I heard the buzz last spring and decided to pick up a copy before I went to Ghana. Everyone had been talking about Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo and me being slightly obsessed with a good story, I decided I needed to see what it was all about.
Fast forward six months later and I still haven’t read the book – but Sarah and I received Heaven Is For Real For Kids from Tommy Nelson Publishing a few weeks ago and it sparked discussion that wouldn’t have occurred had this book never ceased to exist.
Ironically, (yes, I know. NEVER ironically), Sarah had been asking me some pretty deep questions about heaven – can we take our toys? Will we see Ellie (our dog)? Will you go first or will I? (GULP.)
It never ceases to amaze me how God often literally drops something straight from the sky (from Him?) to our laps when we need it the most. Yes, I know that sometimes it feels like He is far away (which He never is we just FEEL like He is – a topic for another post) but the thing I love most about God is that He was and is and is to come.
Truth is powerful.
If you aren’t familiar with this story, Colton Burpo was three years old when he was in a car accident while traveling with his family. During an emergency surgery, he was able to see Jesus and visit heaven. The more he shared with his parents once he recovered from this horrific accident, the more convinced they became that there was no way he could know such detailed and biblically-sound information without being a personal witness to it himself.
Sarah and I settled in to read one windy, autumn night and she was spellbound from the moment I cracked it open – was it the amazingly beautiful illustrations? Or was it the Bible verses on each page that coincided with the content on each page? (Check it out in the flipbook above!)
Or was it plain and simple? The truth of it all.
The story begins with a small bit about how Colton was met by Jesus in his hospital room then traveled to heaven as an angel.
“Heaven is more amazing than you can imagine. I could hear beautiful music and see lots of colors. Big, bright rainbows are everywhere you look. The streets are gold, the gates are made of pearl, and shiny jewels are on teh walls,” it reads.
This same page contains verses 19 and 21 from Revelation 21 – “The foundation of stones of the city walls had every kind of jewel in them…The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold. The gold was clear as glass.”
How’s that for accurate?
Perhaps the most comforting part of this book for Sarah and I was the page about the animals in heaven.
I know. Controversy.
But I personally find it hard to believe that these little beings with the cocoa eyes that instinctively know when we are sad, happy, angry, or all of the above, would not actually be in heaven with us someday. So when we read that “God, people, angels, and even animals are in heaven. All the same types of animals that are on earth are in heaven, but in heaven THEY ALL GET ALONG. You can play with any animal you like. I got to play with dogs, cats, elephants, and even kangaroos, but my favorite animals were the lions and Jesus’ big white horse.”
The scripture used on this same page came from Isaiah 11:6 – “Then the wolves will live in peace with the lambs. And leopards will lie down to rest with goats. Calves, lions, and young bulls will eat together. And a little child will lead them.”
Though Sarah liked the thought of Ellie being in heaven perhaps someday, she loved the idea of Jesus’ white horse, which in the book sports a rainbow-hued mane, even more. SOLD.
And for the first time, I didn’t shudder when she stated that she couldn’t wait to get to heaven. After reading Heaven is For Real For Kids, I couldn’t either.
For your chance to win a copy of Heaven Is For Real For Kids, please leave a comment and share what/who YOU hope to see in heaven. Like me on Facebook if you want. Subscribe if you want (upper right corner). Follow me on Twitter if you want.
But please do leave a comment to win – and do so by Black Friday at 10 p.m. central time, please!
OH – and for coloring pages, click here. To watch a video about the book, click here. Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving, Friends! Thankful for YOU!
Hi Natalie!
This book looks like the perfect tool to get my son excited about Heaven. He loves Jesus, but is extremely attached to us and gets homesick very easily… so much so that talking about heaven made him really sad for a stretch. It has gotten better as we have tried to explain it to him, but this book we be so awesome!
Thanks for the great review!!
i’ve been hearing a lot about this book lately, too. would love to see it! thanks for the chance to win.
It really frustrates me when people get all “controversy-like” about the animals in heaven. The truth is we don’t know and it does not hurt to let children (and adults!) believe that we just may see our pets in heaven. It is not a key issue in our faith, after all!
Anyway, I’ll have to check this book out for my kids. Thanks!
I read this book two weeks ago and it is very thought provoking would love to win one and hand it out for others to read. It is great. Leaves lots of room for conversation too.
My daughter came home from school and asked me if her friend could come over. They wanted to write a book together, My daughter is in the third grade, and this is something they wanted to do for fun. They want to write a book about heaven. when I came accross this site, I thought it would make a great gift for her!
Since Richard’s (our son’s) death, we are pretty open about talking with our kids about the “taboo” subject. I haven’t heard of this book, but it intrigues me and would foster some pretty interesting discussions in our household, I’m sure. Thanks Natalie! :)
I saw an interview with this boy. I can’t wait to read the book but I didn’t know about the kids version. I know there is such debate about animals in heaven and of course we won’t know the answer until we get there but I think it would be so very unlikely for God to instill such a love in us for them and then not let them join us there. I can’t wait to see my precious furry babies when I get there.
I have been anxious to read Heaven is for Real and didn’t realize that there was one for kids! I’m so glad I came across your post. I will have to read it with my girls :-)
I look forward to the time in heaven when all moms and dads can greet the children that never made it into this world, myself included. While I mourn/ed that our babe was lost, I know that our little one is in no better place.
I look forward to seeing how wonderful everything is in heaven. Peace and harmony instead of petty disagreements. Won’t that be nice?
Thanks for the chance to win this book. It’s one I’ve been wanting to get.
Besides the obvious (Jesus), I am loooking forward to seeing people in our lineage of faith…Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Paul, etc. I want to get to know them, ask them questions about choices they made and details that were left out of the scriptures, and get an even more full picture of how huge Jesus’s fulfillment of the Old Covenant is in my life. Yeah, that gets me jazzed.
Hi Natalie! I cannot wait to see my dad again. He died when I was 20, and I can’t wait to get a hug when we meet again! I hope my dog Casey is there, tail wagging, too! We just read this book for book club! It led to the best discussions we have had yet
Happy Thanksgiving, sister! Enjoy!!!
So ironic(yes I know) that 2 men my husband works with told him about this book last week. We thought of our daughter who doctors told us at the time born at 33 weeks (3 years ago) that she probably would not make it past birth and made us think that maybe this could have possibly been her in the same situation as this little boy. I got a copy of this book from the library and we are currently reading it(at least trying with these kiddos). We are blessed to have her here on earth with us. Thanks for bringing the kids book to our attention. I did not know there was such a thing. Thanks for a wonderful blog Natalie. You are wonderful! Happy Thanksgiving.
Courtney Richards :-)
My 3yo has been asking more and more about Jesus. My parents just had to put his favorite dog to sleep, so that has sparked some more questions. What a fabulous book to share with him as he grows to help make heaven more real.
In heaven, I hope to see my grandmother. She’s been gone about 6 years and was my best friend.
I am excited to meet my child that I miscarried, an uncle and a set of grandparents that I was too young to meet. I love that I will see my other grandparents as well as aunts & uncles. This book sounds like such an awesome tool to share with my kids! I also have a friend thatlost a child full-term – would be great for her to share with her kids, too!