God Loves You

Written by Carol Rubow, God Loves You is built upon four major faith foundations:

"God made you.
God takes care of you.
God forgives your sin because ...
God Loves You!"

The book begins by reminding children that many different kind of people live in the world and that some of these people -- Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather -- love them very much. This segues into God's love for the people and how He created everything, including people. Only God could create all these things and "only God can see you all the time."

Because God loves us, He takes care of us and forgives us for sin. The text continues to explain that God sends angels to watch over those He loves, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins, and He sends the Holy Spirit to help us love God and others the way God loves us.

The illustrations by Laura Freeman fully support the text. They offer saturated colors and soft edges. Combined these create sweet expressions and characters.

What I Like: It's so positive! This book offers a truthful message with good repetition, making it easy for children to remember. The repetition also makes this book a great choice for beginning readers. It covers a lot of information with ease: creation, God's love, Jesus' atoning sacrifice, the gift and role of the Holy Spirit, how children don't need to be afraid because God is always with them protecting and caring for them, how they should love others and more! The text flows very well. I also like the illustrations. They're not my favorite style, but they are rich in color and mesh well with the text.

What I Dislike: While the book emphasizes God's love and forgiveness, it makes absolutely no mention of personal responsibility. There is no inclusion of confession or repentance. Not once does the text encourage readers to ask for God's forgiveness; it just says He forgives. It also says "sin makes you do [bad things]." Sin doesn't make us do bad things; sin is the bad things we do. These may seem like nit-picky semantics, but the absence of these theological clarifications creates an incomplete representation of Scriptural truths. I find it confusing and misleading, especially for youngsters who are just beginning to understand God.

Overall Rating: Good.

Age Appeal: 4-8

Publisher Info: Concordia Publishing House, 2010; ISBN: 0758618557; Hardback; $12.99

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $9.99!

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Special Info: This book is also available in paperback as a "mini-book." You can buy it at Amazon.com for $2.49 or from Christianbook.com for $1.99. This would make a great gift for Sunday School classes!