85 books like Dear Mama God

By Daneen Akers, Gillian Gamble (illustrator),

Here are 85 books that Dear Mama God fans have personally recommended if you like Dear Mama God. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The World Jesus Knew: A Curious Kid's Guide to Life in the First Century

Victoria Robb Powers Author Of My Love, God Is Everywhere

From my list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an ordained minister with over 10 years of experience serving as a pastor in both the hospital and church settings. I’m also a mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7. I routinely get asked for resources to help raise children in the Christian faith. As both a pastor and a mother, I am a strong advocate for teaching children a theology they won’t have to heal from. All the books I recommend are progressive, inclusive, and diverse. I’ve done extensive research when it comes to faith-based literature, and I’m passionate about finding the best books to recommend to families.

Victoria's book list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe

Victoria Robb Powers Why did Victoria love this book?

If your kid is curious and loves to know wild, random facts, this is the book for you.

This book is chock-full of interesting, obscure details about life in the 1st century. This book not only teaches kids what the world was like when Jesus was alive, but it increases their engagement with their faith. It’s fun, silly, and you’ll need more than one copy if you have multiple kids, because they’ll inevitably fight over it, just like mine.

By Marc Olson, Jemima Maybank (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World Jesus Knew as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Jesus often told stories using everyday objects to help his listeners understand life with God. But for most of us, the deep imagery and meaning behind those objects has been lost to history. This book helps kids discover the world Jesus lived in through maps, charts, graphs, and other infographic elements. They'll learn about the culture Jesus lived in-his Jewish religion, the power of the ruling Roman Empire, the role of fishermen and carpenters and shepherds. It's an invitation to explore the stories of Jesus in their cultural context, bringing new life to familiar biblical events. This beautifully illustrated book…


Book cover of What is God Like?

Victoria Robb Powers Author Of My Love, God Is Everywhere

From my list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an ordained minister with over 10 years of experience serving as a pastor in both the hospital and church settings. I’m also a mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7. I routinely get asked for resources to help raise children in the Christian faith. As both a pastor and a mother, I am a strong advocate for teaching children a theology they won’t have to heal from. All the books I recommend are progressive, inclusive, and diverse. I’ve done extensive research when it comes to faith-based literature, and I’m passionate about finding the best books to recommend to families.

Victoria's book list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe

Victoria Robb Powers Why did Victoria love this book?

This is the perfect book for a baby shower gift.

If you’re a parent who wants to raise their children in the faith, this is a primary resource to have on hand. Kids are always wondering what God is like. This book is a useful tool in showing children just how good God is. It explores all kinds of diverse metaphors and instills the important truth that God loves us all.

By Rachel Held Evans, Matthew Paul Turner, Ying Hui Tan (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What is God Like? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The late, beloved Rachel Held Evans answers many children's first question about God in this gorgeous picture book, fully realized by her friend Matthew Paul Turner, the bestselling author of When God Made You.

Children who are introduced to God, through attending church or having loved ones who speak about God, often have a lot of questions, including this ever-popular one: What is God like? The late Rachel Held Evans loved the Bible and loved showing God’s love through the words and pictures found in that ancient text. Through these pictures from the Bible,…


Book cover of Mother God

Victoria Robb Powers Author Of My Love, God Is Everywhere

From my list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an ordained minister with over 10 years of experience serving as a pastor in both the hospital and church settings. I’m also a mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7. I routinely get asked for resources to help raise children in the Christian faith. As both a pastor and a mother, I am a strong advocate for teaching children a theology they won’t have to heal from. All the books I recommend are progressive, inclusive, and diverse. I’ve done extensive research when it comes to faith-based literature, and I’m passionate about finding the best books to recommend to families.

Victoria's book list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe

Victoria Robb Powers Why did Victoria love this book?

Every page of this book should be framed.

The illustrations are incredible, and the language invites readers of every age to imagine how expansive God is. I love the use of the female imagery for God. This has been lost for too long. If you’re looking to instill a theology that’s broad, diverse, and full of wonder, start here.

By Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, Khoa Le (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mother God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Teach your kids that God's love transcends single-gender expression--God is creative, fierce, protective, and her love as a Mother knows no bounds.

With lyrical, rhyming text and exquisite illustrations, Mother God introduces readers to a dozen images of God inspired by feminine descriptions from Scripture. Children and adults alike will be in awe of the God who made them as they come to know her as a creative seamstress, generous baker, fierce mother bear, protective mother hen, strong woman in labor, nurturing nursing mother, wise grandmother, and comforting singer of lullabies.

This gorgeous picture book welcomes children into a fuller,…


Book cover of Sparrow's Prayer

Victoria Robb Powers Author Of My Love, God Is Everywhere

From my list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an ordained minister with over 10 years of experience serving as a pastor in both the hospital and church settings. I’m also a mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7. I routinely get asked for resources to help raise children in the Christian faith. As both a pastor and a mother, I am a strong advocate for teaching children a theology they won’t have to heal from. All the books I recommend are progressive, inclusive, and diverse. I’ve done extensive research when it comes to faith-based literature, and I’m passionate about finding the best books to recommend to families.

