~ Picture Book Feature for 'When God Made Light' ~

~ PICTURE BOOK SPOTLIGHT,

EXCERPT & REVIEW ~

'When God Made Light'

Written by Matthew Paul Turner 

Illustrated by David Catrow

About When God Made Light:

From the author and illustrator of the best-selling When God Made You comes a new illuminating message about God's design affirming young readers.

'Let there be light!' that's what God said. And light began shining and then started to spread." Wild and creative illustrations from top children's illustrator David Catrow pair with Matthew Paul Turner's lyrical verse in this message of a God-made light that cuts through darkness to bring vision and hope to all young readers. This light radiates, chasing away the shadows, providing the wonder and fun of stargazing or firefly chasing. Most important, this light appears in each child--an inner God-given spark that grows and will be used to change the world.

About Matthew Paul Turner:

Matthew Paul Turner is a blogger, speaker, and author of Hear No Evil, The Coffeehouse Gospel, the What You Didn’t Learn from Your Parents About… series, and several other popular books. Matthew, his wife, Jessica, and his son, Elias, live in Nashville, Tennessee. He can be found online at:  Matthew Paul Turner

CLICK HERE TO READ A SNEAK PEEK OF THE BOOK:  Excerpt of 'When God Made Light'

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MY REVIEW:

Rhyme, Rhythm, and Repetition: When I was earning my teaching credential many years ago, our professor for our early reading courses told us the three most important elements in picture books were rhyme, rhythm, and repetition. The author of 'When God Made Light' has done a masterful job of including these three components in his manuscript. I particularly enjoyed the higher-level vocabulary words he included in the story: gleamed, streamed, beamed; berries, cherries, strawberries, canaries; camping, stamping, tramping; constellations, formations, creations; etc.

Artwork: The illustrator has made the characters, children and animals, come alive on the pages of this book! His use of color, facial expressions, and light versus dark make the illustrations a supporting character in the story. I especially enjoyed the activities and body language the two African-American girls displayed throughout the book. The dog's exuberance from beginning to end was entertaining and humorous. As I reread the book several times I found different things to look at on each page. Those intricacies make a child want to hear a story and look at its pictures over and over again.

Faith: This story includes a positive view of how God sees the light in each of His children. Not only does the author touch on the creation of the world, but he writes that the light at creation is the same light God put inside each of us.

This is an excellent read-aloud book for families to share or for Sunday school teachers to read with their classes. Highly recommended!

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review. I received no compensation from Blogging for Books or any other party for posting this review here or on any other sites.

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COMING UP ON 'READING, WRITING & STITCH-METIC':

-- Thursday, March 1st: Book Blast & $100 Giveaway for 'The Marriage Pact' by Author Wendi Sotis. Sponsored by 'I Am A Reader'.

-- Friday, March 2nd: Book spotlight featuring debut Cedar Fort author Chelsea Curran's LDS romance, 'Unseen Road to Love'.

-- Monday, March 5th: Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday Historical Fiction Feature on 'Wolf Hollow' by award-winning author Lauren Wolk.

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