Wanda Luthman's Blog, page 7

The grateful boat

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Christian and Children’s Book Blog. Today, I have a Christian Children’s Author, Chris Manion, here to share with you about one of her books, The Grateful Boat. I have read it and love it! I’m sure you will too. Also, it is adorably illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Jack Foster.

Available on Amazon

Chris, please tell us about your sweet book…

The Grateful Boat is based on a story I heard in 2018 of a boat flying through the air during Hurricane Michael, the third strongest hurricane ever to hit the United States. I live 70 miles from Mexico Beach where the hurricane made land with 155 mph winds. When I heard the story of one man’s boat, I immediately thought it would make an excellent children’s story.

Like all good children’s books, it’s written for children of all ages and was fun to write it from the boat’s perspective. Children can relate to the boat’s sad feelings as she watches her captain drive away after securing her under his house. She doesn’t know he’s evacuating from a hurricane. Children don’t understand many circumstances, such as when people seem to abandon them during the storms of family strife (e.g. divorce, relocation, military parents or siblings on assignment, foster care, adoption, or the need to seek safety in another country). All they know is what Pearl knew: things are moving in strange ways. They feel scared and wonder why God is allowing such things to happen.

When Pearl finds herself flying through the air and lands upside down on a house, she has no idea that God is using her in a very important way. All she knows is people she spies are praying for help and nothing is right. When the winds die down, she finds herself on the ground broken and leaking gas. Children experience abandonment and trauma with similar feelings and a sense of brokenness.

When the captain returns, Pearl hears a neighbor thanking the captain for saving his life. He explains how the captain’s boat acted as a protective cover during the storm, keeping him and his father from drowning. Pearl had no idea she was doing that. All she knew was her captain was happy with her. That’s all that mattered. All she ever wanted was to please her captain.

Children often find out later in life how God used their circumstances for good they did not understand at the time. When they discover this truth, their trauma wounds have a better chance to heal and their trust in God and their faith grows.

Adult readers like you and I know only too well the unexpected, scary events life holds. The longer we live, the more loss we survive. We lose homes when we move or get flooded. We lose loved ones. We lose time we can never recover; we lose plans, health, and peace. We inevitably lose our cherished youth and physical strength. All too often during these stressful times, it seems our closest friends abandon us, or God pulls away. Adults know and feel the pain of abandonment sometimes more acutely than children.

When we experience a topsy turvy series of events, we have no clue—most of us—that God is using us in that crazy, scary moment. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, He grants an insight of knowledge of how, in the midst of our storm, He moved pieces behind the scenes to make things better for us, or to help us grow inner strength to prepare us for his future plans for us. People of faith try to trust God at all times. Our trials scare us and draw us closer to the captain of our souls.

This little book can open discussions about important feelings with children full of questions. Click the dropdown menu on the Books tab on my website to find some starter discussion questions. http://www.ChrisManion.com.

In the end, the best discovery in the book is the joy of a grateful heart. The Grateful Boat helps children—and adults—heal abandonment issues and find the joy gratitude fosters, even for the hard, scary times they endured.

Here are some of my favorite Scripture quotations on gratitude. Feel free to share yours below.

In everything give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. 1 Timothy 4:4

Overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:7

…always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God. Ephesians 5:20

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Wow! I think we have all experienced feelings of abandonment in our lives and it is a hard feeling to deal with. Thank you, Chris, for tackling such a difficult emotion and helping children learn how gratitude can help.

Here is my review of her book on Amazon

“5.0 out of 5 stars Gratitude, more than an Attitude Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2023

I loved this little book about a boat named Pearl and her Captain. They had a special relationship, but then she was left behind in storage in a carport of a house. A storm came up and scared the little boat and neighbors. But, the beauty of the story was the love the little boat had for her Captain and how she just wanted to please him. The storyline of gratitude was woven throughout without being “preachy.” I think this book will be a great addition to every parent’s bookshelf to read with their children to talk about love for one family and others. Also, this illustrator is one of my very favorites. The color and cuteness is something I believe children will love!”

This is a book that the child in your life will love and will plant a seed of strength inside of them. Please consider purchasing a copy of The Grateful Boat for them today.

Thank you,also, to my loyal blog followers. I know I have been away for awhile. Unfortunately, my Dad, who had been sick, passed away peacefully recently. My Mom and siblings are supporting one another. We know Dad is in heaven because he was a believer in Jesus Christ, our Savior. We have peace because of that.

As always, likes, shares, and comments are appreciated.