Victoria's book list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe

Victoria Robb Powers Why did Victoria love this book?

Not every person prays the same. It’s not helpful to teach children that the only way to pray is with eyes closed, heads bowed, and words uttered.

Children are all different – they learn different, and they express themselves different. This book teaches kids that you can pray in a number of different ways, especially the ones that come most naturally to you. Prayer can be done in word, dance, song, service, and so on. If you want to teach your kids about prayer, this is an excellent resource.

By Roger Hutchison, Ag Jatkowska (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sparrow's Prayer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

When words are hard to find, prayer blooms in unexpected ways.

Sparrow wakes each morning, ready to sing a prayer of thanksgiving. But not today. Today his words get tangled and knotted in his beak like old yarn and straw. He feels sad and gray, and he's not sure why. So Sparrow decides to ask his friends Turtle, Mousie, and Buck for advice on how to pray. Each friend shows Sparrow a different way to pray without words, through generosity, art, and movement. As the day ends, Sparrow meditates on a rose aglow in the evening light and has an…


Book cover of Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives

Derek Sivers Author Of How to Live: 27 Conflicting Answers and One Weird Conclusion

From my list on to change how you understand the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

The greatest thrill is seeing something a new way. Remember the end of the movie The Sixth Sense, when you learn he was dead the whole time? It blows your mind and makes you re-think everything you saw. That's how it feels to learn another philosophy or a new distinction in understanding the world. I'm always seeking more of those moments, and these five books (plus mine) do that more than any I've found so far.

Derek's book list on to change how you understand the world

Derek Sivers Why did Derek love this book?

Awesomely creative think-piece. 40 very short fictional stories about what happens when you die. The framework is inspiring for anyone: coming up with 40 different answers to any one question. But they’re also just brilliant ideas and powerful little fables.

By David Eagleman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Sum as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the afterlife you may find that God is the size of a microbe and unaware of your existence. Or you may find the afterlife contains only those people whom you remember. In some afterlives you are split into all your different ages; in some you are recreated based on your credit-card records; and in others you are forced to live with annoying versions of yourself that represent what you could have been.

In these wonderfully imagined tales - at once funny, wistful and unsettling - Eagleman kicks over the chessboard of traditional notions and offers us a dazzling lens…


Book cover of The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss

Rupert Sheldrake Author Of The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry

From my list on science, consciousness, and spirituality.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a biologist and I am also interested in spiritual explorations and sacred places. These books discuss some of the most interesting issues in science, and the nature of ultimate consciousness - the primary subject of theology, consciousness. I am also very interested in spiritual practices that have measurable effects, as discussed in my books Science and Spiritual Practices and Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work.

Rupert's book list on science, consciousness, and spirituality

Rupert Sheldrake Why did Rupert love this book?

Deep ideas, indeed some of the deepest ideas possible. This is state-of-the-art theology by one of the greatest living theologians who brings together essential insights from the Hindu, Christian, Sufi, Buddhist, and other religious traditions showing how all have much more in common than separates them. Essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of consciousness, because the fundamental subject matter of theology is none other than ultimate consciousness, the source of all other forms of consciousness in the universe, including our own. Hart’s writing is lively and engaging.

By David Bentley Hart,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Experience of God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From one of the most revered scholars of religion, an incisive explanation of how the word "God" functions in the world's great faiths

Despite the recent ferocious public debate about belief, the concept most central to the discussion-God-frequently remains vaguely and obscurely described. Are those engaged in these arguments even talking about the same thing? In a wide-ranging response to this confusion, esteemed scholar David Bentley Hart pursues a clarification of how the word "God" functions in the world's great theistic faiths.

Ranging broadly across Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Vedantic and Bhaktic Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, Hart explores how these great…


Book cover of When God's Story Becomes Your Story

Marcus Hurst Author Of The Contentment Dilemma: Examining Life's Mysteries and Purposes

From my list on as you grow in your Christian walk.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a conservative Mennonite from Pennsylvania, I have observes many people who, despite numerous desperate attempts at locating lasting fulfillment, find themselves always craving more and never satisfied to relax and be content. I have consequently dedicated myself to helping these folks obtain the satisfaction they inwardly crave. This lead to hours of contemplating, praying, and reading numerous books on the subject.

Marcus' book list on as you grow in your Christian walk

Marcus Hurst Why did Marcus love this book?

Max, with his absorbing style and captivating stories and word pictures, explains how God’s story shall become ours when we follow His leading.

Max does a marvelous job of illustrating that there is purpose for our pain; and yes, God dearly loves each of us and has some amazing plans for us if we will only trust Him.

By Max Lucado,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When God's Story Becomes Your Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Note: This is a booklet of 48 pages which has only two Chapters.

Life is sometimes full of blocked entrances and locked doors. You have hopes and dreams, but the path to them is often cluttered with obstacles. Seasons of life arrive that are hard to explain. In Romans 8:28, Paul writes, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” When God’s story becomes yours, closed doors take on new meaning. God owns the key to every door and will use the one…


Book cover of Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

Jennifer Read Hawthorne Author Of Life As a Prayer: Poems

From my list on poems about love, nature, and God.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love words! As a child, I learned the power of stories from my father, a master storyteller and creator of 480 original Brer Rabbit stories. I began writing myself at the age of seven, majored in journalism, and enjoyed a career that included everything from technical writing to several of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul books. But only through poetry did I discover the beauty of getting to the essence of experience. I love how poetry takes both the writer and the reader to a deeper place, creating intimacy, giving us “ah-ha” moments, and touching heart and spirit.

Jennifer's book list on poems about love, nature, and God

Jennifer Read Hawthorne Why did Jennifer love this book?

I would own this book for Mary Oliver’s poem “How I Go to the Woods” alone! Oliver’s love of nature, the way she notices the details of her surroundings, and the language she uses to describe her experiences are breathtaking. It’s easy to see why Mary Oliver won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

By Mary Oliver,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Swan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Joy is not made to be a crumb,” writes Mary Oliver, and certainly joy abounds in her new book of poetry and prose poems. Swan, her twentieth volume, shows us that, though we may be “made out of the dust of stars,” we are of the world she captures here so vividly. Swan is Oliver’s tribute to “the mortal way” of desiring and living in the world, to which the poet is renowned for having always been “totally loyal.”


Book cover of The Inescapable Love of God

J.D. Atkinson Author Of Believable: Discover the God That Saves All

From my list on apologetic defense of the Christian faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to hear the reasons behind what people think regarding the origin of the universe, the existence of God, and the fate of mankind. These topics are all closely related to apologetics, the study of defending one’s faith. I was taught in church that most of humanity is destined for endless torment in hell. However, I now see there is a wealth of scriptural and historical evidence to support the contention that all people will ultimately see the truth and be saved by Jesus Christ. This is a crucial question every Christian must confront, as it is central to defining the character and identity of God.

J.D.'s book list on apologetic defense of the Christian faith

J.D. Atkinson Why did J.D. love this book?

First published in 1999, this book has since been heralded as required reading for anyone considering the possibility that God might save all of His creatures in the end. Talbott’s approach is humble and thorough, and, like any good book, the message is easily grasped by the interested reader. Drawing from a wealth of knowledge, he tests numerous salient scriptures and the history of their interpretation.

If God seems to be reacting to an out-of-control creation rather than proactively controlling the outcome to align with His perfect will, this book should be next on your list.

By Thomas Talbott,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Inescapable Love of God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Will the love of God save us all? In this book Thomas Talbott seeks to expose the extent to which the Western theological tradition has managed to twist the New Testament message of love, forgiveness, and hope into a message of fear and guilt. According to the New Testament proclamation, he argues, God's love is both unconditional in its nature and unlimited in its scope; hence, no one need fear, for example, that God's love might suddenly turn into loveless hatred at the moment of one's physical death. For God's love remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. But neither…


Book cover of God: A Human History

Mahmoud Elsayed Author Of The Bitter Truth of Reality: The route to skepticism and the case against objective reality

From my list on to understand humanity and the universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

Mahmoud Elsayed has always been interested in finding rational answers to the big existential questions. This could clearly be noticed in his writings and philosophy. He has also worked in various and somehow diverse fields of engineering and science which allowed him to smoothly, flexibly, and knowledgeably jump from a field of expertise to another in order to make his philosophical arguments comprehensive. 

Mahmoud's book list on to understand humanity and the universe

Mahmoud Elsayed Why did Mahmoud love this book?

Whether you are religious or not, whether you like it or not, religions and God/Gods have been a part of the human civilizations as far as we started documenting, writing, and recording history and perhaps even as far as we existed. To understand the part that religion played in our history and how it had and still could have a significant effect on how we perceive the world and reality in general, it may be crucial to understand the history of religions and how they originated. Raza Aslan gives a wonderful presentation on that in this book. 

By Reza Aslan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Timely, riveting, enlightening and necessary." (Huffington Post)

In God, Reza Aslan sheds new light on mankind's relationship with the divine and challenges our perspective on faith and the birth of religion.

From the origins of spiritual thought to the concept of an active, engaged, divine presence that underlies all creation, Aslan examines how the idea of god arose in human evolution, was gradually personalized, endowed with human traits and emotions, and eventually transformed into a single Divine Personality: the God known today by such names as Yahweh, Father, and Allah.

Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, God…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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