11 Christian Picture Books

This is part of a series called 11 Lists of 11 Books.

This is a guest post by my sister Hannah, from her blog A Cowgirl and A Dream, where she blogs about books, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, and more. Check her out and give her a thanks!

1. Veggietales Bible Storybook
Featuring 21 Veggietales stories, this kid-friendly storybook Bible covers classic Veggietale stories such as David, Jonah, Daniel, Joshua, and Esther. The stories aren't that long, and have large text. With vivid pictures, great Bible verses for kids, and fun text, this storybook is appealing for all little kids.

2. The Princess and the Three Nights by Karen Kingsbury
A good book for any little girls you may have. The story tells us about a princess and her father the King. The princess must marry, so the king sends for all eligible knights. He puts them through various tests about their bravery, strength, kindness, courage and most of all, their faith in God. It comes down to three knights. This book has a wonderful "happily ever after" for little girls. It teaches girls how men should treat them and how they should value them.

3. You Are Mine by Max Lucado
If you've read any of Max Lucado's children's books, then you've probably heard of these books about little wooden people called "Wemmicks", made by their maker Eli, the wood-carver. In this one, the small Punchinello has finally wormed his way into the "good Wemmick" crowd. But not all is at peace in the little village called Wemmicksville. Every has started to collects boxes and balls by the hundreds! They think that whoever has the most boxes and balls is a "good" Wemmick. Now, in his fight to be in the "in-crowd", Punchinello decides to start following the crowd. He starts to go overboard just to get the mine for more boxes and balls. But when he stumbles into his maker Eli's shop, he is reminded how unimportant all those boxes and balls are, and how important he is- even if he isn't called a "good Wemmick".
Note: this is a series!

4. A Parable About the King by Beth Moore
A princess who is the daughter of the King. What could be better? But when the King commands the princess to pick up her things, she is angry. She dresses in peasant clothes and decides that she is not a princess anymore. In the village, she learns how the village kids live. They play in the mud, they curse and they don't have to pick up after themselves. Her pleasure is short-lived, as she soon finds out that not everything is as wonderful as she thinks.

5. All You Ever Need by Max Lucado
Tobias the "Watermaster" and his son Julian are kind men who give water to everyone. When the Watermaster and Julian temporarily leave, they leave their precious well to the care of their servant Elzevir. All things are well, until Elzevir starts to give water only to the people who he thinks are fit and deserving of it. This is a wonderful book with a great lesson.

6. Just The Way You Are by Max Lucado
Just the Way You Are reassures children that no matter what - no matter if they can't sing, or can't dance, God will love them just the way they are. In this story, the king is coming, and everyone must prepare a gift. There is one little girl, however, with no special talent or gift. What will the king think of her?

7. God Gave Us You by Lisa Bergren
The questions always floats in a young childs head. "Where did I come from?" And that's exactly what a young polar bears asks her mother one night.

8. Because I Love You by Max Lucado
This is about a kind man named Shaddai, who loves and cares for all of the young children in the village. One day, he built a huge stone wall by hand. He explains to the children how on the other side of the wall, there is danger. Now, a young curious boy named Paladin spots a hole and quickly goes to Shaddai. Despite Shaddai's warnings about going through the hole, Paladin crawls through. This is a good book, a great example of God's love for us, His children.

9. With You All The Way by Max Lucado
Three knights. One princess. One song. A tale about three knights, all with different strengths, who are to journey to the King's castle to wed the princess. WARNING(s): On one page in the book, creatures called the "Hopenots" are illustrated. Kids may possibly get scared at the picture.

10. A Blessing From Above by Patti Henderson
Momma-Roo is a young kangaroo who wants a baby to hold and to have. She prays every night to God for one. She is imagining how it would be if she had a child of her own, when a baby blue bird falls into Momma-Roo's pouch from her nest. The mother bluebird knows that her nest is not big enough for all of her babies, so she lets the baby bluebird, in the book called "Little One", stay with Momma-Roo. A great book for little kids.

11. Hermie: A Common Caterpillar by Max Lucado
Hermie isn't special. He's just average. Why couldn't God have made him with spots, stripes, or just something not-average? This is a story that tells about God's love - and how God made each and everyone special.

