Kids love books. They seem drawn to them at my house so finding books that relay the message of God and His love for us is always a plus in my book. Both, You Are: Speaking God's Word Over Your Children and Tonight: A Book of Bedtime Promises written by Emily Assell are board books geared for the youngest kids in the family, babies and toddlers.

These board books are high quality and the pictures are simple hand-drawn sketches colored in with beautiful colors. Each page gives an affirming message to the child along with the Bible verse it was based on. The Bible verses come from a variety of different versions of the Bible. This was not an issue for me, because they seemed to have picked the easier to understand versions to go with the point they were making on the page. This made it easier for the child to understand what was being said was in the Bible.

Tonight: A Book of Bedtime Promises is a book I would have loved years ago for my now 11-year-old son. He went through a time when he feared going to sleep. This book, even though he would have been older, would have been the perfect book before bed. Each page is filled with promises from God and the Bible about being safe, fearless, not alone, and peaceful to name a few. It is so sweet to read the words and know that I am encouraging faith in God with each word, especially when it comes to being in the dark.

You Are: Speaking God's Word Over Your Children is a book full of encouragement and praise for your child. We hear about how they are free, chosen, an overcomer, gifted, and a delight. I have to say, as a mom, I enjoyed reading this and feeling proud of who I am in God’s eyes, so I can imagine how this makes the kids feel to hear it read to them.

While my kids are all older, I volunteer at the church nursery and was thrilled to bring these books with me on a Sunday morning. I know they are an excellent quality board book, because of the number of hands, and sometimes feet, on them constantly. They held up to the littlest of hands opening and pulling on them. They withstood some of the older kids pulling them to get a better look at the pictures. They came out of the day looking just like new!

All the kids in the nursery, and the preschool, ages 1-5, were pulled in when I started reading You Are: Speaking God's Word Over Your Children. They wanted me to keep going. They were able to tell me, or show me, their favorite pages and quotes at the end of the reading. When I asked them what they thought of the book, they loved it. I had an older child tell me that he loved hearing all those things that God thought about him. I loved being able to instill those things on them and know that they would leave with happy hearts full of love for God.

When they saw that I had a second book, they wanted me to read it right away. While it was morning, we still read Tonight: A Book of Bedtime Promises. Again, the kids were in love and did not want the book to end. Again, I was able to see and hear from them their favorite parts of the book. I also asked the older kids what they thought of the book and a 4-year-old told me she was going to remember this book when she went to bed at night to help her not be afraid.

I loved bringing these books to Sunday School with me. I loved being able to share the love of God through a fun book. These books are great for any house, and even the older kids will love them, as I found out. If you are looking for simple books to instill the love and protection of God on your younger children, You Are: Speaking God's Word Over Your Children and Tonight: A Book of Bedtime Promises are the books you are looking for!

-Product review by Amanda Hopkins, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February 2020