Night Night Bible Stories by Amy Parker, Illustrated by Virginia Allyn

"Please, Lord, guide me--show me what to do.
Please, Lord, guide me--make me wise like you." (77)

Each Bible story has a repeated two-line rhyming phrase several times throughout, such as the one above from "The World's Wisest King"  (1 Kings 3-4).  The stories each provide relevant background ("the boy David who defeated Goliath grew up to be the king of Israel" (77), for example). The text is all written in an easy to understand, straightforward manner. When fit easily into the story, words are emphasized to add interest, excitement, and sound effects ("Whoosh. Pow. SPLAT.") Virginia Allyn's illustrations do a great job of showing the main points of the story, making it easy for a child to follow along as an adult reads aloud.

As with each story, this one ends with a unique prayer that speaks to the themes of the story: "Thank You, God, for Your great wisdom. Please help me trust that You always know what is best. Amen." (80) At the bottom of the last page of each story, a final rhyming verse reminds the child of that it's time for bed: "Night night, Solomon, who wanted what was best. He asked only for wisdom and let God do the rest." (80). Also signaling this switch is a change in illustrations on the last page of each story that show a child or children, bringing the reader in to the story.

Night Night Bible Stories contains 30 Bible stories written for children and young readers. The stories are split evenly between the Old and New Testaments. The padded cover and small 7x6 trim size is a good fit for little hands. I also liked the use of gold foil on the front cover for the stars and emphasis on "Bible Stories."

Author Amy Parker is on a roll with the "night night" theme, having also written A Night Night Prayer; Night Night, Farm; and Night Night, Train.

The publisher should note the typo on p. 51 where it reads "gong" instead of "going," should this book be reprinted in the future.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Stop-and-Go Devotional by Diane Stortz, illustrated by Hannah Marksis

Stop-and-Go Devotional: 52 Devotions for Busy Families features a one-page Bible story with a thematic title and full page illustration; followed by a “think and talk” section with a short paragraph of connecting the story to the child’s life, two questions for reflection and discussion, and a prayer; and the final section introduces an activity, a key point, and an easy Bible verse. The book is evenly divided between the Old Testament and New Testament.


The devotions are written for children to read themselves or with a parent. As some of the activities require going somewhere, or gathering certain materials (possibly including shopping), it seems like it would be most beneficial for an adult to read the section ahead of time and then suggest the devotion on a day suited to the activity. It may be that a particular days activity is also easily completeable at home without extra preparation, such as singing a song. The devotional is described as being for preschoolers and primary-grad children.

For example, the Good Friday Bible story is titled, "The Saddest Day." It references Matthew 27 and Mark 15. The "Stop and Read" section features dialogue from Jesus and one of the soldiers at the cross. Bold, colored onomatopoeia add emotion and sensory details to Jesus' death, after which "Roar! Rumble! The earth shook. Rocks split apart" (165).  "Think and Talk" provides questions such as "What are sins? Do you ever sin?" (166). For the activity, the book suggests finding craft sticks or paint stirrers to make a "Jesus Saves" cross where the first 's' in Jesus written across the horizontal stick leads into 'saves' on the vertical stick. The key point is: "Remember Jesus saves us" (167) with 1 Corinthians 15:3 ICB "Christ died for our sins" as the Bible verse.

The Easter story follows, titled, "Good News!" and referencing Matthew 28, Mark 16, and Luke 24. The onomatopoeia "Rumble! Rumble!" is repeated in the story section, as well as repetition from the angels and Jesus of "Don't be afraid" (169). Reflection questions include "Is there someone you could tell the good news about Jesus today?" (170). The activity is planting peas or beans, which requires some planning on the part of an adult to have the necessary supplies. "Remember Jesus is alive!" the key point directs (171). The Bible verse is Acts 2:32 NLT, "God raised Jesus from the dead."

The book is one that families will turn to daily or weekly for 52 different stories, reflections, and activities. To support that use, there is a ribbon bookmark sewn into the spine The cover features spot gloss and the end papers are full-color illustrations, but all of these features do not fully make up for the shock of a $17.99 list price.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Little Book of Grandma’s Love by Jean Fischer

Precious Moments’ Little Book of Grandma's Love is a padded board book that features Bible verses, original poems, and poems with outside attribution.