What are some of your favorite Christian picture books?

11 Christian Memoirs

This is part of a series called 11 Lists of 11 Books.

Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis

Growing up in a decent family, Katie Davis had it better than most Americans, let alone in any other country. What caused her to move from her perfect family to Uganda and become the adopted mother of 14 kids? Jesus, of course! You can visit Katie on her blog: Kisses From Katie.

"I have learned that I will not change the world. Jesus will do that. I can, however, change the world for one person. So I keep stopping and loving one person at a time. Because this is my call as a Christian." -Katie Davis

Things We Couldn't Say by Diet Eman

You may know Diet from my first series, Ten WWII Heroes. Diet's story is somewhat similar to that of Corrie ten Boom. Diet was a young Dutch Christian when WWII broke out. She hated seeing her Jewish friends persecuted, and she and her fiancé were soon very active in the Dutch Resistance. Diet was arrested, and with God's help, she survived miraculously. Diet has been featured on Dr. Dobson, as well as Kathryn Atwood's book Women Heroes of World War II. Her story is unbelievably inspiring and shows what one person can do with God's help.

Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow

Alright, I haven't read this one yet but I know Tim Tebow is an amazing Christian man - and football player. He's won numerous awards, made headlines for sticking up for his faith, and inspired millions across the globe.

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

The Hiding Place is one book every Christian should read (or watch) at least once. Corrie ten Boom and her family courageously rescued many Jews during WWII. Although Corrie was later arrested and sent to a concentration camp, every Jew she saved survived the war.

Corrie and her entire family are worth remembering. They were all very courageous Christians who dedicated their life to serving others and worshipping Christ.

In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham

Soon after 9/11, a young missionary couple was taken hostage by terrorists associated with Osama bin Laden. Throughout a whole year of torture and loss of her husband, Gracia remained strong and unmoved with her faith. I haven't read this book, but my sister did and she loved it.

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew

Although I haven't read this book yet, I've heard nothing but good things about it. (It is also a Sonlight book, and I like their book selections) This is the true story of a Dutch factory worker who smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain - to Communist countries.
After wounding his ankle in battle, Brother Andrew relentlessly read his Bible during rehab. In July 1955, he dedicated his life to telling others about Jesus and continued to do it until the fall of Communism in Europe. Still then, Brother Andrew began evangelizing to Islamic countries, specifically Lebanon.

The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

This amazing autobiography is about one Christian's persecution in China. We as Christians should be aware that there are Christians today being persecuted for their faith.
I have only read part of this book, and it was about 4 years ago.

Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic

Part autobiography part self-help, Life Without Limits talks about one man's faith - despite having no arms and no legs!

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

I haven't read this yet, but I have heard great feedback from this amazing woman of God. When she was just a young teenager, surfer Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a shark. The shark bit her entire
left arm off, but that didn't stop Bethany from pursuing her love and passion for surfing. Now Bethany has surfed professionally, won countless awards including Nationals, and appeared on numerous television shows and magazines - all with one arm.

Devil At My Heels by Louie Zamperini
After reading Laura Hillenbrand's amazing biography Unbroken, I knew I had to hear Louie's story from his own words. Louie Zamperini was a juvenile delinquent as a young child. His brother Pete urged him to try a sport, like running. Louie quickly picked up the sport, setting records and shaking hands with Hitler at the 5000 meters in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Louie enlisted in the army, and while on a rescue mission, crashed in the Pacific Ocean. For 47 days, he and two friends were stranded in the Pacific Ocean with sharks - and Japanese bullets. Louie landed on Japanese territory, and for two years suffered at the hands of Japanese soldiers. After the war, Louie became an alcoholic, angry at everybody. On the brink of his divorce, his wife Cynthia went to a sermon of young Billy Graham - and got saved. After much persuasion, Louie went to one of Billy's lectures and accepted Christ into his heart. Louie went back and forgave all the Japanese. He is still alive and continues to lecture young people about his incredible faith journey.

