I’m thrilled to announce the release of my latest book—and my first children’s picture book! It’s called I Can’t Believe My Eyes!, and it’s written to help kids ages 4-7 believe in a God they can’t see. I also hope it serves to encourage parents, grandparents, and caregivers to take advantage of everyday moments to point kids toward the eternal truths of Scripture.
Every Friday for the next few weeks, I plan on posting a Q&A about the book—and the creation of kids picture books in general—to give folks a behind-the-scenes look into this really fun corner of the publishing world. The inspiration for this blog post series came from a very bright, inquisitive 10-year-old who recently reached out to me with some wonderful questions about I Can’t Believe My Eyes!
Q: What was your inspiration for writing I Can’t Believe My Eyes!?
A: I was inspired by several things. Above all, I wrote the book to help young kids believe in a God they can’t see. I want them to know that even though they can’t see God, he’s most certainly real, he loves them very much, and there are plenty of evidences all around us that prove he exists. Belief in the existence of God is the first building block for faith in kids, and I’m excited to give parents a resource for that.
Also, I want to encourage parents and caregivers to look for simple connection points from everyday life that they can use to point kids toward faith. These unique moments (sometimes random, sometimes planned) are instrumental for young kids, who often think in concrete terms and process things visually and experientially. These opportunities to connect kids to faith are all around us, just like the invisible wind rustling through the trees. We just have to be aware and ready to use them!
Q: Why was the setting of the book in the fall, and not another season?
A: I wanted to use the example of the wind as a way to help kids understand faith in God. We can’t see the wind but we know it exists because we see its effects all around us—how it blows leaves, sways trees, helps sailboats sail, helps us fly kites, etc. In a similar way, we can’t see God but we know he exists because we see his handiwork all around us and we read about his amazing deeds in the Bible.
So with the analogy of wind in mind, the fall season just felt like a natural visual backdrop for the book. Because when you write a picture book, you have to think about . . . the pictures! I thought the images of a windy fall day could really help propel the story and tie things together well thematically. Also, I loved the thought of all the beautiful fall colors—reds, oranges, yellows, browns, etc.—being in the book to make it pop. Hannah Green, the illustrator, did a marvelous job bringing my ideas to life!
Q: Where is the mom? Why did you choose to have the main characters be a dad and a son?
A: That’s a great question, because I don’t even have a son! I’m the dad of four amazing daughters. But for some reason, I just liked the thought of a dad talking to his son for this book. My dad, who passed away many years ago, was instrumental in my growing-up years. He taught me a lot about faith, life, and the Bible, both in what he said and by the way he lived his life. I wanted to honor him with this book. In many ways, I think the dad/son relationship in the book is a way for me to say “thank you” to him. I miss him very much, and I can’t wait to see him in heaven one day.
That being said, being a girl dad x 4, I do have some ideas for books featuring girl characters that I hope to get published one day. We’ll see!
As far as the mom goes, I think she is probably inside the house taking care of the other kids while the dad tries to rake leaves with a very curious, energetic boy. So even though you don’t see the mom in the book, she’s working hard because a mom’s work is never done!
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Be on the lookout next Friday for another blog post that takes you behind the scenes of I Can’t Believe My Eyes! If you have a question about this book or children’s picture books in general, please comment here and I’ll do my best to answer it in a future post!