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About the Book:

Book: The Wanderer Scorned

Author: Natasha Woodcraft

Genre: Biblical Fiction

Release date: March, 2024

“It all started with the banishment. As soon as the truth was known about their disobedience, my parents were driven from the Garden planted for them by the LORD God, Yahweh Elohim. A garden pleasing to the eye and filled with every kind of food. Yet for them, it had not been enough.”

Kayin lives in the shadow of his parent’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden and its lingering cloud of shame. He believes in the Creator but struggles for affirmation. When suffering comes and sibling rivalry threatens, Kayin wrestles with God, grasping at shards of faith. But his cries drown in the noise of his own doubts and fears, until his youthful faith lies shattered, replaced by a twisted dance of pride and jealousy.

As Kayin spirals further, misunderstandings within the family dynamic dominate, and whispers of temptation slither through the cracks. Then a chance at redemption presents itself. With flames of forbidden love still raging hot, Kayin and his brother bring sacrifices to Yahweh.

No one foresees the resulting tragedy.

The Wanderer Scorned is the first installment in The Wanderer Biblical fiction series, immersing readers in the world of Genesis 4. This exploration of the first murder brings the Bible to life in a fresh way, delving into the character of the Creator God and His earliest interactions with humankind.

My Thoughts:

As I have stated before, I am cautious about Biblical fiction. I have read some that I really enjoyed, and some that included bits that were not accurate with the Bible. I am willing to try out new authors to see what their books are like, so when I was offered The Wanderer Scorned I decided to give it a go.

The Wanderer Scorned really made me think. I don’t know if I agree with altogether everything the author has written about the pre-Flood world and the life of Adam, Eve and their children, but it does sound plausible. I did really like the way she showed the way a person can get to the point of murdering a loved one. It doesn’t start with the physical action—it starts in the heart. The condition of a person’s heart and what flows out of that is the main focus of this story; it shows clearly how a person’s heart condition affects what that person does. 

I also appreciated a discussion about why bad things happen. That is such a hard question! I am always thankful for an author who tackles it. Then there were the voices in Kayin’s head, telling him that everyone was against him. How clearly this illustrated the battle most of us have to face, to sort out truth from the lies being fed to us by the enemy. On the other hand, there was one thing I didn’t like so well: at one point, two people needed to cross a deep river, and saw trees growing together to form a bridge for them—as they watched. I know God can do anything, but I’m just not sure about this one!

Overall, I am quite impressed with Natasha Woodcraft’s research and storytelling ability, and I’ll be watching for opportunities to read further books in this series.

WARNING: Prologue: Men grabbing at a woman. Chapter 20: Man imagines touching a woman’s body. Chapter 26: A murder.

About the Author:

Natasha Woodcraft lives in a slightly crumbling farmhouse in the UK with her family of boys and menagerie of animals. She holds an honours degree in Theology and believes stories have power to communicate deep truth and transform lives. Also a songwriter, Natasha peppers her emotional prose with poetry and song.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

More from Natasha:

Q & A with Natasha Woodcraft

• You’re an Author from the UK. Tell me more about that.

That’s right. I’m a Brit, which is great but has its challenges, like negotiating single quotation marks! There’s a massive lack of Christian fiction here. It’s not stocked in secular bookstores, there are few Christian bookstores left, and there aren’t many big conventions or publishers. I’m part of a team passionate about changing the landscape. We offer support services to authors and publishing services. Please pray for us and our country, and support British writers if you can.

• Who do you share your home with?

My husband, Ben, and four sons ranging from 15 to 7. Plus a dog, 2 cats, 3 goats, 9 chickens and 16 quail (though they don’t all live in the house.) It can get a little crazy…

• Sounds like it. How do you find time to write?

Good question. My mornings are usually taken up with feeding/cleaning kids and animals. My afternoons with working for the family business or publishing house. Before tea, I’ll be out picking vegetables and pulling weeds – we try to grow as much as we can ourselves. Writing gets squeezed into late nights, early mornings and quieter days. It’s my downtime and my favorite time spent with Jesus.

• You write Bible-based fiction. What specifically?

The Wanderer Series is based on the story of Cain & Abel in Genesis 4. It came about because I woke up one morning wondering what prompted the first murder (no kidding; my brain is weird.) I’d been pondering Jesus’ words about murder and anger in the Sermon on the Mount and praying about what I should write for a while. Suddenly, I knew it had to be a reimagining of Cain’s story – from his perspective.

• Hang on. From Cain’s perspective?

Yeah. Though there’s certainly a place for them, I personally dislike stories that are too simplistic. Where bad guys are really bad and good guys are really good – that kind of thing. The Bible teaches us that we all need grace (especially me), and as regards Cain – I don’t think he was much different to any of us. Writing from his perspective gave me opportunity to spend a lot of time in the Word of God, exploring Cain’s slide into sin in a way that challenged me to examine my own heart.

