When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner

When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner Illustrated by: David Catrow ISBN-13: 9781601429186 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Waterbrook Press Released: Feb. 28, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Goodreads:
From early on, children are looking to discover their place in the world and longing to understand how their personalities, traits, and talents fit in. The assurance that they are deeply loved and a unique creation in our big universe is certain to help them spread their wings and fly.

Through playful, charming rhyme and vivid, fantastical illustrations, When God Made You inspires young readers to learn about their own special gifts and how they fit into God's divine plan as they grow, explore, and begin to create for themselves.

'Cause when God made YOU, somehow God knew
That the world needed someone exactly like you!


My Review:
When God Made You is a Christian children's book for ages 3 to 7. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss' books. The rhyming text has a nice cadence to it that is fun to read, and the colorful, fanciful illustrations will catch your eye. I've read this book several times already, and I'm an adult! Overall, I'd highly recommend this book.

The text encourages readers that God made us the way that we are and that He delights when we explore and use our unique talents. We're also encouraged to have faith, hope, love, and be kind.

I'll mention that the text says "God pictured your nose and all ten of your toes. / The sound of your voice? God had it composed." Some children do not have ten toes, so it's too bad it didn't just say "all of your toes." Also, there are a couple of words like "debut" and "revue" that may need to be explained the first time through.

The illustrations are very colorful and full of life and detail. You can spend some time looking at everything, making it more interesting to read again and again. After the text says "when you make-believe, the stories conceived," the illustrations went in a fanciful, imaginative direction that didn't necessarily match the text. It's clear by the end that what happened is make-believe, but it's a little surprising the first time through.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.