I am a child of God, an heir to the throne through Jesus Christ, and a living testimony to the great I Am. I have 4 children who keep me young. I have been with my spouse for 20 years (married for 10). I run a Facebook page called “Jesus Loves All of Us,” where I share daily devotionals. I opened a publishing company called Stewardship Press a few years ago, which is linked to this page. I have written over 20 books, journals, coloring books, and devotionals, most of which are Christ-centered. The others that do not have Christian content are still morally and ethically upstanding secular content.
This book reshaped my understanding of faith during a pivotal moment in my life. I was right smack dab in the middle of giving my life over to Christ. I was looking forward to being baptized and doing a lot of studying on my own, but I couldn't quite wrap my head around what “exactly” Jesus’ death did for me on the cross. This book opened my eyes.
This book was not just about learning the facts of Jesus' sacrifice; it was about experiencing the profound love and acceptance that comes with it. By the last page, I completely understood what happened at the cross and what it meant to me.
Lucado's ability to unravel the Easter story in a way that's both deeply insightful and surprisingly light-hearted. It's like he's peeling back the layers of Scripture to reveal the heart of God in a whole new light. Highly recommend!
Is your heart unsettled by the chaos of the world? Are you heavy-laden with bad moments, mad moments, or anxious moments? Today, rest in God's self-giving love and leave all your troubles at the foot of the cross.
There were no accidents on the days surrounding Jesus' death. Jesus' last moments were not left up to chance. God chose the path; he selected the nails. Our Lord planted the trio of crosses and painted the sign. God was never more sovereign than in the details of the death of his Son. God didn't have to do all these things, you…
I’ve always loved horror stories, right from when I was a kid, and I first watched Friday the 13th, the ultimate scary movie. The jump scare moment was everything. I spent time studying great suspense writers like Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, and R L Stine. I was in awe at how they had me turning the pages, unable to look away! I think more and more children are discovering the fun and thrill of scary stories, and I love nothing more than making sure I try and implement some of these rules, adding in my own originality, too!
Spooky fiction–I can’t read enough of it. But not horror for adults, horror for kids. Let’s call it soft horror!
Set within a school environment, this book combines the essence of young adulthood with the sharp edge of introducing horror to younger readers. I love school settings, especially when the kids come across as cool as Angelo and the gang in Dreadwood.
School life can be tough, but having a great friendship circle can make a difference. I know I valued my friends back in my school days; they were always there to laugh and joke with. I rooted for the characters in this book every inch of the way, hoping nothing would destroy that friendship.
The must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spooky Crater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine's Goosebumps.
"Deliciously scary and hilarious comedy-horror, perfectly pitched for eight-plus."
The Guardian
"Brilliantly creepy fun for young horror fans, with an unexpectedly moving ending." The i, 30 of the best children's books for Easter.
"Jennifer Killick's talent for horror and humour is blended brilliantly here as the spiky dialogue, unstoppable pace and genuinely menacing atmosphere build to a tremendous climax"- Daily Mail
"A heart-stopping thrill ride of a book." - M.G. Leonard, author of Adventures on Trains series
I am a Graphic Illustrator, Muralist, and Educator, serving as an adjunct professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art and I love birds! I was born and raised in the Chautauqua Lake Region of Western, NY and I find myself very much at home with our feathered friends. My passion for color, shape, and nature enables me to draw the viewer's eye to things that otherwise might go unnoticed. Letter Birds was created when my children were 5 and 7 and I would draw while they slept. When they awoke they would find a colorful drawing of a feathered friend along with a new letter to learn. My children continue to be my creative muses - even as teenagers!
This book touches the soul and imagination of all artists. Following a young (bunny) Artist as they make their mark within an adventurous creative family that travels the world. Each spread transports you to a world of chance where art brings together not only communities but families. An absolute joy for creative minds!
“Alex Michaelides hits the trifecta with his third novel, The Fury. The highly original story presents the reader with the king of all unreliable narrators, enough twists and turns to power two novels, and a host of characters that bleed right on the page. ” ―David Baldacci
A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder ― from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient
Richard Yates' richly nuanced novel from 1976 also became one of my favorite novels upon reading it this year.
Depicting the early childhood-through-midlife of Emily Grimes, Yates takes us on an uncompromising, unsettling, and moving journey, from Emily's imbalanced upbringing to the challenging relationships between her mother and older sister, as well as the men that enter in and out of her life, and how her search for self becomes somewhat obscured as a result of all, despite her obvious intelligence.
While Yates was primarily known for his first novel, Revolutionary Road, this is very much a work that should be required reading for any reader who truly appreciates mature literature and complex heroines. Rarely have I read such a work set in a domestic setting depicted so honestly.
In The Easter Parade, first published in 1976, we meet sisters Sarah and Emily Grimes when they are still the children of divorced parents. We observe the sisters over four decades, watching them grow into two very different women. Sarah is stable and stalwart, settling into an unhappy marriage. Emily is precocious and independent, struggling with one unsatisfactory love affair after another. Richard Yates's classic novel is about how both women struggle to overcome their tarnished family's past, and how both finally reach for some semblance of renewal.
In my everyday world of responsibilities, I’m a writer, retired veterinarian, and freelance English editor for academic writing. But in my inner world of curiosity and obsessions, I’m forever a child with a profound longing to understand what the world is and how it works. Always searching on behalf of this forever child, I’ve read many a dull book about science, history, and writing. Despite having fascinating content, authors often flatten these subjects into featureless recitations. Happily, I’ve also found authors who express enthusiasm, expertise, or concern for their topic in prose that is as interesting in voice as it is in content.
