God Gave Us The World

Reading is an extremely important past time in our house and I'm always on the lookout for quality material to add to our ever growing collection of books.  I recently had the opportunity to review a wonderful piece written by Lisa Tawn Bergren.   God Gave Us the World is a book filled with Biblical principles, child-friendly prose, and a celebration of diversity.  The story centers around Little Cub and her mother as they visit a museum filled with exhibits celebrating bears from around the globe.  As Little Cub contemplates the many differences she sees, she begins to wonder why so many of the bears are so vastly different from her.  Her mother explains that, as the creator of this world, God chose to fill it with incredible diversity so that we would understand both how amazing He truly is and the scope of His love for us.  The unique celebration of differences we see in the world shows us the extent of His power and provides us with unending beauty to appreciate during our time here. 

I was particularly impressed with the author's ability to discuss such an expansive topic in a very child-friendly way, touching on everything from geography, to physical characteristics, to individual likes and dislikes. She does a very good job of implying that these differences are to be celebrated and can make for strong and lasting friendships.   The illustrations are colorful and whimsical and perfectly suited for this story.  All 4 of my children (from almost 7 to almost 2 yrs.) enjoyed this book and have requested it numerous times since our first reading.  I have also used it in our collection of works for my 1st grader's reading practice.

You can purchase God Gave Us the World for $10.99 from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.  You can also stop by and visit them on Facebook :-)

* Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the purpose of this review.  All views expressed are based on my own honest experience with this book.