Spreads contain themes about having fun with Grandma (biking, gardening, playing hide-and-go-seek, going to the beach, etc), Grandma caring for the children (helping them learn, caring for them when there sick, settling the, in at bedtime), and Grandma helping the children learn about God (prayers, reading the Bible, and of course the Bible verses on each page). The themes of each spread are carried out well and the Bible verses match the themes, too.

The illustrations are in the classic pastel-colored, youthful-style of the Precious Moments brand. Even the grandmother often looks very childlike, though also sometimes appears as a grey-haired, but still youthful-looking person. They are fit very well to the text, especially in the poem that describes a drawing that a child makes for grandma that is shown exactly in the adjacent page’s picture.

Overall, it’s a pleasant book that shows grandmothers’ love for their grandchildren, and grandchildren’s love for their grandmothers. Compared to Jean Fischer's Precious Moments Little Book of Bible Stories, I'd say given the choice between the two that the Bible Stories is a stronger, more substantive book. For even more substance in the Precious Moments style, the 5-Minute Bedtime Treasury is worth checking out. However, if you're looking for something specifically about the grandmother-grandchild relationship, such as for a gift giving opportunity, this book is obviously well-suited.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review. 

Put on Your PJs, Piggies! Illustrated by Sydney Hanson

Put on Your PJs, Piggies! is a not-quite-square board book that walks though nighttime routines, including little piggies stalling for more time. A bedtime snack is followed by a bath, then into PJs. The little piggies sing their nighttime song, say their prayers, count sheep, and then fall asleep. The daddy pig helps them through their routine and is mentioned in the text. The mommy pig is shown in the illustrations during the nighttime song, prayers, and sleep time.

One of the little piggies is much smaller than the rest and the littlest pig is my favorite part of this book. The littlest pig is too small to know to close her eyes during the prayer and continues her wide-eyed laying pose that she has throughout the entire story. The funniest part is on the last spread where every other animal in the barn is sleeping, but the littlest piggie is still wide awake.

Each spread features a four line stanza of rhyming couplets. Each also has a phrase about PJs: "Almost PJ time, piggies!" "Get ready for PJs, piggies!" "Time for PJs, piggies!" "Put on your PJs, piggies!" However, even after the piggies have put on their PJs, the "Put on your PJs, piggies!" line is repeated five more times. It doesn't really make much sense, especially after the piggies have already fall asleep.

The illustrations are very well done. There are lots of little details that make them very enjoyable, like bubbles from the bath s\till apparent on the grass in the next spread while the piggies are putting on their PJs.

Other animals that appear in the illustrations include a calf and its mother, a foal with a parent, a cat, a baby mouse with parent, and a sheep family of one parent with three small sheep. The front cover features some spot slitter on the piggies PJs and on the moon.

Overall, it's a cute book, but the text, especially the repetition of "Put on your PJs, piggies!" is a little disappointing. Repetition can be a positive feature in a board book, but I was not a fan of how it was carried out in Put on Your PJs, Piggies! It was much more effective in Sydney Hanson's other Bedtime Barn Book, Go to Sleep, Sheep! because the repetition happened in the middle with a different first and last page message. The sheep family featured in Put on Your PJs, Piggies! will be very familiar to anyone who's read Go to Sleep, Sheep!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Bedtime Blessings by Bonnie Rickner Jensen, Illustrated by Julie Sawyer Phillips

Bedtime Blessings is a familiar board book for children with bible verses, rhyming couplets laid out in quatrains, and Really Woolly animals. Each spread has a title, followed by a verse (not clearly connected to the rhyming stanzas), two quatrains and a small image on the left-hand side, with a rhyming couplet and nearly full-sized illustration on the right. Certain keywords are bold-faced and colored, such as in "Heavenly Blessings," where attention is drawn to smiling, brave, love, dreams, and happy.

Julie Sawyer Phillips uses the classic Really Woolly animals, with each spread featuring the sheep, bunny, and duck. The colors are muted, pastel, almost watercolor-looking. They contain a lot of great details that will hold up to many re-viewings. For example, in "Sunny Blessings," the animals ride bikes through a park where a play set in the background has a miniature rock wall, cyclone climbing pole, and tire swings, while off to the side two squirrels climb a tree.

