Everyday Creativity by Jena Holliday

 From the celebrated artist behind Sacred Creativity and Spoonful of Faith comes an interactive guide and journal that will help hone and honor your creative gifts from start to finish.

Artist and mentor Jena Holliday guides you through your creative journey in this fun and practical journal for the dreamer, the writer, the artist, the maker, and anyone in between. This five-part guide helps bring your creative ideas to life, providing you with

• practical ways to get you out of your head
• blank slates to encourage brain dumps
• space to create mood boards and set goals
• challenges to unlock new thoughts and ideas
• reflections and celebrations to mark your journey

Each prompt will propel you forward, keep you from getting stuck along the way, and help your creativity flourish.

Something beautiful happens when we take ideas from concept to completion: We get to walk in the beauty of living and breathing everyday creativity, just as our Creator intended.

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Everyday Creativity: Prompts, Activities, and Faith-Filled Practices to Cultivate Your Gifts: Holliday, Jena: 9780593581490: Amazon.com: Books

Jena Holliday is a full-time artist, writer, entrepreneur and storyteller. She is the creator and owner of Spoonful of Faith illustration and design studio. With just a bit of faith, she walked away from her mainstream marketing job to embrace her passion for art. What started as a hobby eventually evolved into a full-time commitment of spreading kindness and hope through her artwork and words. That commitment blossomed into a blog and shop, aptly named Spoonful of Faith, and has become a successful business.

Holliday wants her journey and her illustrations to motivate others, especially women to think big, hope and create in this world. She and her husband Adrian love finding pockets of joy in the everyday and are grateful parents to their two children.

When I talk to God, I talk about Feelings by Chrissy Metz

 From Chrissy Metz, star of the hit NBC television show This Is Us, and Bradley Collins comes a second heartwarming picture book in the New York Times bestselling series. All about using faith and prayer to explore the ups and downs of feelings!

"A tender book to help little ones make sense of the emotions around prayer."--Kirkus reviews

When I talk to God every day,
there are so many things I want to say.
Each day has its own special meaning.
When I talk to God, I talk about feelings.

From bear and wolf cubs to raccoons and squirrels, these animals pray to God describing the many feelings they experience each day. With warm and touching illustrations from Lisa Fields, this is a perfect introduction to prayer that allows little ones to learn about emotions through gentle and affirming reflection.

Perfect for fans of When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner, What Is God Like? by Rachel Held Evans, as well as Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold.

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Amazon.com: When I Talk to God, I Talk About Feelings: 9780593691366: Metz, Chrissy, Collins, Bradley, Fields, Lisa: Books

Emmy and two-time Golden Globe nominee CHRISSY METZ found critical acclaim portraying the heart-centered Kate Pearson in NBC's award-winning series This Is Us. Chrissy is the New York Times bestselling author of her memoir, This Is Me: Learning to Love Yourself for Who You Are Today. She is also an author of the New York Times bestselling picture book When I Talk to God, I Talk About You. Chrissy’s other credits include Superstore, The Last OG, American Horror Story: Freak Show, My Name Is Earl, Entourage, and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, to name a few. You can visit Chrissy Metz online at ChrissyMetzMusic.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @ChrissyMetz.

The Mother's Day Bargain by Martha Fouts

 

Their moms only asked for one thing for Mother’s Day . . .

“Sounds like our moms are cooking up a scheme for Mother’s Day. Did Evelyn tell you to bring a date and if you didn’t, she could set you up?”
“What? Yes, did Lois give you the same challenge?” The two old birds must’ve come up with the idea over a pot of their chamomile tea.
“Yep, of course she offered it up with a big dollop of guilt on top so I couldn’t refuse.”
“Lois resorted to guilt? That’s not usually her style. I think maybe my mother has been a bad influence on your mother. Maybe we should treat them like two kids who can’t get along and separate them?”
She put her hands together and wiggled her fingers deviously. “I say we turn the challenge back around on them.”
She spoke as if she had a plan, and for a minute, Gabriel thought she was going to propose they go together. He almost wished she would. What if they could pretend like the past never happened, that they’d just met each other and could go on a date like normal people who had feelings for each other?

If you love small town romances that point people to Jesus, then you will love The Mother's Day Bargain, and you'll also love The Mother's Day Tea and The Mother's Day Letter.

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Amazon.com: The Mother's Day Bargain eBook : Fouts, Martha: Kindle Store

Martha Fouts is a pastor's wife, boy mom, and author or sweet Christian love stories.

I read this as a standalone and it was a fun, fast, read. This is a new author for me so I will be going back to get her older books to read.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Leo's Lunch Box by Raphael Warnock

 A powerful modern-day story about sharing what you have, based on the biblical Feeding of the Five Thousand, by Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock.

