Published by Thomas Nelson on June 16, 2020
Genres: Children's
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In The Day God Made You, Grammy Award–winning singer and songwriter Rory Feek of Joey+Rory shares a heartfelt message for children about the wonder of the day God made them.
Your children or grandchildren will love cuddling up with you to discover how God delighted over each and every detail of their lives and personalities as He created them--from the shape of their eyes to the sound of their laughter. The Day God Made You also reminds young readers that God knew their families, their friends, their tears, their gifts, and even their dreams and hopes from the very beginning.
The Day God Made You is a beautiful reminder to all children--including all races, different abilities, and those with special needs--that God created them with purpose and love. And with its gentle words about God's personal care, you and your children will find comfort and affirmation in remembering that God delights in who He created you to be.
This charming picture book celebrates God’s design for every person. Author Rory Feek created this book for a parent or grandparent to share with a child, and it encourages readers to see God’s hand in their appearance, personality, interests, and family background. The illustrations by Malgosia Piatkowska are gentle and colorful, and they picture a diverse group of children with different ethnic backgrounds, hair colors, hobbies, and abilities. The Day God Made You doesn’t specifically address special needs children, but the illustrations throughout the book picture various children in wheelchairs, and the book’s underlying message is that God has lovingly designed all of His children, regardless of their differences.
The poem also lightly addresses the topic of suffering, explaining that on the day that God made you, He knew “the sound of your voice and the tears you cry too.” A later page mentions that God knew what you would struggle with, and how it would grow you. This gentle, poetic picture book can’t possibly take on the problem of evil, but I appreciate its honesty about life. This book doesn’t flinch away from acknowledging that life will be hard, and that God can still be with us in the midst of it.
The Day God Made You is sweet and reassuring, helping children see God’s love for them without making them the center of the universe. Some books with similar titles essentially tell a child that they are creation’s crowning moment, but this book helps children begin to see their identity, their place in their families, and their roles in their world through the lens of God’s goodness and great love for them. This is a wonderful book for families, and it avoids the trap of shallow, self-focused esteem messages to help children see their value in God’s eyes.