The illustrations are the highlight of this bedtime book because of the attention to each detail that gives the eyes many places to look while the story is being read. I found the text just okay. The sentiments were nice ("Your Shepherd loves to watch you play / and bless your sleep at the end of your day"), butt the rhymes and rhythms didn't stand out. The Bible verses were mostly generically about sleeping, with some other comforting protection, love, etc. verses as well, but it was disappointing that they didn't have a more direct relationship to the rest of the text or illustrations.

This is the second Really Woolly book I've read, and it seems that the great illustrations are a feature of this series, which also seems to put less emphasis on the text. Though I wasn't a fan of the poems in the Really Woolly books, I did really enjoy Bonnie Rickner Jensen's writing in God, I Know You're There.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Don't Close Your Eyes: A Silly Bedtime Story by Bob Hostetler, Illustrated by Mark Chambers

A fun concept for a children's book along the lines of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Mo Willems, 2003), Don't Close Your Eyes is a padded board book that encourages kids to fall asleep by telling them not to do the inevitable--closing their eyes and going to sleep. Each rhyming quatrain split into two lines on each side of the spread describes how various animals prepare for bed, recaps the days activities, and provides arguments for staying awake--"Life's too sweet to spend it sleeping" (16). Though the text is cute and the rhyming lines have a nice rhythm, it's the illustrations that set this book apart.

Mark Chambers' illustrations feature different animals on each spread, often with what appears to be both parent(s) and child(ren) of a particular animal family, as well as other random animals. The best part about them is that although most of the animals have half-closed eyes or completely closed, there's always at least one animal with eyes wide open, which looks hilarious and adorable. In the second to last spread, all of the foxes' eyes are partially or completely closed, and the final spread has a mix of animals all sound asleep.

Little details like a ladybug on a fence post and nearly camouflaged fish in the pond make nice treats for the attentive reader.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Jelly Bean Blessings illustrated by Maddie Frost

Jelly Bean Blessings is a fun, easy, rhyming board book that showcases color anthropomorphized animals enthusiastically participating in springtime activities.

Each spread has a five line stanza where the first three lines rhyme: "Our kites will soar up high / Into the bright blue sky. / We'll run until they fly!" (9). The fourth  line is the same word repeated three times, increasing in size as it goes from purple, to green, to yellow: "GO, GO, GO" (9). And the fifth is a more direct statement of an activity to do together: "Let's fly our brand-new kites!" (9). Other activities include eating jelly beans, picking flowers, splashing in puddles, planting seeds, biking, hiking, spring cleaning, and feeding birds. The only divergence from this pattern is the last spread, in which the repeated word line is omitted for the final exclamation, "Thank God for springtime blessings!"

Though the text is written in third person plural (i.e., "we") point of view, the illustrations feature a fox, alligator and pig as the main actants. Other animals make occasional appearances. The illustrations appear computer generated, with precise outlines, but textured fill like crayon on construction paper. There is a nice amount of detail in the pictures, with little touches like the fox holding trail map for the hiking spread and a bakery and pizzeria in the background for the biking spread.

A missed opportunity is that at least one lady bug appears on every spread except the one where it is raining. It is a bonus "Where's Waldo?" activity and it would've been really neat if the ladybug was under the umbrella or inside one of the buildings. (Unless of course its hiding so well that I missed it!)

The book is charming in its rhyme scheme and happy animals. It tries to convey that even cleaning can be fun when you're doing it with family or friends (ha). But does impart that a rainbow, and all of the other activities in the book, are blessings from God. As a whole, there's nothing that really makes it stand apart, but it is a nice book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

God, I Know You're There by Bonnie Rickner Jensen, Illustrated by Lucy Fleming

Beautiful and creative text and artwork pair together in the imaginative board book, God, I Know You're There. Each spread is addressed to something intangible with a rhyming quatrain and the repeated phrase, "Still I know you're there" followed by how the narrator experiences each. Wind, sun, sky, clouds, moon, stars, rainbow, rainfall, thunder, tiny seed (in the ground), snowflake crystals, and God are each addressed in turn.

The text is delightful throughout, but in particular I found the stanza's about the rainbow and God to be most representative of the book's quality: "Rainbow, I can't slide down you. / Still I know you're there. / Your colors arc in heaven's art, / Both beautiful and rare" and "God, I can't see You. / Still I know You're there. / You're in the love I give away-- / The sparkle when I care." This final spread addressed to God has an additional couplet: "And if Your love is what I show, / My heart is fuller still, I know," a beautiful message to end the book on.

