Author: Krystle Degraide

While raising pro-life children, you may wonder how and when to start teaching them about the sanctity of life. It can be a challenging topic. This is one reason author Krystle Joy DeGraide wrote The Story of You as a tool to help kids understand pro-life values in an age-appropriate way. Today we’re going to take a look at when to start instilling these values as you teach your kids.

What’s the Right Age for a Child To Learn About the Sanctity of Life?

You Can Teach in Increments

The sanctity of life can be a heavy and complicated topic, so, understandably, some parents are hesitant to discuss it with their kids. As you strive to raise pro-life children, understanding their maturity levels can help you decide how and when to discuss this topic with them.

Readying yourself for their questions is a good place to start. Kids are very curious and insightful. When they start asking questions, having some answers ready for them can give parents peace of mind. In general, kids around elementary to upper elementary age may start being able to handle more difficult topics. These topics can include why you believe life is precious at all stages, even when the baby is still in utero.

Lessons for Young Kids

Nature

Nature offers a plethora of hands-on learning opportunities. Planting a seed can be a wonderful way of showing your kid how everything needed to become a plant is hidden within a tiny seed. You can compare an acorn with a great oak tree and explain that even though an acorn looks very different from an oak tree, all the acorn needs is to be planted and given the right nutrients and environment to turn into an amazing tree.

You can directly tie in the message by talking about how babies start off very small in the womb, too. Growing a plant can help teach your kids a little science at the same time! You can plant some seeds together and watch them grow. You could even track their progress together as a fun project and a way to spend quality time with your little one.

Books

Books can be a good way to teach kids about life and conception. Books give you the opportunity to proofread first, so you can be sure they match what you want to teach your kids. Books for young kids often use artwork to help kids better grasp the message. These books are written with children in mind, so a well-written book will know how to deliver the message in a way that’s easy to understand and child-friendly.

This can be an especially good option for parents who aren’t sure they want to initiate the conversation. By reading this book together with your kid or leaving it for them to read at will, you can give them some knowledge and information. This can help open the door to allow your child to approach you with questions they may have about the book.

Where To Find These Books

As much as going to a bookstore in person can be fun and exciting, you may not always be able to find pro-life books there. Some bookstores have a dedicated area for religious books: you may be able to find pro-life books in those sections. If you have a local Christian bookstore, there may be some good options there too.

Otherwise, the internet can be a great tool to help you find pro-life books. You can look for online lists of recommended books. Shopping online also has the benefit of allowing you to read book reviews from fellow parents.

Lessons for Older Kids

Ultrasounds

Ultrasound technology has come a long way and continues to develop as time goes on. 3D and 4D ultrasounds can show the development of unborn babies in amazing detail. This level of detail can help bring these images to life and give them personality.

Videos are another way you can show your kids how even very small unborn babies can have hiccups and bounce around. This can help show your kids how these babies are already developing their personalities and doing some of the very human things babies do after they’re born, even while in the womb.

Communication

If we want to be able to teach our kids, it’s important for them to feel like they can safely approach us with their questions. Having a good relationship with your kids, encouraging them to think critically, and helping them to learn from reliable sources are all ways to practice healthy communication. It can also help them develop reasoning skills, so they can look at challenging topics from multiple angles rather than immediately believing everything they hear.

The last thing you want is to have your kid afraid to ask you questions or for advice. Having a good relationship with your kids can help them feel comfortable coming to you with concerns they may face throughout life or in school. Answering their questions in a calm and well-rounded way can help build their confidence.

Lessons for Teenagers

Morals

There comes a time when our kids are going to have to decide what they believe for themselves. Having a strong moral foundation can help them along this journey. Teaching our kids, especially as they get older, doesn’t always have to feel like a lesson. An important part of teaching is to lead by example.

In addition to celebrating life in all its stages, you can help instill pro-life values by supporting parents who have fallen on hard times, being involved in the needs of your community, and showing love to all those around you.

Confidence

There can be a lot of pressure kids face to “go with the flow,” especially as they get older. By fostering their ability to think critically, you can help your kids prepare to have respectful and well-educated conversations with those who disagree.

Ad Populum, also known as the appeal to popularity, is the argument that something must be true just because the majority of loud voices seems to believe it. It’s important to encourage your kids to think for themselves and that it’s okay if their beliefs aren’t shared by all their peers.

Why Is It Important To Raise Pro-Life Children?

1. It Can Instill a Sense of Value

When you teach kids about how precious unborn life is, you can also talk about the sanctity of all life throughout all stages. This can shape how they think about and talk to the people around them.

Sometimes society can make people feel like their value depends on what they bring to the table. It’s important to challenge that idea by teaching pro-life values. We can teach our kids that everyone has equal value, including those who can’t speak for themselves.

2. It Can Develop Strong Empathy

Pro-life teaching should put a strong emphasis on both compassion and empathy. You can also show them what empathy in action looks like. Making a “care package” of baby clothes and food for families in need can help your kids understand that it’s important to care for others. Donating to or volunteering at meal centers can also be something positive you could do with your kid.

If you have an animal lover in your household, you can use that as an opportunity to bring supplies to your local animal shelter. Some shelters or wildlife rehabilitation centers nurse tiny baby animals back to health. Seeing these small babies treated with care and love, even when they need extra support and care to survive, can be a way to show your kid pro-life values in action. Even when life is small and fragile, it’s valuable.

3. It Can Help You Bond

Teaching your kids about the value of life can be a great time for you to bond. When they were just a tiny baby in the womb, you can talk about how you were so excited to watch them grow and meet them.

For younger kids, laying out different-sized items like fruit can be a fun way to show the different sizes of a baby in utero. If you or their mom had funny food cravings during pregnancy, this could be a fun story to share with them. Compare these cravings to what their favorite foods are now. This can make them feel like a more active participant as they learn about how they used to be a tiny baby too.

4. It Can Build Reading Skills

If you’re using books as a teaching tool, that can also help your kids learn crucial reading skills. Books are powerful doorways into countless worlds of knowledge and imagination. They can help answer questions and develop skills that can serve your kids for their entire lifetimes.

If you’re looking for an easy way to start teaching the sanctity of life to your kids, The Story of You by Krystle Joy DeGraide may be a good option. This book can be a great way to help parents raise pro-life children and help them understand the miracle of life. To learn more about this book or order your own copy, visit Krystle Joy DeGraide today and add it to your bookshelf!

