These two children’s books did not disappoint. Both vibrant in color, creative in vocabulary and my kiddos were engaged!
I’ll look first at When God Made Color by Sheri Carmon. Not only is this a creative and thoughtful take on the creation story, but the vivid artwork had the kids captivated. The details and intricacies of the illustrations made reading it many times a delight for both the adult and the children.
Knowing the creation story well I was grateful for how Caron extended the details and creativity that I believe are part of the story, without adding to the truth of the Scriptural context. We have so many details from the Bible about creation and yet there are still so many unknowns. This book is a wonderful way to open the door to creation conversations with kids and also the vibrant and unusually creative artwork is inspiring. It lead to lots of conversations about art, painting, creativity and uniqueness between creators.
I loved that Carmon coupled abstract pages and backgrounds with more concrete imagery as well. It opens up the opportunity for creativity and imagination when reading and also for the children to be able to use the illustrations to “read the story” themselves. This is one we will keep on reading!
I was a bit skeptical when I first read through Isacc’s Ice Cream Tree by Angela Hendersen just by myself; but seeing how the children were drawn to the silliness, the colorful illustrations, and ultimately the fanciful story I was won over too. Any story that gets my kids giggling, or creating new ideas and stories themselves is on I deem worthy of re-reading, and re-reading.
My kids also love the biographical pages in the back where Henderson shared where the story came from and it led to some fun and lively discussions of how we can perform stories, where stories come from and why telling stories is important. Henderson also wove the colors of the rainbow and the days of the week naturally into the story. As a past elementary education teacher I know that incorporating these life facts/skills of knowing days of the week and our colors is essential in early education. I love seeing my littles learn the colors and coordinating days of the week as we read the story again and again. I also really appreciate that these books drew in my boys. With a male main character in Henderson’s story the kids loved seeing a boy as the central character and that his “friend” is a tree. I loved talking to my kiddos about seeing nature as our friend, and discussing that how we interact with nature is important.
Hope you’ll take a look at the giveaway and interviews with the authors below.
Thanks to Celebrate Lit Bloggers for providing me a copy of these books. All opinions shared here are my own. A positive review is not required or expected by this review program.
About the Books
About the Authors
More from Angela
Why children’s books? After all, I teach young teens. Well, my reasons:
- I love art, and reading children’s books is like looking at an artist’s showcase of creativity!
* Shout out to my amazing illustrator, Rachael Koppendrayer! - I love to dream up the impossible, and you can make anything happen in a children’s book!
- I love togetherness and nothing brings a family together like a good book.
As I read picture books with my kiddos, the teacher in me wanted to instruct too. I created a blog (www.kidsbookfriends.com) so teachers, librarians and parents could have little lessons to help them “make friends” with the characters in the stories I featured. Surrounded by such inspiration from these books and my kiddos, I started writing my own manuscripts when my kids were all under age five, mainly sketches of thoughts until I had segments of time where I could construct stories.
After several years of attending SCBWI conferences; connecting with writers; creating manuscripts & editing and revising, editing and revising (you see a pattern?!); and submitting them to publishers, Isaac’s Ice Cream Tree was accepted for publication and was released January 15, 2019, by Whitefire Publishing! (It’s a process!!!)
The message embedded in this colorful, magical story expresses a very real part of my heart as it’s our family motto: “Always remember to look for the rainbow.” My kids and I both literally and figuratively practice this principle, rushing out after every rain to see if the sky is painted with a bow as well as trying to find the good that comes through the storms of life.
Through my journey, I’ve experienced much loss through moving many times, caring for my mother during her dying days, and losing my husband through divorce. Yet in it all, God redeems and uses each pain and joy like brush strokes on a canvass, reminding us of His unfailing promises while creating a masterpiece.
Creativity, imagination, inspiration . . . make magical moments.
Gather together. Dream the impossible. Embrace the colors. . . as I introduce you to a new friend, Isaac! Excited to share this story with you. . . and my next one . . . and the one after that. . . until we have many new kindred spirits . . .together.
Click here for a fee printable coloring page.
Click here to learn the story behind the story.
More from Sheri
A child asks, “Who am I?”
Creation Vs. Evolution – The big battle. Many public schools are presenting Evolution as fact and not theory. They leave no room for the concept of Creation. Our little ones are not creatures descended from animals, they are Children of God, created in His image. This is our identity and our children’s Identity and it makes all the difference in how we see ourselves, how we see others and how we engage in the world. Our identity is made clear in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27 NIV. As Christian parents and grandparents, we are charged with teaching, encouraging and bringing forth our family line for the LORD. The new picture book When God Made Color, with its awe inspiring illustrations, is about our true identity and about the joyful, loving God who created us and the whole universe – a universe that is still expanding – Isn’t He just amazing?
Click here to view a special video
Blog Stops
A Baker’s Perspective, May 2
By The Book, May 2
Among the Reads, May 3
cultivating us, May 3
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, May 4
Reflections From My Bookshelves, May 4
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 5
Mary Hake, May 5
For Him and My Family, May 6
Stephanie’s Life of Determination, May 6
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, May 7
Blogging With Carol, May 7
Lighthouse Academy, May 8
God’s Peculiar Treasure Rae, May 8
Pause for Tales, May 9
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, May 9
Inspiration Clothesline, May 10
Reading Themes, May 10
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, May 11
Texas Book-aholic, May 11
Have A Wonderful Day, May 12
janicesbookreviews, May 12
A Reader’s Brain, May 13
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 13
Older & Smarter?, May 14
Creating Romance, May 14
Inklings and notions, May 14
Aryn, the Libraryan, May 15
Little Homeschool on the Prairie, May 15
The Becca Files, May 15
Giveaway
To celebrate their tour, Angela and Sheri is giving away a grand prize of The Great Color Giveaway Package that includes a$25 gift card from Amazon, Rainbow ice-cream cups with colored spoons, a paperback copy of Issacs’s Ice Cream Tree, a $25 gift card from Barnes and Noble,
Crayola Washable Kids’ Paint – 12 count original and glitter paint (see attached image), and a paperback copy of When God Made Color!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e2a9/the-great-color-celebration-tour-giveaway
