Zondervan Targets Tweens with New Faith-Building Resources for Girls
by Jenni Parker
August 21, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The children's division of an international Christian communications and publishing company has launched a collection of resources designed especially for young girls from 8 to 12 years of age. Zonderkidz's Faithgirlz! line includes Bibles, devotionals, fiction book collections, gift items and more. Zonderkidz, a subsidiary of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, refers to its Faithgirlz! collection as "products designed especially for 'tween' age girls and their unique phase of growth and development." The company describes the line as being about "inner beauty and outward faith," and offering "an ever important message for girls and young women as they walk with God in their lives."
According to Zonderkidz, the inspiration for the Faithgirlz! product line was taken from 2 Corinthians 4:18, which says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." The products are designed to offer encouragement and support to young girls at a particular stage of their lives and to help these youngsters understand what is happening to them, in them, and around them from an emotional, physical, spiritual, and social perspective.
Faithgirlz! Bringing Out Bibles and Books for Young Believers
One of the premier subsets of the line is the Faithgirlz! Bible Collection. These Bibles integrate NIV and TNIV text and footnotes with fun, interactive features and study aids, innovative formats, and various "girly" designs apt to appeal to many a contemporary young miss's sense of style. More than a marketing strategy, these well-considered designs may help encourage fashion-fascinated "tweens" to carry their Bibles everywhere.
For instance, besides the standard white, hardcover Faithgirlz! Bible, there is one available with a purple "Faux Fur" cover; and another, the "Trimline Bible-in-a-Bag," is a slender Bible with a two-toned cover packaged in a matching bag. Then there is the compact "Faithgirlz! Backpack Bible," a compact NIV text for "girls on the go," with Christ's words in red, 12 full-color pages of fun extra features, and a similarly colorful outside -- a periwinkle Italian leather cover with a kiwi-colored, flower-shaped closure.
Special features in various Faithgirlz! Bibles include "Dream Girl," a section that helps young readers imagine themselves in Bible stories; "Bring It On" quizzes, which encourage self-discovery as they lead girls in reflecting on biblical applications; and "Oh, I Get It" sections that promote their learning of the Bible as they consider it from a young person's perspective. Also included are "Between You and Me" devotions, designed to get girls talking with a friend or parent about faith and growing up; and "Between You and God" devotions that allow girls to journal about topics that are particularly personal or private.
Contributing these teen-targeted commentaries, quizzes, and devotional features is Christian author Nancy Rue of Lebanon, Tennessee. This writer, who has worked as a public school teacher, a church youth director, a camp director, and a theater workshop developer, has written more than 80 books for young people, including the beloved Faithgirlz! Sophie books. That 12-book fiction series features an adventurous and imaginative young heroine who loves books and movies and God, and who uses her faith as she navigates the twists and turns of growing up fast in an often complicated world.
Rue, who also penned another popular fiction series for young readers -- the Young Women of Faith series of "Lily books" -- apparently maintains her youthful perspective by enjoying what she does. "I spend every day thanking God for my life by using it the way it seems He wants me to," she notes.
But writing is "still hard work sometimes," the author and Faithgirlz! Bible contributor admits. Nevertheless, she also calls writing her "dream career," an occupation that affords her lots of on-the-job fun, including "taking trips to do research" and "hanging out with kids, eating pizza and getting ideas."
Rue's youthful perspective is also apparent in the Faithgirlz! Bibles' study guides and devotional aids, where she captures a tone that puts scriptural ideas on tween and teen girls' level, helping them access the biblical text in a relevant and relatable way. For example, she begins her description of Genesis by explaining the meaning of the word and observing that "Genesis is all about beginnings, sort of like the world's baby book." And when she describes humanity's rebellion at the Tower of Babel, she paraphrases God's reaction to the people's intention to build a tower reaching heaven as "I don't think so!"
And in a later section called "Is There a Little Esther in You?" the author poses several reflection questions in a conversational style. "Not queen material?" she asks. "But have you ever: stood up for somebody and lost popularity? Told an adult about a bully and got called a snitch? Risked being yelled at in order to tell the truth?"
Rue then goes on to assure young readers that, if they answered yes to any of these, they may well "have some Esther-courage" of their own. "With God's help," she writes, "it doesn't take much to make a difference."
Books That Relate to Kids, Characters to Whom Kids Can Relate
Helping kids see the relevance of scripture and their faith -- and helping them to apply both -- in their everyday lives is a key component of the Faithgirlz! collection of resources. Another of the book series in the Faithgirlz! line, the "Blog On" series, was written in response to some of the negative trends in contemporary youth culture, such as "mean girl" bullies using the Internet to spread gossip or to harass and humiliate others, or naïve youngsters exposing themselves to danger by posting personal information to online social networking sites.
The "Blog On" books, written by best-selling author Dandi Daley Mackall, use engaging stories about a group of young Christian girls who use Internet weblogs, or blogs, to connect with their friends in fun, safe, God-honoring ways. Through this and other Faithgirlz! book series, Zonderkidz hopes tween girls will be both entertained and encouraged to follow the Christian characters' positive example.
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The Faithgirlz! website, like the line's many resources and products, attempts to create a sense of community for young girls -- a place of belonging where they are free to explore and express their faith. By way of encouraging exploration of the website, Faithgirlz.com offers a number of interactive features, freebies, contest guidelines, and information about how individuals can set up Faithgirlz! Clubs in their church or neighborhood. According to the website, these clubs are "built around the Faithgirlz! Promise and what it means to live as a girl growing up in the world today with God's teachings at the center of your life."
Some critics may query whether the Faithgirlz! concept compromises its intended Christian messages by commercializing it or by appealing to tweens' "superficial" concerns with fashion and fun. However, a number of testimonials have already come forth expressing enthusiastic support for resources that appeal to young girls and help them deepen their faith, strengthen their knowledge of scripture, and broaden their understanding of themselves.
