Book Review: Love Letters from God, Bible Stories for a Girl's Heart


Written by Glenys Nellist
Illustrated by Rachel Clowes

This book is intended for little girls, ages 4-8 years old. It has 14 stories that are all about various women in the Bible--7 from the Old Testament and 7 from the New Testament. Some of the women are well known, such as Eve or Mary, the mother of Jesus. Others are lesser known like Naaman's servant girl or the Widow with two mites.

Each story is a two-page spread: one side for the story and the other for a beautifully illustrated picture. The colors are bright and inviting and I love how the characters are depicted according to the historical setting. Once the little girl reads the story, she can then lift an envelope flap on the page and read a note that is intended to be "written" by God to her. There's even space to write in your child's name so the notes can be personalized, just like receiving their own mail. Each note ties in some truth from the Bible story to a truth about the child. For example, in the story about Eve, the author highlights that God loved Eve as a part of His creation, calling her good, and still loving her after she had done wrong. In the "love letter from God", the little girl is told that He made her and that anything He makes is good. It says that He will love her and offer forgiveness, just as He did with Eve. This pattern is the same through out the book for each story.

I like the idea of the book overall. I think it would be sweet and endearing to a little girl. I understand that the author wants to convey the idea that God loves every little girl and has a personal interest in every aspect of their lives, just as He did with the women in the Bible. However, I'm a little uncomfortable with the notes explicitly saying, "your caring friend, GOD" or "love, GOD," as though He actually wrote it.

Also, each story is very heavily adapted from the recounting giving in God's Word. While this may be thought to be "easier" for the child to read (which I can definitely understand), it interferes with Biblical accuracy, which is really important to me. Also, I am still an advocate of children hearing the Scriptures read to them so that they develop an ear for it, not an ear for paraphrasing. In any case, the Scriptural reference is given for each one of the stories, which I think is very important, so little girls will know where to find the Scripture and story for themselves.

(I received copies of this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> and Handlebar Publishing book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)

Comments

  1. Great review Stacie! So thoughtful and words FULL of wisdom. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hey, Jen! Thank you for stopping by to read my review.

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  2. I think you hit on the reason that I steer clear of most religious books for little kids. In "dumbing them down" the author, purposely or not, ends up changing the message of God's Word.

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  3. Exactly, Jody. I think people underestimate what children are able to understand. No need to make God's Word watery.

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