I was enormously pleased to have found your site earlier this week. I have been matching picture books with the lectionary readings since Jan 2012 but had not run into a puzzler til Pentecost Sunday. The Sadako story, which you recommended, was a brilliant choice. It resonates in so many ways with the crowds, the clarity of message and fervency of Pentecost. Cranes folded with bright red paper can also resemble the flames. I will use the picture book version rather than the chapter book.

I have also taken your suggestion of the hilarious Betsy Who Cried Wolf but will use it on July 22, rather than a picture book version of Psalm 23. While the Psalm seems to tell the sheep’s story, Betsy is definitely coming at from the Shepherd’s point of view.

Our church library owns An Angel for Solomon Singer, which you have reviewed. I found adeptly addressed the kingdom (community) divided against itself which is the Gospel for June 10. I have heard from more than one homeless man at one of our local homeless shelters that he is incredulous that someone would be so nice, so welcoming to someone like himself. I think this book reveals the spiritual hunger of all who are marginalized in some way.

I had thought of Mama Panya’s Pancakes (which I didn’t see mentioned in the blog) as an extension of the story of the widow’s mite but used it instead for the fishes and loaves story in the Gospel for July 28. I found the tension between the boy’s extravagant hospitality and the mother’s practical outlook to mirror well the disciples’ distress at Jesus’s indication that the 5000 needed to eat and they were responsible.

The following week, we will read Bagels from Benny, which has been loved by many children and teachers at our church, to demonstrate the Gospel line “giving bread from heaven to eat.” If you don’t know this book, read it right away, for it is wonderfully calibrated to the experiences of a young child.

On Aug 19, I opted for the lesson from 1 Kings and illustrated it with One City, Two Brothers, a legend attributed to Solomon and a book you have also reviewed. Because our church library has a pretty good collection of picture book Bible stories from excellent writers and illustrators, we sometimes match Bible stories to the lectionary rather than extension stories. Because this summer draws out several David and Solomon and several passages having to do with the bread of Life and bread of the world, I have found that I have to work the arc of the lectionary in planning stories rather than week by week.

For Sept 9, after several weeks of stories of both simple generosity and wisdom seeking, I chose to illustrate the James passage rather than the Gospel. I thought Alejandro’s Gift summed up attending to bodily needs with the with the wisdom that comes from treating others with dignity as children of God. Alejandro digs a water hole for desert animals, first one which is too close to his house, then a second one, conformed to their need. Alejandro is an octogenarian and might been seen by some children as a stand in for God and God’s need to be in relation to his created world.

Again, thanks for all the work that goes into this site. I enjoyed being on the receiving end of your conversation and learned a bit more about communicating to our 10 o clock storytellers about the lectionary/story relationships, as I saw them. I have now RSSed the site to my Google page.

Cathy Putman
Union Congregational UCC, Green Bay, WI