I picked up the primary book reluctantly. Was I actually going to spend my children’s nap time reading children’s fiction? But The Wingfeather Saga had been advisable to me by so many fans that I ultimately joined the throngs of Christian adults and children who’ve enjoyed the series.
From the beginning, writer Andrew Peterson captivated my imagination, constructing a world I could recognize while pushing the boundaries of familiarity. Aerwier has a bookshop with a nerdy owner; the three Igby siblings enjoy exploring its packed shelves. So normal! But just across the road is a city prison run by lizard monsters called Fangs. Not so normal.
The Wingfeather books have since been adapted into an animated series; the second season premiered originally of this month, with recent episodes released weekly. I remember the Christian animations from my childhood—Bibleman, Psalty the Singing Songbook, and VeggieTales —as either simplistic retellings of Bible stories or moralizing lessons. These shows did a advantageous job of teaching me what God expected. But they didn’t captivate me with the thought of following Jesus.
The animated Wingfeather, in contrast, is lighthearted and sincere, witty without resorting to gimmicks. It cultivates endearing characters without creating familiar Christian caricatures.
What makes an excellent Christian children’s show? Here are 4 things The Wingfeather Saga does well that I hope can be true of any Christian program that I watch with my kids.
The show invites kids along for the journey.
One of the quickest ways to bore kids is to speak at them. Shows that provide not rather more than monologues, telling children what they need to think and do, will rarely capture their hearts.
This principle of energetic participation applies across our discipleship efforts. We find that when kids are invited into the lifetime of the church—praying, reading, and serving—Sunday worship becomes greater than rote attendance. When they’re invited into every day rhythms of confession, apologizing, and asking for forgiveness (and when it’s not only asked of them, but expressed to them by an adult who’s within the incorrect), they grow to see sin and reconciliation in a different way.
By inviting kids into the life of religion—by taking them together with us, slightly than simply telling them what to do or think—we’re rather more prone to capture their hearts, slightly than to simply dictate their behavior.
Season 2 of The Wingfeather Saga does an incredible job (even higher than season 1) of inviting kids to come back along for the ride as characters explore, face challenges, and learn lessons. As the journey unfolds, kids are invited to make use of their imaginations. They’ll watch wide-eyed because the Igby children encounter an enormous sea monster who’s seemingly called out of the deep by the youngest’s singing; they’ll shudder as they’re chased up trees by toothy cows that live within the darkness of the woods. They’ll enter a world of creative play, at the same time as they learn everlasting truths in regards to the world, themselves, and God.
The show draws a transparent distinction between good and evil.
The Wingfeather Saga has good characters who live honorably and bad characters who prize selfish gain. Evil is represented physically; the oppressive Fangs drip with venom. They enjoyment of taking the lives and livelihoods of innocent Glipwood residents, bringing to mind the one who involves “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).
At the identical time, those that seek to live for the larger kingdom—just like the Igby grandfather who’s never forgotten all that the Fangs took from his family—are well-worn and well-traveled, with clear eyes and weathered hands. These characters either recall or learn the liberty that is feasible, inching their way toward it at the same time as they work their gardens day after day.
By making good and evil obvious, young viewers are more easily capable of conceptualize the 2 kingdoms at war in Wingfeather, and to attach the lives of the characters they need to emulate with their very own every day experiences. The Igby children rebel against injustice, loyally fight to guard one another, and maintain the great name of their family—worthy virtues for young and old alike.
“Good” doesn’t necessarily mean “tough” or “popular.” The Wingfeather Saga helps kids understand that among the most courageous characters aren’t essentially the most physically capable, like little sister Leeli, whose mangled leg causes her to limp. Peet the Sock Man’s off-putting personality has estranged him from society; but his valiant efforts to guard and aid the Igby children reveal that he’s merely misunderstood.
The show acknowledges the complexity of the human heart.
Even as we wish our children to grasp the world’s moral order, we also wish to acknowledge the complexity of the human heart. We all struggle with longings for approval, comfort, and ease, even at the associated fee of our dignity or one other’s well-being. And yet all of us, regardless of our failings, can be redeemed.
In Wingfeather season 2, townspeople grapple with their very own self-seeking tendencies; they’re faced with difficult decisions between doing what is correct, and doing what feels good within the moment. They learn that sometimes leaders are afraid, and that showing bravery in a single moment just isn’t a guarantee of bravery in the following.
By resisting oversimplification, we help children understand the temptations they themselves are prone to face—sometimes unsuccessfully. Will they speak out when someone is being treated unfairly, even when it would turn them into the goal? Will they risk their very own comfort to guard someone they love? Will they welcome those others exclude, willing to be related to the lowly and outcast? No matter how often they miss the chance God has given them, his grace abounds.
The show introduces recent questions, at the same time as it answers others.
One of the best strengths of The Wingfeather Saga is its ability to put some essential groundwork about God and human nature while introducing other questions for teenagers to explore.
Season 2 may leave its young viewers with a way of confidence of their ability to discover evil. But it may additionally leave them uneasy in regards to the darkness that hides in all of our hearts. The show might exhibit that living with integrity often comes with a reward ultimately. But is integrity “worthwhile” when the payoff doesn’t seem obvious or inevitable?
One key way that children grow of their faith is by asking a few of these more complicated questions. In the identical way that we don’t wish to talk at children about who God is, we also don’t wish to answer all of the questions for them directly. Of course, as parents, caregivers, teachers, or other essential adults of their lives, we wish to be a source of confident reassurance. But we also wish to empower and equip them to do some wondering on their very own, without too quickly offering solutions.
Many Christians are understandably hesitant about television as a discipleship tool, and I get it. With two little ones in my care, we intentionally limit screen time and as a rule go for books over TV.
But there’s something powerful that happens when adults and youngsters sit all the way down to enjoy a show together; and that will be my encouragement for those serious about queuing up Wingfeather or other Christian programming. Follow up your viewing with discussion; take heed to the scenes and details that resonated together with your kids, and share your favorite parts, too. Formation can occur anywhere—even on the couch.
Amy Gannett is a author and Bible teacher enthusiastic about equipping Christians to check the Bible through The Bible Study Schoolhouse. She can also be the founding father of Tiny Theologians, a line of discipleship tools for kids.