Lucy Fleming's artwork is especially pleasing and imaginative in the spread about the moon, showing a girl and fox serenely swinging from the moon. Each spread features a different child, with varying races and genders represented. The final spread about showing God's love ties the theme together by showing a boy and a girl of different races holding hands.

The spot-on text and artwork might this book one of the best board books I've seen in a long time.  God, I Know You're There is written by Bonnie Ricker Jensen, who also wrote the I Love You, Little One board book. The book is just over 5" x 8", giving it the look and feel of a "grown-up book."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

The Gift that I Can Give by Kathie Lee Gifford, Illustrated by Julia Seal

The Gift that I Can Give by Kathie Lee Gifford is an empowering picture book that shows the many gifts given by God and how children can share their gifts with the world. Told in short rhyming quatrains, through the story the narrator questions whether the gift she is given is dancing, singing, sharing while playing football, helping animals, cheering on a friend, joining a marching band, visiting someone in the hospital, or giving her family hugs. The ending includes a prayer for her to be able to share her gifts with others, and the revelation that God's love is the gift she can give. The message is encouraging: that God has given her so many gifts that she can share with others. The specific mentions of acts of services is an especially creative way of teaching children that gifts don't have to just be innate skills.

The text is in first person, but the illustrations follow a little girl through the pages, accompanied by lots of butterflies, pinks, and purples. The dust jacket also features glittery butterflies. Despite playing in to some gender stereotypes, the illustrations redeem themselves through a racially and gender-diverse game of flag football. Julia Seal's illustrations are cute and colorful and add depth to the story through little details.


The religious message that our gifts come from God is strong, as is the message that we should be sharing those gifts with others. This book encourages community engagement, friendship, and generally compassion for others, shared through a catchy rhyming verse. For these reasons, I'd recommend this book for children ages 3 to 7.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Dinosaur Devotions by Michelle Medlock Adams, illustrated by Denise Turu

Dinosaur Devotions is a fun devotional book for children who love dinosaurs. There are 75 devotions, each of which is two pages long. The first page introduces a dinosaur including name pronunciation, which family it belongs to, height, length, weight, and diet. There's also a short Bible verse at the top. The main text of the devotion ties in the Bible verse to some key fact about the dinosaur in an approachable manner. The second page includes a sidebar for "digging deeper" reflection question, "Jurassic journaling" writing prompts, and sometimes "dino dictionary," as well as a did you know fun fact.


I found the devotion text to be tied in well to the Bible verse and the introduction of the dinosaur. The length, at about 3 paragraphs, was just enough to cover a small topic and not be overwhelming. I thought the journaling section was especially well done in that it suggested activities that children might actually do (and maybe even want to do!).

There are also illustrations for each dinosaur in full color. The illustrations are cute, but not realistic (for example, a t-rex holding a fork and knife). There's also some light foliage sprinkled around the illustrated dinosaur.

The book has a to/from dedication page and a ribbon bookmark for doing daily devotions easily. Overall, I think this devotional does a nice job of combining an interesting theme with relevant Bible verses that might help introduce children to devotionals, or encourage reading of devotionals in general.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

The Cow Said Neigh! A Farm Story by Rory Feek, Illustrated by Bruno Robert

The Cow Said Neigh! A Farm Story by Rory Feek, Illustrated by Bruno Robert is a short, easy to read children's picture book with adorable illustrations. The story tells the tale of animals on the farm, each that envies something that another animal has or does, in a "grass is always greener" type way. In response, the animal makes the sound of the animal it envies, and then the next spread shows the envied animal envying a different animal. It begins with a neighing cow, as the title suggests, jealous of the way that the horse runs openly while the cow is in the barn. The un-matched animal sounds rhyme with part of the stanza that describes why they wish they were a different animal. The chain ends with a cat wishing it was the farmer and the farmer being quite startled at hearing a cat say, "hello." Going to the barn, he quickly hears that the cat isn't the only animal making unusual sounds. Though at first perplexed, ultimately the farmer decides the only logical thing to do is play along, ending the book with a "moo!"

The illustrations are very well done, In what looks like colored pencil style shadings. The expressions of the animals is the best part--they are so enthusiastic in making their new animal sound that they close their eyes and open their mouth wide to belt it out. Meanwhile the animal who traditionally makes that call is looking on with interest, curiosity, and maybe even a little concern. The animal sounds are big colorful block text that makes it pop-off the page.

