The Quiet (Crazy) Easter Day

I love these padded books. They are sturdy like board books yet have good story like a picture book.

And this is one that we enjoyed so much!

So as you can see its bright and colorful, which will hold any toddler or preschooler’s attention.

I like the story because it incorporates animal sounds which encourages my little audience to join in the story. They often get a good laugh from me making the animal noises as I read the book. And there’s almost a request for an encore performance. It’s a fun book to read to little ones who may not yet understand the full impact of the resurrection, but this book is a gentle introduction to our savior’s story. (They also have one about Jesus’ birth which is just as fun and colorful and full of animal noises to act out). 

I really like that this book takes the perspective that perhaps the animals were excited or maybe they somehow understood what was going on. And even if they did not, perhaps they were excited for God. As the Bible says that everything that has breathe worships Him, all creation worships Him. And animals are just as much God’s creation as I am. And they aren’t biased like humans are. So surely they worship God as a default. Their very existence is worship. And during those days, those who were sacrificed worshipped God in their death as well.

As always I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion. And I am not required to write a positive opinion.

Friendship Promises

We all have friends, right? And what particularly makes us a good friend? What would we tell others if they asked us this question?

So this is a new gift book by (in) courage, it is composed of devotions, prayer prompts, and journal prompts on the topic of friendship combined with beautiful Scripture art and graphics. I can easily see this book going from gift to interactive treasure as the devotions, prayers, and journaling prompts (along with the space to journal) invites us to linger and digest these lessons & promises on friendship. Then, as we marvel at the Scripture art, perhaps they are left blank without color so that we, too, may participate in making this book beautiful. 

The friendship promised this book offers are:

I promise to be Authentic, Present, Encouraging, and Rooted in Christ. The entire book is organized by these friendship promises. The reflections are drawn from Never Unfriended by Lisa Jo Baker and Craving Connection (another book by (in)courage). I mention this so that you have an idea of the authors of the book since other than this mention, there is no attributed author.

So for the exterior, we're looking at linen over the board. In person, it is the perfect shade of a coral/salmon color. And is the same size as Open Door Living (another gift book). The cover lettering & design is embossed with gold foil. There's also a ribbon marker the same shade of coral/salmon as the book, which makes me happy. 

I really like this book. I think that in this world of people being so easy to write each other off (and being proud of that fact) we need more resources on friendship. The beauty in friendship and knowing just what godly friendship looks like.

Highly recommend. I say buy in pairs. One for yourself and one for your best gal pal (or more for your best gal group of friends).

{As always, I received this book from the publisher (B&H) in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

A Standard of Grace

A Standard of Grace is the third book by Emily Ley. And Omgosh I wish I'd known about her before. After getting my hands on this guided journal, I am itching to read her other books, Grace, Not Perfection and A Simplified Life. 

So starting on the outside, it is a beautiful and bright hardback. The front lettering is embossed in gold. Also, there are 3, yes THREE, colorful (navy, yellow, and pink) ribbon bookmarks. Yep, excited! This journal is smaller than the average notebook yet larger than the average journal (9x6.6). 

Now for the inside, this is the GOOD paper. I mean you can use gel pens or even a highlighter without worry of it bleeding through. The guided journal is organized weekly instead of daily, with about 2 journaling prompts per week. It's enough to really get into but not so much that it takes us too much time. So it is PERFECT for the busy mama (like myself) or even the busy gal on the go who wants to stop to smell the roses but still has a full plate. There are also loads of beautiful photography found in the book.

Back cover...

The purpose of this guided journal is to get us to slow down to create the life we want and will be proud of. Not a life of perfection but one full of grace and mercy. One that has room for margin, which means less stress and frustration when disruptions to our day come. She also encourages us to dream in our journaling. And there are plenty of nuggets of inspiration and motivating quotes sprinkled throughout the journal. 

I'd definitely recommend, especially for those who could use help in staying on track in journaling. *hand raised*

(FYI: I received this journal from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.)

Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible

EEEEEEKKKK!!!!

That was me being UBER excited about this children's story bible. This has to be the first one I've EVER encountered where ALL of the illustrations are brown people. 

