Messages
I’m excited to share my newest picture book. Though the content is heavy, we all have to answer children’s questions about death. It’s not unusual for children to lose a friend in a car wreck or to cancer or even in school shootings. When children in a nearby community lost a friend in a school shooting, I wondered what questions the children asked about their friend.
Where did he go? The standard answer we all give is, “He’s with Jesus.”
What’s he doing? The standard picture is a child with wings, strumming on a harp, floating on a cloud. So we say, “Jesus wanted another angel.”
What other questions might children have? Do people cry in heaven? Are they hurting? Do they get to eat ice cream? Do they get to play? Are there rainbows in heaven? Do they know people? Are they still my friend?
Messages helps parents and young readers find answers to many of these questions with pictures of children having fun. The main character, a boy named Jake, wakes up to the giggles of children climbing in a tree with twelve kinds of fruit.
As Jake sits on Jesus’s lap, tears begin to run down his cheeks but Jesus wipes his tears away. Later Jake plays by a river with the other children building a rock castle.
Jake notices the rainbow around Jesus’s throne. He wants Jesus to send a rainbow to his sister to give her hope and a promise of eternal life.
Backmatter in Messages gives scripture references for many of the scenes in the book. There are also activities to help children make fun memories of their friend or sibling.
My friend Samantha Bell provided the illustrations for this book. I’m grateful for her compassion in rendering such a difficult subject matter.
May the Lord give comfort and peace to all who have a loved one in heaven. Gail Cartee
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