To Train Up a Child explores the many ways that Protestant educators attempted to foster in children a deeper commitment to the Bible and a closer connection to Christ. This study shows how the emergence and proliferation of children's literature broadened the scope of religious instruction by providing educators with resources that their predecessors had lacked. Featuring a wide range of genres—catechisms, picture books, histories, geographies, biographies, children's sermons, and

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... curricula—it looks at the educational practices and pedagogical heuristics that were developed to lead children into biblical literacy and to instill in them the principles of Christianity. Concerned for those who could not grasp the Bible's complexities, and for the many who seemed unwilling to try, religious educators turned to books that would, the hoped, bring the Bible to life and instill in young readers a lasting interest in its stories. As adults worked to make scripture real and relevant, they paid greater attention to childhood development, sought out texts that illuminated sacred history, and worked to make Bible study as effectual and entertaining as possible.