The last few weeks have had their share of problems… I went down with a virus, the storm damaged our garden office roof (where I work), our internet went down, and we got locked out of the Dernier website!
With all these things, we are truly grateful for your prayers, because we are now all pretty much back to normal. No more am I working with a tarpaulin flapping over the roof! That was a bit hairy, to say the least. I almost wondered at the worst hours of the storm, if the office might take off, with me still in it, hehe. 🙂
On to some very good news:
Nobody’s Dog will very soon be available in Italian! I have seen a preview of the cover, and it’s beautiful! We are so delighted that this lovely book will now be able to be read by children/families in Italy. Italy is a country with very few evangelical Christians, so publishing is a bit of a risk in financial terms. Please pray the book will sell well, and also that readers will learn about prayer and trust in God in readers’ hearts, as they read about Luke and the sad dog in the park.
Congratulations to author Eleanor Watkins, and to Angelica Perrini for all her hard work on the Italian translation. 🙂
Click here to buy the English version, or, of course, you can buy it from any Christian bookshop.
World Book Day
World Book Day has come and gone. Did you do anything special?
I did some talks for children via Zoom, organised by the Christian Teachers Association. Shout out to the amazing Ijeoma Nwaneri who worked so hard to make it all a success!
Here’s a little clip from one of my talks, which was entitled:
“We Don’t Do Religion! Why real faith matters in real life, and why it should matter in stories, too.”
I’m a Christian, and when my children were at school, it surprised me that there were very few books with characters who are Christian – who go to church, or to a church youth club, or who pray or read the Bible.
I’m sure lots of you pray and go to a temple, or a synagogue or a mosque or a church. Faith is a part of your life for at least some of you, I’m sure. But you’d never think so, from the books in the library!
I couldn’t find stories where faith is a normal part of life. The characters did all sorts of exciting things, but not a single one ever prayed!
Don’t you think that’s really strange? It’s like faith had been taken out of books and disappeared! It’s as if faith doesn’t exist in real life, but it does!
It was lovely to see the children’s smiling faces, from as far away as Tanzania. I do hope they enjoyed their time learning about why faith is important in stories, as well as looking at writing and the publishing process.
The children asked some great questions!
The Dove Stone
Once again we ask your prayers as this book goes through typesetting, proofreading and printing. Thank you so much! It will be such a relief to have the copies in our hands after such a long time working on it. Please pray for author Pam Daunton, as she plans to get it into as many young hands as possible. 🙂
Books for Easter
Easter is fast approaching. Is your church organising an outreach for children? If you would like books to give away, so the children can take the message home, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Book of the Month
Book of the Month – A New Me. As a special this month, we are offering 20% off this fab book by Edwin Roy Jones. Simply use the coupon code MANM2022 at checkout. If you know a child going through a tough time (for reading ages around 9-13), this is the perfect book for you. Jess doesn’t get everything she wants, but she does find new life in Jesus, after joining the local church youth club. Her new friend, Aidan, who is a Christian, befriends her, and so she finds a new hope after living through the break up of her parents.
Thanks so much for all your support and prayers. One by one, children are hearing the good news of Jesus through story. If, while you’re reading this, a child comes to mind, buy the book quickly, before you forget!
Blessings to you all,
Janet
P.S. In your prayers for Ukraine, please can I ask you to pray for Christian publishers there, for protection and deliverance, and that they can get back to their vital work of equipping the church as soon as possible? I heard from Andrey, a colleague from Esdras (Ezra) Publishing in Kiev, at the beginning of the war, but have not heard since. Words just aren’t enough, sometimes, are they? Thank you.