I'm a writer. I like to read books about writing. It helps my practice, inspires me to reflect and, when I'm finding the writing hard going, reminds me why I love putting words on the page.
It might seem odd that writers may need such reminders, but apparently they do, because books about writing and for writers are plentiful! The House That Joy Built, Write For life and The Fearless Writer are three books about writing (and creativity) that I've read recently. I enjoyed them all, but I was left weighing them up at the end.
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‘Can anything separate me from God’s love?’ And so begins this delightful picture book. Nothing: nothing can separate you from God’s love, is a hardcover picture book written by Natalie Creech and illustrated by Joseph Cowman. It’s probably obvious from the title that the book is based on the familiar passage in Romans 8 and this verse sets the tone of the rhyming text. Moving from question to answer - with all the imaginative adventures that could include along the way - children are introduced to the scope of God’s love and the extent of his grace.
Karl Grice from the Wandering Bookseller provided me with a copy of this book and I’ve had it sitting on my shelf awaiting review for quite some time. The reason: I guess I was afraid. I didn’t want to open a book retelling the parables of Jesus and find myself disappointed. Jesus’ parables, and the contexts in which he told his multilayered stories, are common fodder for Christian children’s books and sometimes the results are sickly sweet, overdone or just dull. So I procrastinated. I read other books and reviewed other titles. Until today, when I faced the warm tones of this children’s book and began to read.
What a cute little book!
The Wake-Up Prayer is a lovely rhyming picture book. It’s written by another Penny (I love hearing about Pennys who write books!), Penny Cooke and is her first children’s picture book. With delightful illustrations by Jareb Bramlet, this book tells the story of a little bear who is curious to learn how to pray and in particular, how to pray in the day. Her questions about the wake-up prayer come from wondering about the traditional 'Now I lay me down to sleep' prayer. The little bear wonders how praying in the day may be different, or similar, to praying before bed. Am I allowed to say I have found another favourite Christian children’s book? The Creator in You is a delightful, gently rhyming, picture book that challenges and inspires young people (and their adults) to think outside the box regarding what we ‘do’.
Now, I know we are supposed to see ourselves as ‘human beings’, not human doings’, but ‘doing’ is also part of what God has called us to. And that’s what this book celebrates. It rejoices in our call to creativity and worthy work. |
The Penny DropsIn high school I used to write what I'd call 'thinks' - little bits of writing about whatever topic or issue I was mulling over at the time. I still write these little pieces. Categories
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