Each chapter is a deep exploration of a single poem, highlighting sounds and words in ways the poems’ authors may or may not have intended. When I met this book, I had been writing poetry for years—unfocused drafts distilled from raw experience and emotion that I later revised into purposeful communication.
Then I read The End of the Poem. Suddenly, I wanted my poems filled with riddles and echoes, delicate Easter eggs for my readers. This book taught me there is an uncontrollable synergy between writers, words, and readers. Each reader will encounter a writer’s intentional (and unintentional) choices in a unique framework built on their own unique experiences in this world.
The End of the Poem contains the fifteen lectures delivered by Paul Muldoon as Oxford Professor of Poetry, from 1999 to 2004. Rather than individual and discrete performances, these lectures form a dazzling set of variations around the sustained theme of 'the end of the poem'. Each lecture explores a different sense of an ending: whether a poem can ever be a free-standing structure, read and written in isolation from other poems; whether a poem's line-endings are forms of closure (and where this might leave the poem in prose); whether the poem is completed only with the reader's act of…
I love a mystery or thriller, a number of which climbed to the top of my
pile this year. What they all have in common is rich characters in
communities dense with secrets.
The ultimate example for me was The Hunt, in which a colorful cast of damaged working-class people are
swept up into a thriller that revolves around the threat of a string of murders
spanning twenty years in Arkansas.
Growing up poor in rural Maine, my landscape
was different, but I recognize the hardscrabble
lives and the insular nature of small-town life so well depicted in Ford’s
novel.
The setting, the flawed queer protagonist and those who love her, and
the thicket of possible suspects all combine for a fresh spin on the genre and a
satisfyingly twisty story arc.
From the author of Real Bad Things and Cottonmouths, a Los Angeles Review Best Book of 2017, comes the darkly suspenseful tale of a small-town Easter tradition and its murderous secrets.
For seventeen years, a serial murderer has used the Presley, Arkansas, Annual Hunt for the Golden Egg to find prey. Or at least that's what some people believe. Others, like the town's devoted "Eggheads," relish the tradition and think the deaths are just unfortunate accidents. But for Nell Holcomb, the town's annual Hunt dredges up a particularly painful memory: her brother's death, long believed to be "the Hunter's" first…
I love suggesting these topics of coloring books because my clinical work involves using art, coloring, and creativity in a therapeutic setting. I am an art therapist working with children in a hospital setting and am trained in applying the arts to build coping skills for managing difficult emotions. As a Christian author, I like to integrate both scripture and art to allow big concepts to become more comprehendible for the younger reader. Growing up, I've always been a visual learner! Art accesses parts of the brain that reading cannot. So, I hope these recommendations and my book can be just the start of discovering the benefits of art.
This devotional book is perfect for kids because they get to learn Bible stories through coloring! I believe the more a child is able to apply what they learn creatively, ideas become more concrete for them. The art a child creates can become memory cues for what is read. Personally, I love this devotional and think it offers kids a unique way of comprehending the Bible. Not only does it benefit children, but I believe adults can benefit from doodling while they read, too! We may be older, butthe inner child in all of us is still there. So—if you're looking for a good faith-based devotional for your kids, I recommend a devotional that has some aspect of coloring in it!
A great way to get kids to dig deeper into their Bibles is to have them interact with its stories and lessons. Doodle Devotions for Kids by Nancy Taylor helps children do that through its 60 devotions accompanied by doodling activities. This collection of devos goes through the entire Bible while encouraging kids to respond in their own creative ways. Do as the author says, “Write all over this book!”
Designed to be appropriate for―and enjoyed by―both boys and girls, this devotional book featuring 152 pages and lots of fun illustrations would make a great gift for any kid in…
All of the books I’ve listed above have flawed characters. Characters that deal with emotional and/or moral dilemmas. The plots: murder, missing children, or runaway husbands are secondary to me. What I look for in a book and what I write about in my Cole and Callahan series, are characters with flaws. People who struggle with truth. Cops or investigators that hide or skew evidence because the truth would cause more harm than good. It’s the moral dilemma I want. The angst we all feel when we are faced with a particularly painful decision. That’s what real life is and that’s what brings a book and a character to life.
Not A Happy Family is a Domestic Suspense novel. The Mertons have everything, money, a beautiful home, and plenty of vacations. So why, after Easter dinner with their three children are they found dead? The kids are distraught. Or are they? What childhood secrets do each of them carry and is one of them murderously vindictive? I come from a big family and always enjoy reading about dysfunctional families. Luckily, my own family was only semi-dysfunctional for the most part. Nothing I needed to kill my parents over.
I have a thing about bunnies! My first plush toy was a rabbit named Boing Boing and I had a pet lop-eared bunny named Br’er. The first book I wrote in my series was The Night Before Easter because I wanted to write a story for kids who love bunnies and Easter - like me! When I was a child I also liked to read books by Beatrix Potter and hope to one day visit her house in England.
It’s a silly rabbit book! Kids will love that the bunnies are trying to disguise themselves from what they think is a hungry wolf. But it turns out the wolf isn’t looking for bunnies to eat. The lone wolf wants friends. Great read-aloud story! The illustrations – part art and part cartoon – are bursting with energy and saturated color. Don’t forget to read the funny signs in the artwork as well.
A laugh-filled, bunny-filled new picture book from author-illustrator dream team Tammi Sauer and Ross Burach, just in time for Easter baskets and spring celebrations.
From the author of Wordy Birdy and the illustrator of The Very Impatient Caterpillar comes a hilarious picture book about a super-sassy bunny who tries to save himself and his cotton-tailed pals from a wolf by conning him into thinking they are not bunnies, despite the fact that a.) they are very clearly bunnies and b.) more and more (and more!) bunnies keep showing up. How many bunnies are in this book? A LOT!