Books for children play a fundamental role in shaping the way children view themselves and learn about the world around them. For Christian children, it’s important to find books that share messages about faith, God, and other lessons children need to learn as part of early child development. Explore some of the best Christian books for children to explore in 2022.

25 of the Most Popular Christian Books for Children in 2022 for Early Child Development

1. The Story of You by Krystle Joy DeGraide

For parents who are tackling questions such as “Where do we come from?” or “How are babies made?”, this book is a good selection. Suitable for younger children, this book will help parents teach children about where life comes from and how precious life is.

2. Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science by Louie Giglio

If you’re interested in integrating early childhood science lessons into fundamentals about faith, then this book is a great selection. Perfect for children aged six to 10 years old, this book begins with the story of creation and includes informative lessons about astrology, biology, geology, and zoology.

3. The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Children’s Stories

This book is a perfect starter for early child development. With over 90 stories and vibrant illustrations, this storybook is an ideal introduction to the most beloved stories in the bible and a perfect foundation for teaching your children about God.

4. If Jesus Lived Inside My Heart by Jill Roman Lord

This book is a good choice for everyday learning for young children. With lessons about generosity and kindness, children will learn through scenarios and stories about how to discover the presence and love of Jesus in their hearts.

5. Kindness Is My Superpower by Alicia Ortego

In this illustrated book, there are several lessons for children to learn about kindness and goodness. With rhyming texts and an engaging story about Lucas, a boy who is learning kindness, children will be entertained as they learn about the power of compassion, love, generosity, and other important aspects of early child development.

6. How Great Is Our God by Louie Giglio

This is another engaging and educational book about the wonder of God imparted through lessons about science. From subjects like weather to the human body to space, this book teaches whimsical lessons about life, love, and the universe.

7. Notes From Jesus: What Your New Best Friend Wants You to Know by Mikol Keefer

Friendship plays a large part in healthy childhood development, so this fun book is a perfect introduction to how to be a good friend, neighbor, and child. This book addresses a wide range of topics about life and reminds children that Jesus will always be their best friend.

8. You Are Special by Max Lucado

This modern take on Pinocchio tells the whimsical tale of Punchinello, a wooden toy who must learn the value of himself after meeting his creator, a woodcarver who teaches Punchinello how special he is. This storybook imparts a very important lesson to children about the meaning of value and self-worth.

9. Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin and Pat Barrett

In this storybook, children learn about acceptance, love, and generosity through a wonderful metaphor of unconditional love from God. Perfect for bedtime reading, this book teaches children that God is by their side, no matter what. This book is an essential selection of Christian books for children.

10. It Will Be Okay: Trusting God Through Fear and Change by Lysa TerKeurst

This book is intended for children aged four to eight. In this book, children will find comfort in everyday experiences like anxiety, worry about change, and fear. Through the story of Little Seed and Little Fox, children will learn about the eternal comfort of having Jesus in their hearts and God by their sides.

11. Little One, God Made You Special by Amy Warren Hilliker

This story is a great choice for reminding children how important it is to be unique, but still find friendship even if others are different. An important lesson for children of all ages, this beautifully illustrated storybook teaches children that God loves equally, no matter what differences people may have.

12. The Oak Inside the Acorn by Max Lucado

The message in this story is one about growth and change. Through the story of Little Acorn and Oak, children will learn that it may take time to grow up and find their purpose in life. This book is intended for school-aged children and is an ideal addition to your Christian books for children collection.

13. Near: Psalm 139 by Sally Lloyd-Jones

In this illustrated book, children can learn the wonderful message of Psalm 139 through easily-read lyrical passages. Children will learn the lesson of the endurance of God’s love for them, and may also be empowered by the uplifting message of this psalm. This book is also a good option for children in Sunday school who may need to memorize passages.

14. If I Could Ask God Anything by Kathryn Slattery

If you have a curious child on your hands, then this book may be a great option. This book is cleverly written to answer some of the big questions kids have about prayer, Christianity, faith, and much more. With this book, your child will be able to strengthen their relationship with God by learning answers to questions such as “How do I know if God is real?”

15. The Garden, The Curtain, and the Cross by Carl Laferton

This illustrated book tells the most famous stories from the bible, from the Garden of Eden through the Resurrection of Christ. As part of the fundamentals of Christianity, children will understand the most important highlights of the faith through the stories of God’s righteousness and selflessness. This book is a must-have in your Christian books for children collection.

16. Princess Stories: Real Bible Stories of God’s Princesses by Carolyn Larsen

This book focuses on empowering little girls by illustrating some of the most famous Biblical stories of women. In addition to these stories, this book also has an interaction section called Princess Ponderings where girls and parents can discuss the values of each story and learn how the lessons in these stories can be applied in everyday life.

17. When God Made the World by Matthew Paul Turner

This storybook covers the topics of creation from the Book of Genesis. With gorgeous illustrations, children will learn how God created the universe, life, and everything. The book is written in rhythmic text to make it fun for children.

18. God’s Wisdom for Little Boys: Character-Building Fun from Proverbs by Jim & Elizabeth George

This book is written with little boys in mind. With proverbs that will impart important values and wisdom to little boys, this book is an excellent foundation stone for helping boys build good character and strengthen their faith in God.

19. Bedtime Prayers Praying Hands Board Book

This prayer book is an excellent option for families who are trying to create the habit of bedtime prayers. The prayers in this book are fun, easy, and simple for children to remember. The lovely illustration in this book also makes this an excellent staple for bedtime stories.

20. The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones

In this book, children are introduced to the most important stories in the bible, particularly the journey of Jesus from His birth to His resurrection. This book will teach children that Jesus is their salvation with biblical stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament.

21. I Am God’s Dream by Matthew Paul Turner

This book encourages kids to be proud of their individuality and unique interests by using informational messages from God. This picture book helps children discover the truth about God’s love, the beauty of diversity, and much more. This book is especially important for early child development.

22. My Little Library: Bible Stories by Little Grasshopper Books

This collection of 12 board books is ideal for babies and toddlers. As an introduction to simple biblical stories, these sturdy storybooks bring some of the most beloved biblical characters to life. Some of the stories included in My Little Library include the tales of David, Moses, Noah, and more.

