Six Things I Love About The REALLY Radical Book for Kids

Mixing It Up

Book reviews can be weird. Sometimes they feel as long as the book itself, and you’ve got to slog your way through 1000 words just to know if the writer likes the book or not. Dear reader, today is your lucky day. I’m not giving you long drawn out anecdotes from me or my kids, or paragraphs of me parsing theological terms. In case the title hasn’t already spoiled my review for you, I’m a huge fan of The Really Radical Book for Kids from Champ Thornton. Here are the six things I love about this book that make it a must-have for parents of elementary/middle school aged kids.

1. The Cover

A great cover doesn’t make a great book, but it’s certainly a good start. If you’re trying to get your kids excited about reading something, having a well-illustrated cover full of bright colors, interesting iconography, and the word “radical” in all-caps is a solid first step. “More Truth. More Fun.” doesn’t come with a money back guarantee, but parents and ministry leaders can be sure that this volume is chock-full of both truth and fun.

2. Rich Exploration

While the chapters are delightfully short and digestible, the brevity doesn’t limit the depth of the content. Champ manages to pull off succinct deep-dives of Genesis, Proverbs, Mark, and Romans that demonstrate to kids how to outline books, nail down big ideas/themes, and answer questions about what’s going on in the text itself. He also interacts with all sorts of other disciplines (science, history, cooking, architecture, archaeology, etc.) to help kids connect the gospel and their faith to world around them. He also includes short biographies of historical figures in the Christian faith (most of whom I’d never heard of). There’s a depth to this work that I wasn’t expecting, but was thrilled to discover.

3. Engaging Connections

While there’s a ton of depth and wisdom to be found here, it’s not presented in a boring way. It’s no small feat that Champ manages to connect the truths he’s presenting to kids to interesting activities, scientific insight, challenges to complete, video game allusions, and a laundry list of jokes. Did I see a Harry Houdini intro to the chapter on sin coming? Nope, but it worked beautifully. Mayonnaise biscuits sound like something out of a botched episode of Nailed It on Netflix, but it’s used as a great bridge to learn about how much of what Jesus said and did was unexpected. Page after page is full of brilliant work connecting the gospel and God’s grace to the the world kids find themselves in.

4. Consistent Creativity

“The visual shifts from chapter to chapter go a long way to make the experience less like marching through a textbook and more like going on an adventure.”

This book is B-E-A-utiful, which is no surprise if you flipped through his first book in this series. The most surprising part about the beauty is the variety. Each chapter has it’s own unique vibe, color palate, and art style. The visual shifts from chapter to chapter go a long way to make the experience less like marching through a textbook and more like going on an adventure. From break-out boxes highlighting big ideas, to bold diagrams, charts, and artwork, the illustrations of Scot McDonald go a long way in bringing this book to life for kids and parents.

5. Sympathetic

It’s easy for adults to forget how hard growing up in elementary and middle school can be. The inclusion of a number of chapters that walk through difficult parts of growing up (dealing with parents, making hard decisions, knowing when to speak up, etc.) demonstrate that Champ understands what lots of kids are wrestling with. These chapters are full of valuable practical wisdom, but he offers that wisdom through the lens of the Bible and how God calls us to live. These sections serve as a perfect counter punch to the deeper theological explorations of other chapters.

6. Bite Sized

I say this all the time, but the most helpful books to teach younger kids theology and faith are built from the ground up to be easily digestible. I’ve not bumped into one kid during my years of ministry who was pumped to jump into a twenty page treatment on their sin. I’m not saying there’s not good content in the twenty pages, but it doesn’t matter what’s there if no one can get through it. Champ does a great job pacing this book for the age range he’s working with (8-14 year olds). Each chapter is easy to read in one sitting, and like I mentioned earlier has enough visual panache to keep kids engaged as they learn about whatever topic they’re exploring.

The Verdict

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s rich, engaging, fun to flip through, and easy to pickup for a few minutes or an entire afternoon. You could nitpick that it jumps around from topic to topic, but in my mind that’s a feature, not a bug. Don’t want to read a biography section today? Cool, skip ahead to a bible overview that day and circle back later. Kids can dive in wherever they want and walk away with a deeper knowledge of who Jesus is, God’s grace, how God calls us to live, or a specific book of the Bible. While it’s not really designed for classroom use, I could see it being a great addition to small group time in a Sunday School or student ministry setting as well. There’s not really a wrong way to read it. Unless you’re holding an armful of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures, The Really Radical Book for Kids will almost certainly be the most radical thing in your house.