Good News! God Loves You! and Good News! It’s Creation!

Glenys Nellist

I have mentioned that I am the mother of seven children and that my home is filled with books. We literally have floor to ceiling bookshelves in every room, on our staircase landing, in our basement, and even in our klivingchen (combination kitchen/living room where we eat, play games, do school work, and read). My youngest is 2 years old and has definite favorites with books, of which Glenys Nellist’s Good News series is at the top of his most requested/thrown at Mama list. When Good News! God Loves You! and Good News! It’s Creation! arrived from the publisher, Mr. Sammy literally screeched with joy, yelled, “Ees more GOOD NEWS! YAAAAAAY!”, did his first two-feet-clearing-the-floor jump, and plopped down so we could read. 

Just like the rest of titles in the Good News series, there is so much to draw in young readers and their adults. The gentle cadence to the sentences allows little ones to enjoy the rhythm and meaning of the text. The beautiful illustrations are soft, detailed, and inclusive. The books are durable and ready for young readers to enjoy time and again. They fit wonderfully into the seat pockets in my van and also in my everyday tote bag. The series is designed to be enjoyed by all ages and stages, meaning these are not books that parents might think about putting on a high shelf where little ones might forget about them so that they can avoid reading them to their little ones. 

Good News! It’s Creation! is a lovely retelling of the creation story. Each day of creation is covered and told with beautiful illustrations and rhyme. Children will be drawn in and adults will love the fresh eyes that this book uses to present one of the most well-known passages from the Old Testament. (I would be first in line to purchase these illustrations if they were offered for sale for decorating classrooms or bedrooms.) Would this make a wonderful gift for families of young children? Yes. Would this be the perfect addition to your early childhood classroom library? Yes. Should this book be in the pews for children and families to leaf through during worship. Absolutely. Pair it with a pack of good crayons and a pad of paper and let the kids draw along with the book. Will I be using this with my youth during our Maker Space time to help them create their own retelling of the creation story for the young children in our congregation? Very much. Should you stash this in your own library to use for a children’s moment (or as I prefer to call it, A Time For Young Theologians)? Yes. 

Good News! God Loves You! is quite possibly my favorite addition to the Good News collection. Everything I’ve said about the books in the series applies here; gently cadenced text, lovely and inclusive illustrations, durable book. However, this book is screaming ‘use me as the spine of your Lenten lessons, Elizabeth’. There are 7 full page spreads to enjoy with readers. It is not difficult to connect each spread to the lectionary year A readings for Lent, but they can also stand on their own. Each spread allows you to connect to several different Bible passages (e.g. there’s simply nowhere you can go to hide from God’s great love lets you focus on Rahab, on Moses, on Mary Magdalene, or on Zechariah and Elizabeth). Imagine the power of spending 7 weeks (6 weeks of Lent plus the week after Easter) deepening our understanding of just how much God loves us. Imagine looking at familiar passages and people from the Bible through the lens of God’s love for them. Imagine peeling away the innate human behaviors that cause them to behave in ways that we may deem maladaptive, or even unlovable/unforgiveable and examining their stories for how God remained connected to them. I would create a Yearbook of Love and have the kids work on entries that line out all the ways God remained connected to the people. (This could be done in person on paper, online through a shared Google Drive file, or even on a shared file through Canva.) The power of equipping our children and youth with the lenses to see the power of each person’s story and connection with God, rather than viewing them through glasses that only see the unlovable behaviors, will reap a harvest of soon-to-be adults that will carry those loving lenses out into the world. This book is truly special and Mr. Sammy is going to have to cope with Mama constantly borrowing it out of his book basket. 

But I have GOOD NEWS for you! Check back here on Monday, September 26 for a chance to win copies of both Good News! It’s Creation! And Good News! God Loves You! Our Daily Bread Publishing has generously sponsored this giveaway. (Don’t tell Mr. Sammy if you win. He will want to come to your house and have you read them to him while eating all your cheese.)