A very good book that blends smoothly environmental and religious themes. The language is easy to understand and not pretentious, the way God is mentioned fits perfectly in this whole protect and respect nature theme that is always going on in the book. It has a lot of beautiful messages for kids like how everything is reminder of God, importance of family and bonding time, environmental protection, explained in a very kid friendly way.

The illustrations are beautiful, with beautiful colors and a lot of details.

Sweet picture book about caring for creation. Very simple concepts, cute illustrations and scripture woven throughout. We loved how the names of the different creatures were listed on each page!

What a stunning and informative story book, I loved it. The author spoke through Abigail; she made it simple enough for children to understand, but not too simple that it made you feel stupid. The book makes you mindful about what you're doing/how you do things when you're out and about, with scripture woven through it. The illustrations are stunning! Would highly recommend this book.

This book combined to of my loves God and hiking. Abigail and the Waterfall was a nice and easy read with various subtle messages about stewardship of the land and God. I wish it had been a little longer. I enjoyed that most of the animals listed are not ones commonly found in children's book, thus exposing children to the importance of alllll sorts of animals and critters. The illustrations matched up nicely with the story. I received an eARC from InterVarsity Press through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

THIS IS SO GREAT! I love the graphics, and I ADORE the sweet message. Combining the ideas of family time, environmental responsibility, nature, hiking, and God’s creation is the perfect blend! I would LOVE to see more of these. So, so good!

Devyn enjoyed the story line. The water bottle having tons of stickers was definitely a laughing point as all of her water bottles have a ton of stickers. This is definitely a 1st grade book.

I took this lovely story to be a reminder that a few verses from Genesis and Psalms tell us that care of our environment is important and that it is the task of each of us, especially parents, and that the outdoors is where these lessons are best learned.
The illustrations by Michael Corsini are simple, imaginative and FUN in exploring while hiking using brilliant colors. Well suited for reading alone or WITH someone of any age, including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school, waiting room, or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital Galley on Thorium PDF from InterVarsity Press | IVP Kids via NetGalley. Pub Date Aug 19, 2025 *****review
#AbigailandtheWaterfall by #SandraLRichter and #MichaelCorsini @ivpkids #NetGalley #nature
@childrensbookcouncil @goodreads #picturebookart #kidlit #picturebook #illustration #familytime #ecoawareness #environment #OTverses #BookBub #goodreads

The illustrations in this book were so pretty! I loved the Message that God created this world for us and that we are to help protect and care for it. I liked how they put labels on different plants, animals, and insects. Also, how it had Bible versed throughout the story. It made me want to go outside and explore the land that God has given us,

Abigail and the Waterfall.
Sandra L. Richter
This tale is a celebration of God’s wonders and all His creations.
Abigail loved the first Saturday of the month because she and her family went on a hike. They hike into the woods where the trees are old. They hear the waterfall before they see it. Abigail thinks it sounds like the forest is laughing. Birds and dragonflies are everywhere. The waterfall makes Mom smile. There are maidenhair ferns everywhere, the plants help keep the water healthy and they give the dart fish shade. It is fun to watch the fish as they dash to and from. God made the fish, the plants, the birds and the dragonflies. While they eat their lunch sandwiches, they listen to the waterfall. They gather their trash and leftovers.
“Mom says that God gave the wilderness as a home to all the fish and birds and dragonflies at our waterfall--- and that God put us in charge of making sure their home is safe and clean.”
“We are so grateful that God h given it to us-and to the dragonflies, the darters, and even our new friend the Mountain Dusky Salamander.”
Author Sandra L. Richter uses scripture to back up her text. The end of the book has A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR AND DID YOU KNOW?
It would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cover and illustrations. Michael Corsini illustrated this book and it is beautifully done with bright colors. The cover is wonderfully done.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a great book that includes practical applications for caring for the environment backed up by biblical evidence. This is a really cute story about Abigail and her family as they embark on their monthly trip to a local pond/waterfall. Along the way, Abigail takes in the beauty of God’s creation. Various verses and psalms are referenced throughout to remind the reader why being good stewards of the earth that God has given us is so important. There is lots of detail in the illustrations as various creatures/plants are labelled which make the pages a lot of fun to look out for the small details.

Some of the pages do have what appear to be drop shadows under some words that can make it difficult to read (read on the NetGalley reader app) however if this is present in the physical copy this will pose a challenge if the book is read aloud for a story time as it can make the words difficult to read.

Overall, I do recommend this book and can see it being a fun and engaging read aloud to share with my church’s children’s ministry.

An adorable and beautifully illustrated book on the importance of nature and taking care of each other, and God’s earth. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this to my little guy.

Abigail and the Waterfall is an endearing book following the adventure of a young girl named Abigail and her family as they travel to a mountaintop to find a special waterfall and the plants and animal friends that they happen to encounter along the way. The illustrations are loveable, and the narrative is compelling which will most assuredly make this a beautiful reading venture for young children. The author and the publishing team are genuinely compassionate about nature and ensuring the integrity of the reading experience. The fact that Biblical scripture is incorporated into the story in creative ways heightens the value of the author's and illustrator's intention to showcase nature as God's magnificent creation.

I love the practical application of appreciating God’s love and giving thanks for the things He has blessed us with that this book gives us! It’s one thing to read that we are responsible as stewards of this world and all that we’ve been given but it’s another thing entirely to be reminded of the very real ways we can do that. Like when we are out in nature to respect that we are visiting the houses of animals and plants and bug families and to do as little to disturb them as possible.

I appreciated the note from the author in the back of the book SO MUCH — especially the “did you know” portion! I loved the way scripture was intertwined with the story as well as letting us know what different plant, animal, and insect species we were observing right alongside the family in the story. The illustrations added so much life to the story, too. It was also very nice to feel encouraged to get outside and to spend time together in nature as a family.

Thank you to NetGalley and InterVarsity Press for the ARC copy of this book!

A wonderful way to celebrate all God has created with a fun family hiking trip. Full of detailed bright images and scripture through out, to show children gods loves is everywhere we look. I love how the animals are also named. Very well written.

This is perfect! My daughter has recently started her reading journey, so I have added a few books to my ipad mini for her to read on kindle when on the go. The cover is so cute and I love the colors / illustrations! I am hoping this will also help with getting her out to hike with me. Hopefully we can find some waterfalls!

There was a great message in here to respect Earth and treat it well. But it's greatly overshadowed by the fact I almost couldn't read it. The formatting of the words is pretty awful. There's this weird shadowing behind the words on some pages, and it made it difficult (and almost impossible in some instances) to read sometimes. I really had to strain my eyes to see what the words were saying, and I just don't think that's good at all. In it's current format, I don't now if I would recommend this

3.5⭐️
This book was a sweet story about a little girl going on a hike to a waterfall with her family and admiring and appreciating all of the cool and beautiful aspects of nature that God created along the way. Great reminder of the importance of taking care of the Earth God created. The illustrations were nice, however, I did find it hard to read the words in some parts the way they had shadows behind them. I also liked that throughout the book there were Bible verses and labeled animals and plants. Overall cute read that kids will enjoy.