Treasured/God Gave Us Blog Tour

Treasured: Cigar boxes. Refrigerator doors. Scrapbooks and sock drawers and top shelves. These are the places we store our treasures–the keepsakes that tell the story of whom and what we’ve loved, how we’ve lived, and what matters most to us.
God is a collector, too, whose treasures are tucked securely into the pages of his book: a golden bell here, an olive leaf there, a scarlet thread, a blood-stained cloth, a few grains of barley. Each of these saved artifacts reveals a facet of his heart and tells the story of a Father whose most precious possession is…us.

In Treasured, Leigh McLeroy considers tangible reminders of God’s active presence and guides us in discovering evidence in our own lives of his attentive love.

My thoughts:

I thought this was a neat book. The author takes some items that God might keep in His box of treasures, if He had one, such as the fig leaf, one smooth stone, a scarlet cord - and talks about why they are important, and why they are important to us today. The fig leaf - The God who covers us. The scarlet cord - The God who includes. She ends out the book by asking the reader what is in our treasure box, and encourages us to start one.

About the author:

Leigh McLeroy is the author of The Beautiful Ache and The Sacred Ordinary. An avid collector and recorder of everyday moments, words, and wonders, Leigh's keen eye for God's presence in ordinary life infuses her writing and living with a deep, insistent joy. A frequent conference and event speaker, the author makes her home in Houston, Texas.

God Gave Us Love: As Little Cub and Grampa Bear’s fishing adventure is interrupted by mischievous otters, the young polar bear begins to question why we must love others… even the seemingly unlovable.

In answering her questions, Grampa Bear gives tender explanations that teach Little Cub about the different kinds of love that is shared between families, friends, and mamas and papas. Grampa explains that all these kinds of love come from God and that it is important to love others because…
“Any time we show love, Little Cub, we’re sharing a bit of his love.”

This sweet tale will warm the hearts of young children as they learn about all the different sorts of love, while the gentle explanations of each provide a valuable opportunity to encourage children to share with others a “God-sized love.”



God Gave Us Christmas: As Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear begins to wonder… “Who invented Christmas?” Mama’s answer only leads to more questions like “Is God more important than Santa?” So she and Little Cub head off on a polar expedition to find God and to see how he gave them Christmas. Along the way, they find signs that God is at work all around them. Through Mama’s gentle guidance, Little Cub learns about the very first Christmas and discovers that… Jesus is the best present of all.

This enchanting tale provides the perfect opportunity to help young children celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and to discover how very much God loves them.

My thoughts:

I was already familiar with this series of books by Lisa Tawn Bergren. She started out wit>God Gave Us You, a book written from a mother to her child, and now the series has five books: God Gave Us Two, God Gave Us Heaven, and the two being reviewed here.

Though admittedly far beneath my reading range, I think these books are excellent for little kids. Using really great artwork and polar bears, the author answers questions little tykes might have about Christmas, Love, being born, Heaven. I know I am reviewing two of the books here, but from reading these two books, I'd recommend the whole series - great for kids.

My friend Kimmy is giving away copies of the 2 kids' books here: http://thesmugcloud.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/blog-tour-treasuredgod-gave-us/

About the author:

Lisa Tawn Bergren is the best-selling, award-winning author of over 30 books, with more than 1.5 million copies sold. She is in the midst of writing a Colorado historical trilogy (the first book, Breathe, released in June), and will then write a European historical trilogy and a teen time travel trilogy. Lisa's time is split between parenting, writing and freelance editing. The Bergrens reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

These books were provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. Thanks to Ashley at Waterbrook for providing the review copies.

These three books are available for purchase at randomhouse.com

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400074815

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400074471

ttp://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400071753