Not bad, but not great either.
The devotion are clearly structured. They always begin with a Bible verse, followed by three sections. First comes "Talk About It" with a question or two. It is followed by "Read About It" which elaborates on the verse you read and the questions you talked about it. The devotions finish with a section called "Pray About It" with a prayer that you can read out lout and your child(ren) can repeat.
Most of the messages were quite good but I felt like it was aimed at a wider ranging age group. Sometimes it sounded like it was talking to smaller children, like 3 or 4 years old, but then sometimes big words or concepts were introduced that smaller children would not understand. It would have been helpful if there was an indication what age group this book was written for.
I liked most of the verses that were chosen and the thoughts about them. What I absolutely did not like was that they were written from the reader’s point of view. I found it annoying that the writer didn’t just make a few points or suggestions as to what I could say, but instead she actually put words into my mouth.
Moreover, the book really is - true to the title - for MOMMY and child. Somehow I thought, surely it will be neutral enough to include all caretakers, like daddy, grandma, grandpa, etc. but no.
This passage is a good example to show what I disliked:
“Being hurt by someone or experiencing pain from an incident isn’t fun. As your mommy, I feel sad to see you in tears because I care about you. I want to help you feel better.” (p.10)
Yes, that IS how I feel. But having someone MAKE me say this also makes me feel like the writer pretends to know me or that she assumed this is not what I naturally would have said to my child. Which I absolutely would have. It is probably not intended, but speaking from my POV feels like an intrusion.
My last point is about the pictures, or rather the lack thereof. I have read some great devotions for kids and I am pretty picky about it. But the gorgeous cover really stuck out and made me want to read this book.
And the pictures in the book are really, very cute. They are actually my favorite part of the book. How disappointed was I when I saw that there are hardly any pictures inside. There is only one (sometimes two) for each WEEK. There should at least be one for EACH DAY! It is a book for children after all!!!
The book was not bad but those two negative points really outweighed the pros and I was just quickly reading through it so I could give my feedback. I will also post my review on GoodReads 30 days before the publication date. If there had been more pictures, it really would have made a difference.
Thank you NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.