What do you think?
Rate this book
ABCs
Reformation ABCs: The People, Places, and Things of the Reformation―from A to Z
Reformation ABCs is a fun way for kids to learn about the places, things, events, people, books, and ideas that shaped this pivotal time in church history. Through whimsical illustrations and engaging storytelling, this book teaches kids that even though the Reformation occurred five hundred years ago, it isn't just about people and places in the past. The Reformers' fight to reclaim the gospel is still relevant today.
56 pages, Hardcover
Published March 31, 2017
5 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Stephen J. Nichols
76 books97 followersStephen J. Nichols (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries. Previously, he served as research professor of Christianity and culture at Lancaster Bible College. He is an editor (with Justin Taylor) of the Theologians on the Christian Life series and is the author of several books, including The Reformation, For Us and for Our Salvation, The Church History ABCs, and Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 21, 2025
Well, after the resounding failure that was Church History ABCs, I was loath to open this book, but I already had it out from the library. The same drawbacks about Reformation ABCs not being great for learning the ABCs apply, but there is significantly more text here, so the writers evidently chose to reach an older reading crowd. (There's a great joke about abecedarians here but I can't quite put it together.)
Reformation ABCs has that uniquely Protestant attitude of “no one knows about Jesus except us.” The page “F is for fox, fiddle, and French Huguenots” says of the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre, “many who believed in the gospel were martyred for their faith.” That’s an awfully reductive and fairly inaccurate way to put it. The massacre was largely political in nature; high-ranking Protestants were targeted because political power was at stake. Before the events of St Bartholomew’s Day, French Huguenots had exacted mob violence on French Catholics. Nowhere does Reformation ABCs mention this, nor Protestant persecution of Catholics, such as in the Netherlands and England. It doesn’t fit into the narrative of Reformation ABCs, which is at once triumphalist and self-pitying (those mean Catholics!) as the agenda needs, rather than committed to presenting an accurate picture of Reformation history.
The nasty little note about Ignatius of Loyola was totally unnecessary anti-Catholicism, but that is an error I’ve seen many Reformed folks commit, especially in this book. R. C. Sproul was known for it, and he wrote the foreword. Here is the full quotation about Ignatius: “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! And I bet you didn’t expect to see me--Ignatius of Loyola, a leader of the Counter-Reformation, at the end of a book about the Reformation. I’m chiefly known for being a knight, hermit, and theologian…and for founding the Jesuits…and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.” (The book does not provide page numbers.) There is SO MUCH WRONG WITH THIS. First of all, the so-called “Counter-Reformation” is in actuality the real Reformation, because the Protestant “Reformation” was actually a schism, since it did not succeed in reforming the Roman Catholic Church, but split therefrom. I could go on about the many true reformers of the church, including Sts Benedict and Scholastica, Sts Francis and Clare, and many others who truly reformed the church rather than splitting it up. Second, the threadbare Monty Python quotation seems to align Ignatius with that regrettable episode in Spanish history, even though Ignatius himself was targeted by the Inquisition for street preaching, which according to this book is a purely Protestant indulgence. This also hints that the Inquisition targeted Protestants, when “crypto-Judaism” was the real target. Third, Ignatius was not “fanatically devoted” to the Pope, but the Jesuits were constantly in and out of good graces and a bit of lip service went a long way. Ignatius is really having a moment right now in Christian spirituality (since he did give us one of the best spiritual retreats of all time), and Protestants and Catholics alike continue using his work to develop deeper relationships with the divine. Alas, such are the vagaries of Reformed myopia, that this vastly important legacy of Ignatius is lost amid Protestant posturing.
