Also by this author: His Testimonies, My Heritage: Women of Color on the Word of God, God's Very Good Idea: A True Story of God's Delightfully Different Family, The Big Wide Welcome: A True Story About Jesus, James, and a Church That Learned to Love All Sorts of People (Tales That Tell the Truth), God's Very Good Idea Board Book: God Made Us Delightfully Different, The Big Wide Welcome Art and Activity Book: Packed with Puzzles, Art and Activities (Christian Bible interactive book for kids ages 4-8) (Tales That Tell the Truth)
Published by Moody Publishers on February 2, 2021
Genres: Children's
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God could have made us all exactly the same, but He didn’t. And our differences are good!
As His children, those called by God to belong to His family, we can actually use our differences to help each other. Here’s some more great news: There are no rules about how we look or sound to be in His family. We have a delightfully different family on purpose.
Every person is made by God, in His image, and therefore is equal in value and worth.
Kids, somehow, already know this to be true.
This short, colorful book (written with grade-schoolers in mind) will share the truth of God’s Word with them. The truth about how we were made with differences, how we sinned, how God rescued us, and how—if we understand that God’s diverse creation will be together in Heaven—it should motivate us to love one another on earth!
Trillia Newbell designed this book for children from the ages of eight to twelve, and invites them to consider how they can learn to love people who are different from them. She writes in an engaging style, and the illustrations from Chase Williamson are colorful and inviting. The book is easy to read, and each chapter has one big idea, clear vocabulary explanations, fun illustrations, and discussion questions and activity ideas at the end. Children can read this book on their own or with their parents, and it could also be great in a Sunday school or children’s church setting.
Creative God, Colorful Us focuses on issues of race through the lens of the gospel. Newbell explains that we are all created in God’s image, have equal value and worth, and experience division and conflict in our world because of sin. She encourages kids to place their faith in Jesus as their rescuer, and shows how God can work in our hearts to help us love the people around us. With this gospel foundation, she shares practical, basic advice for how children can understand diversity, recognize areas of sameness and difference, and get to know people who are different from them. She also encourages children to consider the diversity of heaven, in which we will represent every nation, tribe, and tongue. Because our differences are so important to God that they will follow us to heaven, she explains, we should honor them on earth as well.
Newbell adds a note for parents at the end, and encourages them to avoid the language of “colorblindness,” since God created color on purpose and does not intend for us to ignore our differences. She recommends the language of being “colorsmart” instead, saying that we can recognize our differences in ways that are loving to other people and show interest in their lives. This is a great book for parents to use to start conversations with their kids about race, and even though the book does not address racial history or the specific conflicts that continue to play out in America and in the world today, it is a solid guide for Christian parents who want to give their children a positive awareness of diversity.