I first heard about God's Very Special Letters: the Epistles for Kids via social media. A friend I trusted as someone who keeps an eye out for quality Christian kids books shared a link to a Kickstarter campaign that was raising funds to publish three children's books. What caught my interest initially was that this was an Australian author/illustrator team. A closer look showed these books were going to be something totally unique: new translations of Philippians, Colossians & Philemon, and 1 Peter, written and illustrated specifically for children! 

Continuing my Reader Interview series, this month I'm interviewing Grace a primary teacher librarian. I was thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed for this blog series, mainly because I know school librarians have an enthusiastic yet critical appreciatioin of children's literature. They understand current trends and childhood experiences, and use that knowledge to specialise in matching books with kids (school librarians are my heros!). But I was also interested in what Grace would have to say about books with faith content - given she works at a Christian school and is a committed Christian herself. Her interview is interesting, insightful and packed full of fabulous book recommendations!

It's been a while since I posted a 'think'. So here's one, a beginning anyway. I wonder what you might add if you were to contribute a stanza? 

​One of the things that really interests me is what keeps a writer writing. Rejections, rewrites, marketing and less enthusiastic sales can make it hard to remember why we started out in the first place. But the "writing why" matters and, oftentimes, it’s what keeps writers going when things get tough.
I asked three writers recently, about the "why" behind their work and what keeps them going when discouragement sets in. Janet McHenry is the author of 27 traditionally published books, including eight on the topic of prayer. Maureen Miller has just published her debut novel, and Dr. Ronda Wells is a writer for Guideposts and will be launching her second novel this year. Three very different writers, but a similar thread of faith holding them steady. I hope you find this interview as encouraging as I did!

When thinking about who to interview for my series of blog posts about how we interact with children's books, I immediately thought of my friend Edie Melson.
Edie is a writer, yes, so we already know she loves books. But she's also a thoughtful Christian woman whose life is grounded in her love of God's word and prayer. And, she's a grandma! So I was keen to ask how she uses children's books, and what she looks for when choosing them for her grandkids and family. 
Here's what she had to say: