Forever You: A Book About Your Soul and Body

Perhaps you’ve heard some of these soulful phrases:
 I need to do a little soul searching.
That music has a lot of soul.
Don’t tell a soul about it.
She may be young, but she’s an old soul.
Your story touched my soul.
He bared his soul to her because she was his soul mate.
Let’s get down to the heart and soul of the matter.

Despite the common usage of the word “soul”, it remains a hard and abstract concept to grasp. How do you explain something that’s tied up with the idea of eternal existence but can’t even be SEEN? And yet author Nicole Lataif tries to just that in her book Forever You: A Book About Your Soul and Body.

  

The book starts with a note to adults. In it, Lataif calls the book a “resource for Christian faith formation at the most basic level, intended to help you explain to children what being human is all about.”

  

After that, the author invites the reader to explore the idea of soul through bright, whimsical illustrations (done by Mary Rojas) and simple text. Most pages hold only a few lines of text that loosely rhymes, and feature a repeated phrase (Your soul is in all you are and do—soul and body, forever you.)  The cartoon-like illustrations display multiple races and ages of people.

The general organization of the book is straightforward. Every couple of pages, the author describes an aspect of the soul and then gives physical and visual examples of that aspect in everyday life. Her ideas include the following: Your soul is your spirit; Your soul lets people see you from the inside out; Your soul shows through in your hopes; Your soul shows through in what you like; Your soul shows through when you love; Your soul shows through in your special gifts (talents); Your soul came from God when your life began.; Your soul is a gift for safekeeping; Your soul is for God; Your soul is for heaven.

What I Like: In the note to parents, I liked the basic principles of living Lataif put forth: When we care for our bodies, we also care for our souls; We build character through our actions; The choices we make matter; Our highest purpose is fulfilled by loving God and others. The illustrations were nicely done and fit the text well. The text itself is an easy read, flowing from page to page. I also think Lataif did an excellent job putting the concept of a soul in child-friendly terms. She took a complex idea and gave it a face.

What I Dislike: The book seemed a little long to me.  While this if fine for older kids, I think younger children might get a little squirmy with it.

Overall Rating: Excellent as a resource for those wanting to explain what a soul is; Good to Very Good as a general story.

Age Appeal: I think it would best appeal to the 4-8 year old crowd.

Publisher Info: Pauline Books and Media, 2012; ISBN:978-0819827081; Hardcover or Kindle, 32 pgs., $12.95 (HC), $9.99 (Kindle)

This book is not available at Christianbook.com.
Buy it at Amazon.com for $11.07
OR Buy the Kindle version for $9.99.