Religious Books

What child isn’t curious about those first days of life? In Before You Were Born Nancy White Carlstrom celebrates the mystery of how each child is a part of God’s plan and the wonder of how a family grows and changes when a child arrives. With vibrant colors and joyful images, illustrator Linda Saport tenderly conveys the excitement and love with which parents welcome children into their lives. This lyrical celebration of every child’s life takes its inspiration from Psalm 139.

“A luminescent tale extolling the miraculous changes wrought by an infant’s arrival. Expanding upon the greatly reassuring words of Psalm 139, Carlstrom details the myriad ways in which a couple’s life evolves with the birth of their child…A beautiful portrayal.” — Kirkus Reviews

Society of Illustrators “The Original Art” Annual Exhibition
ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards Finalist

With words that sing and colors that spill joy across the pages, author Nancy White Carlstrom and illustrator Debra Reid Jenkins celebrate creation and the way every creature praises God. Whether winged or finned or furry, each creature — by being and doing what it was made to be and do — gives glory to the Creator. And children do this too, especially because they have hearts and minds that can delight in and learn about all the rest of creation.

“Glorious words and whimsical art leave children with a sense of the exhilaration that comes with the knowledge of Creation. Whether it’s a wide swath of red tumbling across the golden pages or the poetic text, this lovely jumble captures the feeling of life in motion.” — Booklist

Booklist Top Ten Religious Children’s Books

A child watches the sky in changing seasons and in all kinds of weather and learns to listen to its voice. In What Does the Sky Say? author Nancy White Carlstrom’s imaginative and poetic text encourages all readers, both very young and older, to wake up to and participate in the opportunities for joy and learning each day offers. And Tim Ladwig’s extraordinary illustrations perfectly capture the moods of weather and season, the magic of childhood, and our deep connection to all creation and its Creator.

“…a joyous prose poem whose swirling, light-drenched illustrations by Tim Ladwig complement the text’s sense of wonder.” —Publishers Weekly, Religion Update

“…delightful, imaginative, and engaging text perfectly captures the wonder of watching the sky and listening to its many sounds both dramatic and subtle in the changing seasons and in all kinds of weather.” —Midwest Book Review

National Outdoor Book Award
Independent Publishers Book Award

In the beginning come the words. Although I am a visual person, I do not choose the words to fit a particular picture for I know the illustrator will bring their own sense of what the words mean for the art. Hopefully the finished work, both text and art, will be greater than either one without the other.

When Dave and I lived in Boston and celebrated our first Christmas together we used a branch for our Christmas Tree, and I made simple ornaments based on the I Am passages of Christ. Years later I wrote I AM CHRISTMAS using those same passages to tell the Christmas narrative.

In 2002, the Shrine of LaSallette in Massachusetts used the book to feature billboard paintings based on the illustrations and reproduced by one of the Sisters. It was the centerpiece of their Christmas Lights Display for several years.

Years ago, I visited the illustrator, Lori McGrath-Eslik who explained how she illustrated the book. Different family members posed in Christmas pageant dress on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lori also illustrated my book DOES GOD KNOW HOW TO TIE SHOES?