23. Best-Loved Bible Songs Children’s Board Book With Sing-Along Tunes by Scarlett Wing

This sing-along book is perfect for fun lessons about the bible. With popular tunes such as Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Jesus Loves Me, and This Little Light of Mine, children can learn beloved bible songs with an interactive lyrical book.

24. When I Pray for You by Matthew Paul Turner

In this heartwarming book, children will learn about the hopes and dreams their parents have for them, and about how God’s love helps prayers come to life. The lyrical passages will teach children about love, care, and concern with affirming messages suitable for young readers.

25. What Is God Like? by Rachel Held Evans

In this book, children learn how to answer the question “What is God like?” by learning to look for God in everyday objects, stars, and more. Children will learn the comfort of being surrounded by God and strengthen their relationship with faith.

Early child development is an important time for children to develop values they will carry for a lifetime, which is why Christian books for children are important to include on your bookshelves. To learn more about the benefits of reading books for early childhood development, get in touch with Krystle Joy DeGraide, author of The Story of You, today.

Every parent wants their child to grow up into a productive and kind adult. But how can you effectively instill good values in a young person? Studies have shown that one of the most beneficial activities for children is reading values-based and pro-life books together with their caregivers. Not only does this help with empathy and compassion, but it also improves child literacy.

Nowadays, many children spend a significant amount of time alone in front of a screen. This can lead to loneliness, aggression, and a lack of social skills. By choosing to read books to your child instead of letting them watch TV or play on the iPad, you can help them improve their academic performance, mental health, and emotional intelligence. Let’s have a closer look at the benefits of reading aloud to your little one.

9 Benefits of Reading Values-Based Books Along With Your Children

1. Reading Aloud Increases Child Literacy 

Experts recommend that you begin reading short picture books to your child as soon as possible. In fact, some parents start telling their little one value-based stories even before he or she is born. By incorporating reading into everyday life, you can normalize this behavior and show your child how important and pleasurable it is. As a result, they will be much more motivated to learn to read early on.

2. Pro-Life Books Instill Good Values in Children 

Similarly, there are many books that focus on kindness, compassion, loyalty, humility, and other positive traits you might want to expose your child to. If you have trouble finding appropriate stories, you could reach out to other parents in your circle of friends or contact Krystle. She runs a newsletter with helpful tips for parents, and she’d be happy to give you some suggestions for high-quality children’s books.

3. You Spend Quality Time with Your Children 

4. You Reduce Screen Time 

Excessive time spent on electronic devices can cause a lack of social skills, anxiety and depression, sleep problems, physical issues such as neck or back pain, and obesity. What’s more, it impairs concentration and focus. Instead of allowing your child to watch videos for a prolonged period of time, expose them to values-based books. When you read together, your child will be just as entertained as they would be if they were playing with a device.

5. Your Child Can Explore Emotions and Develop Empathy 

You could begin by asking them comprehension questions, so you can make sure they have understood the storyline. Then, you can dig deeper into the emotions of the various characters. Questions like “Why did this character act this way?”, “What did they feel?”, and “What would you do in this situation?” can encourage your child to think critically and develop their emotional intelligence.

6. Your Child’s Vocabulary and Communication Skills Will Improve 

7. Problematic Behaviors Can Be Controlled 

While reading aloud is good for everyone, parents of kids with special needs often notice that this activity is especially effective at calming down their children and helping them regulate difficult emotions. When you snuggle down with your child and tell them an engaging story, they are temporarily transported to a different world. As a result, they can forget their problems, which helps their minds and bodies to calm down.

Because of its soothing effect, reading aloud is often used as part of therapy for children with ADHD, autism, or learning difficulties. It can reduce anxiety and allow children to get a break from their challenging situations. What’s more, books that address issues faced by children with special needs can make them feel less alone.

8. Children Can Develop their Own Imagination 

There is something magical about a child’s imagination. Many adults state that the thing they miss most about their childhood is the worlds and characters they created in their heads. In addition to being fun, imagining scenarios can help children process their reality and develop a wide variety of skills. But to allow your child to build up their own stories, you must first expose them to ones created by others.

You can foster your young learner’s imagination by discussing the pro-life books you read and encouraging them to continue the story. Together, you and the child can come up with a sequel or choose one of the characters and invent a new plot. This kind of activity will improve child literacy as well as your little one’s ability to think creatively and problem solve, and it can be a great way to spend an afternoon together.

9. You Can Use the Book as a Starting Point for Other Activities 

Additionally, you can remind your child of the values they learned in the book by incorporating the ideas into everyday life. If the topic of the book was the miracle of life, you can take your child to see a friend with a baby. Your little one can experience first-hand how sweet younger children are and what kind of care they need. Similarly, if the book was about helping others, you could encourage your child to help out their friends and relatives in day-to-day life.

There are many reasons why reading aloud to your children and discussing pro-life books with them is a good idea. In addition to helping them learn good values from a young age, this improves child literacy, reduces their screen time, and helps them control challenging emotions. To make the experience even more impactful, you can further develop the stories you read and base other activities on them.

If you’re struggling to find a good book to get started with, you should give The Story of You a try. This beautifully illustrated book explains to young children how they were created. It incorporates important concepts such as the sanctity of life and the importance of kindness. Contact Krystle Joy DeGraide today to find out more and join her email list.

When parenting toddlers, it’s important to focus on their physical, mental, and emotional development. While all three aspects are equally important, the latter can be the hardest to address because it is so subjective. Teaching empathy and understanding to children is often challenging, especially because they see the world very differently from adults. Fortunately, there are many resources and tips that can help you discuss these topics with your little one.

You can use children’s books, your toddler’s toys, a pet, and animals you see in nature to help your child understand why the needs and emotions of others are so important. What’s more, you should model great behavior, so the child sees how adults treat each other with respect and compassion. When you use play and imagination to teach empathy, your child will love the lessons and absorb them quickly.

Whenever you’re in a situation that requires empathy, use words and phrases that demonstrate your positive attitude towards other people. Your child will pick up and mimic your communication style later on. When the situation is over, you can speak to your child about what happened. Often, asking questions such as “How do you think the other person felt?” can be a very effective teaching tool, since they help your child to reflect on what happened.

A great way to incorporate lessons about empathy into daily life is to buy a children’s book that teaches your little one about the sanctity of life. The Story of You is a useful tool to get the conversation started and explain to your child how they and those around them were created. Get in touch with Krystle Joy DeGraide now to purchase your copy or to find out more about how you can incorporate lessons about empathy into your parenting strategy.

