OPEN THE CHURCH DOOR…

Various children from diverse families participate in church activities as a Q&A text encourages readers to lift flaps.

An Asian-presenting child with pigtails stands in a bedroom, and the narration asks: “It’s time for church! What will I wear?” Little fingers can then open the closet door to select the appropriate Sunday-best outfit. This pattern is repeated on the subsequent 10 double-page spreads, with a brown-complexioned preschooler packing a Bible in a knapsack (the flap is the flap of the bag); families gathering at the titular church door, which readers can open; and a Sunday school teacher reading a Bible story to a racially diverse group of tots (the flap is one of its pages). The flaps are relatively sturdy, but they are difficult to pry open on the first attempt and have pointy, sharp corners. Often the flaps represent actual doors or lids, such as the top of the plastic container holding Sunday school arts-and-crafts supplies, but others don’t make much sense, like the flap with a picture of a contemplative white-presenting child that gets folded down to reveal a praying one. The theology is light here, as there is only one mention of God and none of Jesus, but the activities discussed will be familiar for the intended audience. The cartoon images depict a mostly generic, nondenominational setting, but there is a kneeler visible from one of the pews, which not all Protestant groups use.

A simple and approachable introduction to churchgoing from a child’s perspective.