Stay safe

The nobel adventures of beryl & carol

Available on Amazon

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog! Thank you for joining me today.

I have a new author that I think you’re going to love. His name is Jeremy Sherr and he wrote a great book for children that I’ve invited him here to share about…take it away Jeremy!

The Noble Adventures of Beryl and Carol follows two twelve-year-old close friends, Beryl and Carol, that are living in England in 1997. They adore their little town’s charm and their river. Unfortunately, there is a risk that they may soon be forced to part ways. Even worse, bullies taunt them frequently, and one day they corner them without a way out. They run away into the adjacent “Forbidden Forest,” where their thrilling, and heroic adventure starts.

This book encapsulates the fantastical feeling of diving into an adventure that the reader becomes enthralled in, and almost forgets about the real world around them. So far the book has proved to be a hit among our readers with excellent reviews from adults as well.

Thank you, Jeremy, for sharing your awesome new children’s book with us!

And thank you loyal blog followers for popping in today. I hope you’ll pick up a copy for your favorite child!

As always, likes, comments, and shares are always appreciated.

Stay safe, everyone

Benefelence the elephence and the wonderful you

Available on Amazon

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog!

Today, I have a book that I think you will enjoy about meditation. With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we might forget to take a moment a slow down and be present. This book will surely help the adults who are reading the book to their children as much as it will help the children themselves.

Here to tell us about his book, Benefelence the Elephence and the Wonderful You, is the author Todd H. William…

The Story
Traveling through a shimmering world tethered to a cluster of bright balloons, Benefelence (“Bene”) visits a family in crisis. Everyone has a problem! The dog ran off with the boy’s shoe, the daughter wants to play but has homework, the mother discovers the cat stuck in a tree, and the dad is working way too much. What are they going to do!?

Bene shows the family that sometimes being Wonderful simply means being calm and kind with your misbehaving puppy, patient and wise with your homework, reliable and resourceful with your stranded cat, or balanced and rested with your work life.

Thanks to this simple yet effective thought exercise, each family member gains a new perspective on their situation, and in choosing to be Wonderful (by selecting and thinking about one or two Wonderful Words), they prevail over their respective challenges.

In a joyous celebration, Bene rewards everyone with special balloons to commemorate the various ways they were wonderful with their situations.

As the sun begins to set and the eventful day draws to a close, Bene imparts a few final words about the importance of trying to be wonderful, and the positive effects it can have on the self and the world.

Reflections
Being Wonderful is when we connect our actions to our true values. Wonderful Words are the words that represent those values. Benefelence the Elephence and the Wonderful You encourages using these special, Wonderful Words as tools to help us spend more time being our Wonderful Selves.

Readers tend to love the book’s positivity, message, variety and usefulness. They also comment on the beautiful artwork, playful rhyming voice, and fun activities and extras. Notably, parents and teachers often comment on the uniqueness of the book’s premise and approach, and find that it often prompts conversation with the little ones they read it with.

“My daughter would ask me about what the words meant. The Wonderful Words glossary page was helpful for both of us!” – Parent of 5 year old

“this is a wonderful and much-needed way to introduce children to mindfulness” – Teacher, Parent and Grandparent, Literary PhD, and Private School Founder

Audiences will turn the pages to see how the family deals with their problems, enjoy the beautiful artwork and bouncy rhyming text, and explore the many activities such as the picture find hunt, the illustrated and rhyming glossary page, the drawing activity, the crossword puzzle, and the removable ‘Bene award.’ The last of these is intended to give the reader a way to appreciate someone else in their lives who they feel deserves to be recognized for being wonderful.

When I refer to myself in the third person, I sometimes say…
Todd H. William has always been fascinated with the concepts of mindfulness, healthy living, purpose, psychology, philosophy, physics, and pretty much everything in between. He’s been a teacher, designed and implemented best-in-class award-winning business intelligence systems for corporations, composed and performed music, written screenplays, and designed, built, and prototyped a variety of novel multidirectional wheels. He’s constantly writing, and when he’s not, he’s trying desperately to remember all the ideas that he needs to write down before he forgets. It was his work on a gentle prioritization app, combined with his commitment to achieving good mental health and a satisfying work-life balance, that helped spark the idea to write Benefelence the Elephence and the Wonderful You, his first children’s book.