I have come across many Bible storybooks in my years of book reviewing and this is the FIRST time I've come across one where the characters are accurate. They are all beautiful shades of brown. While this may not seem like a huge deal, it really is. Most illustrations of Jesus and different people from the bible has been hugely white-washed even when you see movies on Joseph or Moses it is rare for us to see the Egyptians (who are African) portrayed as actual Africans (which is people of color, brown/black). And so to have an ENTIRE Bible storybook filled with people of color where my kids can see themselves in the Bible, that's huge. It's representation where we often have none. 

The stories are not too long and the illustrations hold our little ones' interest.  There are about 20 Old Testament stories and 20 New Testament stories.  Now don't expect it to be completely accurate (it isn't), that's why I described it as a storybook and not a Bible as the writer liberally adds to it to make it fun and engaging for kids. One of the stories is titled in such a way that children can connect the story to the holiday, The First Christmas.

If you choose to grab a copy for your kiddos, head over to Amazon.

(As always, I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.)

Artisan Collection Bible

I expected so much more from this Bible. The only thing to set this journaling Bible apart from the many others is the music note artwork that shows up on the page edges when the Bible is laid flat. Other than that there is no additional artwork found inside the Bible to prompt you to create artwork. There is the standard center column with lined margins.  The exterior cloth over board handprinted artwork is beautiful enough and definitely will catch your eye. There's just so much more that could be in this Bible that just isn't there.

However, if you're in the market for a beautiful note-taking bible, this is PERFECT. It's low fuss without the artwork to distract you from taking notes. There's also additional notes space in the back of the Bible. There are two bookmark ribbons, which is also a great bonus as most Bibles have only 1. It's also (in my opinion) small enough to take with you to church. It is apart of the Journal the Word series of bibles.

{FYI: I received this Bible from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Gratitude Coloring Journal

So the craze right now is journaling bibles...especially those that have coloring inside as well.

Some examples are the Inspire Bible by Tyndale, the Beautiful Word Bible by Zondervan, My Creative Bible by Christian Art Publishers, and the Illustrators Notetaking Bible (HCSB). I personally own the HCSB Illustrators Notetaking Bible. I have seen the Inspire Bible and Beautiful Word Bible in person, they are absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

So imagine my joy when I am offered the chance to review the Gratitude Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal!!!! Such a happy girl :)

This is a journaling devotional on gratitude. And it is awesome and beautiful. and a great size for travel. Some of the devotion pages are lined and others are not. It encourages you to draw or doodle. To praise God in your creative expression.

Here are some photos of the inside so you can see just how beautiful it really is. It's a bit smaller than an iPad Mini, so it can be easily thrown into a purse or diaper bag (ahem! lol).

And as noted, I did receive this journal from Tyndale in exchange for my HONEST opinion.

Illustrated Journaling Bible

Finally!!!!

I have wanted an illustrated journaling bible for SO long. And finally I have one thanks to B&H Publishing sending me one to review!

My immediate reaction: LOVE!

It is very beautiful! It is made to lay flat as you journal and color the illustrations in the bible. The one that I have is leather on outside grey and white with gold. I like that the illustrations are either Scripture or nature. There are also some articles within the bible that ask and answer a question. One is "How to Read and Study the Bible." This one that I have is an HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) version. I actually really like the translation. It kind of puts me in the mind of a NASB translation. I also like that in the beginning of the bible it explains the translation, what manuscripts it used, and features found in the bible. It is a decent size, large enough to read without my glasses yet small enough to toss down in my diaper bag to take with me.

Being able to color in the illustrations is a great help in calming me down when I am upset or having a hard day. It just focuses my attention to the Scripture I am coloring in.

This is the outside of the Bible.

This is what the inside looks like. As you can see I have been having fun.

Another shot of the inside of the bible. As you can see there is room to color and room to jot down some notes.

These are the color pencils that I use in the bible (on sale at Walmart for $0.50). I personally do not recommend anything heavier than a color pencil or gel pen considering how thin the pages are and especially not markers as I think they'd bleed through.