The latest release in Lisa Tawn Bergren's God Gave Us series of
picture books is the sweet and charming God Gave Us Love. Populated
by a loving family of Christian polar bears, Little Cub and Grandpa
Bear explore the many ways that God's love is displayed in our
world, and in our relationships with each other.
There's the need to love those who we find annoying, the special
love between Mamas and Papas, the love between family members, and,
most of all, God's love for us as shown through the gift of His
Son. There's also, of course, the love for our younger siblings
when they're acting troublesome, the love we see expressed when God
provides abundantly for our needs.
Not only does Grandpa Bear explain various types of love to Little
Cub, but he also explains how all love is an expression of God's
big love for us. Through all, he says, Grandpa shows that because
God is love, we are called to love others as we strive to be like
Him.
Illustrated by long-time series collaborator Laura J. Bryant, her
soft, action-filled watercolors are downright adorable. The family
of bears frolics in their winter-wonderland home while ice fishing,
hanging laundry (in the winter!), and tumbling about in the snow.
It can easily be argued that her consistent illustrations
throughout God Gave Us You,God Gave Us Two, and God Gave Us Heaven
have cemented the series as a mainstay for families who collect
Christian picture books.
As much as parents find the series incredibly sweet, God Gave Us
Love may prove somewhat wordy for the youngest read-aloud
audiences. Explaining spiritual concepts like loving when you're
not feeling loving, and trying to encompass the entire concept of
love in a picture book is hard to do without becoming a bit wordy.
My three-year-old's attention span drifts if I try to read this
title to her in a single sitting, and even my six-year-old looks a
little distracted while I'm reading it. I'll try them again with
this title as they grow, and see if it catches on at a future
date.
Loving the soft, whimsical artwork, pastel palette and gentle
spiritual lessons, I'm disappointed that God Gave Us Love hasn't
captured my children's imaginations the way I hoped it would.
Still, I can't part with it - it's just too cute.
Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com