February is known as the “love month,” but of course love matters every day of the year. God’s greatest commandment is to love God above all and love our neighbors as ourselves. God is not only the author of love, but He is love! 1 John 4:16 says, “. . . God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

God’s love is perfect love because He loves us unconditionally. He created the world with love and all creation praises Him. This is the idea behind Good Morning, God Loves You, a board book I coauthored with my daughter, Teri McKinley, and published with Tyndale Kids.

Read more: Good Morning, God Loves You!

My daughter reads to her sons both morning and night. She noticed that bedtime books are easy to come by—which makes sense since reading at bedtime is a common routine for many families—but finding a book for the morning is not as easy.

After brainstorming ideas and creating some rough drafts, we landed on the idea of having a variety of diverse families interacting with nature as it wakes up and honors our Creator. Anita Schmidt captured our vision perfectly and went above and beyond what we were hoping for. The full-color spreads are filled with active children and adorable, humorous animals interacting with nature. The phrase (and hence the title) Good Morning, God Loves You is repeated throughout the book to remind the reader of God’s never-ending love. The final spread offers a surprise for the reader and encourages a meaningful response.

Here is text from the opening spread:

Creation is waiting to start a new day.
The birds lift their voices, we hear what they say:
“Good morning, God loves you!“

The book is geared for ages 0-5 and makes a sweet gift for babies or young children. Our purpose in writing the book is to remind little ones (and the adults who read to them) that God loves them very much!

Here’s to beginning and ending every day with God’s love!

Crystal

Be sure to sign up to receive updates of each new post on our Christian Children’s Authors blog. Follow us for new book news, free resources, parenting tips, and encouragement.

 #christianchildrensauthors #christianbooks #christianauthors #christianwriters #christianhomeschool