James R. Payton wrote Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings to combat this type of narrative in Reformed circles, and the authors would have done well to heed his correctives before writing this book. Impressionable readers influenced by this book will have to do a lot of intellectual reconstruction to come to a better understanding of the Reformation. The widespread experience of deconstructing faith should tell us that things are seriously wrong with the state of religious education. False narratives like the one in Reformation ABCs are part of the problem. When you grow up thinking the French Huguenots were poor, persecuted victims, how do you handle learning the truth that they, too, murdered? When you grow up thinking your theological coterie has a monopoly on Jesus, how do you handle seeing people of different Christian traditions living holy, fruitful lives? When you grow up thinking Martin Luther was God’s gift to humanity, how do you handle learning that Nazi Germany regurgitated his vehement antisemitic rhetoric? Teaching truthful, nuanced, age-appropriate history is an important way to raise young believers with resilient rather than brittle faith, and Reformation ABCs unfortunately builds a brittle mindset rather than a resilient one.
Reformation ABCs has that uniquely Protestant attitude of “no one knows about Jesus except us.” The page “F is for fox, fiddle, and French Huguenots” says of the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre, “many who believed in the gospel were martyred for their faith.” That’s an awfully reductive and fairly inaccurate way to put it. The massacre was largely political in nature; high-ranking Protestants were targeted because political power was at stake. Before the events of St Bartholomew’s Day, French Huguenots had exacted mob violence on French Catholics. Nowhere does Reformation ABCs mention this, nor Protestant persecution of Catholics, such as in the Netherlands and England. It doesn’t fit into the narrative of Reformation ABCs, which is at once triumphalist and self-pitying (those mean Catholics!) as the agenda needs, rather than committed to presenting an accurate picture of Reformation history.
The nasty little note about Ignatius of Loyola was totally unnecessary anti-Catholicism, but that is an error I’ve seen many Reformed folks commit, especially in this book. R. C. Sproul was known for it, and he wrote the foreword. Here is the full quotation about Ignatius: “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! And I bet you didn’t expect to see me--Ignatius of Loyola, a leader of the Counter-Reformation, at the end of a book about the Reformation. I’m chiefly known for being a knight, hermit, and theologian…and for founding the Jesuits…and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.” (The book does not provide page numbers.) There is SO MUCH WRONG WITH THIS. First of all, the so-called “Counter-Reformation” is in actuality the real Reformation, because the Protestant “Reformation” was actually a schism, since it did not succeed in reforming the Roman Catholic Church, but split therefrom. I could go on about the many true reformers of the church, including Sts Benedict and Scholastica, Sts Francis and Clare, and many others who truly reformed the church rather than splitting it up. Second, the threadbare Monty Python quotation seems to align Ignatius with that regrettable episode in Spanish history, even though Ignatius himself was targeted by the Inquisition for street preaching, which according to this book is a purely Protestant indulgence. This also hints that the Inquisition targeted Protestants, when “crypto-Judaism” was the real target. Third, Ignatius was not “fanatically devoted” to the Pope, but the Jesuits were constantly in and out of good graces and a bit of lip service went a long way. Ignatius is really having a moment right now in Christian spirituality (since he did give us one of the best spiritual retreats of all time), and Protestants and Catholics alike continue using his work to develop deeper relationships with the divine. Alas, such are the vagaries of Reformed myopia, that this vastly important legacy of Ignatius is lost amid Protestant posturing.
James R. Payton wrote Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings to combat this type of narrative in Reformed circles, and the authors would have done well to heed his correctives before writing this book. Impressionable readers influenced by this book will have to do a lot of intellectual reconstruction to come to a better understanding of the Reformation. The widespread experience of deconstructing faith should tell us that things are seriously wrong with the state of religious education. False narratives like the one in Reformation ABCs are part of the problem. When you grow up thinking the French Huguenots were poor, persecuted victims, how do you handle learning the truth that they, too, murdered? When you grow up thinking your theological coterie has a monopoly on Jesus, how do you handle seeing people of different Christian traditions living holy, fruitful lives? When you grow up thinking Martin Luther was God’s gift to humanity, how do you handle learning that Nazi Germany regurgitated his vehement antisemitic rhetoric? Teaching truthful, nuanced, age-appropriate history is an important way to raise young believers with resilient rather than brittle faith, and Reformation ABCs unfortunately builds a brittle mindset rather than a resilient one.
