Product Description
By Regina Doman and Illustrated by Ben Hatke
A beautifully written children's picture book which delicately shows an unborn baby and delightfully details his conversations with an angel in the womb. The baby's perception is understandably limited, and the angel helps him to know God, his parents, and himself. While this book is meant for children, the adults who read it to them will be profoundly moved and instructed with the message that God creates, God knows, and God cares even if are confused and ignorant of what is happening during the confusing times of our own lives.
The very first page of the book begins with a simple but profound message. "In the beginning, I was. I was for a long time. Then things began to happen." This is a reflection of God's message to Moses, "I AM WHO AM." The phrase implies that each of us was known to God from time eternal. Only at a point in time did we enter this world at our human conception.
With anatomically correct but delicate drawings, the life of the unborn child unfolds. His activities and growth are detailed, always with the angel to answer his questions. The book does not picture the angel as a being with wings but as a set of almost imperceptible, pulsating lights. Only as the reader moves through the book does he or she realize that these lights were on each page where the angel is mentioned. Just so we move through life generally unaware of our heavenly guardians.
Here and there, small inset drawings picture the mother and father as the pregnancy progresses. The unborn child does not understand what is happening, while the angel tells him that some day, he will know. As adults, we sometimes do not understand what is happening, but a Being wiser than us knows.
The language is deliberately understated. Mother "is more than a place," the angel says. "You will find out soon." As adults reflect on this, they will realize how much their own mothers mean to them.
After the baby is born, he wishes to go back to the womb as the world seems big and frightening. The angel assures him that the world "is very big. But you will grow big. It will feel better and warmer when you are bigger. But there is another, bigger world outside this one. Someday I will take you there." When the baby asks when, the angel replies, "When it is time."
This is an excellent book for any toddler expecting a sibling and for any expectant parent. It would be a welcome addition to any elementary school or public library.
A beautifully written children's picture book which delicately shows an unborn baby and delightfully details his conversations with an angel in the womb.
