| Title | : | Gods Very Good Idea: A True Story of Gods Delightfully Different Family |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1784982210 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781784982218 |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 32 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 2017 |
Gods Very Good Idea: A True Story of Gods Delightfully Different Family Reviews
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This is a beautiful book showing kids (and adults too) God’s perfect intent in creating people of different races, cultures, gifting, and preferences and God’s perfect rescue plan to redeem those people after they screwed things up. It is a magnificent depiction of God’s image being reflected in all people and the gospel being the salvation for all people too. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and fun. It's the kind of book any parent should get for their kids and that makes a perfect gift. Shoot, I think it is so good pastors should read it to their congregations from the pulpit on a Sunday.
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There’s a reason that currently this book has a perfect 5 stars. It’s beautifully drawn with a message you can find in no other Christian books for kids: that God’s plan was to have a diverse looking family, in looks, race, and hobbies. It teaches the gospel well. Such a timely book!
Update from second (documented) read-through:
This is such a special book. It's one of the top three books in this series. It's also one of the top books discussing race and the gospel.
One of the top books of all Christian books written on the subject, children or adult.
It's high praise that's well earned. It's a wonderful book in every way. -
This is God's very good idea: lots of different people enjoying loving him and loving each other. God MADE it. People RUINED it. He RESCUED it. He will FINISH it.
While we were quarantined earlier this year, our 3-year-old grandson pulled this book off the shelf time after time for us to read it to him. When choosing a book to look at during our virtual worship services, he chose this one time after time. The colorful pictures help deliver a vision of people of all skin colors worshiping together. Something that is impossible without the cleansing strength of the gospel. Highly recommended! -
a beautiful and brilliant book, made even better by such stellar narration
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«La gran idea de Dios» es un colorido y sencillo relato lleno de profundas verdades bíblicas que nos ayudarán a combatir estas grandes narrativas de nuestra cultura. Léelo una y otra vez con tus hijos, sobrinos, o nietos porque de esta manera ellos, y también nosotros, podremos aprender y recordar que: “Dios la hizo, la gente la arruinó, Dios la rescató y Él completará” la verdadera historia de la maravillosa y colorida familia de Dios.
Lee la reseña completa en
Coalición por el Evangelio. -
Alright, this was totally a cheat code to round out my yearly goal. But it’s a great book intentionally chosen in case you haven’t bought it for your family. Spoiler alert: “God’s very good idea is to have lots of different people enjoying loving him and loving each other.” A biblical anthropology for kids, with gospel meta narrative to boot. It’s started some great discussions in our house this year.
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"God's idea was to make PEOPLE . . . lot of people. . . . lot of different people . . . who would all enjoy loving him and all enjoy loving each other."
What a crazy, fun, whimsical, thoughtful journey through deep, theological truths in a way that every child, young or old, can easily understand! And appreciate. -
Outstanding! Well done.
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LOVE this book so much! Beautiful truths for the kiddos (and adults). :)
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Read with Charlotte.
We’ll read it again... and again... and again... -
Very good! A solid little theological introduction to difference and diversity in the world and among God's people
"God's idea was to make PEOPLE ... lots of people ... lots of different people ... who would all enjoy loving him and all enjoy loving each other." God welcomes all kinds of people--"people who like reading, and people who like riding bikes"; "people with darker skin, and people with lighter skin"; "people with curly hair, and people with straight hair." And he welcomes them into his family, which becomes "your wonderful and colorful church family. You can enjoy loving them and loving God with them."
In addition to being a general introduction to difference and diversity, it's also a little primer on biblical theology. Newbell frames the book with the verbs made, ruined, rescued, and finish. God MADE all different kinds of people, people RUINED God's very good idea, God RESCUED his very good idea through our Lord Jesus Christ, and one day God will FINISH his very good idea.
The illustrations are pretty well done and very accessible to kids. For example, one page shows a young girl with scribbling all over her heart but the same girl, on the other side of the cross, with a restored (scribble-free) heart. Kids will get that! The colors were well chosen; i.e., on the pages depicting the ruin introduced by our rejection of God's very good idea, Echeverri (the illustrator) always uses dark blue and green, which effectively evoke sorrow over sin. On the pages depicting the goodness of creation or the glory of redeemed life, the colors are vibrant and welcoming and unfailingly show different kinds of people doing different things together. E.g., on one page toward the end, we see a 12-ish boy crying at a gathering of the church and two of his friends mourning with him and comforting him. Beautiful!
Anyway, get it. -
Fantastic book! Excellent text, beautiful pictures. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
"God carried on creating people. All of them were made in his image. And all of them were different too. Some were men, and some were women. Some liked reading, and some liked riding bikes. Some had darker skin, and some had lighter skin. Some had curly hair, and some had straight hair."
"We all live in God's world. We are all different, but we are also all the same. Everyone you see is different than you, and the same as you. They might look different or speak different or play different. But they are all made in God's image, and so they are all valuable."
"This is God's very good idea: lots of different people enjoying loving him and loving each other." -
Loved reading this book to my nieces & nephew! It so beautifully explains the gospel in such a simple way for children to understand and the illustrations are so colorful which makes it really fun to read to them!
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Excellent children's book! Good theology & beautiful illustrations!
Go buy yourself a copy
http://amzn.to/2yGP5B2
#affiliatelink -
Just read this today and can’t wait to read it to my new first graders soon.
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How do you introduce your younger children to the issue of race within the context of the Bible’s overall story? Like this. The beautiful illustrations fit perfectly with the beautiful depiction of the work of Jesus and how that impacts our relationships with each other.
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"God's Very Good Idea: A True Story of God's Delightfully Different Family" - Delightful story that shows the contrast of a world that is both broken and beautiful.
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I love this little book so much. It's become my default baby shower gift. A wonderful, child-level treatment of the gospel, the church, and Christian diversity.
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If there is one thing I have become more aware and convinced of since having our first child two years ago it is this, there are a lot of really good Christian books for kids that serve the entire family well! Trillia Newbell's work adds to the impressive list of works out there to be enjoyed.
We want to raise our daughter to be engaged in people's lives regardless of how they look, walk, and talk. This conversation and awareness in parenting has been pushed to the forefront in the last few years due to the necessary and long overdue discussion around race at large and also how racial dynamics have been mishandled in the church. Newbell offers a gentle onramp to having those discussions both with your kids and your spouse in her book "God's Very Good Idea." While the larger conversations are full of nuance and power dynamics that are beyond a child's grasp this book helps remind us all to start at the beginning by acknowledging, "We are all different, but we are also all the same."
We have already sent out multiple copies of the book to friends and their children as Christmas gifts this past year and we plan on keeping copies in our home to serve as an ongoing reference point for helping our daughter to see and accept people, regardless of differences, because they are made in the image of God and have been endowed with dignity, worth, and respect just the same as her. I cannot recommend this book enough, even if you don't have kids I would get a copy to have to serve as a reminder that the easiest way to begin to see others the way God wants us to is by remembering we are all here because of God and his very good idea. -
Creation. Fall. Redemption. Restoration.
Video advertisement
here. Won TGC's
book award for children's literature. WORLD review
here. -
I love this book! I’m always looking for books with Asian hero’s or diversity for H. But really for all of us! This is such a sweet book about the gospel and our need for Jesus!
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Children’s books are everywhere.
Children’s retellings of Bible stories are everywhere.
And the quality…well…in my experience, the quality ranges.
How are we supposed to sort through it all?
Early on, with my kids, I developed some guidelines for choosing a children’s Bible storybook.
Is the story biblically accurate?
Is the story relationally applicable?
Does the story’s language/vocabulary fit the intended audience?
Are the illustrations diverse?
And whenever somebody asks me for a practical example of those four guidelines, I inevitably point them toward Tales that Tell the Truth. There are currently ten books in the series (the latest upcoming June 2020) along with a variety of supplemental materials like coloring books that accompany each volume. The series has a variety of authors with illustrator Catalina Echeverri providing a cohesive stylistic design.
God’s Very Good Idea | Tales that Tell the Truth
God’s Very Good Idea is the story of humanity in all of their diversity. In a clever turn, the book begins by contrasting God’s idea for humanity with a whole diversity of human inventions. From the outset, we see how different groups of people—men, women, and people of all ages and ethnicities—have mirrored the creative qualities of God. But all of those inventions pale in comparison to God’s Very Good Idea to make people. They would all be made in his image. They would all be like mirrors, reflecting what God is like.
The book affirms that God did not just make Adam and Eve, but he kept creating people, all in his image. But all different. Trillia Newbell doesn’t just focus on age or gender or race, but includes things like hair type and things people like to do for fun.
The overriding message: We are all different, but we are also all the same. Everyone you see is different than you, and the same as you. It’s a beautiful message that affirms the uniqueness of each individual human; the importance of cultural, ethnic, gender, and age distinctions; but also the humanity common to all of us.
God's Very Good Idea Tales that Tell the Truth
The central panels see how people ruin God’s Very Good Idea through sin. Because of this, everyone needs forgiveness. People who like reading need forgiveness, and people who like riding bikes need forgiveness. People with darker skin need forgiveness, and people with lighter skin need forgiveness. People with curly hair need forgiveness, and people with straight hair need forgiveness.
The story moves into Gospel as we see how God has a plan to fix what people have ruined. It tells the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection, along with his future plan to finish his very good idea and make the world perfect again.
But there’s good news! As the people of God, we can be a part of his Kingdom right now! We can join together as a group called “Church” to enjoy loving God and each other. It’s a beautiful picture of diversity and inclusion that is all too often missing from our churches. God’s Very Good Idea is a paradigm-shifting book. It shouldn’t be. We should always have celebrated this diversity. But we haven’t. This is a needed book that will make the next generation better than ours. -
Trillia begins at the beginning: with creation. Making people, and making them in all different colors and varieties, was God’s idea. They would “all enjoy loving him and all enjoy loving each other . . . reflecting what God is like.”
But the first people chose to disobey God. That plunged all of us into sin. We don’t love God or each other as we ought. “Sometimes we treat others badly because they are different than us.”
But part of God’s very good plan was sending Jesus to come and live on earth, to show us how to love, to die on the cross so we could be forgiven, and to rise from the dead, and to give us the Holy Spirit to help us live for Him.
He also gave us the church as a foretaste of what it will be like in heaven some day, “lots of different people enjoying loving him and loving each other.”
I love that Trillia’s story is couched firmly in the Bible and the gospel. She gives an overview of creation, sin, and redemption in words a child could understand. -
This picture book covers the concepts of how God created people in His image. How people are all different but all the same in some ways. The concept of sin and God's plan for redemption. And how God wants us to love Him and love others both now and in the future.
This little picture book breaks down some really complex subjects into terms kids can understand. I like the way it covered human dignity and why we should treat all people with respect and love. I like the way it broke down the fall, the need for forgiveness, and God's plan for redemption. And I like how it explained the calling of the Church. Highly recommended book for Christian families, Sunday Schools, and Christian schools. -
I got this book with my Pastor Wife hat on as part of our effort to diversify our parish’s elementary school library. Trillia Newbell did a beautiful job of directly relating God’s truth to the world in a way kids will understand. Most importantly she emphasizes what it means to be created in God’s image, and that as all people are created this way—even if they are different, or we don’t like them or understand them—our opinions don’t and can’t change the truth of them being God’s good creation. And that we are created to love God AND love ALL people. This is a lesson I hope parents potentially reading this to their kids will also hear and absorb. Excellent presentation and beautiful illustrations (depicting diversity which lacks in SO many children’s bible related books) too!
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A seriously beautiful book. The illustrations are gorgeous and quality of the book itself is a long lasting title for your bookshelf. The font is fun and highlights the inconsistency of human nature. I appreciate how this book highlights the diversity among humans and how we all need forgiveness. There were some pages where I thought, that's pretty intense for a kids book or a little dark but in terms of teaching salvation to little kids- the words themselves are easy vocabulary to understand.
For example, I don't particularly love the quote "We need God's forgiveness for ruining his very good idea". It's not incredibly motivating nor highlights of the inherent goodness of humans. The "People RUINED it" quote doesn't sit well with me but I understand the sentiment. -
The colorful and cheerfully detailed illustrations depict multicultural groups of people from history, everyday life and the Bible to explain to young people that we are all special and valuable in God’s Kingdom. This book has several heavy theological topics - God’s creation, sin, Christ’s death as a sacrifice for us, forgiveness - so this might be best used in an educational setting with a pastor or teacher, or as part of a devotional time with parents and caregivers. Some of the discussion of sin and forgiveness might be confusing for younger children.
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This book is an excellent story about God’s idea of creating people of all different sorts to love him and love each other. The gospel is crystal clear here, and it has helped our family have some great conversations about loving others who are different than us.
It’s not my favorite in the series, but it is an excellent book I’d happily recommend to every parent (as I would all the books in the Tales that Tell the Truth series).