May 24, 2017
Great little book for introducing kids to the "People, Places, and Things of the Reformation." The usual suspects get their coverage (Augustine, Durer, Calvin, Luther, Tyndale, Cranmer), as do several prominent women (Princess Maria, Jenny Geddes, the Queens Marguerite and Jeanne of Navarre), the Scottish and English Reformations, and places like Westminster, Heidelberg, and Geneva. There are entries on martyrs and on missionaries, on documents and on symbols. Nichols even does an entry on the Rhine River to work in some details that don't fit easily elsewhere.
My only criticism is that the writing and editing could have been better; it comes across a little hokey on several occasions, effectively missing the music of language. An example: "The pope thought [Luther] made quite a mess of things and made him go to the Diet of Worms. Martin didn't have to eat worms. A diet was a meeting and Worms was a city." A little tone deaf, I guess.
But Nichols highlights the gospel throughout, even including the five Solas towards the end of the book in a way that addresses children directly: "Whether you sing or swim, whether you sew dresses or plant seeds--even when you enjoy playing in the snow--you can do all things for the glory of God."
Recommended especially for 4-8 year old kids to introduce them to the Reformation.
My only criticism is that the writing and editing could have been better; it comes across a little hokey on several occasions, effectively missing the music of language. An example: "The pope thought [Luther] made quite a mess of things and made him go to the Diet of Worms. Martin didn't have to eat worms. A diet was a meeting and Worms was a city." A little tone deaf, I guess.
But Nichols highlights the gospel throughout, even including the five Solas towards the end of the book in a way that addresses children directly: "Whether you sing or swim, whether you sew dresses or plant seeds--even when you enjoy playing in the snow--you can do all things for the glory of God."
Recommended especially for 4-8 year old kids to introduce them to the Reformation.
May 24, 2020
I loved this book! I liked it even more than Church History ABC's! I'm a Reformation nerd, but I still learned inspiring/funny stories. Because of the increased detail, it might be more boring for kids than Church History ABC's. But it's still great!
January 28, 2021
Great initial reformation biography introduction for young kids. The facts and pictures are fun, my boys enjoyed reading through it. Not a good pick if you want in depth biographies for older elementary.
Read
November 14, 2025CC Cycle 2 lunchtime read aloud
May 7, 2024
Reformation ABC's The People, Places, and Things of the Reformation from A to Z tells of the Protestant Reformation. This started in 1517 when monk Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church's teachings. Luther argued against the Catholic Church's practice of buying or earning forgiveness. He believed that salvation was a gift given by God to those who chose faith in Him. The book begins with A is for ants, artists, and AUGUSTINE and ends with Z is for zoo, zipper, and ZURICH. Between A and Z young children will learn about the many people, places, and things that played key roles in the Protestant Reformation and Christianity. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible. Various art, buildings, and books found throughout the book will be referenced at the end of the book. At the end of the book are three sections: Reformation by the NUMBERS, Reformation by Symbols and Reformation TIMELINE. This book is for 3-12 year olds. The grade levels are 2nd and 3rd grade.
Here is an example of what you will see within the pages of the book.
T is for
torch, trains, and
TYNDALE
Portrait of William Tyndall, from early edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, 1563, artist unknown.
Pages from the Gospel of John, William Tyndale's New Testament, 1525.
Reformation by the NUMBERS
An example of one of the numbers is
1,521
ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE
INSTITUTES
The number of pages in the final edition of John Calvin's
Institutes of the Christian Religion was 1,521.
