Second of two parts.

If you bring children to Kids Ministries or Mom’s Day Out, you’ve probably already noticed something new: The Book Nook.

The Kids Ministries staff and Scroll Resource Center Coordinator Sue Nelson set up the display in a prominent spot near the Kids Ministry check-in area. They’re highlighting books for kids and families, including a few easy-to-use family devotional books. Parents or grandparents who want to buy a book (at a deep discount) can take one of the accompanying slips of paper over to Sue in The Scroll.

Why? Out of concern that families are missing something great in their lives if they aren’t reading books together. Recent research backs this up. Many of us are not reading much of anything longer than social media posts. About one in three American adults has not read a book (printed or digital) in the past year. Among adults under 30, it’s closer to one in two. As reported in this space a couple of months ago, the average adult’s attention span today is 47 seconds. That’s somewhere around 200 words. Marketers know this. Politicians know it. Social media algorithms certainly know and exploit it.

That’s a concern not only for adults, but for the kids who are watching and learning from us. Reading books, individually or as a family, can not only work against these trends, it also can bring a family closer together and give them starting points for conversations about faith.

“There’s nothing like sitting down with your kid and looking at a book,” says Kids Ministries Director Kari Heckler. Put your phones away, turn the TV off, get the kid on your lap or beside you. Those moments are priceless because you’re giving your children that attention. You’re teaching them. They’re able to sit there and listen to your voice if you’re reading it to them, or they could read to you as they learn to read.

“But those are moments are priceless, and they’re gone like that. And devotions are so important to have with your kids, to get them on that trajectory.”

Building that habit might not be easy, but the rewards of reading with your kids are huge, Kari says. Devotional books, sure, but also just nighttime stories to show them the excitement of reading stories.

“It binds your kids with you,” she says. “Now I get to do that with my grandsons. And what’s beautiful is, now my son is doing the same thing with his kids.”

For Sue, reading is starting to become a central activity when she watches her grandkids overnight.  

“I tucked them into bed, and I grabbed a Bible story book and we just sat and cuddled and read, and it was the sweetest, most precious time together,” she says.

Photo: Kids Ministries Director Kari Heckler arranges The Book Nook, near the Kids registration area.