Book Review: God Gave Us...

I was recently sent two books in the God Gave Us... series for children to read and review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. One was God Gave Us Love and the other was God Gave Us Christmas. Both books are written by Lisa Tawn Bergren. When these books were offered to review, I jumped on it because I'm always on the look out for new books for my 2 year old daughter.

In God Gave us Love, a Grandpa Polar Bear is explaining to Little Cub (a girl) why loving is important and about how God loves us. He explains that God wants us to love everyone, even when we don't like them or want to love them. I especially like that the Grandpa explains that God loves us, that we can't ever make God not love us, and that we show others love by "being patient, gentle and kind." Near the end, the Grandpa tells Little Cub that "God loves us because He sent his son, to show us the way."

In God Gave us Christmas, a Mother Polar Bear explains to Little Cub that is wasn't Santa that gave us, but God. The Mother takes the Little Cub out on a trip to "find God" and they see His work in Northern Lights, His power in freezing water and glaciers, and Jesus when they see a bright "Morning Star." The Mother explains how God sent Jesus on the first Christmas and that Jesus came for everyone. I appreciated the simple way the author explained God and His gift for children.

Overall, these were beautiful books. They are hard bound with paper pages, one of which daughter accidentally tore. I think these books were a little old my 2 year old and probably would be perfect for a 4 or 5 year old. Although I don't tell my daughter about Santa Claus, I don't mind that they mention it in the Christmas book because they point out that God is more important and that Christmas is about Jesus. I appreciate that the author showed that we can see God's attributes all through creation and that we need to love others, even the unlovely. Although I may feel little uneasy about how some things were worded, I felt that these books were very good overall and would be excellent for beginning to teach a young one about God.