The Amazing Artwork
Ilya Fortuna is an illustrator and game creator based in Ukraine. He enjoys working closely with authors and game developers to bring their words and stories to life in vibrant images. He is a graduate of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts, and served as theillustrator on many children’s books, including Marvelous Machines, which was the focus of a successful Kickstarter campaign. Ilya has re-skinned his own game, The Adventures of the Water Knight, for the Cartoon Network. His artwork appears in the successful game, My Lands, and he has created or contributed artwork to many other games, including Cowboy vs UFOs, Brave Astronaut, Adventures of Water Knight, and Slumdog Billionaire (2048).

Book and Contact Details
Title: Benefelence the Elephence and the Wonderful You
Format: Large Print Square Paperback and ebook 29 pages
ISBN: Paperback: 978-1778094224. ebook: 978-1-778094217
Ages: 4–400
Author: Todd H. William
Illustrator: Ilya Fortuna
Publisher: Dizkorce
Publication Date: November 10, 2022
Price: Paperback 9.99 USD. ebook 2.99 USD.
Contact Email: thw@benefelence.com
Links (also available in many other marketplaces such as .ca, .uk, .au, etc.):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1778094228

Thank you, Todd, for sharing about your incredibly useful and unique book today!

And readers–thank you for stopping by my blog today. I hope you will pick up a copy of this book and enjoy the benefits of mindfulness this season

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated

Stay safe, everyone

the christmas king picture book

Rev. Dr. Tonya T. Strickland

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog! Today, I have a special guest, it’s Rev. Dr. Tonya T. Strickland. She’s written several children’s books, but the one I wanted to share with you today is called, The Christmas King. I know you’re going to love it and want to get your copy today.

Available on Amazon

Here’s what it’s about from Dr. Strickland herself…

If you don’t want to settle just for stories of elves and visions of sugar plums this Christmas, it’s time to read The Christmas King by Tonya T. Strickland.

This family read-aloud book doesn’t stop at the Bethlehem star and the birth of baby Jesus. Instead, it celebrates the coming of the King who changes the world. 

Readers will follow Jesus as he comes to earth as a baby and grows up to transform lives, calm storms, teach about the kingdom of God, and defeat death. Full of delightful illustrations in its 80 pages, the book includes biblical characters responding to the Good News and the love of Jesus, along with the charming mice who witness the events. (Some of these mice are somewhat hidden, creating a challenging activity to find all twenty of them in the book!)

The Christmas King is unique in its structure. It is both a picture book and a storybook in one. Its first 32 pages feature rhythmic verse with large pictures. Then it transforms into an illustrated storybook with easy-to-read chapters that explain the backstory of that spectacular night and the life of Jesus.

From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane and beyond, these rich biblical retellings remind us of God’s plan to rescue humanity through the baby born more than 2000 years ago.

As a seasoned writer and award-winning educator, Rev. Dr. Tonya faithfully portrays the Gift and Life of Jesus with fresh and engaging narrative. 

Here’s a sample of verse from the first part of the book and then the beginning of the chapter about the verse in the second part of the book:

The Son of our God 
left his place on the throne
to share the good news 
and to make it well-known.

In heaven, the angels were laughing and dancing with joy about what was about to take place. King Jesus was going to leave heaven for a bit so that he could share good news with everyone on earth! Oh, how long they had waited for this very moment!

The book is available in paperback, hardcover, and eBook at Amazon. It also includes a free Game Pack for lots of family fun. 

The eBook version will be available for free December 13.

In addition to her books, Tonya has also just started a blog-comic on the bold and blessed life. It features the humor of her characters Stik and Stone as well as thoughtful content focused on God’s love for us. You can read it at calledtoboldness.com.

The Christmas King is the perfect book to teach who Jesus is and why he came to earth as a baby. It’s a read-aloud for the whole family that will quickly become one of your favorites.

Thank you, Dr. Strickland, for being a guest on my blog today.

See, I told you that you would love it! There’s so much good packed into this book that you will want the child in your life to have a copy this season.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by my blog today

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas this year!

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated

Stay safe, everyone

books featuring children with disabilities

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog where I share awesome books about children and/or with a christian theme.

Today, I want to introduce you to a new website that is helping to support authors.

It’s created by a man named Ben Shepherd. His website is shepherd.com

What he does is feature an author’s book alongside 5 other books that the author recommends with similar themes.

I chose to feature my book, Gloria & the Unicorn which is about a little girl who’s face is disfigured. She lives in a home with a loving woman named, Miss Libby. However, Miss Libby is afraid to send her to school because she doesn’t want her to be bullied.

Available on Amazon

But, sweet Gloria longs to learn to read. And that’s when Sir Louie, the unicorn shows up. He teaches her how to read and they go on adventures by actually entering the book.