Living in a culture like ours, it can be difficult for a parent who wants their child to grow and flourish, especially when it comes to books and films. You don’t want to outsource your child’s development to strangers, and you know the chances are the most popular media are full of things that will confuse and damage young minds. Thankfully, you don’t need to go through the hassle of writing your own pro-life books for kids, you just need to find them!

This list is full of books, designed to help them learn the importance of valuing all human life, in an engaging and age-appropriate way. Full of great illustrations, and written by lots of well-known and prominent figures you can rely on, these stories provide easy ways to talk to your kids about these often difficult topics. So have a look, take note of your favorites, and get ready to share the joy of life with your children!

8 of the Most Popular Pro-Life Books for Kids in 2022

1. Pro-Life Kids! by Bethany Bomberger

This book is from author Bethany Bomberger and features illustrator Ed Koehler’s eye-catching cartoon-style pictures. The pro-life movement isn’t confined to one area of society or one type of person, and this great new book demonstrates the full depth and breadth of a society dedicated to human flourishing at every stage of life. Bomberger and her husband Ryan founded The Radiance Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the vision of human value and encouraging people to flourish.

Using her experience of adoption and motherhood, Bomberger brilliantly communicates the core messages of the pro-life movement to young children. This book is also available as the Pro-Life Kids! Colouring and Activity book, sticker pack, and crayons included, to help young children engage even more and get hours of enjoyment out of the story. This book is a great resource to use with your kids, and an engaging way to introduce them to age-appropriate ideas about their value and purpose.

2. Little Lives Matter by Elizabeth Johnston

Little Lives Matter is a pro-life kids book by author, blogger, speaker, and podcast host Elizabeth Johnston, illustrated with art by Sergio R Romeri. This story is created in partnership with BRAVE books, a publishing organization with a unique take on the endless task of raising up the next generation. They have crafted the BRAVE Universe, with its own map and characters, and each month they collaborate with a different writer to create books for kids featuring this new world.

As part of this ongoing story, Elizabeth Johnston’s book Little Lives Matter explores a moving story of a baby bear with only one front paw, showing how this makes life harder for his mother and the sacrifices she makes for him. The book is a heartwarming story of one family’s rejection of a cruel culture in favor of love and sacrifice for their children. You can also get a BRAVE Challenge Workbook, and games, to keep the adventure going!

3. Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Seuss

Maybe you wouldn’t have expected a book like this on this kind of list, but you’d be surprised! Horton Hears A Who, by the legendary Dr. Seuss, absolutely deserves to be part of the conversation when it comes to helping young children understand the value of the unborn. You probably heard about the recent controversies surrounding some of Dr. Seuss’s work, and whether you are already a fan or you had no idea he wrote pro-life books, this one is worth a try.

Horton Hears A Who is the story of Horton the elephant, who hears a small voice coming from a piece of dust, but no one believes him. He decides to protect this ‘Who’, and eventually, his friends realize he’s telling the truth and they start to hear the voices too. The story is a brilliant take on the way we choose to value things that are hard to understand, and children will love the rhymes and also the classic illustrations!

4. Bronco and Friends: A Party to Remember by Tim Tebow

Bronco and Friends: A Party to Remember, is the latest book for kids by Tim Tebow, written with A.J.Gregory and illustrated by Jane Chapman. Tim and his wife Demi-Leigh have a long history of supporting and championing kids with special needs, including their Night To Shine, a prom specially created for kids who might otherwise miss out. This is Tebow’s first book for children, and the message is sure to resonate with families everywhere.

The story is about Bronco, who gets invited to a party but is upset to discover he can’t find the puzzle piece every guest is meant to bring. He sets out on his journey and meets lots of other animals who have their own worries and problems, and these new friends help Bronco find his puzzle piece and get to the party. This heartwarming tale celebrates the uniqueness and beauty of every person.

5. God Gave Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergen

God Gave Us You is part of the God Gave Us series from acclaimed author Lisa Bergen, a collection of books for kids to help them understand big topics in simple ways. This story is rooted in the idea of the love that parents have for children, and how this love for the child is the ultimate answer to all the child’s questions of why or how. The book will build up children’s self-esteem, and remind them of their uniqueness.

Lisa Tawn Bergen is a best-selling author, winner of multiple awards, who writes in a wide range of genres for all ages and stages. As well as children’s books, she has published fiction for young adults, supernatural thrillers, historical fiction, and contemporary romance. She and her sculptor husband Tim run a business together, but she still finds time to write, having published over forty books!

6. If Only I Had A Green Nose by Max Lucado

If Only I Had A Green Nose, by the renowned Max Lucado, and illustrated by Sergio Martinez, is part of Max Lucado’s much-loved Wemmicks series along with You Are Special and You Are Mine. The book is a funny and engaging story about a character called Punchinello, who has to learn the hard way what it means to be yourself when the pressure is on and everyone else wants you to just go along with things.

The core of the story is about the importance of being who you were made to be, and understanding that each person has supreme value because of their humanity and because of their creator. The great illustrations and expert touch of Lucado the author will make sure your children read right to the end, again and again. Plus, once they read this one, you know there are more in the series to go for next!

7. When You Became You, by Brooke Stanton and Christiane West

When You Became You is a book for children by Brooke Stanton and Christiane West, designed to help children understand what the beginning of life means for them and for others. Stanton and West are the founders of Contend Projects, a secular, nonpartisan, non-profit organization dedicated to spreading clear and basic scientific information about the biology of life as widely as possible. Stanton and West have eight children between them, and this book benefits from their wealth of experience.

When You Became You is packed with glorious illustrations that delight the eye and wonderfully guide children through the story being told. Travel through all the stages of human life, and discover the incredible potential that every person has at each stage. This book is a celebration of one of the most extraordinary things in the universe, the human body, and will be sure to engage and inform children of lots of ages.

8. Before I Was Me, by Frank Fraser

Before I Was Me, written and illustrated by Frank Fraser, is the story of a conversation between God and an unborn baby, and centers around the idea that children are important not because of the things they might grow up to be, but who they are. Frank Fraser is an award-winning designer and artist who has worked for decades in advertising, both as Creative Director for Disney Consumer Products and also the creator and producer for children’s television shows.

