Reddit reviews Me & Dog

Protection as she grows up.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No (LINK)

by Dan Barker

In today's media-flooded world, there is no way to control all of the information, claims, and enticements that reach young people. The best thing to do is arm them with the sword of critical thinking.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No is a charming introduction to self-confidence and self-reliance. The book's ten-year-old heroine, Andrea, is always asking questions because she knows "you should prove the truth of a strange story before you believe it."

"Check it out. Repeat the experiment. Try to prove it wrong. It has to make sense." writes Barker, as he assures young readers that they are fully capable of figuring out what to believe, and of knowing when there just isn't enough information to decide. "You can do it your own way. If you are a good skeptic you will know how to think for yourself."

Another book is "Me & Dog" by Gene Weingarten.

And Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story : Books 1, 2, 3

Here Comes Science CD + DVD

The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins

Bang! How We Came to Be by Michael Rubino.

Grandmother Fish: A Child's First Book of Evolution

Also:

Greek Myths – by Marcia Williams

Ancient Egypt: Tales of Gods and Pharaohs – by Marcia Williams

God and His Creations – by Marcia Williams

"I Wonder" by Annaka Harris

"From Stardust to You: An Illustrated Guide to The Big Bang" by Luciano Reni

"Meet Bacteria!" by Rebecca Bielawski

See also Highlights for Children - this has materials for younger children.

Atheism books for children by Courtney Lynn

"It Is Ok To Be A Godless Me", "I'm An Atheist and That's Ok", "I'm a Freethinker", "Please Don't Bully Me" and "I'm a Little Thinker" etc.

Courtney Lynn has a couple more for grown ups as well.

Grandmother Fish, free in PDF form online

A child's first book of evolution.

15 Holiday Gift Ideas for Secular Families

Bedtime Bible Stories by Joey Lee Kirkman - for mature teens only

Coming up: TINY THINKERS is a series of books introducing popular scientists to children, by telling their stories as if the scientists themselves were kids!

There's a children's book about that.

I disagree. Religious indoctrination of kids is pretty messed up and it’s important to not only their lives but society as a whole to educate them about reality as early as possible.

OP, you are definitely taking the right approach in my mind. Not really sure what is age appropriate for an eight year old tbh, but Me & Dog seems to fit what you are looking for: https://www.amazon.com/Me-Dog-Gene-Weingarten/dp/1442494131

I bought this book in anticipation of having the "god" discussion with my daughter in the future.

I certainly wouldn't give your son arguments or reasoning against the existence of god; if he tries to use those with an adult they will confuse him with apologetics.

I would start by explaining that, although we know much about the world, there are still questions to which we don't have the answers. Sometimes things about the world are hard to understand, and people look for a reason behind things that happen for no reason at all.

Religions and gods are things that people use make sense of the world, and find reasons for things happening. It can be scary to live in an unfair world where bad things can happen to you even if you don't deserve it. Some people believe in a god; a powerful being that cares about people, protects them, helps them, and gives them rules to live by. To them, it makes the world less scary and gives them a purpose in life. Not everybody thinks that a god exists, and not everybody agrees what that god would be like. You will hear many different stories from people who believe in gods, and everybody is going to think they are right. When you listen to these stories, you should decide for yourself whether or not you want to believe it. However, don't listen to the bad people who try to scare and threaten you into believing their story.

My kid is 3 and we've been reading her this already:

http://www.amazon.com/Me-Dog-Gene-Weingarten/dp/1442494131

"Me & Dog"

It will make more sense to your 5 year old, though.

Me and Dog

That's the premise behind the children's picture book Me & Dog by Gene Weingarten. I recommend it.

Our oldest is 6. We are starting to get into that territory, too. She actually came home from school back in December and said she wanted to be Jewish like her friend... so Christmas could last 10 days face palm.

Two books we have liked thus far:

Me & Dog

Annabelle & Aiden: The Story of Life

Regading the first part of the quote about dogs thinking that their owner is a god, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten (two time Pulitzer winner) wrote a children's book with that concept as its theme. It's called "Me & Dog". It's been described as the first atheist children's book, just released a few months ago. (Weingarten is an outspoken atheist.) It's pretty good. I got it for my 2 year old son and I would recommend it to other atheist parents.

Me & Dog

Try Me & Dog by Gene Weingarten

I think everyone can relate to your 10 year old.

I find wonder and beauty in that, everything is cycles. We are part of something (many things) bigger than us. From the water cycle to the microbiome. We just don't understand the web of these relationships. I find some meaning in trying.

Can you design a mostly closed loop fish tank or terrarium? Ferment or bake things to eat?
We don't understand the life in a square inch of soil.

This book is great,but maybe too young for her:

https://www.amazon.com/Me-Dog-Gene-Weingarten/dp/1442494131?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1442494131

Physicist funeral:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=you+want+a+physicist+to+speak+at+your+funeral&atb=v107-1ma&tappv=android_5_1_0&t=ddg_android&iax=images&ia=images

There is only ever the meaning we create. Something is only sacred if you make it so.

I've been trying to come up with my own "sacred" traditions.

I see real value in different states of mind. I think they are even easier to achieve with honesty instead of dogma; large groups, drums, etc.

All hail Discordia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discordianism

All life as we know it so far is based on one operating system and consciousness is a poorly rendered hallucination of reality.
We've started talking about entropy whenever my son says "forever". In a few years I hope he'll grok.

Now that I don't drink Cosmos/Carl Sagan Mr. Rodgers and the ISS live feed make me feel better.

I like "Me & Dog" a lot. Hits the right skeptic notes without being overtly anti-religious.

https://www.amazon.com/Me-Dog-Gene-Weingarten/dp/1442494131

We also like Me and Dog- https://www.amazon.com/Me-Dog-Gene-Weingarten/dp/1442494131/ and Older than the Stars- https://www.amazon.com/Older-than-Stars-Karen-Fox/dp/1570917884/

I just stumbled upon this a minute ago online and have never read it myself, but you might like to check it out. It sounds cute at any rate: https://www.amazon.com/Me-Dog-Gene-Weingarten/dp/1442494131