Dernier Publishing is not going to be participating in Black Friday this year, so if you want to buy books from this website or from Christian bookshops, you can do it any time between now and Christmas, knowing the price will be the same. Feel free to share this post, and thank you for your custom – may all the children you buy books for be blessed!
Don’t forget to check out our catalogue for books for your children this Christmas!
Dernier Publishing Online Catalogue
Christian books change lives, not just give enjoyment for a few days. Not saying it’s not great to have fun and celebrate – but balance is good!
Happy shopping!
“The message of freedom and light was clear. This is a really well written and entertaining story.” Katie read this with her 11-year-old son. Want one? Order here, or buy from your local Christian bookshop. Don’t leave it – time passes so quickly!
Sadly, not all children have story books available to them, for lots of different reasons. We are proud to work with Torch Trust to make our books available in Braille, large and giant print, and on audio. (We even got an award for it!) So if you know children in the UK with sight loss, get in touch – they can enjoy all Dernier stories.
‘
Today we packed up a box of books for children in Kenya who don’t have story books. Thanks to all who have donated books! 50 books will soon be on their way for the #readtolead project, for children in desperately poor schools. Please pray they will be well loved and used!
#readtolead
Dernier Publishing is delighted to be part of the #readtolead project with Education Bridge Africa. Education is a way out of poverty for many children, and reading is a big part of that (as well as being fun!). If you’ve been receiving our newsletter for a while, you will have seen some of the moving stories and photos of children in desperately poor circumstances, so happy to receive our books. For some of them, this will be the first story book they have ever held.
Recently Dr Loise took a selection of our books to the Joy Town School for children living with disabilities in Thika. (You may have heard about Thika, and its famous flame trees!)
These children were apparently delighted to receive our books – do pray for them (and for others who have received our books. These children (below) are from Rwanda).
We are sending a Christmas Box to Education Bridge Africa. If you would like to be part of this wonderful ministry, please find thedonate button and give whatever you wish via PayPal (you don’t need a PayPal account to use this service – you can pay by debit or credit card if you prefer). Every £5 you donate will buy one more book to put in the box. I hope to send a full box next week, so please send in your donations by the end of the week (Friday 8th), or they might not make it for Christmas.
Thank you!
Do you write Christian novels for young people? Looking to take your writing to the next level?
Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing, is running an online course called “Easy but Brilliant Ways to Make Your Story Fun” for £1 until 16th December.
Good News!
Now Halloween is over (phew!), the nights are drawing in, and like it or not, we can’t help but start thinking about Christmas. The real message of Jesus coming to us is such good news (light in the darkness!), but it’s not always easy to share it with the younger generation, is it? We know we need to, and we want to – it’s just finding a way!
There is so much confusion among our young people, all of them desperate to be loved, to have value and for their lives to matter. They are looking to find acceptance and peace in so many ways that will never truly fulfill.
We know Jesus is the answer!
In my parents’ day, most children went to Sunday School and were given a book prize in the summer, so they took the good news home with them. Times have changed, but the need for taking the good news home hasn’t. And these days Christmas is an accepted time to give gifts.
We would love to help you give books away as gifts this Christmas, to children your church has links with – schools, uniformed organisations, clubs and Sunday School. Perhaps even to children who use your church building for their carol concert? Or who sing in the choir? Think what a difference the books could make! They have the potential to touch whole families! If you’d like to read testimonies of how our books have touched lives, there are plenty here.
If you would like to give away books, but can’t afford to buy them full price, please email me. If we can possibly help you, we will – no matter how many books you are looking for. Getting the message of the good news into children’s hands is why we exist!
We hear of too many horror stories concerning young people. Maybe with your gift you can turn lives around this Christmas. The good news of Jesus is too good to keep to ourselves. The time to sow seeds is now – who knows what fruit will grow!
Christian Resources Exhibition
It was great to see our books on sale at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Surrey last month. Thanks to Dave Lock and Barry Mockford from bookshops in Streatham and Staines, who took them. Great stuff!
‘
Christian Bookshops
Christian bookshops do a great job, shining like lights on the High Street. If you have one near you, do support them. Some of them will have special offers for Christmas, and you can buy calendars, cards, music and gifts as well as books. If you’re anywhere near Streatham, pop in to see Dave and the crew at Manna Bookshop – you will find all our books on their shelves! If you see our books anywhere, please send in your photos – we’d love to see them. 🙂
#readtolead
Dernier Publishing is delighted to be part of the #readtolead project with Education Bridge Africa. Education is a way out of poverty for many children, and reading is a big part of that (as well as being fun!). If you’ve been receiving our newsletter for a while, you will have seen some of the moving stories and photos of children in desperately poor circumstances, so happy to receive our books. For some of them, this will be the first story book they have ever held.
Recently Dr Loise took a selection of our books to the Joy Town School for children living with disabilities in Thika, Kenya. (You may have heard about Thika, and its famous flame trees!)
These children were apparently delighted to receive our books – do pray for them.