• That’s some heavy stuff. Did you have any background that helped you tackle this story?

Sure. I have a degree in Theology, and I’ve also studied English Literature and Creative writing. Mostly though, it was a case of leaning heavily into what God wanted to teach me through this book and hoping some of that resonated with my readers. The reviews so far say it has!

• What would you say to those questioning whether Bible-based fiction is right for them?

I totally understand the fear surrounding this genre. I felt it myself when I started writing and that was something I had to take to God and trust Him with. “Is it even ok to write these stories?” I asked.

Essentially though, it isn’t much different to a sermon. It’s exegesis and expansion of the scripture, just presented differently: in fiction rather than non-fiction. I’ve researched, covered my writing in prayer, and had pastors check my work. I’m super careful about handling scripture faithfully but state where the story comes from my imagination. It isn’t intended to replace the Bible. Quite the opposite – I hope it will inspire people to pick the Bible up. I even include an appendix that explains decisions I made, and study questions, at the back.

My hope and prayer is that Jesus will be glorified as lives are touched by this ancient story reimagined. If you’re still not sure, why not give The Wanderer Scorned a go? You don’t know until you try…

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About the Book:

Book: Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown

Author: Xochitl Dixon

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Release date: October 1, 2024

Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown, follows a young boy on a joyously affirming adventure that celebrates all shades of brown, from the darkest to the lightest.

From new school desks to freckles and moles, from fresh pastries to cedar canoes, brown is everywhere around us. God created and used brown to color the giant California redwoods, the Grand Canyon walls, busy beavers building dams, great horned owls hoo-hooing, and his image-bearers.

Everywhere that I go
I’m searching to see
something wonderfully, marvelously
brown—just like you and like me!

Illustrated by Pura Belpré Honor Award artist Sara Palacios and written by Xochitl Dixon, Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown takes kids on a tour of the U.S. to seek and find all the brilliant and beautiful shades of brown—from ivory to ebony—that God created. Readers will be encouraged to love the skin tone God chose for them as they observe how the spectacular shades of brown are reflected in their communities and the world around them.

My Thoughts:

I really like this book! The rhyming text is great fun to read aloud, and the pictures are delightful. I love the variety of settings pictured throughout the book. There are pages picturing city streets and schoolrooms, as well as northern forests and the Grand Canyon, to name a few. The diversity in children pictured is delightful, as well, with all shades of brown, including some children whose darkest skin is freckles! (I’ll have to admit that I was a little concerned that people with skin tones like ours would be left out, but we were included!) I also loved the range of things that were mentioned as being brown, from sparrows to school desks to beaver dams, and many more. This is a wonderful book to have on the shelf, to point children to God’s diverse creation and love of variety.

One of my adult sons is quite outspoken about his dislike of the modern “woke” culture, and his comment when he heard me read it aloud to my youngest was that books like Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown are what we need more of. This is a book that I am quite happy to have on our shelf.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

Xochitl (So-Cheel) Dixon, author of Waiting for God: Trusting Him for the Answers to Your Prayers, is a regular contributor for Our Daily Bread, the bestselling God Hears Her compilations and blog, and Tyndale’s NLT Go Bible for Kids (September 2024). Equipping readers to grow closer to God while nurturing an authentic loving community, she shares biblical encouragement, celebrates ethnic diversity, and advocates for disability awareness with her beautifully diverse family and her service dog, Callie, featured in the 2021 ECPA Christian Book Award Children’s Book Finalist Different Like Me, Diferente como yo, What Color is God’s Love? and Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown.

More from Xochitl:

I’m a first-generation Mexican American raised by Spanish-speaking immigrant grandparents and parents, who taught me to be invisible and believed assimilation would lead to a better life for me. The racism and colorism I experienced throughout my life caused me to grapple with my identity, self-worth, and my sense of belonging. However, I was in third grade the first time I stood against injustice. In my teen years, my passion for celebrating ethnic diversity and standing against injustice while advocating for disability awareness and inclusion grew.

Then, in 1994, I married a man who shared my passions. As a first-generation Mexican American raised by immigrant parents and grandparents, a wife to a Black man, a stepmother to a Black son, and a mother of a biracial son, my commitment to stand against racial injustice became even more personal.

I submitted my life to Christ in 2001 and began asking the Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus. That same year, after a student used a racial slur toward our biracial son, I wrote Different Like Me.

As God empowered me to love Him and my neighbors with a healthy and holy perspective, God began to grow our beautifully diverse family. My youngest granddaughter, whose father is Black, shared that kids teased her because she doesn’t look like her sisters, who share the same white father. I assured her that the melanin God uses to color all skin is brown, from the lightest to the darkest shades. Then, I told her that I would be writing Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown.

