A British newspaper headline from last summer explains a lot—sort of: “Mother writes children’s book about Tilly the transgender teddy bear after being inspired by her father who transitioned into a woman.” The Daily Mail article reported that Jessica Walton of Melbourne, Australia, was raising money to publish a picture book that would help her baby son relate to his new “grandma.” Walton reached her Kickstarter goal and Introducing Teddy made its appearance last year.

Christian parents looking to introduce toddlers to the Bible should look at The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible (New Growth Press, 2017). It grew out of family pastor Jared Kennedy’s desire to “help toddlers and early preschoolers hear the good news of God’s love for them clearly expressed in ways that will speak to their young hearts.” In 52 stories, equally divided between Old and New Testaments, Kennedy uses the theme of “Promises Made” and “Promises Kept” to lay a sound theological foundation.

You Bring the Distant Near, one of the most widely praised young adult novels of 2017, is a family saga spanning three generations. It’s the story of an immigrant family that comes to Queens, N.Y., hoping to make a better life—and then the father dies in a bicycle accident. Several themes emerge: family conflict, cultural clashes, coming of age, falling in love, crusading for social justice. These are all typical YA themes, but author Mitali Perkins subtly enfolds one more: a moving and realistic picture of Christian conversion.

OK, the skeptic says: You Christians who want to follow God’s guidelines and “reclaim America” and all that—you Christians who say homosexuality is a sin based on a few verses in Leviticus—what about those other verses in Leviticus? Do you want laws against mixed fibers or mixed marriages, or (this is the kicker) are you for stoning rebellious children?

Reviews for children’s books are not high on the list of cultural indicators. Yet, as the primary resource for library and bookstore buyers, who in turn funnel books into the hands of kids and parents, they’re worth noticing. That’s why this particular book review sounded an ominous note, even though the book in question seemed as sunny and blameless as a church picnic.

Here’s the old-school materialist of the last century, sitting in his library before a cozy fire, puffing on a pipe. “Of course all religions are foolishness, but Christianity is the worst. It’s deliberately anti-science, you see; bases its claims on ‘historical’ events that never could have happened. Take the Incarnation: We are asked to believe that a human female was impregnated by a nonhuman spirit and gave birth to a God-man. How ridiculous is that?”

One year on a chilly Sunday evening, Dec. 29, a small group had gathered at the church where I worshipped. The Sunday night crowd was usually less than half the size of Sunday morning’s, and it was Christmas week besides, but our pastor preached as faithfully to scattered sheep as he would have to packed pews. For this sermon he borrowed a theme from his own grandfather, also a pastor, and notes from 1949 (before most of us were even born).