This book features a dedication page at the beginning for gifting the book.

Overall, I think it's a nice shake-up of children's books that teach animal sounds and would probably be quite surprising and funny for children to read/have read to them.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to post a positive review.

Cozy, Snowy Cuddles illustrated by Fransesca Pesci

Cozy, Snowy Cuddles is a 10-page touch and feel board book featuring a young polar bear. Each spread, the polar bear interacts with a child and adult animal of a different species that has a touch and feel element (narwhals, huskies, seals, moose, and finally other polar bears at the end). Each spread has a four line rhyming stanza. Most of the text is white, but key words pop out in a different color on each spread.


The text itself is just okay. It uses lots of different words within the snowy, cuddly theme about keeping warm and companionship. The ending spread says, "Thank God for cozy kisses! [...] We snuggle up with good night / hugs and whisper, 'I love you.'" This spread is the only one that doesn't rhyme. It's also the only one to mention God, and it's not a particularly strong use. I would have preferred a stronger Christian message from this book rather than something that can be brushed off as an insincere "thank God." Working it in to the I love you part, for example, would have been a better use. I've seen this pattern with putting God at the end just on one spread in a few of these Christian touch and feel style books, and it just feels like an afterthought rather than a focus.

The touch and feel of this book though is really well done. The textures are all actually different and really feel like the animal they represent. The cover even has some bonus glitter-texture snow.

Overall, this book is a good touch and feel book for young children. The illustrations are very cute, and though the text isn't anything spectacular, it does function just fine.  I'd still recommend this book especially for children who love winter or who are reluctant about it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to post a positive review.

Candy Apple Blessings illustrated by Maddie Frost

Candy Apple Blessings celebrates all of the fun things that happen in the fall. It is a 20-page board book with shiny foil accents on the cover.

Each spread covers a different fall topic and a five line stanza where the first three lines rhyme. The fourth line is a single word repeated three times, usually a sound associated with the topic, and the fifth is specifically says what the fall activity is.


Beginning with candy apples, as the title suggests, the other themes that follow are going back to school, getting bundled up in warm clothing, decorating the house, going on a hayride, playing in the leaves, picking pumpkins, navigating a corn maze, and visiting a fair with a petting zoo and games. The final spread follows the three rhyming lines pattern about praying before eating, but then deviates for the fourth and fifth line: "God, thank you for fall blessings!"

The illustrations are cute and have solid, distinct lines. However, within the illustration there is a lot of texture to the design, like lightly rubbing the side of a crayon on construction paper. The main featured animals are a cat, dog, and mouse that appear on each spread and on the cover. Other animals are sometimes repeated from activity to activity, but most appear only once.

Overall, the rhymes are decent, the topics are spot-on, and the illustrations are very pleasant. This book would be great for children who love fall, or even children who need some convincing to love fall.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Big Trucks Getting the Job Done Together illustrated by Sergio De Giorgi

Big Trucks Getting the Job Done Together is a Touch-and-Feel Trucks book, published by Tommy Nelson, the children's imprint of the Christian publisher Thomas Nelson. It is a 12-page board book illustrated by Sergio De Giorgi.

The front cover features Tipper, the dump truck with rubber wheels to feel. The cover theme of construction is clear from the yellow and black stripes with industrial-looking screws. Tipper's jolly smile and eyes, plus bunnies and a bird keep things light and cheerful.

Inside, we meet three additional trucks, Dozer, Diggit, and Stretch the crane. Each page features easy-to-read rhyming text. Touch-and-Feel features include gritty sand (actually more of a non-shiny glitter glue, not like sand paper), more rubber wheels like the cover, reflective mirror windshields, shiny blue silver foil, shiny silver foil, and a final gritty roadway (same as the gritty sand earlier).

The text features lots of onomatopoeia: "Thud! Whomp! Crash!" Themes include helping each other, working fast, and getting the job done. The last line says, "God bless...Good night to each of you," which is the only Christian element of this book. It also doesn't rhyme with the last stanza. The animals from the cover show up on the last page, but are not mentioned in the text and are background as opposed to prominently featured.

Overall, this book had a decent variety of feels to touch and the variety of trucks was good. The rhymes were easy and fun to read, especially the onomatopoeia. I would recommend this to children who like trucks.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Go to Sleep, Sheep illustrated by Sydney Hanson

“The silly sheep in Bedtime Barnn don’t want to go to bed! Will they ever tire out?”

