Shawn and His Amazing Shrinking Sister is a sweet, colorful, and lovely book about teasing and a Biblical response. The story takes a funny, silly, yet impactful look at the effects of teasing and they approach how to rectify the situation by confessing the sin of teasing or bullying to God.
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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Do you ever find that your family struggles with poking fun at each other? After all, we know each other best! We know our strengths and weaknesses. We know what scares us and what invigorates us! When you know another human being so well, it can be easy to poke fun. Some people enjoy the reaction it brings to their family
The first page of the book highlights Ephesians 4:29, which is what the theme of this entire book is centered around.
Inside these colorful pages, you will find an impactful tale of how teasing can affect a family. My favorite part of this book series is that it includes how the choice of words affects not just children, but parents as well.
Teaching Children to Use Their Words Wisely Series
A few months ago I was introduced to New Growth Press. I had been reading many of their books to my children, but I didn’t realize that they were published by New Growth. I was quickly sucked into the amazing content and books that they publish.
Each book focuses on a theme such as whining, teasing, or lying. My favorite part of all these books is that it is not just the child that goes through a learning experience but the parent as well.
The books focus on a theme verse and include helpful suggestions at the end for engaging your child in conversation about the topic.
Ginger Hubbard and Al Roland bring the 3rd edition of their “Teaching Children to Use Their Words Wisely Series” with Shawn and His Amazing Shrinking Sister.
What is Shawn and His Amazing Shrinking Sister About?
This is certainly one of the silliest books about teasing that I have ever read! Remember, I used to be a literacy teacher, so I have read a LOT of books about bullying and teasing. This one by far is the most lighthearted and has ample situations that will make your kids laugh out loud!
The book chronicles a family’s journey on a camping trip. Once they arrive at the campsite, things start to take an unfortunate turn when the father teases the mother about her fear of bugs.
In turn, the children start teasing each other, but none so much as Shawn teases his sister. In fact, his teasing has the unfortunate consequence of shrinking her!
As the camping trip progresses, Shawn continues to shrink his sister with his teasing words and his sister continues to shrink until the point that she is so small that she fits inside her brother’s pocket.
The Layout of the Book
As with Sam and the Sticky Situation, this book is written in a similar style with rhyming stanzas. It flows well and is easy to read.
The rhyming stanzas can be read in a more sing-song way, which makes the book upbeat and fun to read. It is also filled with colorful illustrations.
The book also contains a section in the back that further elaborates on Bible verses and wisdom for parents to combat teasing.
Recommended Ages
This book is great for all ages (including parents!) because it addresses the consequences of teasing. Another great part of this book is that there is a write-up in the back and allows you to go further into the
However, the book was written for ages 4-7.
Pros
This book is a family look at the effects of teasing, which is my favorite part. The book does not just relate to children, but the entire family unit.
- Children can relate to the storyline.
- It’s silly!
- It teaches the consequences of teasing in a Biblical and practical manner.
- It shows and teaches repentance
- It comes with a summary and application section at the back
Cons
There are always cons to a book. That doesn’t make it a bad book, it just means there are unique attributes to consider.
One of my favorite parts of this series is that the parents go through the learning process with their children. However, as a result, the parents are also modeling poor behavior in the book. You will need to decide for yourself what you think of these behaviors being modeled by adults and children.
The book models how to move on from teasing in a biblical manner, but in order to get there, it also means that the characters are acting on behaviors like teasing and bullying each other. Although children will gain an understanding (in a silly way) of why teasing is wrong, they will also see it exhibited multiple times.
The pros outway the cons of this book and I still will give it my full recommendation. You can buy Sam and the Sticky Situation from many different places including Amazon or New Growth Press.
Where to Buy
I highly encourage you to buy this book from New Growth Press as it is a great publishing company that is producing gospel-filled books for all ages.
My Rating of Shawn and His Amazing Shrinking Sister
I would give this children’s book my full-hearted recommendation! It is a delightful tale that keeps my children giggling yet communicated profound biblical truths.
I also invite you to check out our children’s printable library! It is filled to the brim with Bible printables, literacy printables, and more!