Other memoirs I have not read but I know are Christian:

• Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of WWII by Darlene Rose
• Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot
• Jumping Through Fires by David Nassar (Iranian story of a Muslim who turns to Christ)
• SEAL of God by Chad Williams
• Fearless by Eric Blehm (Navy SEAL story)
• And There Was Light: Blind Hero of the French Resistance by Jacques Lusseyran (WWII)

What are your favorite Christian memoirs?

10 WWII Heroes: Diet Eman 1/10

Historical photos are not mine. They are used for educational purposes. I own all other photographs. You may use all of my photographs, as long as proper credit is given.

This is the first in a ten part series about the heroes of World War II. You can view the introduction and table of contents to this series here.

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. This story is rated 3.

Diet Eman, 1940

You may have heard about Corrie ten Boom and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, both amazing Christians in a time of the evils and horrors of the Holocaust. You probably have not heard of Diet Eman, a young Dutch Christian who rescued countless Jews with her fiancé.

Here is her story.

Diet (rhymes with "feet", as in Dietrich Bonhoeffer) Eman and her fiancé Hein Sietsma were a young couple in their twenties when the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.  Angry at the way the Jews were being treated, Diet refused to remain silent. When her Jewish friend Herman got a summons to report to Germany, Hein was blunt and told him not to go. Hein knew Christian farmers in a place called The Veluwe, who would be willing to hide Herman until it would all blow over. He was confident it would only last a year or so. Herman asked if they would hide his Jewish fiancé, Ada, and Ada's widowed mother. Diet and Hein agreed. Then Herman's sister wanted to be hid. Within about three weeks, sixty Jews were hidden in the The Veluwe.

A few weeks later, under severe torture, a young man gave away Diet's parents' phone number. For two years, the gestapo went to her parents' house at random times a day - and for those two years she never saw her parents. The Gestapo would stay at her parents house until curfew, awaiting Diet's return in vain. 
After the Gestapo began looking for Diet Eman, Hein was searched. Diet was going under a false name, and Hein had Diet's false name on him. So now, the gestapo was searching for Diet under her real name and under a false name. Diet took a third name. This time, she posed as Willie Laarman, a maid from Paramaribo, Surinam. With her third identity, Diet boarded a train with false papers in her blouse. In the six-wagon train, six gestapo guards entered and began checking everyone's identification papers. Diet anxiously anticipated her turn. When the gestapo guard checked her papers, he took longer looking at her papers than he had anyone else. 
As the other guards finished checking the other ID papers, they all crowded around Diet and began laughing. "When did you get this?" he cackled in German.Diet spoke German very well. However at the beginning of the war, she decided she would only speak Dutch until the Germans left the Netherlands. Acting dumb, she began speaking Dutch. "I don't know what you're talking about. I only speak Dutch." Another passenger translated, and Diet replied, "The date is on it." In May 1941, when the Germans invaded the Netherlands, everyone over 14 had to have an ID card. The word "Nederlander" was printed in dark purple-blue ink. In 1943, the original supply ran out and the Germans began using black ink. Since she would have been given the ID in 1941, the word "Nederlander" on Diet's legit ID would have been purple-blue. Instead, the visa had been recently stolen in a recent robberies and "Nederlander" was in black ink. What happened next was an act of God. Once the train stopped in Rotterdam, Diet was told to sit on the bench and she was guarded by the six guards; one or two of which who were always watching her. Diet had two problems. She had to explain why she had a phony identification card on her, and she had to get rid of the false papers in her blouse. The false papers would have surely brought her death.

She began praying, asking God for only thirty seconds. One of the tallest guards had a shiny plastic raincoat on. At the time, plastic was new. One of the other guards began inquiring about the raincoat. "Is that one of those new coats?" "Is it really water-proof?" "Look at how many pockets!" The guard, loving the attention, boastfully took off his coat and displayed it. Every single one of the five guards turned their heads to look at the new raincoat. Without wasting a second, Diet hurled the ID cards across the room. People dropped visas all the time, and the gestapo couldn't have arrested the whole train station. 
After playing stupid, Diet was sent to the Gestapo headquarters in The Hague and she was sent to prison from there. Diet played stupid the entire time she was in prison - she was an ignorant maid named Willie. For not talking, Diet was sent to the prison at Scheveningen. In the prison, Diet had a bobby pin she used to scratch Bible verses on the wall. Jesus' last words before returning to heaven, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end." gave her comfort. During the time, the Germans would send in spies posing as inmates to get Diet to reveal information. But Diet, who was extremely intelligent and knew it was a trap, kept acting stupid and childish. As the Allies were nearing, Diet was sent to a concentration camp - the same one Corrie ten Boom was in. Diet faced a dilemma - she had grown up in a Christian home, and gone to a Christian school. She was faced with betraying her friends and family or lying. For many months Diet struggled with this. And then the story of Rahab came to her. God gave Diet many months to figure out a plan - and she did. 