Go to Sleep, Sheep is described as being a book to relax children who insist they are not sleepy. The pages describe in cute rhyming stanzas how the four young sheep delayed bedtime by asking for more playtime, snacks, eater, stories, and finally praying before snuggling into the hazy for the night. Most pages end with, “Go to sleep, Sheep!” Though two pages break from that trend to say “Ready for sleep, Sheep?” At the beginning and "Sweet dreams, sheep” at the end.

The illustrations by Sydney Hanson are cute and fit the calming mood of the book. Other animals from the barn are also included in the illustrations, though not mentioned in the text. These include a curled up cat, a bright-eyed baby pig, a foal and it’s mother, a calf and it’s mother, and even a baby goat with it’s mother. The pokey hay are the only sharp lines in the book, everything else is rounded without texture. Each of the sheep have a different accessory to make them unique: one with glasses, one with a scarf, one with a hair bow, and one that has one, matching the mother sheep.

The cutest moment is when a little sheep tells her mother that she loves her most of all.

This is a sturdy board book cut out in the shape of a barn.  The moon on the cover is glittery. This story is just the right length for bedtime.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to post a positive review.

"Finding Gobi for Little Ones" by Dion Leonard, illustrated by Lisa Manuzak

Finding Gobi for Little Ones is a 24-page board book. The pages are flimsy board for older children, which the publisher suggests is appropriate for ages 4-8. Notably, this is the same range as the paper children's book version, Gobi: A Little Dog with a Big Heart.

All versions of this book (also including an adult version and a young reader's version Finding Gobi: The True Story of One Little Dog's Big Journey) tell the true story of an adult ultramarathon runner, Dion Leonard, running a race in the Gobi desert and encountering a little dog that runs along with him. He names the dog Gobi and she runs the entire race with him, facing challenges such as a dangerous river crossing. The theme throughout is repeated that they will be forever friends.


This version of the book has the same illustrations as Gobi, the paper children's book version. However, there is just over half of the amount of text, suggesting that though the publisher classifies this as the same age range, this is the younger version of the book (also because it has board book pages). There is less dialogue and the text more closely relates to the illustrations.

Of the three children's versions of the book, this one is my favorite. I really enjoyed the illustrations, with the adorable Gobi pup winking, begging, and jumping for joy. The amount of text is just right, without including unnecessary additional text. I do like that the young reader's version gave a more full account of what happened after the race (and the paper version even had an author's note explaining some of the aftermath as well). However, the core of this story is the race and the incredible dog that could keep up with the runners.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

The Prayer Bible ICB Review

The Prayer Bible is an International Children's Bible (ICB). The cover designs are metallic gold and there is a cloth blue ribbon bookmark.

Though it has "large readable type" that is much easier to read than an adult bible, it is still probably only 10-point font. The pages are thin as in most Bibles, which may be challenging for children to get used to.

There are 160 pages in the Bible focused on prayer. These are a full page focused on a particular topic, with a scriptural reference point to start, followed by several paragraphs of text explaining an aspect of prayer, such as "Your Will." There's also "Prayer Pointers": "We don't always know what to pray for, but God always knows what is best for us!" (16). These pages are lightly decorated with a stems of leaves.

There are 64 colored pages of poem prayers, scripture prayers, and kid's Q&A's related to prayer. The only real added color though is gold, but it is prominently featured as a decorative border on several pages, and as an accent on others.  The prayers are relatively short, but are one-per-page. An example of a question answered in this Bible is "What if I am afraid God si not going to answer? Should I pray anyway?"

There is a key verse highlight section that directs the reader to passages based on a topic keyword, such as "bravery," "healing," "love," "rejoicing," and "salvation." Throughout the Bible, these "key verses" are highlighted in blue. The Lord's Prayer is printed in easy-to-read language with the scriptural reference printed at the top.

Each book of the Bible features blue titles and chapter numbers. There are footnotes throughout. I was disappointed that there's no child-friendly introduction to each book of the Bible.

There is a dictionary at the end that is also a directory of scriptural references to the word mentioned. The dictionary explains who people are, as well places and words like "amen." There's also two pages of "What God Promises About..." which features a category (e.g., "forgiveness,""my prayers," "wisdom") with verses printed out and where they are located in the Bible. There are three pages of "Memory Verses for My Life." There are several blank ruled pages for prayer requests at the end, followed by two more prayers and Q&A pages.

