"God Gave Us Family" by Lisa Tawn Bergren, art by David Hohn

God Gave Us Family is an adorable children's book with a great message--families can look different than your own, but they are all special and loved by God. The story is told from a wolf pup's conversation with its parents.

The types of family differences covered include family size (only child to many children), adoption, single parenting, and being raised by grandparents. It also talks about different ways lifestyles, such as raccoons staying out late at night.

It also covers the good (and not so good) aspects of the pup's own family...like dealing with cousins that are sometimes annoying, but also enjoying their company to build forts and play hide-and-go-seek.

I love the message of this book that all families are unique and that's a good thing! This book tries to teach respect, understanding, and appreciation of families.

The illustrations add a lot of value to the story as well. They are beautifully colorful and artistically drawn so that you can see individual strokes, almost like colored pencil drawings. The wolf cubs are very cute and all of their play-time activities look very fun. I also appreciated the aesthetic of the inside of the front and back covers, which is decorated with a drawing of string lanterns.

The back of the book suggests that this book is age-appropriate for 3-8 year old children. It also lists other books in the "God Gave Us" series, including Thankful Hearts, You, Christmas, Love, Easter, and Sleep. This was the first book I've read of the series though.

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

"When God Made You" by Matthew Paul Turner, illustrated by David Catrow

When God Made You is a beautifully illustrated children's book with the message that children are unique and exactly how they were meant to be.

Each page has one or two couplets expressing that God knows you and made you purposefully just the way you are. Later in the book some spreads of pages only have one line that rhymes with the line on the next spread of pages. Though the text is spread out, there is still quite a bit; there is definitely enough examples/evidence that God makes each child unique.

The illustrations are bright and whimsical. My favorite part is the scruffy puppy that appears on each spread of pages. The adorable puppy definitely would have been my favorite part as a child.

Its an encouraging and inclusive message that also inspires creativity: "use your talents and passions, / those gifts that God fashioned. / Think up ideas and then / put them to action." It gives up examples of art, story-making, and dancing.

I received a free copy of the book from Blogging for Books, but was not required to write a positive review.

Review: "Whatever is Lovely: A Coloring Book for Relection and Worship"

The Whatever is Lovely coloring book contains 45 one-sided illustrations. The pages are large and square, a nice size for full-page drawings. The designs take up the whole page, but there are often large white spaces featuring a Bible verse or a religious quote. The overall effect is that even the most intricate designs aren't too intimidating because it's not just the entire page filled with tiny lines.

On the reverse side of the illustration, there is a short description of the meaning, whether it be a more extended version of the Bible verse, lyrics from a song, or explanation from a blog post. The illustrators did a nice job of representing the meaning or theme in their art work. Here are a few of my favorite texts that appear as part of the coloring page:

• Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13)
• Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. (Corrie Ten Boom)
• I am with you always (Matthew 28:20)
• May we be sensitirve to the ways our words land in the hearts of others (Emily P. Freeman)
• So be truly glad there is wonderful joy ahead (1 Peter 1:6)
• We can put God first by giving him our first moments of the day (Lysa Terkeurst)
• He has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiatstes 3:11)

There is a wide variety within the images themselves as well, from flowers and leaves, to an elephant, a deer, an eagle, and more. Coloring the pages is not only soothing, but also provides quiet time to reflect on the verse or quote provided. Whatever is Lovely was a brilliant idea for a relection/worship coloring book and this book really saw the idea through to a beautiful outcome.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.