Love Letters from God: Bible Stories

I typically don't review many Christian children's books, but I was thrilled to review Love Letter from God by Glenys Nellist and Illustrated by Sophie Allsopp. I'll be honest, I can be very hard on Christian children's books. Often times they are over simplified to the point of bad theology or distorting the Gospel. This book is a refreshing look into what a child's relationship with God can look like.

Each page has a short paraphrased Bible story, with a beautiful illustration, where the focus is on showing a different aspect of God's relationship to us. Not only that, but there is a lift-flap letter from God attached to each story where God communicates to the child and describes how He relates to the child in the same way as He did with the character in the story.

While books that purport to communicate things God said outside of scripture make me nervous, this book does an excellent job of saying things that actually line up with scripture. It is actually so simple and honest, I'm considering giving the book to adults I know who are feeling discouraged and far from God. It communicates a grace filled loving God who understands His children and wants the best for them. Not only that, but it begins to build the idea of having a real relationship with the Father.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a gentle walk through scripture for a child in their life. It sets children up for a relationship of genuine communication with our Lord.

I was given this book free of charge by Zondervan in return for an honest review.

Love Letters from God is the newest bible storybook from Zonderkidz and author Glenys Nellist. Illustrated by Sophie Allsopp, this 38 page storybook has a delightful scrapbook and felt story board look. The vibrant, eye-catching illustrations are the highlight of this text. Readers may also enjoy the interactive lift-the-flap “Love Letters From God.” Using an approach made popular by Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling devotional, Nellist personalizes the promises of God for children. Here are a few messages that I enjoyed from this storybook to my children:

“Even though they had disobeyed God, He never stopped loving them.”

“…if you say you’re sorry and trust me, the most wonderful thing will happen – I will not remember your sins!”

“…try to remember that you are never alone. I promise I will never, ever leave you.”

“…I sent my Son Jesus…So He could show you what a precious and wonderful love I have for you.”

“When you are afraid, remember – Jesus will be holding your hand.”

There are many children’s bible story books on the market and I tend to be overly scrupulous. This being said, I want to make note of a few issues that I had with this book. The first was in the story of Noah where Nellist writes “…a flood would cover the earth and clean it.” This may seem trivial, but I want my children to know that the flood was meant to cleanse the earth of sinful people. It was God’s judgement on the wickedness of man. The second hang-up that I had was with the feeding of 5,000 taken from John 6. In this storybook the young boy with the loaves and fish is named Nathan. I searched through a few different translations and found him referred to as: a young boy (NLT, NIV), a boy (HCSB, ESV), a lad (KJV, ASB), but did not find any mention of him by name. Furthermore, In the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den the author has written, “Those lions closed their big mouths, closed their big eyes, and fell into a deep, deep sleep,” but scripture quotes Daniel as saying “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him…” (Daniel 6:22) Which is more amazing? My final qualm with the text comes in the story of David and Goliath – perhaps because this is my daughter’s favorite. When comparing David and Goliath the author writes, “David ate porridge for breakfast; Goliath ate squirrels.” Huh?

As beautiful as the illustrations were and as much as I enjoyed the personalized “Love Letters from God,” the cons outweighed the pros for this reviewer-mom and I give Love Letters from God three stars.

Finally, a Bible story book with objectively lovely illustrations and text that focuses solely on God's love His children!

Love Letters from God is a wonderful gift of a book. As soon as I saw the premise- a love letter with a Bible story- I knew I wanted to have this book in my hands.

Glenys Nellist has re-written almost 20 Bible stories using words and phrases that will capture the imagination and convey the character's feelings to a child. I love the titles she chose. There's "The Tiny Tax Collector" - we know he's the one who climbed the tree! "The Little Boy Who Listened" - Samuel, who falls asleep confident that God knows his name!

She takes us from the very beginning in Genesis to Joseph's bravery and David's trust in a big, strong God. Then she takes us to Jesus, born in Bethlehem, and to the one lost sheep that the Shepherd treasured, and to Communion, when Jesus said "Remember me."

And every story on it's two page spread is illustrated all over the page. I don't know how to describe it, but the illustrations include fabric and buttons and paintings and sketches and leaves and coins and tissue paper and flowers. And it's like a collage on each page, especially because you have a lift the flap letter, where God assures the child of His love, care, presence, and protection.
Sophie Allsopp did an incredible job with the artwork.

What a lovely way to talk about Jesus and His Abba. We all need to take the Love Letters here to heart. Our God will never leave us. Knows us fully. Loves us dearly. Stays with us always.

I can't wait to use this book with children, and to give it as a gift.

Thank you Zonderkids and Booklook for my review copy. This one's going on my children's shelf!

Beautiful book with relevant truth for children. Highly recommended!

I met Glenys in Bible Study Fellowship - years ago - and was reintroduced to her through this book. I bought one with the thought of keeping it to share with my granddaughters when they came over and tell them I knew the author. As soon as I stared reading it, I knew I would have to buy one for each of my daughters for their daughters ( 5 total ) and for my nieces and nephews for their children - and soon I had purchased 7 of them. The stories are familiar stories but written with a childs point of understanding and I love the letters from God - loving and challenging them to be more how God created them to be. I have been blessed by reading them to my grand daughters and by the beautiful illustrations. Thank you Glenys for sharing your stories - May God Bless you !

Love Letters from God is an amazing book! I am reading it nightly to my four year old great grandson. His eyes light up when he hears the pop up letters from God! Love Letters is wonderful book to plant the Word and God's love into the hearts of young children. Glenys Nellist has done an phenomenal job writing this book and the pictures are spectacular.

A great way to introduce children to Bible stories.

Great book for the kids!

This is a great book, the best Bible story book I've seen for kids. It really gets to the heart of the Bible`s positive message in the way that speaks to kids. It would be a great Christmas gift.

Love Letters from God: Bible Stories has a perfect mixture of storytelling, engaging pictures and the mystery of Love Letters with each turn of the page. This book has been done with attention to the details that captivate preschoolers, elements to engage elementary and a storytelling mastery that will assure adults never grow tired of reading to our intended audience. I am incredibly pleased that the book covers a wide variety of Old and New Testament stories woven with a richness of our Christian history and faith along with the promise of our redemptive future. I think this is a "must have" for our church libraries and homes!