This doesn’t come without a cost though. There are evil wizards who don’t like a non-magical creature such as Gloria to have magical powers, so they steal her best friend in the whole world, Sir Louie, the unicorn.

Will she overcome her fear and insecurity in order to save his life?

The 5 books I chose with similar themes are pictured above and they are the following titles:

A Friend for Henry

Can a Bear Ski?

The Girl who Thoughts in Pictures

What Happened to You?

The Chance to Fly

You can see why I chose each of these books on his website here

I’m very grateful to Ben for creating this website. I think it’s a unique concept and will help authors get the word out about their books!

I hope you will check out my book, Gloria & the Unicorn, as well as the other books that I’ve recommended along the theme of children with disabilities. I think you’ll find the stories inspirational!

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated!

Stay safe, everyone

gratitude

Hello Everyone and Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog,

I had a wonderful opportunity recently through the connecting magic of social media to be invited on this podcast called Imperfect Heroes!

The woman who runs this podcast is DJ Stutz and I met her on a social media outlet called Alignable.

We met via Zoom and chatted a little at first and then dove right in to recording this podcast on Gratitude.

She is a delightful person and so very easy to talk to. She made the whole thing so easy and comfortable. I enjoyed it immensely.

But, more importantly, we spoke on the timely topic of Gratitude, especially helping our children to have it.

Sometimes it can be hard as adults for us to have it. We discuss it all along with some ways to help children focus on things that they are grateful for.

May it bless you and your family this season.

I hope you will implement one of these ideas and/or if you have some ways you’ve encouraged gratitude in your children, please share in the Comment section below. We can all learn from each other.

I want to invite you all to give it a listen.

Here’s the link below

https://www.imperfectheroespodcast.com/episode-72teaching-children-gratitude-with-wanda-luthman/

It’s available anywhere you listen to podcasts

A big thank you to DJ Stutz for inviting me on her podcast, Imperfect Heroes!

And thank you all for stopping by my blog today!

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated!

Stay safe, everyone

phoenix revived

Judy McCluney, Author of Phoenix Revived

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog!

Today, I’m sharing with you not just another wonderful author, but a personal friend of mine, Judy McCluney, whom I’ve known for quite some time. We worked together for several years before both of us took different jobs, but we stayed in touch by meeting for lunch in the summer when I was off work. And guess what? The place we met not only had a delicious Chinese buffet but had been the location of Judy’s bookstore previously.

Then, a few years ago, we met again at a Book Fair! It’s always fun to met someone and become friends and then realize you have so much in common…not only our love of Psychology, but also our love of reading and writing! I’m so impressed with her books and I know you will be also.

Here’s Judy to tell us more about herself and the inspiration behind her latest book, Phoenix Revived

Available on Amazon as an ebook and paperback

I’ve always loved Arizona, since I was a child in New York. Its striking rocks, canyons and deserts held my imagination even though I lived in Florida most of my life since age twelve. I finally visited Arizona many times from around 2002, when my son and his future wife went to school there.

Looking over Phoenix from a high point on South Mountain I saw the smoggy air that hung over the city. I learned that the rates of asthma were high there, which was sad considering that people long ago came there to breathe clean air. I also discovered that small farms grew crops in the city, even in some semi-industrial areas.

I thought of teens growing up in the working-class community of South Phoenix, of people who have been there for generations and of many new settlers and immigrants. I thought of teens who live there and the challenges they face where money is often tight, and where asthma rates are high. What kind of futures could talented young people there hope for and pursue?

I wanted to tell a story about several talented high school students and how they faced family, financial, health, and bias problems. I thought of the ancient myth of the city’s namesake, the legendary Phoenix bird, which rose from the ashes. This book brings these high school students, their families, friends, and community to life. I hope you enjoy reading Phoenix Revived.

About my books How to Build a Human Being, and Snacks for Growing Strong:

Judy has loved sharing children’s books and writing most of her life. She read and created stories for her two children, recommended books to customers at her bookstore 30 years ago, and read stories to emotionally handicapped children. As a working single mother Judy looked for ways to stay healthy. She revised old recipes and tried new ones. She reviewed studies and positions by medical experts that underlined the importance of eating vegetables and fruit. She switched to a plant-based whole food diet and felt much better. Healthy eating became a passion.

