Monday, November 15, 2010

Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92

Happy (early) Thanksgiving to you all! I'm very excited to start sharing some of our favorite Thanksgiving reads here this week! I love celebrating the Holidays! I don't know if I could really say that I have a favorite, I love all the festivities. But Thanksgiving would definitly make a top list for me.


First up I have a trio of books by one of my favorite children's book authors, Karma Wilson and illustrated by Amy June Bates. I thought I'd start with Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92, but all three are very fitting for this time of year as we offer our thanks and praise offerings to the Lord. Beautiful fall toned water color illustrations depict a young boy and his family as they gather to celebrate their Thanksgiving together. The text highlights all that we have to be thankful for, such as family, home, Thanksgiving dinner and so on. The phrase 'It is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord' is repeated throughout the story about this warm family celebration that is focused on the Lord and his abundant goodness.



Also from the same series by Karma Wilson and Amy June Bates comes the next two books, I Will Rejoice: Celebrating Psalm 118 and Let's Make a Joyful Noise: Celebrating Psalm 100, they don't make the direct connection as the first book to the Thanksgiving Holiday. In fact the water color illustrations depict more summer/springtime days. I think it's very appropriate to focus not just on thanks giving to God over this Holiday, but also to offer our praises to Him. I think the contrast of the seasons in the illustrations are actually a great talking point about how we should be offering God our thanks and praise not just at Thanksgiving but throughout the year. Thanksgiving makes a perfect time to focus on this and talk about what it means to live a life of thankfulness. I Will Rejoice recounts the verse Pslam 118:24: 'This is the day that they Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it', a great theme for our thankfulness in each day that we are given and for all the simple moments that make up our days. Make a Joyful Noise shares about a family headed to Sunday worship. Along the way a young boy notices all the joyful noises around him, from birds singing to the worship service itself. The sounds heard, build on themselves making it a fun read of sound effects. It's a great read to share the joy there is in praising God. Another perfect theme for your Thanksgiving celebration as well as all year round.

6 comments:

  1. An author, Karma, who is writing about giving thanks to the Lord! Shows you what God can do in a person's life, doesn't it! :-)

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  2. those sure sound like interesting reads... thank you so much for entering my giveaway!

    Blessings,
    Ruth

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  3. These books look so fantastic! Thank you for sharing!!

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  4. That first one looks really good. It's never too early to teach them to be thankful!

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  5. First of all--love your background--

    Secondly, you make me miss schoolteaching when I visit here and that is not fair. I am supposed to enjoy retirement and have no desire to ever go back--

    Yea, I really miss reading all these wonderful books you preview--

    Happy Thanksgiving,
    Love,
    D.

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  6. Love the idea of the one about the joyful noises!

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