WHEN GOD MADE YOU

Name: WHEN GOD MADE YOU
Author: Matthew Paul Turner
ISBN: 978-1-60142-918-6

by Matthew Paul Turner ; illustrated by David Catrow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2017

Still, books that connect individuality, being beloved of God, and using one’s God-given talents are few and far between,...

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Turner and Catrow celebrate the divine in each person.

“From the very beginning, amid history and time, / you, little one, never left God’s mind.” From facial expressions to the sound of one’s voice, God has it all planned out, according to Turner’s rhyming couplets. Each of us is unique and needed in the world for our God-given gifts; we are reflections of God and God’s hopes for us: that we will be kind, givers and dreamers even during hardships; that we will love one another, etc. Unfortunately, young children may have trouble getting these messages from Turner’s text. Words and word order are often chosen to suit the rhyme and rhythm rather than for understanding, and there is some advanced vocabulary: “ ’Cause God loves you creating, your true self displaying, / when light on the inside through art is portraying. / When you make-believe, the stories conceived, / the heroics, the magic, those tricks up your sleeve.” Catrow’s illustrations are delightful in their bright colors and expressive, brown-skinned protagonist. They take a flight of fancy when the text turns to gifts, however, depicting an extended sequence in which the young girl uses her artistic talents to uplift, the result being an overemphasis on the value of the visual arts over all other talents.

Still, books that connect individuality, being beloved of God, and using one’s God-given talents are few and far between, and with some adult support, this can help fill that gap. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-60142-918-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: WaterBrook

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT IS GOD LIKE?
by Rachel Held Evans & Matthew Paul Turner ; illustrated by Ying Hui Tan

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ALL THE COLORS OF CHRISTMAS
by Matthew Paul Turner ; illustrated by Gillian Gamble

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WHEN I PRAY FOR YOU
by Matthew Paul Turner ; illustrated by Kimberly Barnes

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)