Catchy Children’s Book Delights Toddlers up to First Graders…

Friends! Grab a cup of coffee or tea and allow me to show you a darling children’s book our grandchildren are clamoring for. You may wish to get a jump on Christmas (Did I just say that?) after learning more…

My friend, Diane, who’s also a grandmother, recently gifted me with this book for my birthday. It’s been a huge hit with our grandchildren. (The book says it’s aimed at children ages 2-6.) So far our three, three-year olds are in love with it. I’ll try it out on our kindergartner this afternoon.

The book? This I Know: Seeing God in the World He Made written by Clay Anderson and illustrated by Natalie Merheb.

It took me just the first read thru’ with Henry for us both to catch on. The illustrations are captivating, including many items to point out and sometimes even to count. It wasn’t until the second reading with Henry that his Mother, Lauren, noticed there are also hidden Bible verses with each scenario. (Way to go, La!)

The book opens with this verse:

Whatever the topic may be, whether it’s a sunrise, a baby, butterflies, lightning, etc., we readers are taught to look for God in everything. At the conclusion of each topic (Each one is two pages long, so you can open the book out to get the whole picture and to find more hidden gems.), we get to encourage our child to sing along to the song of Jesus Loves Me.

So for example on the pages with the sunrise, it concludes with us singing:

“Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the sunrise tells me so.”

I discovered if I reiterated whatever it was we learned about in each section, i.e. fireflies, then Henry would quickly sing along with me (Thank heavens as my voice is no bueno…) before we turned to the next page. Friends, this is a FUN read!

I gifted some of my friends (the Yayas!) who are grandmothers with this book. Jayne pointed out the red VW Van in the book, saying she and her husband, John, had had one in college. My John almost bought one when we were in college. We had a good laugh over that. (The license plate on the van has “J316” which is clever, but it’s not the hidden verse on that page, which I originally figured it was. The real hidden one is extra challenging to find!)

These precious Yaya sisters met when our oldest children started kindergarten and first grade at Dunn Elementary School, now some thirty years ago!!! Can it be??? (Pictured above, L-,R are: Yours Truly, Kathy Daniels, Denise Seiz, Bev Fleece, Jayne Combs, and Susan Bugh. Believe it or not, this picture was taken in Naples, FL in February of 2020–we had no idea what was comin’…)

Some of the hidden verses in the book are tricky to find. See if you can find all fourteen once you grab this book! I know Claire, our kindergartner, will love trying this as well as our preschoolers who love to find hidden things.

As of this writing, we are in Lexington for Baby Mills’ baptism. I tried the book out on Claire yesterday and while she wasn’t too keen on the singing part (largely due to my out of tune voice, I suspect!), she was super excited to find the hidden verses. She did indeed locate all fourteen and wanted to try to find them all over again.

In the back of the book there’s a page where you can write down whatever you wish, so I chose to write the hidden verses down and then look them up. (The top of the blank page poses the question, “How do you see God in the world He made?”) Next reading, I’ll share the verses with the grand angels. What a fun way to plant some spiritual seeds!

It’s hard to believe August flat whooshed by and Fall is upon us. Our oldest grand angel started kindergarten at a brand new school and I’m learning her new carpool routine that is a hair intricate/mind-boggling. Our three, three-year olds have also started preschool, while the two babies born last year are enjoying staying home for some Mommy time. (I know you’re curious to see our grand angels’ first day of school pics. LOL. Shameless…)

Our sweet 3 daughters-in-love (L-R: LT, Diana, and Lauren) with the 2 babies, George and Mills.

My daily prayer is to savor each day with whomever I’m with. I confess I get distracted and often forget even the simple message of this children’s book, that Jesus does indeed love me and my family in all things, in all weather, in all places, wherever we are. Amen and Amen.

Now run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and grab This I Know: Seeing God in the World He Made either for your family or for friends as this does make a fabulous gift!

‘Til next time!

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