Friday, March 03, 2006

Most of All, Jesus Loves You

Most of All, Jesus Loves You, Noël Piper
Illustrated by Debby Anderson (Crossway Books, 2004), hb., 24pp.

This little book is written as a parent speaking directly to his/her child. It lists various people who love the child ending with “Most of all, Jesus loves you.” That is the extent of the text. I, honestly, was a bit surprised at the brevity of it. While it has the nice illustrations of Debby Anderson as in I Love My Bible, it lacks the same sort of depth. Now, I use ‘depth’ advisedly knowing we are considering reading to young children. Still I have become accustomed to books with a bit more substance even for young children (some have been discussed here).

For what it is this is a fine book. One just should realize what it is and what it is not. It is essentially a brief ‘goodnight’ for your children. The back cover suggests the book is for children ages 3 to 7. I think it will be most useful to children three and younger. The sweetest thing about it is the dedication which suggests this is a distillation of what Mrs. Piper regularly said each night to one of her daughters. The book does represent something good to say to our children. I just don’t think I would purchase a book for this.

5 Comments:

At 5:12 PM, Blogger Heather said...

Simple can be good. The message is brief yet declares that God's love for us supercedes that of our earthly relationships. I think for a young child, it's goood. My 2and 1/2 year old son enjoys it and because I consider Noel Piper a godly role model, I do too. I believe that she and her husband have cultivated a God-gloriying home and that this is just one of the ways in which they have communicated God to their children.
All that said, thanks for showing your discernment.

 
At 2:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it's always good for early readers to have picture-books like this that speak the words contained in this book since it familiarizes them with the subjects we cherish most as parents. I uploaded a cute video here of a friend's daughter "reading" this out loud right before bed when she was two if you want a smile!

 
At 8:36 AM, Blogger Ashleigh said...

I'm new to your blog, so I haven't had much time to read your reviews yet. But, have you wrote anything on "The Big Picture Story Bible"?

 
At 12:43 PM, Blogger Ray Van Neste said...

ashleigh,

I have not yet commented on "The Big Picture Story Bible" but am currently working on it. We really enjoy it!

 
At 12:47 PM, Blogger Ray Van Neste said...

Heather and Kristi,
Thanks for your comments. I too really respect the Pipers and see them as good role models. Some of the earliest memories of my two oldest sons are probably of college students packing into our little apartment to study Desiring God. Still, we look for more substance in books we buy.

 

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