God's Great Plan

God's Great Plan by Melissa Cutrera is a beautiful poem that spans God's creation of the world, all the way to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It shows our need for a Savior and how Jesus fills that need in our hearts.

God's Great Plan is laid out for us beginning with Creation. We are then shown how man's sin changed the perfect world God had created. We see how our penalty should be death. Yet because of His great love for us, God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross in our place. God's plan was not over, though, because Jesus rose from the dead conquering sin and death once and for all. He is now in Heaven preparing a place for us.

What I Like: This book not only has a great story line, but it has beautiful illustrations, as well. Each page is illustrated to match the words on the page so it is easy for non-readers to follow along. Some of the pages are illustrated in very dark colors to indicate the sin that has separated us from God or to show the darkness in the world during the death of Jesus. However, as dark as those illustrations are, they are still captivating and set the mood for the words.

As I read this book to my five year old, I could not get over how attentive to each page she was. She even asked thought provoking questions based on her understanding of the story line and illustrations. Her most impressive question (after I read one line of the poem) was, "Have I gone my own way?" This led to a wonderful conversation.
 
What I Dislike: I liked everything about this book.
 
Overall Rating: Excellent

Age Appeal: I would say this book is great for 5-12-year-olds.

Publisher Info: Shepherd Press, 2013; ISBN: 978-1936908-813; hardcover, 27 pgs., $16.95

Buy it at Amazon.com for $14.46.