9. The Story of You, by Krystle Joy DeGrade

The Story of You, by Krystle Joy DeGrade, is a brand new book that tells the story of how a child grows in their mother’s womb and is full of the wonder and excitement of every little change and development. This is a great story to help kids revel in their existence and the miracle of new life, and to see themselves with the same joy and wonder that their parents see them.

Hopefully reading this list has not only shown you some of the pro-life books for kids that are out there for parents who want to expose their kids to pro-life ideas but also given you some hope that culture is still providing plenty of creators who are faithful and brave in the face of difficult pressure. Each of these books is a great resource for any parent to have, and kids are sure to love them too!

It’s important to make love for human life part of raising children, and pro-life books like these are a great way to help integrate these concerns with kids’ development. Lots of parents share the same concerns, and being part of a community that cares is a boost when it comes to the often tricky business of teaching kids. Get in touch with Krystle Joy DeGraide today to find out more about her book The Story Of You and to get advice.

Our current education system places a lot of value on grades and achievement. While every parent wants their children to be successful, having empathy and caring for others is just as important. Kindness and compassion are crucial values that will serve your children well as they move into the adult world. For this reason, teaching kids to care can be a rewarding activity and help them to develop into healthy, kind-hearted adults.

There are many ways of instilling positive values in young people, and the key is for the parent to take the lead. Show your little ones how you take care of others, volunteer and help out together, speak about your feelings, and use media such as books to demonstrate how important and precious life is. Let’s have a closer look at how you can teach your children about compassion and empathy.

9 Ways of Teaching Kids to Care for Others 

1. Talk about Feelings 

2. Expose them to Nature 

The natural world is full of wonder for young children, and they can often relate to animals very well. In the beginning, exploring various feelings using animal friends can be easier than jumping straight to people. Many parents have found that incorporating nature in discussions about empathy can be very effective and make the process fun.

Visit the zoo, a farm, or the local park often and speak about the animals you see. Are they happy or sad? Cold or warm? What are the farmers, zookeepers, or park wardens doing to help them? You should also let your child interact with them. When they pull an animal’s tail or hit it, you can explain that this hurts, demonstrating that other beings have feelings that must be respected. When they are gentle and stroke the animals, you can praise them.

3. Use Children’s Books as a Conversation Starter

With the assistance of this and other works, you can instill a sense of wonder in your child and show them how important every living being is. A story can be the starting point for important discussions that touch on concepts such as the cycle of life and the importance of every individual. Teaching kids to care is easy once they understand how sacred and precious their and others’ lives are.

4. Set a Good Example 

You can’t succeed in teaching your children good values if you don’t practice them yourself. They watch your every move, and for the first years of their life, you are their primary role model. That’s why examining your own actions and making sure your children see you caring for others is crucial. If you have a job that involves looking after people, you could take your children with you and show them what you do.

If not, there are plenty of other ways to set a good example. You can volunteer, be kind to your neighbors, help out elderly or disabled friends and family members, and donate money to causes you care about. Include your children in these actions and explain to them why you are doing these things. When they see you caring for the well-being of others, they will naturally want to be involved.

5. Acknowledge Positive Actions 

6. Expose them to Various People 

Almost every child has some contact with people from different age groups and backgrounds. They might interact with grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings or cousins of a different gender, and their parents’ friends. But there is always room for increased diversity. Aside from spending time with their relatives and peers, you could encourage your children to meet others in different situations.

For example, you might expose them to other children with disabilities, so they lose their fear of those who have varying abilities and approach others with more compassion. If all parents went out of their way to expose their children to diverse people, many of our current societal issues might no longer exist.

7. Practice Caring for Others Together

If this is not an option or you’d like to take things a step further, you could help people outside of your household. For example, you might have elderly relatives who would be grateful if you visited or ran errands. Take your children with you on such trips, so they see that you incorporate kindness into your day-to-day life.

8. Look into Volunteering 

To get started, you could have a family meeting and speak about the kinds of tasks you might be interested in. You could discuss what needs there are in your community and how they could be met. Then, you can coordinate your schedules and figure out a good time for everyone in your family to help out in the local area.

9. Team Up with Other Parents 

Parenting is hard, especially when you are trying to raise responsible and kind-hearted young adults. For this reason, teaming up with other parents can be a great idea. There might be families in your area or at your church who are at a similar stage and interested in exchanging ideas. Even if your children are still very young, interacting with others from a different household could be a great idea.

For instance, you could team up with a family that has younger or older children. That way, your little ones will learn more about the needs of children of different ages. They can learn to negotiate in a group and play together, respecting the abilities and desires of others who are different from them.

Teaching children about compassion and empathy is crucial because it helps them to develop into healthy and kind adults. There are many activities you can do together with your little ones that will teach them about caring for others. For example, you could read books, meet different people, volunteer together, and frequently speak about your feelings. In fact, it’s easy to incorporate teaching kids to care into everyday life.

Concepts such as empathy can be emphasized throughout your children’s day. The best way of instilling them is often to be a role model and demonstrate how you help out. By teaming up with other parents, you can give your child a broader range of experiences and allow them to interact with children. Get in touch with Krystle Joy DeGraide today to find out more about her life-affirming book or to get more tips about raising confident yet compassionate children.

Raising pro-life children involves teaching kids about the sanctity of life in all its stages. This can be a difficult topic to approach with kids. Author Krystle Joy DeGraide wrote The Story of You, to help parents teach their kids about pro-life values in an age-appropriate way. Today we’re taking a look at why these values are important ones to instill in our kids.

The Importance of Teaching Children About the Sanctity of Life

1. Raising Pro-Life Children Can Help Instill a Respect for Life

Raising pro-life children to value unborn life can help them also value the sanctity of life all around them. The first step towards this could be as simple as leading by example in how you talk about others, and how you treat the people in your life. Teach them that people of all ages and abilities deserve to be valued as God’s precious creations.

Society tends to classify people as either productive or burdens, and it’s important to challenge this view. Value is intrinsic, and isn’t decided by society. When a child is exposed to people of all abilities and walks of life, it can help them understand that everyone is equally important, even when someone can’t take care of or speak for themselves.

2. It Can Encourage Critical Thinking

Encouraging your child to think through hard questions instead of automatically “going with the flow” of popular opinion may help them develop into adults who will take time to really understand something, so they can take a well-rounded approach to difficult topics.