Her trial came at last. One of her fondest memories is of her friend Freddie telling her before the trial, "Willie, I'm going to storm the gates of heaven for you!" In her book, Diet wrote, "It was such a great comfort to me that she wasn't going to be merely praying - she was storming!" Before the trial, Diet was plagued with worry. What if they didn't buy her story? What if she said the wrong thing? And then a verse came to her.

Diet - dirty, unfed, unshowered - stood before seven well-fed, arrogant Nazi officers. The officers began asking her basic questions about her place of birth and family. She answered without hesitation - she had rehearsed for hours and made things easy for her to remember. The Nazis' conversation among themselves was laid back, since they thought she spoke no German. 

The interrogations began instantly. Since Diet refused to speak German, she played stupid. "I don't know what you're saying, I'm Dutch. I only speak Dutch." They brought in a translator, to Diet's advantage. She had twice the time to answer. 
She was Willie, a maid from Paramaribo, who was an only-child whose parents had died. She was worried about curfew, she was terrified about everything. She had met a man during an air raid - named Jan Schilder - a tall handsome blond with blue eyes. He had gave her the ID. And she, innocent, stupid, ignorant - didn't even know documents could be forged! The Nazis bought her story. And she was released. A man with a manure wagon was the first person Diet saw after liberation - in a situation Diet laughs at when she recalls it.
You may have thought this story will end with Diet being liberated, the Allies coming, and Diet living a long and happy life. It would be nearly a year before the Allies came. Diet was more mad than ever about the Nazis. Diet re-joined the Resistance as Willie. Then came the Hunger Winter, in which the Germans cut off food and other supplies because the Dutch refused to cooperate. The Canadians liberated Holland on May 5, 1945. Of course, Diet was happy and excited - but she was even more anxious to learn about Hein. 
From witnesses, she learned Hein had suffered for many days in a cattle car without food and water. Diet became incredibly angry at God with the way Hein died. If he had to die, why couldn't Hein have just been shot? They were all willing to give their eyes, but why did they have to? After the war, multiple people sent Diet letters describing Hein as "a light in the darkness". Multiple people testified Hein was not what they imagined Christians were. They had thought Christians were "no-fun, boring, strict, mean" when in reality, Hein was a great friend, incredibly comforting, and he had led many to Christ. Hein wrote Diet a letter on a thin piece of toilet paper and threw it out a cattle car. Through an act of God, Diet received the paper. It was dated October 12, 1944.


Here is a short bit of what the letter said:
Darling, don't count on our seeing each other again soon. I have the feeling that it will take at least a year. But we are with friends altogether, and you will soon be in a free country. So we have many reasons to be optimistic. And here we see again that we do not decide our own lives. Even if we won't see each other again on earth, we will never be sorry for what we did, that we took this stand. And I know, Diet, that of every last human being in this world, I loved you most. And it is still my great desire that we will become a happy family someday.



Diet is alive, currently living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I first heard Diet's story in Women Heroes of World War II by Kathryn Atwood. I loved Diet's story and simply had to read her memoir. Diet had a conversation with Dr. Dobson in a 2-part series. The Focus on the Family 3-part podcast in which Diet tells her story, God's Grace is Sufficient, can be downloaded for free on their website here. Dr. Dobson's 2-part podcast called Courageous Choices, in which he and Diet talk about the war, can be downloaded for free here. You can buy Diet's memoir Things We Couldn't Say here or on Amazon. Her memoir includes more details, diary entries, pictures, and other inspiring information.

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In memory of Hein Sietsma, the six million Jewish lives lost during World War II, and the courageous men and women who helped to protect them.

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Thank you so much!