One of Judy’s grandchildren was a picky eater, but a great builder with toy blocks. He inspired her to write a story that uses the idea of blocks to show how foods really are building blocks for growing a child’s body. She brought that story to life with real photos of food “blocks,” vivid pictures of a child wanting to grow strong, and hands-on food projects that children can make. As well as the story, Judy wrote a companion book of food activities. She continues to enjoy and to share healthy food facts and cooking in her home community in Cocoa, Florida. She is fortunate to have a husband who is great at making salads. She also gives thanks for her children and grandchildren who are great critics and tasters. She hopes everyone will be able to take part in making food that delights and benefits them. For more information Judy invites you to read her blog and other posts at her website http://www.judykidsfoodie.com.

Thank you, Judy, for sharing your writing journey with us and especially about your latest book, Phoenix Revived. I know it will be enjoyed by everyone who reads it.

Thank you, my blog followers, for stopping by today! I hope you pick up a copy today and share with your young reader friends and relatives

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated

Stay safe, everyone

Somebody to love

Hi everyone and Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog,

Today, I have an amazing author with a wonderful children’s book for you to discover.

Here’s the author, Valerie June, to tell you about her book, Somebody to Love

Hi ,
Music can transform a person’s soul and connect them to others. Similarly, reading can be powerful and healing for young children. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Valerie June harnesses both the transformative powers of music and reading in her debut children’s book SOMEBODY TO LOVE: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele (Third Man Books, Nov. 1). Inspired by her process of writing the song “Somebody to Love” from her album Pushin’ Against a Stone, this story follows a resilient musical instrument in pursuit of song.

In the book, a young aspiring musician, Valerie, is given a toy banjolele. At the beginning, the baby banjolele dreams that its voice will soar and be heard all throughout the world, but very soon its musical journey is met with challenges and doubts.

Valerie and banjolele attempt to play with the other instruments at school, but the others make fun of the banjolele saying ” You’re just a toy.” The little banjolele could not play through a whole song! But the banjolele’s resilience starts to clear its throat: “I have a dream, and I want to sing.” Finally, the toy finds the courage, belief, and love it needs, coughs out a last bit of dust, and belts out a gorgeous song. Valerie names the banjolele Baby and both go on to perform all over the world together forever.

This uplifting story about the power of one’s inner song is also told through the dazzling, magical, and musically-inspired artwork of Marcela Avelar and the final pages of the book pay tribute to the biggest believers in history including: Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, John Lennon, Thomas Edison, and Frida Kahlo.

Inspiration behind the book:
Valerie June said: “As I traveled the world telling the story of my banjolele, I always knew it would make an uplifting children’s book. It wasn’t until I got a call from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities that I was encouraged to sit down and write it out. One of the nation’s most historical dreamers is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As a black female artist, his message taught me the power of dreams at an early age. He was a light for me. Each time I’ve shared this story with students, I watch as their eyes light up with wonder. It’s been thrilling to witness that same light awakening within them. Believing you can achieve your dream is a way to be an inspiration for your community, like a great Nigerian proverb teaches us, “Thoughts and dreams are the foundation of our being.”

About Valerie June
Valerie June Hockett is a Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and multi- instrumentalist from Tennessee. She’s been published in the New York Times, which has also hailed her as one of America’s “most intriguing, fully formed new talents.” She has recorded four critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. June has performed on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, Austin City Limits, Rachael Ray, and CBS Saturday Morning, and graced some of the world’s most prestigious stages, from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center. She’s part of the Turnaround Arts program originally started by First Lady Michelle Obama. Also a poet, her first collection Maps for the Modern World was published in April 2021 by Andrews McMeel Publishing. When she’s not touring, June splits her time between Tennessee and New York

Assets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvyX1azzUUg
https://theboot.com/valerie-june-to-release-new-childrens-book-somebody-to-love/

About Marcela Avelar
Marcela Avelar is a Mexican-born artist based in New York City. She is an active partner at Menage-a-Trois Design Agency as well as the founder of a not-for-profit digital art collective called The Artruist. Her work can be seen in covers for Special K, Aloysius 3, So Brown, and 9 time Grammy Award winner Norah Jones. She also designed the stage for Norah Jones’ 2017 Day Breaks World Tour. In 2018, Marcela’s artwork was part of an exhibit in New Paltz, NY celebrating Mexican Women Artist.

Thank you, Valerie, for sharing about your awesome book! I wish you all the best as it continues to gain momentum. May it bless all who read it! And what a wonderful artist that you have paired with as well! You two make a great team.

Thank you to all my blog readers, for stopping by today! I hope you are inspired by this book and will purchase your copy today! Available on Amazon

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated

Stay safe, everyone

zora’s garden

Rae Chesny, Author of Zora’s Garden

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog!

