Editorial

Abstract

As books review editor, as well as a reader of, and contributor to, the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, I gain a particular perspective on the themes which are – and are not – highlighted in relation to children’s spirituality; and how these have changed over recent years. This editorial offers the opportunity to consider the current state of the discourse on children’s spirituality and to suggest some directions which this and future research might usefully take, though inevitably this reflects my own interests and prejudices to some extent. It also provides me with the chance to thank those who have reviewed books and to encourage other people to recommend suitable books and/or offer to review them – please contact me if so. The majority of books put forward are, unsurprisingly, suggested by publishers, with authors sometimes asking for their books to be reviewed and unsolicited reviews received occasionally. Publishers tend to suggest books which are either academic and fairly denseor deal in relatively simple andmore accessible termswith a particular issue such as ADHD, illness or bereavement. The more academic books, with some notable exceptions, are usually related to religion and/or religious education, and in some cases chaplaincy, but often refer only loosely to spirituality. The less academic ones frequently make only a somewhat cursory mention of spirituality, except those which discuss practical programmes, such as Godly Play, or approaches such as mindfulness. There have been more books recently which discuss children’s spirituality in relation to holistic education. Books are published from time to timeonaspects of children’s lives such as dreams and imaginary friends which are necessarily dependent on children’s own perceptions and descriptions. Most of the books which discuss children of a specific age address the early years or adolescence, rather than the years in between. Only rarely arewebsites identified for possible review. Occasionally, books are recommended, or even sent, which make no mention of spirituality or children. Unsurprisingly, these are not considered for review! What are we to make of this? First, the perception by publishers of what the IJCS will be interested in, and therefore presumably how spirituality is perceived more broadly, is that it relates mainly to members of faith communities and educators, especially those working in religious education. Maybe, the type of books recommended reflects the long-standing difficulty of defining what is meant by spirituality. I suspect we will always face this and should see spirituality as a very loosely defined concept, drawing on a Wittgensteinian view of family INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILDREN’S SPIRITUALITY 2019, VOL. 24, NO. 3, 225–227 https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2019.1652573