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Helps tweens and teens grow in faith and confidence by looking at what the Bible says about their identity.
Part of the Big Questions series.
As kids grow up they ask big questions about themselves and their faith: Who am I? Where do I fit in? Am I good enough? What do people think of me? What does God think of me?
Christian Studies teacher and school chaplain Chris Morphew has been answering big questions from young people for over a decade. In this warm, empathetic book, he shows tweens and teens how to embrace and enjoy their identity as those loved by God and made in his image. He also gives lots of practical advice on how to remember what God says about who they really are.
Lively stories and illustrations make this book easy for young people to engage with. Readers will be helped to replace fear and anxiety with faith and confidence as they find their self-worth in what God says about them.
Emma Randall has illustrated many books, including Diary of a Disciple.
Big Questions is a series of fun and fast-paced books walking kids aged 9-13 through what the Bible says about some of the big questions of life, and helping them to grow in confident and considered faith.
Christianity Today 2022 Book Award Winner in Young Adults Category.
1. Searching for the Real You
2. The Problem with Being True to Yourself
3. The Problem with Other People’s Opinions
4. Figuring out What Matters Most
5. Finding Real Freedom
6. Who God Says You Are
7. What Difference Does God Make?
8. Following the Way of Jesus
9. Resting in the Love of Jesus
10. Growing into the Real You
| Age range: | 9+ |
|---|---|
| Contributors | Chris Morphew, Emma Randall |
| ISBN | 9781784986995 |
| Format | eBook |
| First published | February 2022 |
| Case quantity | 50 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | The Good Book Company |
Chris Morphew is like Tim Keller for teens. In the Big Questions series, he tackles some of today’s tough questions with Scripture, wisdom and clarity—and just the right amount of fun to keep young readers turning the page. I cannot wait to put these books into the hands of my three children.”
Our biggest questions prepare our hearts to hear God’s greatest answers. Pick up Chris Morphew’s Big Questions books and find key gospel responses to your kid’s honest questions about God and his plan for sending Jesus.
Passing the faith down to the next generation can seem like a daunting task. Add to that the fact that Christians must also train the next generation to engage skeptics in our faith, and it can seem like an impossibility. This is why I’m thankful for Chris’s book, Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? He takes one of the core truths of Scripture and explains it in a way that middle-schoolers (and their parents) can understand. I can’t wait to put this into my children’s hands, and also encourage them to put it into the hands of their unbelieving friends.
Finding good Christian books for 9-13 year olds that answer the questions that are really going through their minds is difficult, but Chris Morphew has succeeded wonderfully.
My 9 year old son absolutely loved. He finished and then read it to me again. Wish I could have read it thirty years ago.
Everyone I have given this book to has loved it. So so good
Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? is the latest title by author and teacher Christopher Morphew. In just under 100 pages, Morphew helps young readers understand their identity from a biblical perspective. Although the target audience for this book is young children, I found myself greatly encouraged by it. I enjoyed Morphew's use of logic as he peeled back the layers on how the world defines identity versus how God defines it. One aspect of this book that really blessed me was the reminder of God's love for me as an image bearer and as His child.
I enjoyed how Morphew employed his teaching skills in his simple and straightforward gospel presentation on pages 55-56. It was also interesting to see how he used various illustrations to express how looking for our identity in anything except God will always leave us feeling dissatisfied. Morphew helpfully examines common beliefs about the source of our identity and demonstrates how they fall short.
On an aesthetic note, I love the book's cover and accompanying hand drawn illustrations. Although the famous adage discourages judging a book by its cover, the cover of the book as well as the others in the series lends itself to positive judgment for a job well done. If you are looking for a resource that will help children and young teens understand their identity from a biblical perspective and clearly articulate the gospel, look no further.
I received Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? compliments of The Good Book Company in exchange for my honest review.
This is the fourth book in Chris Morphew's Big Questions series, in which he answers kids' common questions about life and Christianity. "Who Am I and Why Do I Matter?" addresses a deeply universal issue, and Morphew writes about it in an engaging, conversational style, explaining why it isn't enough for us to pursue a sense of self-worth through our friends' opinions, our appearance or abilities, or our own sense of being true to ourselves. He shows why our efforts at creating a secure sense of self-worth and identity fail, and points us to Christ.