It’s lunchtime at school, and Leo knows exactly what he’s going to have: a baloney sandwich. His mom does the best she can, but sometimes Leo wishes they could afford more than baloney sandwiches. Then one day, the unexpected happens: His mom gets a new job and buys him a lunch box at a yard sale. Suddenly, he’s got something other than a baloney sandwich! Even more amazing, Leo’s delicious lunch begins to multiply, and the more he shares, the more he receives.

A powerful modern-day story about sharing what you have, based on the biblical story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock’s tale of empathy, community, and caring for others comes to life with TeMika Grooms’s warm illustrations in the first book in his We’re in This Together series.

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Amazon.com: We're in This Together: Leo's Lunch Box: 9780593691526: Warnock, Raphael G., Grooms, TeMika: Books

Raphael G. Warnock was elected the first Black senator from Georgia in 2021. He also serves as the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. Reverend Senator Warnock is a graduate of Morehouse College and Union Theological Seminary. As a pastor serving in the Senate, his work focuses on building “the beloved community.” He is the eleventh of twelve siblings and has two children, Chloe and Caleb. He is the author of Put Your Shoes On & Get Ready!, illustrated by TeMika Grooms, and A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story. You can visit Raphael G. Warnock at WarnockForGeorgia.com or follow him on Instagram and X @RaphaelWarnock and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SenatorWarnock.

Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld

 From the bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted, a compelling and poignant story of sibling bonds, monsters masquerading as caretakers, terrifying secrets, and the power of love to right even the most egregious wrongs.

Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.

For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself. 

Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.

Told in Rene Denfeld’s inimitable style, Sleeping Giants is an enthralling and heartbreaking novel that burrows deep in the heart and will leave no reader untouched.

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Sleeping Giants: A Novel: Denfeld, Rene: 9780063014732: Amazon.com: Books

Rene Denfeld is the bestselling author of the acclaimed novels THE CHILD FINDER (2017), THE ENCHANTED (2014), and the forthcoming THE BUTTERFLY GIRL (October 2019) which Margaret Atwood raved on twitter is "a heartbreaking, finger-gnawing, yet ultimately hopeful novel."

Rene’s novels explore themes of survival, resiliency and redemption. Landing as the #1 fiction bestseller at Powell’s within its first week, The Child Finder became a top #10 bestseller. The Child Finder received much acclaim, including a starred Library Journal review, glowing NYTBR review, and an Indie Next pick.

Rene was the Chief Investigator at a public defender’s office and has worked hundreds of cases helping others. In addition to her advocacy work, Rene has been a foster adoptive parent for twenty years. She was awarded the Break The Silence Award in Washington, DC in 2017 for her social justice work. She was also named a hero of the year by the New York Times.

The child of a difficult history herself, Rene is an accomplished speaker who loves connecting with others. Rene lives in Portland, Oregon, where she is the happy mom of three kids adopted from foster care as well as other foster kids.

Downeyoshun by Art Young

 Sally Osterhoff is a genius. When she grows up, she wants to be a mathematician, a teacher, and a carpenter; and she plans to swim in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

Her mother has other ideas, and will emotionally and physically abuse Sally to fit them. After all, she only wants what is best for her child. But between her father trying his best, the family next door who practically adopts her, and her Aunt & Uncle down in Ocean City where she spends her summers, Sally just might have the support and love she needs to make all of her dreams come true.

Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights struggles, the Vietnam War, and the early Feminist movement, the story explores the power of found family, and how unconditional love can come from the least expected places. Downeyoshun is a not-always-sentimental vacation to the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. Bring your swimsuit.

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Downeyoshun: A Novel - Kindle edition by Young, Art. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Baltimore born, the author is a U.S. Navy / Vietnam / Agent Orange veteran and cancer survivor. He was once “with it” as a carny in a traveling gadget show, and has worked as a fire extinguishing systems installer and serviceman, route delivery sales for a brewery, flexographic press operator, licensed boiler plant engineer, and story teller. He much prefers the last. 

How to Have An Eggtraordinary Easter by Roald Dahl

 

Get ready to celebrate Easter with all your favorite Roald Dahl characters in this eggcellent gift book!

From hunting for Easter eggs to learning all the ways you can enjoy eating delicious chocolate, this gift book is perfect for Roald Dahl fans to put in their Easter baskets!

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Roald Dahl: How to Have An Eggstraordinary Easter: Dahl, Roald, Behling, Steve, Blake, Quentin: 9780593889626: Amazon.com: Books

The son of Norwegian parents, Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916 and educated at Repton. He was a fighter pilot for the RAF during World War Two, and it was while writing about his experiences during this time that he started his career as an author.

His fabulously popular children's books are read by children all over the world. Some of his better-known works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.