It comes with a 64-page ruled prayer journal that has a kite in the top left corner of the left side of the spread and a hot air balloon in the bottom right of the right page. The inside of the journal's design and lines are printed in blue.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

"One Christmas Bear" written and illustrated by Anne Vittur Kennedy

"Two tiny mice get a ride, and off they go!

Two funny foxes making angels in the snow."

One Christmas Bear is a 20-page board book with a unique cut-out shape. Though it is a board book, it is not as thick as many others and the pages can still bend and flex. It is a counting book that follows a polar bear and other arctic animals participating in various snowy activities.

Each page features one sentence of text, which rhymes with the adjacent page's sentence. The spreads each have a large number in the bottom right corner that indicates the number. The number begins both sentences of the spread.

The last spread breaks the pattern with four lines of text on each page, but imparts the important message that "Little acts of kindness, our friends and families dear, Merry time together--gifts from God to last all year!" This is only part of the book that has directly religious content.

The illustrations are very cute and colorful--a difficult feat in a book about snow! My favorite illustration is of four jolly snowmen because each one is a different animal shape: bunny, bear, dog, and mouse. The caribou are especially well-drawn (and are wearing wreathes, bells, or scarves around their necks!).

On the cover of the book, the words and part of the bear's scarf are metallic red. The background around the pear is dusted in glitter. Those features, added together with a cute rhyming story of winter fun with lots of different friends, make this book a nice item to gift to a child this Christmas season.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

"I'm Not a Scaredy-Cat: A Prayer for When You Wish You Were Brave" by Max Lucado, illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez

I'm Not a Scaredy-Cat is an adorable children's book about a skittish cat who has a prayer to repeat to help make it not afraid anymore. 

Written by Max Lucado, the text is funny and a joy to read. It follows several repetitions of the cat saying, "I'm not a scaredy-cat...except when:" and gives two examples of things that startle the cat, followed by a prayer. The cat's prayer is a child's version of Philippians 4:6-9: "God, you are good. God, you are near. God, you are here! And, God, you love me." 

I actually laughed several times reading this, including a fear that the cat had that seemed very familiar to me, as I have a scaredy-dog: "A leaf from a tree / Landed right on my knee. / I jumped with a bump, / fell down with a thump."

The illustrations, done by Shirley Ng-Benitez, are some of the best I've seen in children's books. The cat is so cute, with realistic fur and a cartoon face. The cat has so much personality, down to it's blue bandanna. There's also a fuzzy caterpillar that just has the best facial expression. I love the image chosen for the cover--the cat is afraid of the sprinkles on a donut. When you first open the book, the end paper is an adorable donut and sprinkle pattern.

Right after the end paper, there's a dedication page with to, from, and date, making this perfect for gifting to a child in your life. There's a letter to parents that talks about fears and how parents can help their children face their fears. I didn't find it particularly necessary or helpful. It did mention the goal of the book to instill a godly bravery in the heart of children. 

I love this book and would recommend it to anyone with children, especially those who also love cats or donuts!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

"Gobi: A Little Dog With a Big Heart" by Dion Leonard, Illustrated by Lisa Manuzak

Gobi: A Little Dog With a Big Heart is an adorable children's book that shares the true story of a stray dog who runs with ultra-marathon runner through the Gobi desert.

Rather than focusing around a conflict, this book instead focuses on the power of friendship. The biggest challenge the runner and dog duo must overcome is a water crossing, which the runner carries the dog across. After the story ends, an author note expresses further challenges, including losing the dog in a city and having to wait an quarantine period before being able to take the dog back to his home country to live. I liked that the book stayed focused on their friendship, though I was also interested to read more of the story in the author's note.

I loved the illustrations of the dog, Gobi. She's a scruffy-looking pup with big, loving eyes. The author's photo on the book jacket shows Dion holding Gobi, who looks very similar to the illustrations, though less scruffy.

I really enjoyed the writing, too, which shared perspectives of Dion and Gobi.

The cover is very well done with Gobi's name in large glossy letters and Gobi herself glossy and bounding through a matte desert scene.

I received a copy of this book from Book Look, but was not required to post a positive review.