Reddit Reddit reviews Older than The Stars

We found 10 Reddit comments about Older than The Stars. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Children's Books
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Children's Science & Nature Books
Children's Astronomy & Space Books
Children's Astronomy Books
Older than The Stars
Charlesbridge Publishing
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10 Reddit comments about Older than The Stars:

u/undercurrents · 15 pointsr/atheistparents

I am a nanny and have seen this situation play out a few times. It works far better when the parents are on the same page. You need to set your boundaries prior to the birth. Tell the parents there will be no baptism and that is final. Also, this is your child and they are not to interfere with what you chose to (or to not) them him/her. That you live in a country that does not openly encourage religiosity like the US is a good start. But if it's like what I see in the states, baptism might be a dealbreaker for whether they actually want anything to do with the grandchild in their life. This is where you have to hold firm. I have also been see posts of atheists who were baptized at birth and are now resentful it was forced on them, so might be another angle to consider.

Fill your child's room with books about science. As your child ages, if any of the books contradict was your in-laws have said to her in private, your child will most likely tell you and that is when you can explain what the grandparents said is not true. I once posted a list of books for kids on here that are good introductions to science but I can't find it, I will keep searching, but offhand I can tell you Grandmother Fish, Older than the Stars, and any book by Chris Ferrie.

The judgement is inevitable but you can judge them right back. Parents can weigh on on the family dynamics better than I can, but from the atheist families I have been with, what helped the most was having the parents on the same page as well as myself since we were the three then children were most likely to come to with questions and eventually they just began ignoring the grandparents.

u/wanderer333 · 9 pointsr/Parenting

Depending on the age of the kid, these could be some good ones:

What Do You Believe?

See Inside World Religions

The Belief Book and others in that series

What is God? (this one does presuppose some kind of a higher power, but compares its depiction across many religions and suggests that god is in us/everywhere around us/basically the concept of good)

I Wonder (not specifically about religion, but more about the idea that science can answer some questions but not yet all - some things are a mystery that we can only wonder about)

Also definitely recommend including some books on the scientific version of the creation story (i.e. the big bang, evolution, etc) so kids have that perspective to draw on as well. Again depending on the age, some good ones are:

Older Than the Stars

Big Bang: The Tongue-Tickling Tale of a Speck That Became Spectacular

One Day a Dot: The Story of You, The Universe, and Everything

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story

Grandmother Fish

Sapiens: Our Human Evolution

Hope some of those are helpful! :)

u/LowPiasa · 7 pointsr/atheistparents
u/butterflyashes · 3 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Oh jeez, I have like 50 in my lists... Hmm... Let's go with this one!

Thanks for the cute contest!

Edit: or this one! instead.Really, any one in my lists would be wonderful. :)

u/J0NNYquid · 3 pointsr/atheistparents

EDIT: Had some time to A. Wake up, and B. Get my shit organized.

So my first recommendation is to read these 3 books.

http://www.amazon.com/Relax-Its-Just-God-Religious/dp/1941932002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452781395&sr=8-1&keywords=relax+it%27s+just+god

http://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Beyond-Belief-Raising-Religion/dp/0814474268/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=41mSJWJjhCL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=136KZ8YRX0P0CY93EJGA

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Reality-Dawkins-Richard-Hardcover/dp/B011SKFWNK/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1452781427&sr=1-2

These are all geared more towards the parents, but it sounds like that will be just as beneficial to you. I've worried about the same exact stuff you're worried about ever since my wife told me she was pregnant. These books have been a fantastic resource. The first 2 help you prepare for the inevitable questions (which it sounds like you're already getting) children ask in regards to our origins. There's nothing I can say here that will really improve upon what's contained in these books, so my #1 suggestion is to just pick them up and read them. "Relax, It's Just God" Is a quick read, so I'd probably start there.

I'll just say, for anyone that hasn't read them, or doesn't intend to, the most important thing I took from these books is this:

Please don't shield your children from religion. It's played an incredibly important role in the founding of civilization, and it continues to be a dominant force in society (particularly if you're in the US). By shielding your children from all things religion, they will have no defense against it when they are inevitably confronted with it. To a child, the easy answers and flimsy logic of religious dogma can seem persuasive. By refusing to talk about it, or not engaging them honestly in discussions about it, you're essentially sending them out into the world unarmed.

Now, once you've sort of amassed this collection of tips and strategies for talking about it with them, you need to build an understanding of the concepts that ACTUALLY govern our world. There's a lot of great resources out there nowadays that introduce complex things in a very approachable way. If your children are on the younger side, I'd recommend these books:

http://www.amazon.com/I-Wonder-Annaka-Harris/dp/1940051045/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Xa9vh-4mL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=13A7B660SHNYNWGNRS9J

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Family-Tree-Evolution-Story/dp/0152017720/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=12ZKCH4ZP41R11J3AQC3

http://www.amazon.com/Older-than-The-Stars-Karen/dp/1570917884/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NTGW8B5FNWYGW2MDDGP

I buy these 3 for every single one of our friends that has a child (provided I'm cognizant of their beliefs, wouldn't want to step on any toes)

I think one of the things religion has going for itself, that science and reason kind of lag behind in, is instilling a sense of wonder in people. It's easy for adults to marvel at things like quasars, black holes, the process of DNA replication, etc., etc., but it's a bit harder to instill that sense of wonder in kids without getting into some really dry science. That's why religion (in my opinion) is still so successful, it offers easy answers to really difficult questions, and doesn't really require you to think too hard on it. "I'm scared of dying" is easily answered by "Well don't worry, God loves you and will bring you to heaven with him."

There's also some great videos on youtube I'd recommend (though they vary a bit in regards to age appropriateness):

https://www.youtube.com/user/sciencestatedclearly (evolution)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rHUDWjR5gg&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPAJr1ysd5yGIyiSFuh0mIL (Astronomy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X56fBK1JlY&list=PLsmqeqKj7M-rZe1C9PUon8V-VQ1tZj5NF (evolution)


Kids, even very young kids, are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Knowledge of the way the world actually works is the best insulator against religious dogma, so give them as much as they can handle. When that kid at school tells them God created everything, instill values in your child that will lead them to ask "why" instead of just accepting that at face value. And if your child comes home and says, "Jimmy said god created the world" you can respond with, "Well yes, that's what Christianity says, do you know what Islam says? Hinduism? What about the Greek Myths, those are pretty cool huh? Most civilizations have a story about how everything got started, but none of them really agree with one another, and we've never been able to prove it. Scientifically we have a pretty good idea, but there's a few things we don't know yet, and that's perfectly fine. It's ok to say 'I don't know' when it comes to big complicated stuff like this. Let's see if we can't find out more! (insert books/videos/research here)"

My son is barely a month old, so I'm a ways off from a lot of these conversations, but I'm doing my best to prepare myself. I hope to teach him how to tell whether a source is reliable or not, how to be skeptical (particularly of those in power) and how to think critically, and not stop digging just because the answer he arrives at makes him feel better. Luckily, there's a plethora of information out there nowadays from secular sources that is geared towards people like you and me and our non-religious offspring.


EDIT: The other book I will recommend that's not a parenting book and isn't geared towards kids is "Your inner fish". There is a series of youtube videos based of the book if you prefer that. Basically, it makes evolution really cool, and in a way that (in my opinion) you can tell your children about easily. Things like why our skin is the way it is, why we look the way we do, etc. All stuff kids will probably ask.

u/Lyon14 · 1 pointr/atheistparents

My daughter (5) and son (7) both enjoy this book I Wonder. Also, Older Than The Stars is pretty decent too.