The Christmas season is an annual opportunity for children’s discipleship. It’s a joyful time marked by all kinds of cultural and family traditions. Most kids look forward to Christmas Day because it’s a break from school, extra time with family, and—let’s be honest—for many, it’s accompanied by gifts. But the question for Christian parents is how they will steward this moment for the spiritual growth of their kids.
Will they spend their mental energy primarily on finding just the right gifts, or will they seize this seasonal opportunity to reinforce the all-important truths about Christ’s coming? Christmas builds into our calendar a special time to emphasize both the personhood of Jesus—truly human and truly divine—and the grand story of the Bible, which climaxes in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
One way we can seize this seasonal opportunity is by working through an Advent children’s book with our kids in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day. There are many good options, but I’d like to recommend the newly released Advent book for kids by Kevin DeYoung, titled The Biggest Story: Advent.
This isn’t your everyday Advent book focusing on the shepherds and wise men. DeYoung has chosen 24 promises from the Old Testament and communicates them in concise and compelling ways that both children and adults can appreciate. The book is designed for kids ages 6–12, but I think younger children can also track along—especially if the adult reading is engaging and willing to pause and explain some of the content along the way.
Here are four reasons I love this book and will be using it with our kids (ages 5 and 8) this Christmas season:
1) Biblical Theology
I want my kids to know the details of the Christmas narrative—that’s certainly important. But I also want them to know how to read their Bibles from cover to cover. I want them to understand how the whole Bible tells one unified story that leads up to Jesus. With this Advent book, they’ll practice seeing Jesus in all of Scripture every day for 25 days.
2) Scriptural Reference
DeYoung doesn’t just summarize the story. On every page, he includes a fold-out flap from the board book for that day. After reading the story, you can open the flap to reveal a single verse reference that points to the promise he summarized.
For parents working through this with their kids, I recommend looking up that verse beforehand, reading a bit of the surrounding context, and preparing to explain why the verse is significant and how it connects to the day’s story. A few minutes of preparation will make your time reading with your child richer and more fruitful. Summarizing biblical promises is great, but seeing them firsthand in the actual text of Scripture is even better.
3) Devotional Prayer
DeYoung includes a short prayer prompt at the end of each story. It’s important that our children not only learn the stories but also learn how to respond to them. His brief, one-sentence prayers model how we can apply each story to our lives and respond to God in prayer.
4) Practical Qualities
There are a few practical reasons this book is worth adding to your Advent collection. I love that it’s a sturdy board book, durable enough to use both this year and in future Advent seasons. The pop-up feature on each page adds an exciting element—kids eagerly anticipate opening the flap to see that day’s verse. Lastly, each story is just one page long. It’s deep but concise, and the inclusion of the Bible verse gives you the option to extend the conversation if time allows.
Whether it’s this Advent book or another one, my encouragement to Christian parents is to seize the opportunity to be intentional this Christmas season.
[Buy the book here.]
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