A children’s book turns to the Bible for answers to life’s questions.

Brizendine (Heart Thoughts, 2017, etc.) is a great-grandmother and retired postmaster who lives on a cattle ranch in Florence, Texas. She answers 23 “why” questions children are likely to ask their parents—whether springing from innocent curiosity (such as “Why doesn’t Tommy’s dad live with Tommy?” and “Why do bad things happen?”) or the testing of boundaries (“Why do I have to take a bath?”)—with references to Scripture. For instance, for “Why can’t we have summer all the time?” she prescribes Genesis 8:22, in which, after the Great Flood, God promises that the world will adhere to predictable rhythms: “Planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter.” Descriptions of the seasons include the fun activities that each one allows. “Mommy, why do I have to do what you tell me to do?” entails a lesson on obedience, specifically commanded in Ephesians 6:1: “Children, obey your parents…for this is the right thing to do.” Parents have wisdom from their lived experience, the author asserts, and can protect their children from painful mistakes. Explanations of tough concepts like death, divorce, and sin are clear and traditional, never patronizing or misleading. Impressively, the answer to “Why do bad things happen?” is about the best that can be offered—even to adults—to account for the problem of evil: “God is with you when you hurt.” Everyday metaphors are carefully chosen to be meaningful to kids: “Resting your heart is like taking a nap in God’s lap,” and “Think of bad words in your mouth as vinegar. Think of good words in your mouth as candy.” Best of all, Brizendine finds a perfect role model for questioning: “Jesus asked God why…giving us permission to ask why.” Each question-and-answer unit is accompanied by a cute cartoon drawing by Lambright (Susie and Friends Coloring Book, 2016, etc.) on the facing page. It’s religious indoctrination, sure, but it’s pretty safe and well-presented stuff.

Rather than snapping “Because I said so” to the next irksome “why” question, Christian parents can give a thoughtful, biblically sound response taken from this sweet work.

A children’s story of Jesus’ birth, told simply, reverently, and often entertainingly by an owl in the Bethlehem stable.

In Brizendine’s (Grandma Thoughts, 2013) creative Nativity story, the titular bird starts off confused as Joseph and Mary unexpectedly intrude into his home, but he’s soon touched by their loving relationship and becomes excited at the prospect of witnessing the birth of their child. After the baby comes, the wise owl keeps tabs on the family, surprised at the arrival of worshiping shepherds and the gifts of the wise men. The last time the owl sees the family is when they’re on their way to Egypt, but later he hears miraculous things about the baby: specifically, how he’s actually both man and God and born to a virgin mother. The owl’s final words seem as if they come straight from Brizendine herself: “I continue to tell my story because I have seen God!” They’re followed by a few related New Testament excerpts and an invitation to readers to come to know Jesus personally in their hearts. One of the strengths of this presentation of the Christmas story is its comprehensiveness, as it covers all major events from the stable to the story of Herod’s infamous slaughter of male infants—a heavy topic for a children’s book but true to the tale. Like many Nativity stories, however, the text adds romanticized details, such as a glowing, smiling baby Jesus, and not all readers may be fond of this fact. The owl’s commentary also seems awkward at times, but overall, its unique perspective and juvenile tone is spot-on for this book’s target audience of Christian kids. The medium and mood of the illustrations constantly changes; after some owl photographs at the beginning, remaining illustrations seems to alternate between sedate and cartoonish, with colored-pencil drawings and what seems like clip art. Each of the images is appealing and relevant to the storyline, but the book would have benefited from greater illustrative predictability.

A fresh, if sometimes-sentimental, recounting of the first Christmas.