Northwestern Publishing House’s newest children’s book, Why God Made Dads, came out last week.
Through engaging storytelling and vivid illustrations, the book draws a clear and comforting connection between God’s love, guidance, and protection and the everyday care children receive from their dads and father figures.
As NPH’s marketing and content copywriter, I had the chance to email back and forth a bit with the author, Emily Krill. In that exchange, she shared something that got me thinking (and writing this post as well). She wrote this:
I’m excited because [Why God Made Dads] is so much more than a bedtime story; it’s a fun, engaging tool to help families have faith-focused conversations. It’s a heartfelt celebration of the impact Jesus-loving dads and other father figures have in our world. And it’s a simple, beautiful retelling of the gospel that anyone ages 3-103 can understand. I wrote it with the hope that it could transform mere storytime into powerful mission work.
What stood out to me was Emily’s desire for what she wanted Why God Made Dads to be.
It’s a fun and faith-filled bedtime story. It takes kids and families through creation and explores the amazing things God has done for his people through our Savior Jesus. It celebrates and thanks God for the Jesus-loving dads and father figures in our lives who reflect God’s amazing love to us. And yes, it does answer the important question of why God made dads.
Why God Made Dads is all those things . . . but it’s also so much more than that. Emily wrote it to be a Christ-centered conversation starter.
That desire made me stop and rethink how I read stories to my daughter.
She’s one and a half, so I still have some time before she starts asking me why things are the way they are. I’m not prepared to tell her why planes can fly in the air or why tigers have stripes and leopards have spots. But she has books about those things, so I know I need to be ready and have answers for her. I can’t just make them up in the moment.
More importantly, I want to have answers ready for when I read the Bible with her, for when she has questions, as I know she will. Questions like why God made dads, why we need a Savior, and why we can be thankful throughout life, no matter what happens to us . . .
Anticipating those questions gets me thinking about how I can share what I know about the Bible with my daughter. It helps motivate me to continue growing in my understanding of Scripture so I can keep having those faith-filled conversations with her and pointing her to her Savior Jesus, no matter how old she is.
Dear Christian, Why God Made Dads (and other Christ-centered books like it) gets the conversation started. It also encourages us to keep the conversation going as we tell future generations of the praiseworthy deeds of our amazing God.
God bless you and be with you as you do!
Set off on an exciting, faith-filled adventure with your whole family to discover the awesome answer to why God made dads in Northwestern Publishing House’s newest children’s book.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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