In 2020, Our Daily Bread published Different Like Me. As I edited What Color is God’s Love? and Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown, God continued affirming that He did not create the divisive and oppressive systems that label His image-bearers as “white” or “black” and feed the ignorance of racism or colorism. Instead, He designed melanin to include every spectacular shade of brown from the darkest ebony to the lightest ivory, even in those He created with birth marks, vitiligo, and albinism.

God intentionally selected every skin tone for every person He created and loves, His image-bearers. He calls every shade of brown good, including the shade of brown He used when He created you and me. As we celebrate our God-designed ethnic diversity, we can share the Good News of Jesus Christ as we love God and all our neighbors together.

To purchase your copy, click here.

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About the Book:

Book: Unison Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Christian Parenthood with One Voice

Author: Cecil Taylor

Genre: Parenting/Family, more specifically Christian Parenting

Release date: September 17, 2024

Singing in unison is when all voices sing the same note, at the same time, to emphasize the text. Similarly, families need to parent in unison to emphasize the message they want to send to their children.

Cecil Taylor uses his personal parenting experience, and those of the families he’s taught and ministered to over decades, to create unique foundational strategies for unison parenting within a Christian context. Learn how to stay on the same page throughout the trials of parenting, provide children with a solid faith foundation, and balance loving nature with firm boundaries to create a warm, stable environment where the child and parent can eventually collaborate to bring the child to full, responsible adulthood.

Whether in a traditional or nontraditional family structure, Unison Parenting leads parents through the ages and stages of childhood into mature adulthood. Additionally, Cecil lays out parenting fundamentals to manage your child’s growing need for independence during their teen years, while gradually building trust through incremental decision-making.

My Thoughts:

I was not too interested in reading Unison Parenting, after reading From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone earlier this year. That was a good book, just not my preferred style of book. I was also irritated with how many times he mentioned his ministry. However, more reviewers were needed for Unison Parenting, so I signed up.

I was pleasantly surprised with Unison Parenting. I appreciated the encouragement to be united as parents, so that our children won’t be confused and can’t play one against the other. There are many tips sprinkled throughout the book to help parents deal with various situations, as well as general principles for raising children. I was delighted to read about the way the Taylor family handles situations where two children have differing stories about what happened. That was an idea I wish I had many years ago when most of our children were young! I also appreciated the thought that children change quickly and something that was true of a child six months ago may not be true today. 

Something I did not like was the acceptance of “alternative lifestyles,” and families with two moms or two dads being put on the same level as families with a mother and father who are married. A definition of homophobia is given which basically says that it is negative attitudes toward people who live that way. 

Other than the topic I mentioned above, which can be found throughout the book but especially in the chapter devoted to non-traditional families, I found this book to be sound. Not everything will apply to every situation, but the basic principles will. 

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

With more than 30 years’ experience as an adult Sunday School teacher and as many in youth ministry, Cecil Taylor has impacted lives in local churches throughout his adult life. He founded Cecil Taylor Ministries to broaden that impact, teaching Christians to live a 7-day practical faith through books, video studies, and speaking engagements. His ministry is cross-denominational, focused on the common struggle Christians face in putting their faith into practice and applying scripture and faith principles to life situations.

Cecil has written three previous books, all of which have been awarded across international, national, and regional contests. For each book, Cecil has created a study guide, a video study, and downloadable free leader guides.

More from Cecil:

Would you like to know the surefire, guaranteed way to get your teen to open up and talk to you? You’ll find it in my new book, Unison Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Christian Parenthood with One Voice.

Unison Parenting is the culmination of my fifteen years leading parenting classes in my church, my thirty years of youth ministry, and my raising of three children (one adopted) to adulthood. I taught and tested the parenting advice with seven hundred families that attended my classes, so I am convinced the structure and tips you’ll find in the book are well-proven.

One of those tips is how to get your teen to talk to you. I have never had anyone return to me to say that the technique doesn’t work; in fact, they laughingly complain that the technique works too well, and they can’t get their teen to stop talking!

An overarching theme of the book is, of course, getting and staying in unison as parents, but not only as parents – as a family. Another way to put it is a spirit of collaboration. You begin building this collaboration when the children are young, and as they grow, you expand the collaboration to partner with them on the common goal of helping them become mature adults who make good decisions.

I can tell you from experience that the collaborating spirit of such a family continues into adulthood, fostering solid on-going relationships and a desire for family community, even across distance.

This is not to say that my wife and I were perfect, nor that our children were perfect. We all made regrettable mistakes along the way. Our learnings, plus the positive and negative experiences of families I encountered over decades, will help you avoid pitfalls as you create a unison atmosphere among parenting partners and with your children.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.