We are sending a Christmas Box of books to Education Bridge Africa. If you would like to be part of this wonderful ministry, please find the donate button and give whatever you wish via PayPal (you don’t need a PayPal account to use this service – you can pay by debit or credit card if you prefer). Every £5 you donate will buy one more book to put in the box. I hope to send a full box next week, so please send in your donations by the end of the week (Friday 8th), or they might not make it for Christmas.
Thank you!
‘
Exciting News
Next year we are going to start working on a brand new project, bringing out ‘early readers’ for 6-8s. These books will be shorter chapter books than our current range, with larger print and black and white illustrations – a bridge between picture books and our books for 8-11s.
They will all be fun, relevant stories, with Christian themes.
Please pray for this exciting new development!
‘
Audiobooks
Don’t forget all our books are on audio, and you can buy them as gifts – all you need is the email address of the person you want to give the book to. These are perfect for children who prefer to listen than read. They can download the book and listen at their leisure on their phone/tablet or any digital device. Simply type the title of the book you are looking for into any search engine and click on the link to buy. The instructions will guide you through.
Sharing
If you have enjoyed one of our books, would you be kind enough to share it on Instagram, in a Facebook group you belong to, or another social media platform? So many Christian parents are desperate for good Christian books for their children, but don’t know where to find them. We have easy share icons on our website to help make it easy. Thank you. 🙂
‘
Contact Us
If you have any ideas, questions or comments about any of our books, please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time. We are here to serve you and the children on your heart.
With thanks for your ongoing support,
Janet
P.S. Don’t forget to email me about books to give to your schools and clubs! And do feel free to share this newsletter with your friends. 🙂
We have sold out of the first print run of The City Kid. There are mixed feelings – it’s great that all these books are now out in the world, but we’re sorry you can no longer order this inspiring, thought-provoking book for teens.
We will bring it out again with a new cover at some stage – possibly in 2021… we will keep you informed. Please do keep praying for the books, wherever they are in the world, that they will continue to be enjoyed, and change lives.
If you have any ideas for a new cover, let us know in the comments below!
It was great to see our books being sold at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Surrey last week! Thanks to Dave Lock and Barry Mockford from bookshops in Streatham and Staines, who took them. Great stuff! #supportchristianbookshops #dernierpublishing #christianbooksforkids
Could you afford to buy a Christian book every month/term for your godchild, grandchild, or your Sunday School group?
If you write a verse in each one at the front, your special people will have an amazing stack of encouragement for the future as well as the present!
Keep sowing those seeds – you never know which will grow.
(Contact us for church/school discounts.)
Dernier Publishing is delighted to be part of the #readtolead project with Education Bridge Africa. Education is a way out of poverty for many children… and they are desperate for books to read.
A while ago we sent several boxes books for children in need in Kenya. Some have reached the Joy Town School for children living with disabilities in Thika. (You may have heard about Thika, and its famous flame trees!)
These children were so delighted to receive books to read!
If you would like to be part of this amazing ministry, sending Christian books to children in need, please find the DONATE button and give whatever you wish via PayPal. This is how it works: you buy the books at a discount, and we will pay for and organise the shipping, to Education Bridge Africa.
You can find the DONATE button here.
Why do we send books to schools in Kenya? Some schools are well resourced, but some are desperate for reading material for children. We work with Education Bridge Africa and their #readtolead project, which aims to make sure the most disadvantaged children have access to story books. Christian books are especially well received, as there is a strong Christian culture in Kenya. We work with Dr Loise Gichuhi from the University of Nairobi.
Please help this project! We would love to send more books, and need your financial help but if you can’t help right now, please pray that the books will be well used and loved, and will touch many hearts and lives.
Thank you!
These Christian books were ordered today… they will be off to Surrey shortly, in the mail. Who will read them? Will they get passed on? How many lives will they touch? So many seeds in one small package! 🙂
#christianbooksforkids#everychildisprecious#dernierpublishing#booksmakegreatgifts#bookschangelives#sodoesprayer
#worldmentalhealthday If you know a child who suffers from anxiety, Deepest Darkness is a lovely book which has helped many 8-11s. Get your copy here.
Do you have this problem… you want to share your faith with your children’s friends and family, but are a bit nervous how to do it?
Perhaps you even pray with your children for their friends?
Maybe you feel a bit guilty, and would grab the chance of a non-threatening way to reach out?
Of course you will invite them to events, and be kind and caring… but sometimes that’s not quite enough, and you know it.
Giving a Christian book as a birthday present is a non-threatening way for your children to share their faith with their friends.
What do you think?
It’s dyslexia awareness week!
We realised the importance of dyslexia friendly books a while ago, so our last few Dernier Publishing releases have had a brilliant, spacious new look inside, with wider margins, better spacing and a dyslexia friendly font.
What do you think? We’re really proud to be inclusive! #dernierpublishing #christianbooksforkids #christianbooksforteens #dyslexiafriendly #inclusive
This is the inside text for A New Me. Really easy to read!