This book is highly readable and perfect for its target audience, covering a lot of important issues in about eighty pages. Morphew addresses complex ideas in clear, often humorous ways, and his explanation of why individualism fails is particularly helpful, pushing back against cultural dogma that surrounds kids. In addition to this, he shares illustrative stories from his own life and expresses compassion for kids who struggle to fit in or feel particularly disappointed with themselves. Overall, this book is very honest and helpful, and I know that I would have appreciated it when I was the target age for it.
"Who Am I and Why Do I Matter?" is an excellent resource for families, Christian schools, and church groups. The publisher is marketing this book for kids from ages nine to thirteen, but the age range is flexible. Older teenagers who are reluctant readers will find this book's brevity and conversational style appealing, and the book's content and examples are appropriate for younger kids as well. The wide age range suitability would make this book an excellent choice for a family read-aloud, and its gospel encouragement can be a blessing to adults as well.
Do you remember being a teenager? Do you remember any feelings of not being good enough to be with the popular people, or maybe you felt like you weren’t good at anything? I know I did. Being a teenager is even harder today.
Social media posts and images, the numbers of likes and followers to your profiles, these now add to the pressures of our kids today.
The pressures in school, sports and other extracurricular activities continue to increase, also, with bullies, gender identity issues, homosexuality, school and community safety.
Kids show blatant disrespect for teachers, parents and rules, causing our own kids to question, doubt, and even hate themselves.
Mr. Morphew does an excellent job of relating to teenagers with his conversational, easy-to-read style. He proposes a lot of good questions that teens ask today, and he answers these questions with a simple plan.
The gospel is clearly explained and emphasized throughout the book, and Mr. Morphew continually uses God’s Word to back up his answers to the kids’ questions.
As kids read, learn, and implement the advice in “Who am I and Why Do I Matter?”, they will know:
What does not give us self-worth
Who to look to for love and freedom
How God has proven that He loves each of us individually
How to live each day with Jesus
I would highly recommend “Who am I and Why Do I Matter?” to any teenager, parent of a teenager, pastor, youth pastor, and/or teen Sunday school class.
A big thank you to The Good Book Company for the complimentary copy of this book. This is my honest review.
I've got a number of the books in Chris' series and I've found them to be really readable for the teenage market, but also with a depth that doesn't treat young people like they can't handle big subjects.
In this new book, he ponders our identity and why we matter. It's a big topic that he handles with real skill, and refreshes us with the knowledge that God values each and every one of us as his children. His writing is biblical and accessible, packed with great stories and application of what the big ideas look like in the real world.
If you haven't read this yet, buy it! And if you don't have the rest of the series, buy those too! It's a great foundation for our young people to be reading
I bought this book for a troubled 10 year old. It covered a lot of issues that concern young people of faith but I feel that for a younger person of questionable faith, it could raise more problems than it solves.
I am always on the look out for great biblically based books for my pre-teen child. When I saw this, I was excited to check it out. The Good Book Company has come out with an Apologetics series called Big Questions, developed specifically for kids ages 9-13. They have several other books currently in the series:
- How do we Know that Christianity is Really True?
- Why Does God let Bad things Happen?
- What Happens When we Die?
The newest addition to this series takes a deep dive in the identity of the child. This is such a timely book given the current "trend" within our culture to allow anyone and everyone to identify as anything they feel at the moment.
Although I did not read through this with my 9 year old, I was extremely impressed with it's truth telling in a way that seems to capture a young heart and mind and force them to question what they are hearing all around them every day through out the world.
With ten chapters, the book is short, a quick enough read for pre-teens that they will maintain focus and interest without getting bored. The chapters include the following:
- Searching for the real you
- How do I know I matter?
- Why can't I just be true to myself?
- Why can't I just listen to my friends?
- How can I find real freedom?
- Who does God say I am?
- What about all the ways I mess up?
- What difference does God make?
- Following the way of Jesus
- Resting in the Love of Jesus
Every chapter presented a very real question that every child and even adult questions at some point. These books seem to be a wonderful way for a child to deeply ponder the things of God outside of their parents' walk with Christ.
I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be getting the rest of the series.
I received a copy of this book from The Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review.
This book is absolutely brilliant. I've read most of the series with my two girls (12&10) and we all enjoy them. Chris' ability to take complex ideas and explain them in a way people can not only understand but even enjoy is what keeps us coming back.
Please write more books!
