Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago
Zonderkidz, 2012, 224 pp., $16.99

Every person at our house is a fan of Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago’s Jesus Storybook Bible. When Lloyd-Jones and Jago’s followup Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing arrived on our doorstep, we sat down with it as a family that night and started reading. Within minutes, I was having a deep conversation with my 4-year-old about the reality of our sin and God’s unconditional love for us. Our 4-year-old daughter says of the book, “It reminds me of God.” Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing has quickly become a conversation starter at our house about God and what it means to follow Him. This book is anything but a saccharine collection of devotions that portray a life of discipleship as a happy-go-lucky walk in the park (as long as you follow all the rules). Many of the entries deal with real-life, nitty-gritty issues that sometimes make following Jesus hard, frustrating or seemingly impossible. Lloyd-Jones’ poignant yet simple language clearly communicates biblical truths to kids of all ages, while Jago’s incredible artwork would be worth the price of admission alone. (Exclaims our 3-year-old daughter, “I like the drawings because I like them so much!) Any parent that reads this book regularly with his or her kids will soon find him or herself in faith-building conversations about Jesus—which I suppose is part of the purpose of this book.
—Benjer, Bethany and Samantha McVeigh

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing is a  juvenile devotional that merges solid biblical truths with daily life experiences. Beautiful graphics help define the intent and purpose of each passage. Certain devotionals could very well support a teaching or Bible study for youth; but as a whole, I would not recommend it as a tool to be used at large, as it does not reflect the adolescent culture in which they live.
—Rev. Regina Foster, professional freelance writer, ordained minister and has ministered to urban preteen, teen and college entry-level females for more than 20 years. She is also founder of The Queen Esther Movement websites geared toward reaching urban teens of all ethnicities, facilitates the “Girl, whatcha’ gonna be—a concubine or a queen? seminar and is a trained advocate for teaching dating violence awareness.  
The Queen Esther Movement 2
The Queen Esther Movement 1

###