At speaking engagements, I am frequently asked about apologetics materials for children. The great news is that there is a growing body of work for teaching children how to engage thoughtfully with the truth claims of Christianity. One of the newest resources is by the Cold-Case Christianity author, J. Warner Wallace, and his wife, Susie Wallace!

Cold-Case Christianity for Kids places the reader right in the middle of detective cadet academy training. As a student cadet, the reader is trained by Wallace’s mentor, Detective Jeffries, to become a critical investigator of the facts. Alongside the criminal investigation, Detective Jeffries helps skeptical-minded students to investigate Christianity and the claims made about Jesus Christ.

The students learn to investigate with a critical eye, but also learn when to trust the conclusion of a body of evidence; including how to examine eye-witness testimony, such as found in the Gospels. These skills are vital to students who are growing up in a society in which, as G.K. Chesterton once lamented, is so open-minded that their brains fall out. Our battle today is with teaching actual logic and reason in a society that uses reason as pretense to hide behind poor thinking skills and uncritical commitments to beliefs.

When I began my apologetics ministry, close to ten years ago, there were a few writers for children’s curriculum. However, in recent years, I’m seeing much more available in a wider array of topics. This contribution by J. Warner and Susie Wallace would make an excellent study for a family. I would use it in combination with the original Cold-Case Christianity written for adults. It appears to be written at about a fifth grade reading level, with a few advanced vocabulary words that are defined in the margin of the page in which they occur.

You can grab a copy here and begin your family adventure in the detective cadet academy!