3. Teach Them About Empathy

Compassion and empathy should be the foundation of any pro-life teaching. You can take what you’ve taught them and show them real ways to help. This may look like shopping for baby clothes to help families in need or donating baby food to your local pantry.

If you have an animal lover in your household, volunteering at or donating to an animal shelter is another way you can encourage empathy and a pro-life mindset. Sometimes wildlife rehabilitation centers or farm sanctuaries have baby animals that need a lot of extra care to survive. Seeing even the smallest of babies treated with care and love can help your child understand that even when humans are little and need help to survive, they’re still important.

4. It Can Be a Bonding Experience

Teaching your kids about pro-life values can be used as a bonding experience. You can use household or food items to show them how small they were throughout different stages of pregnancy, and how even when they were very small they were still just as important. You can explain how at around six weeks old, their heart started to form and flutter.

Funny topics like expectant moms getting weird food cravings can add humor to this learning experience. You could even compare their favorite foods to the foods their mom was craving during pregnancy, and ask them if you think there’s any correlation. All of this will help them feel like an active participant as they learn about the different stages of development in utero.

Ultrasound Images Can Bring Educational Moments to Life

Whether you use your child’s ultrasound images or find ones to use online or in a book, they can help your kid visualize how they looked at different stages of development. This can help challenge the common “clump of cells” argument they may hear later on in life.

If you’re able to find some ultrasound videos, they may get a kick out of seeing an unborn baby do acrobatics in their mom’s belly, or even get hiccups! This can help show bits of developing personality in babies even before they’re born.

5. Positive Change Can Start With You

Everyone has different gifts and abilities. One person can’t change all that’s wrong in the world, but by teaching our kids love, respect, and the value of life, we can encourage them to use their gifts to make the world even just a little better. Kids each learn differently, and how parents choose to talk about pro-life issues may look different depending on the parent’s teaching style and their kid’s learning style.

Some parents feel led to adopt so mothers who can’t care for their babies have loving homes to trust their care to. While that is certainly a powerful example of pro-life values, that isn’t everyone’s calling. No matter what tools you have or what you feel led to do, you can impact the world in a positive way by filling it with more love and kindness than it had before.

Where Do You Start?

Consider Their Maturity Level

Sometime around elementary to upper elementary age, your kids may be able to start understanding some more difficult topics. Some of these topics can include why someone may seek out an abortion, and why you believe life is precious at all stages, even when the unborn baby is very small.

This is a complicated topic, and you ultimately know best when your child is ready to have this conversation. When you sense they’re ready to start grasping the complexity of pro-life issues, you can start off the conversation and leave it open to questions.

Give Them Helpful Tools

You can also take the approach of waiting until your child comes to you with questions. At some point in their lives, they are going to learn about abortion either from you or a different source. If you prefer to let them come to you when they’re ready to ask questions about it, you can still offer them a good foundation of empathy to prepare them for this moment.

Providing them with books early on about how special life is, and how precious it is from start to finish, may help them come to you with concerns when they start to hear about abortion.

Why Books?

If you have a reader on your hands, or you could use some help with this topic, investing in some good books can help parents as they strive to raise pro-life children. These books are written to be age-appropriate and educational. You can give any book you want to offer your kid a proofreading before you hand it over. That way you have peace of mind knowing the book aligns with your values.

Having books like that on hand can save you from scrambling to answer questions you weren’t ready for. Instead of putting off the answer or struggling to find the right words or examples, you can pull out the book and give it to them, or sit and read through it together.

Where Can You Find Books Like This?

It may be difficult to find pro-life books in your local bookstore, but they may be present in a section dedicated to religious books. You may be able to find more options for your kids in a Christian bookstore. When in doubt, you can call ahead of time and ask if your favorite bookstore offers pro-life books for kids. If not, it might be time to hit the internet.

Hands-On Learning Ideas

If hands-on learning is a good fit for your kid, planting seeds can show them a real-life example of something very small growing into something different.

It can be a helpful way to show that while a seed looks very different from a flower or tree, that little seed has everything it needs to become a plant hidden inside of it. All it needs is time and the right environment to grow. You can get excited to check on the plant’s progress together and even measure it as it grows.

Talk to Them Often

The best thing you can do when it comes to teaching your child is to have a good relationship with them. Talk to them often, encourage them to think critically, and nurture their desire to learn. This will give you the best chance of being someone they trust to bring hard questions to. As you answer these hard questions, it will help prepare them for the future.

Eventually, they may be in a situation where they see peers experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. If they’re faced with a situation like this it’s important they have knowledge on the topic before they’re asked for their opinion and feel as though they can reach out to you for advice.

Live Out the Example

Teaching doesn’t always have to feel like a lesson. There are simple, practical ways you can help your child understand pro-life values. Reading about God’s love and the celebration of human life through scriptures, opening up your home and heart to those in need, helping the parents and children around you, and being involved in your community’s needs are all ways to be pro-life together with your child.

If you want an easy way to bring pro-life teachings into your home, The Story of You was written by Krystle Joy DeGraide for just this reason. This book is geared towards helping kids understand the miracle of life. If you’re interested in adding it to your book collection, visit Krystle Joy DeGraide today to order your own copy or learn more about it.

Reading lets you and your child take a trip into a whole new world of fact or fiction. Your child can become immersed in a world of learning, fun, fantasy, and their future reality. The benefits of reading on early child development are numerous, and they’re present whether you’re reading a book about the real world or a magic school bus. Reading should be part of your child’s daily routine.

10 Reasons Why Reading Is So Important in Early Child Development

1. It Aids with Brain Development

When your child’s brain makes connections very early in life, it forms the basis that all future intellectual ability and learning will be based on. Reading stimulates your child’s brain cells, and this lets the cells grow stronger. The cells then forge connections with other cells, and it leads to a heightened sense of learning as your child grows up.

Reading during early child development can lead your child to become a better listener, communicator, learner, and reader. If you read with them often enough in their early life, then you’re setting them up for a lifetime of enjoying learning. In fact, research on early child development shows that reading to your child can promote higher IQ and language scores all the way up to their teen years.

2. It Leads to Higher Grades

If children learn to love reading at a young age, then they’re creating a useful skill that they can use when they reach school age. They’re also expanding their vocabulary and general knowledge. The more your child reads, the more they’ll learn, and the more that improves their concentration and attention span. They also gain superior literacy and oral skills from the activity.

