"You are Special" {Book}

One of my favorite Christian authors is Max Lucado. He writes wonderful books for adults and children alike. I've read several of his titles for adults, such as Traveling Light, God Came Near, and In the Grip of Grace which are all excellent reads. But my favorite books of Mr. Lucado's are his children's books. We have several of his kid's books in our home, such as Because I Love You, You are Mine, Just in Case You Ever Wonder, and If Only I Had a Green Nose amongst others.

This past week in our homeschool kindergarten, we had X and Y week, so we read You are Special, and I remembered how much I loved the book. The story is part of a series about "Wemmicks" which are wooden creatures made by the "Maker" Eli. The main character in this story is called, "Punchinello", a wooden little guy who just can't seem to do anything right. (We all feel that way at times, right?) Well in this story, when Punchinello doesn't do something right, other Wemmicks give him gray dots. Other Wemmicks have no dots but only stars, because they do everything right! The Wemmicks walk around all day giving each other stars and dots.

One day, Punchinello meets another Wemmick, named Lucia, who has NO stickers whatsoever. Punchinello finds this unusual, he's never met someone who didn't have ANY stickers. So he asks her why, and she says, "Because every day, I visit our Maker, Eli." Punchinello thinks about that for a bit, and decides to visit Eli too. He isn't sure Eli will want to see him but climbs the hill to Eli's cottage anyway. When he gets to Eli's cottage, Punchinello receives a hearty greeting from Eli, who also tells Punchinello that he's been waiting for Punchinello to come. He tells Punchinello that he is special, and loved. (Isn't that what we all need to hear? Especially after the world is constantly telling us we can't do anything right...) The stickers stop sticking to Punchinello too, when he decides to listen to what God, er, I mean Eli tells him.

Of course, this is a story about God and His people. God tells us in His Word, "YOU are Special."

It is found in 1 Peter 2:9
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This is another of my favorite verses that relates...

Isaiah 43:4
"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you..."

I hope you'll find this sweet book and take time to read it often with your children, or any children that you love. Actually, I know a few adults that need the message this book has to offer! You can find it on Amazon.com here.