The chemical reaction of words + art that happens in picture books can fuse into a medium with an almost magical power to shape souls.

C. S. Lewis wrote that one of his earliest experiences of the joy that eventually led him to Christ was becoming enamored of the illustrations of Beatrix Potter’s funny little story Squirrel Nutkin. Some of my own ideas about God’s kingship were undoubtedly shaped by the time I spent as a child gazing at a picture of a king who smiles adoringly at his daughter at the end of Margaret Hodges and Trina Schart Hyman’s Saint George and the Dragon.

As an adult, I’ve been grieved to learn how many beautiful books were produced by authors and illustrators who vocally or quietly worked to promote different beliefs from biblical Christianity. Providentially, many of these books still obliquely show truth and goodness that point to the Creator of the universe, regardless of their creators’ intentions.

All that history, though, makes this current batch of picture books especially exciting. The illustrations are clever, beautiful, hilarious, and tender. The words are engaging, exciting, meaningful, and true. The fusion of these pictures and words is . . . well, hand one of them to a child and find out.

1. He Always Hears: A Story of Loss and the Hope of Things Made New by Alyson Punzi, illustrated by Tyler Charlton (Crossway) (Amazon | TGC Store)

When Alyson Punzi’s husband died of cancer, she struggled with the words to help her 2-year-old daughter understand and process the loss. “I felt like Frank’s death took all the words out of me,” Punzi said. “I didn’t have words to ask for help, to pray, to sing, to talk. I desperately needed the words to give my daughter about what was happening.”

He Always Hears was born out of Punzi’s search for words to teach the biblical concept of lament to a small child. The story unfolds as a little girl’s new toy gets damaged (it’s never the same but still fun), her friend moves away (she writes letters), and then her daddy has to stay at the hospital (we don’t find out what happens to him; the book ends by simply saying God heard the girl’s cry). The last picture is a long, dark night that, as you unfold the pages, stretches into the first hints of a sunrise. At each step of the story, the girl’s family teaches her to tell her sadness to God, trust him with the future, and know the comfort of his presence.

There’s a mountain of doctrine distilled into this children’s book, especially in the rhyme that the little girl learns from her family, a clear and memorable picture of the hope of the gospel:

Because God made and saved us,
we hope in what is true:
he promises that, one day,
what’s broken, he’ll make new.

He Always Hears is beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. It provides words of lament for the losses and griefs of many shapes that come in this broken world, pointing to the hope Christ provides.

2. Keep Us This Day / Keep Us This Night by Todd R. Hains, illustrated by Natasha Kennedy (Lexham) (Amazon)

Simple. Comprehensive. Profound. Keep Us This Day / Keep Us This Night contains two short prayers adapted from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism from 1529. Those prayers were, in turn, derived originally from the Psalms. This means that in around a hundred words, readers can access prayer, Scripture, and church history through this new picture book.

Read the book one direction and it’s a prayer for the morning. Flip the book over and it’s a bedtime prayer. The pictures are engaging enough for multiple readings (including a cat and a Bible or verse hidden on every page). The simple patterns of thanksgiving, confession, praise, and supplication offer an opportunity to join with “the communion of the saints in prayer”—around the world, throughout time. And it feels even more profound to be reminded through these rhythms what an astonishing privilege and joy it is to enter the presence of God himself and speak to him every day.

3. The Good Shepherd and the Stubborn Sheep: A Story of God’s Redemptive Love by Hannah E. Harrison (Zonderkidz) (Amazon | TGC Store)

“A joyful heart is good medicine,” according to Proverbs 17:22, and The Good Shepherd and the Stubborn Sheep will bring joy to your life. The story is told by George, a ridiculous sheep with absurd hair and a terrible sense of direction, who runs away from his shepherd rather than submit to a trim. Harrison’s narrative and illustrations manage to be both silly and profound at the same time.

The book reminds us that the Christian life encompasses the range of human experiences. The first page opens with Isaiah 53:6 (“We all like sheep have gone astray . . .”), and the last page closes with Psalm 23, a praise to the Good Shepherd who leads us well anyway. Sheep are ridiculous, the book says, and so are we. “It’s embarrassing, to say the least,” George tells us when he gets stuck with his legs in the air. “That’s why we need a Shepherd.” The Good Shepherd and the Stubborn Sheep is a tale of deep truths shared through laughter.

4. Praise God, All Creatures: A Doxology for Children by Jason G. Duesing, illustrated by Andrés Landazábal (B&H Kids) (Amazon)

Praise God, All Creatures builds first on the Psalms but also incorporates the doxology to direct children toward giving praise to God for the wonders of the natural world, his character, and his care.

This sturdy board book will withstand frequent rereadings. It’ll survive repeatedly falling out of the beds where it’ll certainly lie after bedtime on some nights. The pictures are full of animals. The text moves in the same gentle rhythm as the original doxology that forms its foundation.

5. Perfect Peace Child: A True Story of How One Tribe Found Forever Peace by Steve Richardson with Maxine McDonald, illustrated by Sarah Nunnally (Mission Kids) (Amazon)

“When I was a little boy, my family lived on an island shaped like a dinosaur.” That’s how The story of Perfect Peace Child begins. The colorful illustration shows a map, a jungle, and crocodiles, and the reader knows right away that this will be an adventure.

Steve Richardson, president of the international mission organization Pioneers, not only knows how to tell an adventure story, but he has lived one. In 1962, Richardson traveled with his parents, Don and Carol Richardson, past parrots and pythons up the Kronkel River to share the gospel with the Sawi people of New Guinea. Perfect Peace Child tells the true story of murder and betrayal in a way suitable for older kids. It’s a colorful and compelling reminder of the adventure of living for Christ and the power of the gospel to reach across continents and cultures to change people’s hearts.

Also Check Out These Books:

Jesus, Our True Friend: Stories to Fill Your Heart with Joy, by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago, tells stories from Jesus’s life in a style similar to their best-selling The Jesus Storybook Bible but presented in a large picture book format, well designed for reading aloud with small children in your lap or seated around you. (Amazon | TGC Store)

The Maker of the Mountain: A Story About What God Is Like, by Sandra McCracken and Tim Nicholson, illustrated by Fia Tobing, is full of lovely similes describing different aspects of God’s character and has illustrations that look like Winnie-the-Pooh-meets-the-Appalachian-Mountains. (Amazon)

Penelope Judd: A Tale of a Dirty Land, a Promise Kept, and a Spotless Prince, by Shai Linne, illustrated by Florencia Persichini, tells a Pilgrim’s Progress adventure story with rhythm and rhyme that make you want to start dancing while you read it aloud. (Amazon)

We Sing! by Kristyn Getty, illustrated by Laura K. Sayers, includes delightful cut-paper pictures and a rhyming, lilting text about how everyone can sing to God’s glory. (Amazon | TGC Store)

A Big Change Happened: Helping Children Through Upheaval, by Darby A. Strickland, illustrated by Kevin and Kristen Howdeshell, is a story about a little whale feeling uncertain about traveling to a new home. Its bright pictures and promise that God’s love is always with us make the book a welcome resource for families facing their own big changes. (Amazon | TGC Store)