Their Name Is Today: Reclaiming Childhood in a Hostile World Book Review

“If you want to glean insights into how to raise and influence children to be more compassionate and considerate, more courageous and confident, more independent, secure, and unselfish; if you want your children to be more loving and joy-filled, then get reading!” —excerpt from Mark K. Shriver’s Foreword (President of Save the Children Action Network)

Despite a perfect storm of hostile forces that threaten to deny children a healthy, happy childhood, courageous parents and teachers can turn the tide.  Yes, we can reclaim childhood, says Johann Christoph Arnold, whose books have helped more than a million readers through the challenges of education and family life.  In Their Name Is Today, he highlights drastic changes in the way our society treats children.  But he also brings together the voices of dedicated parents and educators who are finding creative ways to give children the time and space they need to grow.  Cutting through the noise of conflicting opinions, Arnold takes us to the heart of education and parenting by defending every child’s right to the joy and wonder of childhood.

A noted speaker and writer on marriage, parenting, and end-of-life issues, Arnold is a senior pastor of the Bruderhof, a movement of Christian communities.  With his wife, Verena, he has counseled thousands of individuals and families over the last forty years, as well as serving as an adviser at several innovative private schools.  Arnold’s message has been shaped by encounters with great peacemakers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Cėsar Chavez, and John Paul II.  Born in Great Britain in 1940 to German refugees, Arnold spent his boyhood years in South America, where his parents found asylum during the war; he immigrated to the US in 1955.  He and his wife have eight children, forty-four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.  They live in upstate New York.

Acclaim for the author:

“A much-needed message not only for South Africa, but for the whole world.” -Nelson Mandela, on Why Forgive (one of Arnold’s books)

“In this book we find a message needed today in every part of the world.” -Mother Teresa, from her forword to Sex, God, & Marriage (one of Arnold’s books)

“Written in a way that is easy to grasp…indeed, very beautifully.” - Pope Benedict XVI, on A Little Child Shall Lead Them (one of Arnold’s books)

My Review - I enjoyed reading this book.  Growing up is hard and in this current world it is even harder.  I love that I have the tools to help my children in this situation we are in now.