2 out of 4 stars
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One of the biggest blockbuster movies of the summer has already hit theaters, and it is the culmination of a long line of films that bands together many of our favorite superheroes to fight against a powerful enemy. We sit enamored as we watch each character use his or her own special skills to thwart an unfriendly brigade of evildoers. No matter what gets thrown at them, they all know how to defend themselves when trouble arises. The character that stands out most for me is Thor. When his eyes flash with purple lightning shooting in all directions, you know he is going to bring the hammer down to stop the attack.
Much like Thor's hammer, Sara Chandrakumar Manickam sets out to place a powerful weapon into the hands of young people. The author states in the introduction of her book, Devotional Insights from Childhood Days of the Heroes of the Bible, that her goal is to equip readers with the ability to overcome challenges. She does this by using some of the Old Testament heavy hitters as role models and demonstrates how they stood up and made right choices in the face of adversity.
I found that the author is well versed in scripture. For example, where she cautions the audience on what we should allow into our minds, she quotes Matthew 28:5 (ESV) which states: "I will not set my eyes before anything that is worthless." Her point is made with clarity that what we see and hear greatly influence us spiritually. I found that to be an important subject to include in a book of this nature because children and teens are often given free reign in a marketplace of various books and media without always being guided by a discerning adult to assist in building up their spiritual character.
My favorite chapter was the one devoted to Samson because the author explained how he was physically strong but spiritually weak. I think for those who read this section, they will come to a better understanding that while the divine nature of a person may not be visible, it has a powerful impact on our lives. The lesson here is to wake up young people to the fact that behavior and its consequences coincide and that we have the power to make good decisions regardless of peer pressure. She instructs through scripture passages how to examine what is motivating us and to choose the path that will lead to a deeper walk with God. Being a faithful friend, respecting and obeying authority, having a strong prayer life and being honest no matter the outcome, were the main themes of the book. The author emphasizes that if one adheres him or herself to exercising these character traits, blessings will follow.
While there were many good instructions in the book, I found that the layout was haphazard. For example, in the middle of reading about Samuel, a personal story was inserted and then the author went back to writing more about Samuel's life. This happened in each of the chapters. It was disrupting and slightly frustrating to be in the middle of reading about a particular person and then being mentally forced to jump to something totally out of the realm of where I was previously. It felt like I was walking on uneven ground where I didn't know from one sentence to the next who the subject was going to be. For me, that took away the impact of what the author was trying to get across to her readers.
In addition to the somewhat disorganized chapters, another fault I found was too much information. The only way I can explain this would be similar to engaging in a conversation with another person and that person never pauses for a breath. I found myself losing interest because there was too much being presented to comprehend. I think that if this material is geared for a young reader, it needs a thorough editing where the stories, whether Biblical or personal, be condensed or eliminated being mindful of those with short attention spans. The phrase "less is more" would be the goal to achieve to make this material more concise.
Another drawback that I detected was that some of the sentence structures were not properly done. For example, this sentence stated, "Majority of us do not know who we are in Christ." The word 'the' is missing. In another place, the author wrote, "...and told her kids that they had to wait till their dad got home." This should be corrected to the full word 'until'. There are numerous other examples of these types of errors, so I would suggest an extensive proofreading to take place to keep the integrity of the book intact.
In the first sentence of the foreword, the author states, "This book attempts to provide kids above 10 years and young adults insights which are practical and helpful in their day to day walk with God." While I agree this book is perfect for young learners, I could not quite figure out what age group would get the most out of this book. At one point, she refers to the reader as "kids" and their high school friends, and then in another passage, she writes "boys and girls". I found this confusing, and maybe the author is trying to reach too big of an age range with what she has written. I think the author needs to consider a younger demographic that she desires to impact with this material, and then write another edition that would meet the needs of an older age group.
Some suggestions to make this a better resource would be to shorten up the material and put in bold headers between the stories so the reader knows what is going to be written about next. Let the Bible story stand on its own, and then at the end of the chapter, ask this question: How does this lesson apply to your life? This is where the author could include her personal stories and anecdotes that relate to the lesson being presented. To be more eye-catching, the title needs a little revamping as it seems cumbersome and too long.
In closing, I don't want the author to think I didn't like the devotional. It was in PDF form, and I could not find it on Amazon to buy, so I was left with the impression that she was in the process of gathering feedback to make this book stellar. I could easily see this being used in Sunday school classrooms for curriculum because of its fun puzzles and word games included in each chapter to drive home the lesson she is emphasizing. I think it would be a great asset to add to a family devotional with parents and their children reading together. For those not interested in their children learning about the Bible or Christian teaching, this would not be a book of interest. In its current state of needing proofreading and editing, I can only give this a 2 out of 4 stars. I am hoping to see this book improved upon so many young ones can experience the Biblical knowledge of this author.
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Devotional Insights from Childhood Days of the Heroes of the Bible
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