No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope (REVIEW)

No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope is the parental testimony of Hal and Melanie Young while raising children during their preteen and early teenage years. Published by Great Waters Press, the plethora of recommendations, anecdotes, and scripture provide is sure to educate and encourage parents.

The Youngs penned this book after being nearly blindsided by the changes in their preteen children. It suddenly seemed that years of advice wasn’t enough to prepare them for the hormones and other challenges that appear during this season. In order not to have the normal, strained or broken parent-child relationship this couple took to the word and power of God. Applying biblical parenting principles during the tween years kept their family relationship intact and No Longer Little was written soon thereafter.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the book:

• Personal Anecdotes

The personal anecdotes within this book have the ability to draw in the reader. As you flip through the pages and have learned their story you find yourself not only understanding the authors more but being able to relate with they have dealt with to your own life. I found their honesty, openness, and their personal testimonies encouraging. Since the Youngs were able to share so much within these pages I find their advice easy to take and sensible.

• Hot Topics

The topics within this book cover a vast array of conversations you might have with your preteen or early teenage child. The first of my favorite discussions is about one of the children deciding that they were an atheist. Rather than attack him for his beliefs, yell, and scream they decided to give him more details about God. They answered any questions that he had and were always prepared to provide biblical background and books to study for a clearer understanding. Before long, he cried out that he wanted to serve the God that had loved him so much since before birth and beyond.

My second mind-blowing discovery was the information that was presented about young girls and pornography. It’s easy to assume that pornography is something that only young boys will be tempted by but I never thought about the storylines created within those disgusting movies. The “romance” within scripts is created to entice women. These storylines give young girls, who are uneducated in life experiences, a skewed view that you can have continuous romantic, sexual, and passionate experiences over and over again outside of marriage. These views completely contradict our Christian beliefs. The Youngs explained the importance of speaking about sex to educate our children. Rather than avoid “the talk” like most parents do; be ready to answer any questions so your children consume God’s perspective on sex and not the world’s.

• Communication is key!

Next, I noted that throughout the book this couple encourages parents to talk with their children about every single thing. Every page mentions discussion at least one time and that was so refreshing for me to read. I feel that a lot of times parents don’t want to deal with certain things but avoidance will only make it worse. I love how this book encourages families to talk it out rather than leave the children wondering or seeking information on their own. Using communication to work out conflict with siblings is also strongly encouraged. I also think it’s important to note that they included prayer as part of the communication process. So, not only are you talking things out with your children but you are also discussing them with your spouse while coming together and praying for your whole household. Communicating with God during these years is of utter importance because you want to make sure that you are handling issues the way that he wants you. Follow his plan, especially in parenting, so that you do not hinder your children’s progress during their walk on his narrow path.

• Abundant Resources

Last but definitely not least I wanted to mention the abundant resources within this book. The footnotes of this book include a myriad of information for the written text. If they mention of a favorite book then the footnotes include that information. If scripture is mentioned the footnotes also provide that as well. It irks me when Christian books include the paraphrased passages of scripture so I was grateful No Longer Little had exact passage locations. After reading this book I now have some new goodies on my Amazon and Thirftbooks wish lists that I will be checking for soon.

No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope, published by Great Waters Press, contains a myriad of key tips for raising God-fearing young men and women. Hal and Melanie Young did a grand job capturing the essence of the physical, mental, and spiritual components of the young child’s mind. Their encouraging and engaging real-life stories provide a Christ-centered approach to parenting that is definitely needed in the world today.

Click the picture below to read the Homeschool Review Crew thoughts on No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope and Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality.

Make this week grand,

Ta’Neisha K.