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"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." -Mark 10:15

Some of my favorite things are the Word of God, life lessons, children's literature, and sweets (especially chocolate). This blog is a combination of those things.  I truly believe that a dose of childlike faith and chocolate can help many life lessons be a little easier to digest. With a look up and a dependent, "Help me, Abba!" this life and its issues can be overcome.  A good children's book can be so much more than entertainment.  The new rating scales for reading which place books on grade levels and the like are great for parents and teachers to know how well a child is learning the valuable art of reading; however, it can send the wrong message to a child: that a book is "below" or "above" his or her level. It can motivate them to disregard it.

Like sweets, children's literature can be little "chocolate" nuggets molded into the beautiful 3 lines of a poem or the fluffiness of the pages that are "caked" between the bindings of a novel. It can be the "shortbread" of a fable or the "whipped cream" of a silly tall tale.  It is so much more than a tool for learning; it can be used to encourage or comfort; for a 3rd grade girl or 80 year old male. If and when we outgrow it, a part of us dies.

TeachingBooks.net published an in-depth interview from November 5, 2004 with picture book author, Anthony Browne.  In this interview I love the way he described this phenomenon. He states,

"I believe we undervalue the visual as a society.  Too often I see children's education mean that they grow out of pictures - away from picture books into words - as though that is part of the development of a child's education; the development of a child into an adult, it is a great mistake to undervalue our ability to look and see.

I want children to realize that fine art doesn't have to be serious and heavy or even part of the educational process. We can just lose ourselves and see ourselves in a painting that was painted 500 years ago.  If my books can help encourage children to use their eyes, then I would be very pleased."

This view has been supported as I have read to many ages; my children of course, but to patients in a nursing home, as well as hardened teen girls bent on defending themselves, their lifestyles and their appearances.  If we but humble ourselves to be "like a child" God can show us great things!