Around here, there’s not a whole lot we love more than an encouraging word. And these three authors have written some of our favorite books this year that share encouragement, Scripture, and God’s love to the next generation. Whether you read them snuggled under the covers as a bedtime story, wrap them up as a gift under the tree this Christmas for a niece or nephew, or share them with a friend, we know you’ll love the stories, illustrations, and truth behind these beautiful stories as much as the little ones in your life!
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It Will Be Okay by Lysa TerKeurst
One of the hardest life lessons for me to teach my kids has been on fear and worry. As their mom, I feel what they feel. I hurt when they hurt. I worry about their worries!
When one of my daughters was seven, she suddenly became afraid to get up on a stage in front of her school. This was something she’d loved before, yet anxiety was paralyzing her now. As we drove to school, I told her I’d sit on the front row so she could keep her eyes locked on me. My presence could give her reassurance, and my smile could give her courage. It worked great because I was there, in person. But as my kids have grown, I’ve had to get more creative. I’ve needed to be intentional in helping them find this same assurance and courage to face their fears by keeping their eyes on God and turning to Scripture.
And that’s how It Will Be Okay was born. I needed a story to illustrate for my kids how we can trust God in the midst of fear and understand He is still good even when life doesn’t feel good. Also included are 10 Scriptures parents can memorize with their children to help them overcome fear and change.
This story can be translated into the unique fears and worries kids are facing today. And then hopefully they can carry this lesson into the days ahead that will no longer end with bedtime stories!
For Such a Time as This by Angie Smith
In For Such a Time as This bestselling author Angie Smith retells 40 powerful stories of biblical women such as Esther, Rahab, Mary, Martha, and many others, that help young girls to learn memorable lessons in perseverance, obedience, and faith. At the end of each story, a unique section titled “He, Me, She” will help girls to connect more directly and deeply with the stories and will also give parents an opportunity to pray a Scripture-based prayer over their daughter. This collection of stories is a wonderful way to promote family interaction and to have special moments focusing on God, His plan and purposes, and learning to incorporate His truths into daily living.
“My hope is that our girls will see that these are not just Bible stories but our stories. They are stories of great mercy and grace . . . put here to guide our daughters through their own walks of faith, passed down to them for such a time as this.”
God Made Light by Matthew Paul Turner
As a father, one thing I noticed early on while reading to my son was that there seemed to be a shortage of fun, easy-to-read, creative, and age-appropriate books about God. Oh, we read lots of books about God. But out of those that we read, so many of them failed to inspire the same moments that wockets and pockets or llamas or quirky odes to the moon seemed to inspire.
So I set out to change that and wrote the book God Made Light. And after 11 publishers turned it down, my wife Jessica (you might know her from here at (in)courage) and I decided to self-publish it.
Our goal was to create a book and product line that reminded our little ones that God delights in who they are. I wanted God Made Light to be simple, fun, rhythmic, and full of color. I wanted to do this for all of our kids. And for all of us. I wanted to do this because all of us need a little more light in our lives.
‘Cause you’re just like the sun and the moon in the sky
You’re as lustrous as twinkles that dazzle the eye.
You’re as splendid as lightning when it flashes so bright
‘cause on the day you were born, God said, “Let there be light!”
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Update: this giveaway is now closed and the winners have been notified via email! Thank you so much for all of the amazing comments you took the time to share with us – we just loved learning about the books that inspired you as a child – and we’ve added quite a few to our own bookshelves because of your suggestions!
What would a post about our favorite children’s books be without a giveaway? Yep, that’s right! Five of you will win a book bundle that includes all three books! That calls for hot chocolate with extra marshmallows in our book! We’ll randomly select winners on Friday (12/12) so don’t wait to enter.
To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and tell us: what was your favorite bedtime book as a child?
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