Our Thoughts

Note: This is the second book in our attempt to expand out and highlight shorter Christian options for younger kiddos. It is often early in Christian stories (in this case a shorter story book), that you get a sense that you have made a wise decision. This story is a great example of that. Even before reading we see on the back that the author is “Dedicated to creating wholesome alternatives”. Fortunately for us, this is a Christian example of “wholesome” and we are told the story was “inspired by the grace of God and the love of family”. A bit more of the backstory is shared, and the author tells us that reading to her granddaughter “galvanized her dedication to author a book that supports parents and grandparents training up their children to know Jesus”. As a Christian parent, that is probably all you need to know about this one, but we will share a bit more here. On the opening page we see John 1:17 shared with young readers (“... but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”). The family attends church and we see Godfrey praying. A shop owner tells Godfrey that the new cathedral will be used to “glorify God”. Godfrey lives out his faith, turning his mind to Jesus in a very dangerous situation. In fact at the end of the story Godfrey turns attention to glorifying God and giving Him the praise for protecting him and bringing about good (“God granted me courage”). Hard work is shown in a positive light and Godfrey has a great attitude about taking on a labor-intensive, challenging job. The length is good for many earlier readers as it isn’t picture book short, but isn’t overwhelmingly long either (our copy was 62 pages, with many pages holding solid illustrations). There is a bit of historical education involved as well. The setting is a neat one, happening long ago in England. The story highlights apprenticeship, which is a wonderful concept. We read that a project like a cathedral could take an entire lifetime to complete! Readers get a few insights into things like the work of a stonemason, blacksmith and craftsmen.