Today, I have a wonderful author whose book while inspire us all.

Rae Chesny tells about her book…

Through my love for Zora Neale Hurston, I’ve deepened my love for storytelling too, and I’ve aimed to ignite a similar excitement in kids through my books and suite of children’s programs. I’m a mom to a brilliant little five-year-old boy, and together we’ve also found an affinity for gardening because of Zora. 

My book honors Zora Neale Hurston by incorporating the perfect mix of fact and fiction. It tells the story of Zora, as a young girl, who works with her mother, Lucy, to find the ideal way to tell stories and grow gardens. 

I am excited to be in Zora’s hometown debuting in Zora’s Garden this week, as well as doing a presentation and research on her. Zora Neale Hurston is an amazing inspiration to me, and I believe that she could make a difference to children from all walks of life. If you’re interested in finding out more about my work and the book, please take a look at the links below.

https://www.juniorstoryteller.com

https://raechesny.com

Thank you, Rae, for writing this book for children that will teach as well as entertain them!

Thank you to all my blog followers for stopping by today. I hope you’ll pick up a copy for the little one in your life.

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated!

Stay safe, everyone

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FREE children’s picture books this weekend only

Tonya Strickland, Reverend, Author, & Illustrator

Hello, everyone!

Welcome to Wanda Luthman’s Book Blog!

Today, I have not just one, but two FREE children’s picture books for you to download, but they are only available for FREE this weekend (October 1st and 2nd, 2022)

Here’s why you’re going to want to grab them both…

Rev. Dr. Tonya Strickland did her first writing in crayons on the underside of tables when her mother wasn’t looking. Today she is a nationally recognized, award-winning educator and author who joyfully shares God’s love. Tonya and her husband, Charlie, live in a multi-generational home near Atlanta with their son, Matthew, his wife, Mindy, and their twin two-year-old boys. 

Tonya’s first picture book, Mama Can’t Moo, was inspired by Mindy and her loving conversations with her babies—of course, she talked and they cooed! This fun, rhyming story is based on Proverbs 31 and reminds us of the special voice God gives to mothers. Her second picture book, Papa Can’t Purr, was inspired by Matthew and his look of total bewilderment when the hospital nurse put two pre-mature twin babies into his arms after their birth. Like Papa, he quickly learned how to give snug hugs (but not from their cat—that was just part of her story-telling!

Mama Can’t Moo is available on Amazon; Papa Can’t Purr is also available on Amazon

Both books are free to download from Amazon on October 1 and 2. She especially appreciates reviews from readers as she works to build her author platform.

Her next picture book, The Christmas King, will be available in December. She has written it so that children understand that Jesus is more than a babe in a manger. Its colorfully illustrated pages take readers from Jesus’ birth to his kingdom.

She is also working on a book for grown-ups, Building a Family Bold for Christ, that includes activities, practices, and traditions that families use to make Jesus the center of their home. She is looking for parents to contribute their own family practices for the book—and she will recognize them for their contribution in the upcoming book and choose five significant contributors to gift with a free Called to Boldness tee-shirt.

She is also looking for subscribers to her new newsletter, Called to Boldness, which will feature ways to know, share, and be encouraged by God’s love.

Tonya’s biggest writing challenge is ideas—but not the lack of! Instead, it’s trying to manage all the ideas and then following God’s direction on what to write and when to write it. She works on books early in the morning, during the one nap the twins take each day, and after dinner. Sometimes she works on her current projects, but when a new idea interrupts her sleep, she’s been known to give it priority!

In addition to writing books that share God’s love, she also chases children and chickens, hikes with her family (downhill only), tries to avoid cake for breakfast (except Saturdays).

Book links: Papa Can’t Purr: https://www.amazon.com/Papa-Cant-Purr-Mama-ebook/dp/B0BGK3DF3L/r

Mama Can’t Moo: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZF98N3H/

HOME

https://www.facebook.com/TonyaTStrickland/

https://www.pinterest.com/TonyaTStrickland/

Don’t you just LOVE these books?! I thinkt they sound amazing and I’ve already picked them both up for FREE and let me encourage you, that if you get Dr. Tonya Strickland’s book, to please leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews help others to decide to purchase a book and tell Amazon to show the book to other shoppers. It’s a huge thing to do for an author.

Thank you, everyone, for stopping by my blog today

As always, likes, comments, and shares are appreciated

Stay safe, everyone