Diane Stortz

This Children’s Bible story book made me squeal with delight when I opened the package. I AM by Diane Stortz and illustrated by Diane Le Feyer is a perfect tool for the grandparent, parent, or church worker who wants to teach their children about God.
Let’s start with the obvious, the visual presentation, because that is what your child will see first. A hardback, with animated full-page pictures, (the cover is astounding!), the illustrations are very appealing to the 4-8 year range the show more book is intended for.
As a Sunday School teacher for first graders, one thing our Children’s leader taught us is that we want to focus not just on the Bible characters in the Bible story, but GOD’s PROMINENT place in the Bible story. After all, isn’t that what the Bible is all about?
So while this book contains familiar stories, starting with ”Creation”, ”A Sad Day in the Garden, ” ”Promises for Abraham,”; what is being emphasized through specially colored shapes is God’s NAME and the characteristics of God (like ”Creator, ” ”God of Truth-El Emeth, ” God All-Powerful, El-Shaddai, ” etc.
The Bible passage is listed, plus a relevant verse is written out, and there is a application part, ”What Does it Mean?” Plus, there is included a ”learn more” Bible passage and a hint of what is coming next. As I said before, I just love this book that gives 40 names for God. It reveals His character to children, traveling through the Bible with stories, words, and thoughts that will spark your youngster’s imagination and love for our awesome God.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and publisher through Celebrate Lit. This in no way affects my opinions, which are solely my own. show less

This beautiful, unique devotional book is one of the best I’ve come across. Reading from cover to cover takes readers through the whole story of the Bible, a novel approach that I personally have not encountered before. While not a substitute for the Word of God, this daily devotional is an excellent and fairly comprehensive supplement, suitable both for those who are familiar with the Bible and those who aren’t. Because each page-long entry is numbered from 1 to 365, there is no set show more start or end date, unlike many devotionals that are divided into month and day. Each day has a title and the books and chapters of the Bible being discussed, as well as a Scripture verse taken from that designation, and each reading concludes with a prayer. The short reading sometimes consists of Biblical context or the Biblical story, and at other times it focuses on a contemporary connection. I love everything about the formatting; while not every single chapter of the Bible is examined, the highlights are, and this book goes very well with my Bible reading plan this year, which consists of concurrently reading both Old and New Testament chapters daily and results in reading the entire Bible by the end of the year.

Diane Stortz’s “Encountering God’s Heart for You” is structured in such a way that it can serve as a supplemental go-to book for addressing and praying about specific needs or exploring certain books or chapters of the Bible. To this end, I do wish that there was a table of contents, but the chronology follows along closely enough (although not completely) to the Bible that readers should be able to locate certain books without much difficulty. There are two main sections: Encountering God’s Heart for You in the Old Testament and Encountering God’s Heart for You in the New Testament. Each of these two sections is further divided into categories. For the Old Testament these include: The Books of Law, The Books of History, The Books of Poetry and Wisdom, and The Books of Prophecy. For the New Testament: The Gospels, The Book of History (Acts), The Letters, and The Book of Prophecy (Revelation). My favorite during this read-through was The Books of Poetry and Wisdom, although I think that would be subject to change depending on what is going on in my life at the time. This is definitely a book that is going onto my favorites list and that I will refer back to frequently.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own. show less

From the moment I first opened Diane Stortz’s “I AM: 40 Reasons to Trust God”, I knew that it was going to be spectacular. If you can, I recommend getting the hardcover version because the embossing on the front cover and the sparkling waves just can’t be conveyed on Kindle. There is a nice blue ribbon bookmark inside, as well. All of the pages are in full color and are gorgeously illustrated with figures and scenes that will appeal to young readers. The format is well-executed, with show more the book divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. For the former, the name of God is given in English and then Hebrew, with a pronunciation (which I found very useful), such as The Lord My Rock (Jehovah Tsuri), and for the New Testament, with a few exceptions, the English name is given, such as the Good Shepherd. This is followed by a Scripture verse and Bible story, noting which chapters of the Bible the story comes from; a key point; a What Does It Mean section that connects the story to kids’ experiences today; a brief prayer; other Scripture verses that explore the same theme; and a short What Happened Next paragraph that explains how God is working and how this story ties into the following one.

For a medium-length children’s book, “I AM” is a respectable compendium that highlights many of the main stories from both the Old and New Testaments. Some of those which are not directly focused on, such as Noah’s ark, are told in the What Happened Next sections. This is not a substitute for the Bible, nor is it meant to be, but rather a supplement that allows kids and their guardians to connect some of the many names of God with familiar Bible accounts. I learned new Hebrew names just reading it myself as an adult! Because it is a children’s book, the stories are naturally toned down and do not include all of the mature details, but they still demonstrate conflict and how God fights for us, as with David and Goliath and Daniel and the lion’s den. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to young readers and to families who are able to read it to their little ones.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own. show less

I Am is a beautifully illustrated book for children. Each of the forty entries includes passages of Scripture, stories from the Bible, prayers, as well as suggestions for learning more. This book would be an excellent book for reading with children in your life.

I think one of my favorite parts of this book is the illustrations. With the bright and vibrant colors, the pictures help bring the stories to life. I think these illustrations will help capture the attention and imagination of the show more children while reading this book's devotions. When our children were younger, I always looked for ones with excellent illustrations in them.

It explains who God is and why we should trust Him. So if you are looking for a devotional book for children in your life, check this book out for yourself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from CelebrateLit, this in no way influenced my review. All opinions are my own. show less