiar with God’s Word....
Safe and Secure - Read-alouds for little ones
The Psalms contain many active verbs, and this book is a perfect introduction for squirmy toddlers who are just beginning to learn about God. Plan to get up and move around: Each scripted Psalm entails action, like dancing, clapping, and kneeling. Vibrant watercolor illustrations bring these actions to life….
WORLD Magazine reviews Bible Basics on their daily podcast The World and Everything In It
Guest Blog Posts
Our Father. How ya' doin'? Amen: Catechesis with Board Books
I’m delighted to run this guest post by friend-of-the-blog Danielle Hitchen.
As we sat down to dinner a few weeks ago, my two-year-old daughter folded her hands and bowed her head to pray. Although my husband usually prays for our meal, that night she opened her mouth and said,
“Our Father. How ya doin’? Amen.”
As a mother, I live for moments like these. In addition to making me laugh out loud, they reassure me that something we’re trying to teach our daughter about God is sticking. Even if it’s just the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer....
Why Should You Care About the Creation Story?
The first chapters of Genesis are often encountered by adults as a controversial text about the age of the earth or the design of human sexuality, or we skip over the pre-fall story altogether and jump straight to what we learn about temptation and sin. While there are important things to be gleaned from those discussions, more and more I find myself realizing the creation account is essential to our understanding of how to live in the “already” and what we long for in the “not yet.”
The Secret to Teaching Your Kid Good Theology (It’s Easier Than You Think)
How young is too young to start introducing children to Jesus? Or is there even such a thing as too young? My mama friends sing and listen to worship while pregnant, read the Bible aloud, and more. That’s why I’m excited to have Danielle Hitchen share today about how she’s helping her children discover God and good theology from a young age….
What Does Being a Disciple Maker Practically Look Like?
Discipleship sounds like a spiritually lofty practice better left to pastors and missionaries, but is that what Jesus actually said? Author Danielle Hitchen explains how Jesus' mandate to make disciples of all nations was meant for every believer...and it's easier to do than you think.
Jesus Can Heal, But Will He?
At age 32, just after celebrating the start of the new life of our son inside my womb, I discovered that there was also death beginning to form inside me, in the shape of a cancerous tumor in my breast. What a weighty tension it was to hold; to rejoice in the Lord granting us this gift of pregnancy, but to also mourn the loss of my health and potentially my life at a young age.
The Good Shepherd’s Comfort
“Stop eating play dough,” I tell my 3-year-old for what feels like the millionth time.
“BE KIND,” she hollers back at the top of her lungs.
Sighing, I insist that the kindest thing I can do is ensure she doesn’t ingest the indigestible. Much to her loud and obvious displeasure, I remove the play dough and put it away in a bin out of her reach.
Eyes to See
Close your eyes for a moment and envision a trick of the eyes — an abstract, patterned image that, when looked at just the right way, reveals a 3D image nestled amidst the pattern. An optical illusion. That’s a stereogram!
When I was a child, I remember being slightly frustrated by how much my best friend loved stereograms. I always struggled to see the obscured image, too fond of clarity to allow my eyes to soften, too impatient to wait for the hidden prize to pop off the page.
A Busy Parent’s Guide to Spiritual Self-Care: How Your Faith Affects Theirs
About a decade ago, I attended a masterfully staged production of the Greek classic Antigone. As the blind prophet Tiresias forcefully delivered his monologue, he walked with closed eyes around a high platform with nothing but the feel of his feet to keep him from plummeting off the stage. I could hardly attend to his words as my eyes riveted on his steps.
I remember this powerful performance every time I read Jesus’ metaphor in Matthew 15: “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”