The book is very educational. A young child can understand a historically significant time period thanks to the author's explanations. It's likely that most children won't know words like martyred, catechism, indulgences, or reformers. What a great opportunity to teach them these BIG words and their meanings as they read about Edward the Sixth, Augustine, Pilgrim's Progress and all of the Reformation's people, places, and things. I would recommend this book for home, church, or a school setting.
Here is an example of what you will see within the pages of the book.
T is for
torch, trains, and
TYNDALE
Portrait of William Tyndall, from early edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, 1563, artist unknown.
Pages from the Gospel of John, William Tyndale's New Testament, 1525.
Reformation by the NUMBERS
An example of one of the numbers is
1,521
ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE
INSTITUTES
The number of pages in the final edition of John Calvin's
Institutes of the Christian Religion was 1,521.
The book is very educational. A young child can understand a historically significant time period thanks to the author's explanations. It's likely that most children won't know words like martyred, catechism, indulgences, or reformers. What a great opportunity to teach them these BIG words and their meanings as they read about Edward the Sixth, Augustine, Pilgrim's Progress and all of the Reformation's people, places, and things. I would recommend this book for home, church, or a school setting.
October 30, 2024
My kids really enjoyed this book and overall it was a fun, short daily read throughout October. A few minor "cons" about this book - 1. Some entries were more series and others more silly, some were longer and some shorter, and the importance of the topic seemed to have no bearing on the silliness and length. Perhaps it was because there were two authors? It seemed disconnected at times. 2. The timeline at the end of the book was so out of order and confusing. I love timelines but it was hard for my children to follow. 3. There is one image of Christ in the background of one of the pages and the page about Michelangelo has nude art dimly in the background. My children didn't notice while I was holding the book up reading to them, but I would prefer they didn't look closely upon these pages.
October 19, 2022
October 31 is Reformation Day! 🌷The Reformation brought about the Bible in the vernacular (common language), congregational singing, literacy, individualism, limited government, an emphasis on the sufficiency of Scripture, a revival of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone by Scripture alone to the glory of God alone, also known as the 5 Solas, among many other blessings we still enjoy today!
This book is a great introduction for kids to the people, places, and things that occured around that time. Each letter has a full page and covers topics such as Martin Luther, Vermigli, Tyndale, Durer, Rhine River, and much more! The layout is so eye-catching and well-done. We enjoy reading this together as a family.
This book is a great introduction for kids to the people, places, and things that occured around that time. Each letter has a full page and covers topics such as Martin Luther, Vermigli, Tyndale, Durer, Rhine River, and much more! The layout is so eye-catching and well-done. We enjoy reading this together as a family.
November 11, 2022
This is not a book for 3-6 year olds as marketed. The alphabet theme is for that age but the rest of the content is not and would be way over their heads and some of it too intense. My 7-year-old daughter enjoyed me reading through this with her, but I still omitted the parts about people being burned at the stake.
December 6, 2023
This is a great book that covers a lot of church history. It's deceptively dense for how small it looks, however. Be aware of that if that's not what you want. This would be great for any child that likes history, since it covers so much in so few pages. The pictures are fun to look at.
May 7, 2017
This was a very well-written book on the Reformation. Told in an appealing tone for children, but also not hedging the facts. Very enjoyable.
October 31, 2017
Happy 500th Reformation Day!
October 3, 2018
Great little overview of some key characters and events.
May 8, 2019
Lots of good information but not all true doctrine
January 10, 2022
A great mini introduction to reformed theology for children.
November 4, 2023
This is an excellent book for children on the history of reformation. I read it to my kids every October leading up to our Reformation Celebration.
October 31, 2024
This is such a good book for any age. It gives bite size chunks of history and is easy to comprehend. Love reading this each Oct to the fam
May 5, 2025
I loved the Church History ABCs - this one felt like it was trying a bit too hard. Although it is full of good information.
October 2, 2022
Excellent.
September 8, 2025
Really cute Reformed book for kids!!!!
April 6, 2017
This is a fantastic little guide on church history. It's written for children, but I learned a lot!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews