Not long ago, I got an email from Anne at Authors On The Web asking me if I'd be willing to receive copies of two books and post a review on my blog. Despite not recognizing the author of these books, Randy Alcorn, I emailed Anne back and told her I'd be happy to do so. I love to read and was excited at the opportunity to review a couple of new titles.

The first book I read was Wait Until Then. This is a heartwarming story about a wheelchair-bound boy, Nathan, and his beloved grandfather who is dying of cancer.

The story revolves around talks between Nathan and his grandfather about their mutual love of baseball, Nathan’s desire to be able to run and walk like other kids, and his grandfather’s efforts to explain why we have suffering and bad things on this earth but how all will be made new on the New Earth. Nathan's grandfather also talks about how Jesus is building a special place for each of us in Heaven.

The book is recommended for children ages six through ten, but I believe it can help open dialogue about the death of a loved one, Heaven, and the plan of salvation with children of other ages as well. Randy Alcorn includes a helpful note to adults at the end of the book to offer guidance on what points to share after reading the book together.

Doron Ben-Ami has done a fantastic job illustrating this book! His illustrations are warm, colorful, and life-like. My favorite illustration is the one at the very end!

The next book I read was Heaven for Kids. This book took me quite a bit longer to read, and not just because it's 194 pages long.

With this book, I found myself stopping to look up bible passages that are referenced throughout. This book encouraged me, an adult, to open up my bible and to read and reflect. I think it'd do the same for a child.

I can truthfully say I really enjoyed this book and got a lot out of it. In fact, I wished I had read this book before my neighbor Hetty got too sick to converse with. Just after she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was feeling afraid, she asked me, "What are your thoughts on Heaven? How do you think things will be there?" Sadly, at the time, I was only able to share vague thoughts and the conversation didn't go very far because I didn't know what to tell her. Honestly, even as a Christian, I've never really known what to think of Heaven.

Reading this book has given me a clearer picture of what Heaven might be like, and how to prepare for Heaven. The easy-to-use question-and-answer format is helpful for independent readers aged 8-12. It's also nice for us adults who may be reading it in preparation for the questions our children (or others, like Hetty) may one day ask us.

Just a few of the questions covered in this book were:

Is Heaven a real place?
So how can we know what Heaven is like if we've never seen it?
What happens the second after we die?
Do people in Heaven remember life on earth?
What is the New Earth? What will it be like?
What will our new bodies be like?

One of the things I loved about this book is that Randy Alcorn made reference to many passages from the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, as well as passages in the bible, in his efforts to bring home the points he was trying to make. I don't know about you, but I loved reading all the Chronicles of Narnia books as a kid and I enjoyed those references used in this book.

If you haven't read Wait Until Then or Heaven for Kids yet, I encourage you to do so. I believe you'll enjoy them as much as I have! I'm going to try to get my hands on another one of Randy Alcorn's books, Heaven, which is geared towards adults.

Has anyone read any books by Randy Alcorn? If so, what did you think?

Labels: book review, books/reading, product review