Tiny Talks
Books: Tiny Talks, Volume 1: Temples
Tiny Talks, Volume 2: The Savior
Authors: Tammy and Chad Daybell
Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Publication date: 2002
It’s happened again. As you’re frantically trying to get the kitchen cleaned on Saturday evening after dinner and before your teens and six of their closest friends need to be taken to the stake dance, where you are chaperoning, the telephone rings. It is the Primary secretary, cheerfully reminding you that your six-year-old son has volunteered to give a talk tomorrow. You look at your son, who is racing his toy cars under your feet. “Tommy, did you volunteer to give a talk tomorrow?” He looks up, the picture of innocence, and says, “I did?”
Now what?
Tammy and Chad Daybell, the parents of five children, have the answer. Their series of Tiny Talks books contain simple, short talks on typical Primary themes. They have created talks that are simple enough for a child to read, but that are still interesting to the children in the audience. The talks feature a story from the scriptures or church history, and many are history stories I have never heard, making it likely that the children won’t have heard them either.
A new volume is released each year, focusing on the current Primary theme. The talks are divided into categories by the official Primary monthly theme. Each small talk includes a suggestion for pictures from the Gospel Art packet and a scripture reference written out in full, in case your scriptures are nowhere to be seen or you’re just in a hurry. The books themselves are very small, and if I still had small children, I would keep the temple book in my church bag in case I arrived at church and found out my child had a talk or even a scripture.
These little books are also valuable for members of the Primary presidency. Often, when I was in the Primary, we were faced with the challenge of finding a last minute talk when our little speaker didn’t show up or didn’t come prepared. A presidency who kept these books in the Primary room could simply flip open the book and hand it to a child. In addition, some Primaries I have been in have used them for class presentations and even for the Primary Sacrament Meeting program.
The books are wonderful resources for Family Home Evening lessons given by small children. Even teens and adults will find the stories fascinating enough to use in their own lessons and talks. The brevity of the talks make them perfect for short family or seminary devotionals in the mornings. Assign one person to read the scripture, another to read the little talk, and a third to provide the picture. Two or three minutes of preparation, a few minutes of presentation, and you have an instant devotional.
I highly recommend these delightful little books for any busy family that includes small children, especially those of the absent-minded variety!