Hope amid hurdles

Hope Comes To Stay

Clarissa Moll
Harvest Kids, 32 pages

When Lela’s father unexpectedly dies, someone gives her a blue teddy bear to comfort her. Bear goes everywhere with Lela as she processes her grief and adjusts to life without her father. As the seasons pass, Lela, her mother, and baby brother find that joy slowly returns to their home. Lela also learns how grief is often intermingled with happy memories, courage, and love. Gretchen Ellen Powers’ soothing watercolor sketches reflect the book’s message. In a note to caregivers, Moll, whose husband Rob died after a hiking accident in 2019, discusses ways to walk children through the grieving process while looking for markers of hope: “The sun that sets, shrouding our earth in night, rises faithfully each morning, an awe-inspiring testimony to the glorious new mercies God provides even in our darkest moments.” Ages 4–8

Eric’s Greatest Race

Tim Challies
Harvest Kids, 128 pages

While many families know the story of Eric Liddell from the film Chariots of Fire, Tim Challies hopes to introduce a new generation to the inspiring ­runner and missionary through a graphic novel format. The book opens with Liddell’s early childhood in China and his school years in Scotland where his love for rugby and running blossomed. While he trained, God opened up opportunities for Liddell to share about his faith, culminating with his record-setting per­formance at the 1924 Olympics. But his life’s most important work would come later through his missionary service in China and his faithful ­witness in a Japanese-run internment camp during World War II. The book’s visually engaging pages, with art by Paul Mignard, present Liddell’s story in an inviting way that will especially appeal to reluctant readers. Ages 8–12

Dragons and Desperados

Jonny Jimison
Rabbit Room Press, 224 pages

This third volume in The Dragon Lord Saga picks up where the story left off after The River Fox. For those who have not read the first two volumes, the book opens with a short review, but this reviewer was still lost for the first quarter of the book and would recommend reading the books in order. In the latest installment, the Ozai brothers have kidnapped Marco and his friends, which spurs Scout the talking horse to take on a rescue mission with help from a desperado named Weepy Bob. Meanwhile, the secretive Princess Robin escapes mutinous bandits while attempting to stop the return of the Dragon Lord—all culminating in a cliff-hanger ending. The fast-paced story’s subtle humor and graphic novel format will have strong appeal with boys who enjoy epic fantasy reads. Ages 8–12

Jesus Moments: Jonah

Alison Mitchell
The Good Book Company, 32 pages

Author Alison Mitchell continues to expand the Jesus Moments series, this time turning to the Book of Jonah to highlight how the Old Testament prophet points to Jesus and God’s loving rescue plan. As Mitchell recounts Jonah’s story, illustrator Noah Warnes incorporates a symbolic anchor to alert children to moments in which Jonah foreshadows Christ, including when Jonah slept amid the storm at sea and how he spent three days in the belly of a whale. The book also addresses Jonah’s anger with God after God forgave and spared the people of Nineveh. While the conclusion of the story helpfully reviews the Jesus moments in Jonah’s story and shows the ways in which Jesus is far greater than Jonah, some of the analysis would have benefited from more Scripture references to reinforce the message. Ages 4–7