It will become much easier for your child to understand what they read, and they’ll learn to research what they don’t understand. Skills like this lead to higher grades, as children who can do these things have an easier time at school because of it.

3. It Has Psychological Benefits

Keeping the child psychologically engaged and healthy during early child development should be one of your priorities as they grow. Having a healthy imagination is vital in young kids. Letting them read varied age-appropriate books will ignite curiosity, spark creativity, and stimulate their growing imaginations. Being able to use their imagination will enable your child to easily develop empathy, morality, and problem-solving skills.

Having such a keenly developed mind can encourage your child to be independent from a young age. Being allowed to explore their imagination and figure out how the world works through books will also promote greater maturity. If your child only starts learning to read when they reach school age, then they can feel psychological pressure. If you teach them to read in early childhood, they won’t feel that pressure, and they’ll reap the psychological rewards.

4. It Can Boost Your Child’s Self-Confidence

Learning to read in school can often lead to psychological pressure, as mentioned above. This may lead to a drop in your child’s self-confidence. Social awareness is strong in children, even from a young age, so that confidence will take a huge hit if they struggle to learn to read while their classmates are excelling at it. These self-confidence issues can impact their self-image all the way into adulthood, so it’s best that you teach your child to read early.

Teaching your child to read early will ensure they’re confident when they have to do it in a classroom environment. If your child struggled when they were learning to read, then their teachers and classmates won’t know. All they’ll see is a smart young person with enough initiative to learn to read before starting school, and that will set the child up for a major confidence boost throughout their school life.

5. It Will Help Your Child Learn Better Communication

Communication is present in all aspects of life. When your child grows up, they’re going to need to know how to effectively communicate ideas verbally, in emails, in letters, and in other forms of writing. The best communicators have great grammar and a wide vocabulary. Communication also includes deciphering someone’s tone from text rather than speech, and reading will help them learn to do that.

A well-read child will grow up with better oral and written communication, comprehension, grammar, and spelling. This will set them up for a life of success in the classroom and outside of it.

6. It Will Help Them Understand How the World Works

The world is a complex and scary place for children. Growing up with a blissful childhood and happy home can leave children painfully unprepared for what awaits them when they reach adulthood. Reading stories about the different things that exist in the world will help them know what to expect from a young age. Reading books containing stories rooted in the real world will help them feel more confident when they enter different parts of the real world later in life.

Reading books about children slightly older than themselves will let them know what to expect in the next few years as they grow up and go through the school system. Letting your child read books about different cultures and practices around the world will ensure your child has lots of knowledge about the kinds of people and events they may encounter as they grow.

7. It Can Help You Build a Stronger Relationship with Your Child

Having an unchanging part of your day every day that you and your child share will undoubtedly strengthen your relationship. You’ll both have something to look forward to that you’ll associate with each other, and this will boost your relationship greatly.

Furthermore, the child will feel that they’re getting adequate love, nurturing, reassurance, and attention. This is vital for their well-being. You’ll also be happier knowing that your child feels safe, secure, and well looked after with you. Fostering a strong relationship from such an early age can lead to a better parent-child relationship throughout your child’s entire life. You’ll thank yourself for it when your child is a teenager and an adult.

8. It Can Teach Life Lessons

Books often teach your child a lesson hidden within a fun story. Non-fiction books broadcast those lessons outright in easy, understandable words that your child can take in. Learning life lessons later in life can be tough, as some life lessons directly go against your child’s view of the world.

Letting your child encounter and read how people work through different life lessons in early childhood sets them up knowing that life is varied, and new lessons lurk around every corner. They’ll also know that sometimes the world can be unexpected, and that’s okay, as they’ll know that they can handle it.

9. It Can Make Your Child Feel Less Alone

Children can be severely impacted by small things, such as being the only child in the class that’s allergic to gluten. Some children are the only ones with learning disabilities and physical disabilities, unique family situations, or differences in their appearance, too. This can lead to a sense of loneliness in your child, and it doesn’t matter how many friends they have or how many positive affirmations you provide them with each day.

Show your child books with characters they can relate to. This will help your child realize that they’re not alone in their situation, and there truly is someone else out there like them. Showing your child that their circumstance is normal and shared will boost their self-confidence and alleviate their fears. This is especially important in early childhood, as they’ll need that knowledge and confidence going forward.

10. It Helps Them Concentrate

The average human attention span isn’t very long, and in children, it can be even shorter. The world is full of screens and media that trigger a fast reward response in the brain, and it can hinder your child’s ability to concentrate on a task for longer periods. Reading with your child can help them overcome that difficulty, as they’ll be engaged in a highly rewarding activity, but it’s slow and requires concentration for them to get that reward.

This ties in with many earlier points. For example, better concentration leads to better grades and an easier time at school. It can even help them as they grow up; your child may end up more likely to reach for a book instead of a phone screen when they need to relax and be entertained. This will ensure your child’s ability to concentrate stays with them all the way into adulthood, and that will benefit them at work and in their future family life.

Would you like a great book to start reading with your young child? Visit KrystleJoyDegraide.com to get your copy of The Story of You by Krystle Joy Degraide. It teaches your child all about their time in the womb, and it’s a wonderful read for an eager learner. 

The sanctity of life can be a difficult topic to broach with young kids. Many parents find themselves wondering when that day should be and how to approach the topic. Pro-life children’s books can help take some of the burden off of parents. That’s one reason author Krystle Joy DeGraide wrote The Story of You.

5 Tips to Raising a Pro-Life Child

1. Hit the Bookstore

Pro-life children’s books are an amazing educational tool, and finding a good book about the sanctity of life can definitely give parents peace of mind. When it comes to books, you can usually enjoy the comfort of knowing at least several people have poured over its pages before publishing, doing their utmost to present this challenging topic in a helpful, age-appropriate way.

What’s even better is you don’t have to immediately hand the book off to your kid, you can proofread it and make sure you’re comfortable with the material. It may even be a good idea to go book shopping before your child starts asking the hard questions, so you’re able to give them a resource right away. Having the book already on hand will allow you to have control over how and when the topic is discussed.

Virtual Bookstores and Pro-Life Children’s Books

There’s nothing much better than the smell of a bookstore or the feeling of paging through a new book in person. However, when you have the specific goal of finding pro-life children’s books, you may have to do some research ahead of time to make sure your local bookstore carries them. Sometimes these books are easier to find online.

Reading together with your child can be a wonderful bonding experience, but if your kid is a more independent reader, you can simply add the new book to their existing collection. If they enjoy reading or are just curious, chances are they’ll take the initiative and read it on their own.

2. Instill a Respect for Life

As a pro-life parent, one of the most important things you can do is teach your child about the value of life. Show your child how to love their neighbor, and how to talk about and value people in a respectful way. One way you can do this is by teaching them to value people that some members of society may see as a “burden” due to disabilities or age.

Human value doesn’t stem from how much you can contribute, our value is intrinsic and irremovable. Exposing your child to people of all different walks of life can help them understand that everyone’s important and worthy of love, even when they can’t speak for themselves or take care of themselves.

Volunteer

Doing charitable work and volunteering can be a way you teach your kid that everyone is valuable, even when they’re struggling. This not only is a good way to instill pro-life values, but it’s also a way to help your kid be understanding, compassionate, and empathetic. The foundation of pro-life teaching should ultimately be based on empathy and compassion.

Don’t Wait Too Long

By starting to have an open dialogue about pro-life values early on, it will help prepare your kid for high school and eventually college, where they may see their friends going through an unplanned pregnancy.

Many of those who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy are strongly encouraged by role models and friends to have an abortion, and before your kid finds themselves being asked for their opinion, you’ll want them to be prepared.

Maturity Plays a Role

By the time kids reach upper elementary age, they might be ready to handle more serious conversations. At this age, kids are usually ready to understand some of the consequences of abortion, which may include feelings of guilt and loss, as well as depression. Of course, as you discuss these more difficult topics, it’s still important to keep your child’s age and maturity in mind.

Ultimately, you know your child best. On one hand, if you wait too long that may mean your kid will start to learn about abortion from a different source. On the other hand, as the parent, you can judge how your child tends to handle more serious topics, and use this knowledge to help you decide when to start the deeper conversations.

3. Use the Natural World

There are so many ways to teach from nature, and one hands-on approach that can be a fun project for you and your child is to plant some seeds. You can start off by teaching them about the seed, and how the plant inside of the seed just needs some time and the right environment to grow big and strong.

This is something your child can be excited about as they check on their seed’s progress until they see that first little green sprout starting to break through to the surface. You can draw a correlation between the fact that the seed didn’t look very much like a plant at first, but it had everything it needed to grow into what it was meant to be. This memorable experience is great for younger kids in particular.

Ways to Further This Example

When you talk to your child about their plant, and how it started off as a little seed, you can then bring up the point that if the seed had been thrown away it never would have been able to turn into a beautiful plant.

At some point in life, your child will probably be exposed to the “blob of tissue” argument when it comes to unborn life, and having the illustration of a seed in the back of their mind may be helpful.

You Can Also Visit an Animal Rescue

Don’t have a green thumb? You’re certainly not alone, and there are other ways to use the natural world as a way to instill love and respect for life. Animal rescues or farm sanctuaries often bring in small baby animals that are struggling and need some extra care. Visiting them or donating time or resources to them can be another way to help your child respect life of all shapes and sizes.

4. Walk Them Through the Stages of Pregnancy

At about six weeks of development, a fluttering where an unborn baby’s heart will be can usually be detected. It’s around this time that the first electrical brain activity may begin as well. What’s amazing is at this age, the unborn baby is only about the size of a single grain of rice! Pairing the size of the baby with important developments can help your child realize size doesn’t equate to value.

In fact, using seeds and other foods as learning tools can be a way to help a kid who’s a visual learner. You can walk them through an unborn baby’s growth, and their key developmental stages before birth.

Use Ultrasound Images

Ultrasounds have come a very long way, and some ultrasounds are so detailed you can easily see the facial features of unborn babies. When we talk about unborn life, actually looking at the different stages of development as the baby grows in the womb can make it more personal, and much less easy to dismiss. Even now, ultrasounds continue to improve and allow us a window into earlier and earlier stages of life.

While ultrasounds by themselves are impressive, there are even 3D and 4D images now that capture incredible details. Some ultrasound videos are able to capture an unborn baby having hiccups, or moving around. These videos are a great way to bring ultrasounds to life and bring a sense of personality and individualism into the conversation.

5. Be Someone Your Child Can Talk To

Before you can have meaningful conversations, you have to be sure you’re someone your child is comfortable listening to and bringing their questions and worries to. One of the most important things you can do when you’re instilling pro-life values is simply to have a good relationship with your child.

Parents sometimes put themselves under pressure to have all the answers, but what’s most important is living out an example of love and a listening ear.

Talk About Your Life Experiences Too!

For young kids, learning about themselves before they came into the world may be an exciting way to start a conversation about unborn life. You can use books or pictures to show your child what they looked like before they were born. You can also bring humor into the situation by talking about how they might have kicked in their mom’s belly, or what food cravings are.

Adding these personal touches can make the story come to life in a special and personal way. The Story of You, written by Krystle Joy DeGraide, is a tool to help parents teach their kids about how precious and miraculous life is. If you’d like to learn more, visit Krystle Joy DeGraide and order your own copy today.

The process of pregnancy and giving birth is miraculous, but it’s not always easy to explain it to a child. With so many negative influences out there, particularly on the internet, it’s important to have healthy discussions at home. Fortunately, there are many positive parenting solutions you can employ to instill good values in your children. One of the best resources is Krystle Joy DeGraide’s pro-life children’s book.

You can use The Story of You to get the conversation going and help your child to develop an interest in the wonder of their young bodies. The lessons taught in the book should be supported by the use of positive and age-appropriate stories, real-life examples and experiences, and active tasks. Let’s explore how you can help your little ones to develop a respect for life and build up a strong moral foundation that will serve them for life.  

As early as three to four, your child will start to develop a picture of him- or herself. The younger you start to foster a positive relationship with the natural process of development and growth, the more likely that this self-image will be positive. By speaking to your child in a healthy way, you can help them to avoid having negative thoughts as they grow up, which lays that key, foundational message: human life is worth something!

2. Make Use of a Pro-Life Children’s Book 

The best way to get started today is by buying The Story of You and reading it to your children. Get in touch with Krystle Joy DeGraide if you need more information. She will be more than happy to speak to you and share her own parenting experiences. You can also sign up for her newsletter for regular information about pro-life topics related to young children.