The Lightlings by R.C. Sproul
The Lightlings is an allegorical tale by R.C. Sproul bringing the biblical story of redemption to children in a beautifully illustrated and fascinating story.
A race of tiny beings, called the Lightlings, have rebelled against their king, the King of the Light. Now, they live in total darkness.
Will they ever come out of the darkness into the light?
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LJR’s Thoughts on The Lightlings
Though R.C. Sproul’s picture books are a little on-the-nose in the storytelling, they are perfect just the way they are for the stage of concrete thinking children will be when they read this book. The discussion questions at the end of the story make it easy to turn this picture book into a time of discipleship with your kiddos.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Morals/Values: 5 out of 5
Story: 5 out of 5
Read-Aloud Value: 5 out of 5
Discussion Value: 5 out of 5
Considerations for The Lightlings
In our usual LJR fashion, we try to find anything that Christian families may want to know about ahead of time to address, skip, or dig deeper into. Take a look at what we found below. Our take on Discipleship Opportunities is at the bottom of the review.
- Positive Behavior: The Lightlings are redeemed by the end of the book and see the error of their ways.
- Negative Behavior: The Lightlings rebel against the King of the Light.
- Language: none
- Violence/Intense Scenes: Discussion of being afraid of the dark. Several illustrations show the Lightlings in the dark and slightly fearful.
- Religion/Spirituality: An allegorical tale about Christianity and the story of the Creation, Fall, and Redemption through Jesus Christ, but clear by the time you finish the book. Questions in the back discuss God and Jesus Christ.
- Racism/Discrimination: none
- Romance/Sexuality: none
Discipleship Opportunities
- Ask your kiddos who the King of the Light and the Lightlings represent in real life. Read through 1 John 1:1-7 especially (and even memorize it).
- Discuss how humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26 – 27), especially in relation to their uniqueness and identity.
- A further read into Genesis (Chapter 3) can help your kiddos see they are just as capable of rebellion as the Lightlings are in the book as well as the shame we often feel when we do rebel against God.
- See the book for further questions (13 total) and scripture to support answers to the questions.
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