And this is the fabulous cover!
Our other dyslexia-friendly titles include Revenge of the Flying Carpet, Rebecca and Jade: Choices and The City Kid.
‘
Thanks so much for praying for Dernier Publishing, and for your support. We are in a fight and we are grateful not to be fighting alone. We have an enemy who doesn’t want children to be inspired in their faith, to hear the good news of Jesus, to read stories of children just like them who find light in the darkness, who win through struggles by prayer and faith and have fun adventures! But we have to spread the good news to the new generation. If we don’t, who will? Some might not hear if we don’t tell them.
Last week I took part in The Turning, going out on to the streets with Christians from churches all over London, sharing the good news of Jesus. Most people weren’t interested, but some people, it seemed, were just waiting to hear! They were like ripe fruit, waiting to be plucked from the tree. A lady I was asked to follow up came to church with me on Sunday!
There is a hunger for the good news. Not everyone wants to hear, of course. So we need to spread our nets far and wide, to catch as many as possible. Could you help spread out the net? Could you buy books for your school, youth club, church children, uniformed organisation, family and friends? Could you give books away at Light Parties at the end of the month? You never know what seeds might grow from your gift. (If you need lots of books, contact me and we’ll do what we can to help with the cost.)
500 copies of Under the Tamarind Tree will go to prisoners’ children this Christmas, via Angel Tree (part of Prison Fellowship)! We are so delighted to be helping with this project, thanks to a generous donor. How many children will be touched by the message? Maybe all of them, by the grace of God! Maybe some of the books will be read over and over again. Maybe some of the books will be read by several members of the family. Perhaps parents/carers will read them to their children…
You can read more about the book here, so you can pray with greater clarity (and while there, why not buy a copy for a child you know, to encourage them, too?).
‘
We had a great time at the Christian Resources Together trade event last month! Thank you if you prayed for us. Author Eleanor Watkins helped us celebrate the 10th birthday of the Beech Bank Girls books!
‘
We had some good conversations with Christian booksellers; we are so grateful to them for stocking our books in their shops, helping us reach children all over the UK. Saturday 5th October is Christian Bookshop Day… if you live anywhere near a bookshop, do support them – they do a great job in the community.
And we won an award! It was such a surprise and honour to be presented with the special ‘Accessible and Inclusion Award’ by Julia Hyde, CEO of Torch Trust, and David Shepherd, Resources Manager. It has been a pleasure to work with them. Now all our titles are available through Torch Trust as large print, giant print, Braille and on audio, so children with sight loss can enjoy our books in the way most suited to them. How brilliant is that? 🙂
Each book, wherever it goes, and in whatever format, is like a seed – some might be eaten by birds, some grow among thorns or in shallow soil… but some might grow up to bear 30, 60 or even 100 times what was sown!
Be part of it. Don’t let the ones you love miss out. Hallowe’en is nearly here, celebrating all that is dark. Let’s let our light shine!
Together in His Service,
Janet
Books waiting to be collected for Angel Tree today: final destination will be prisoners’ children. How wonderful is that! 🙂
500 copies of this lovely book are waiting in these boxes. Seeds ready to be sown. You can read more about the book here.
Please pray!
We are getting ready to send 500 copies of Under the Tamarind Tree to Angel Tree (part of the Prison Fellowship), thanks to a generous supporter.
These books will go to prisoners’ children at Christmas, as a gift from their parent. How lovely is that?
Please pray for the children who will receive them. And if you’d like one the same for a child on your heart (perhaps one going through a tough time?), you can buy one here.
We can all be bearers of good news.
Hi, Janet here – that’s me in the middle (below), receiving our award!
Every year Christian publishers and retailers get together for the Christian Resources Together retreat. At this event we have an exhibition, worship together, eat together, share news… and have an awards evening. Here are some of the official photos, of the Dernier stand, where we celebrated the 10th birthday of the Beech Bank Girls, and of our ‘Accessible and Inclusive’ award from Torch Trust. Thanks to Julia Hyde and David Shepherd from Torch for the amazing award, and everyone we chatted to at CRT. It’s a wonderful thing to be involved in! (Thanks to Dave Lock for the images.)
Hello, Janet here! The last few days I have been at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, for the annual Christian Resources retreat.
As well as celebrating the 10th birthday of the first of the Beech Bank Girls books, we were surprised and delighted to receive this wonderful award for helping to get books into the hands of children with sight loss from Torch Trust! Thank you Torch Trust!
I am so grateful for my sight, and am glad to have been able to have read our books for young ‘readers’ with sight loss. We pass on all our files to Torch Trust so all our titles can be made available to children (or adults!) as large print books, Braille books, and audiobooks. It’s been brilliant to work together… no doubt about it, we can do so much more together than apart!
Janet Wilson is off to the Christian Resources Together retreat next week with Dernier Publishing, and is looking forward to meeting up with talented author Eleanor Watkins and celebrating the 10th birthday of the Beech Bank Girls!
🙂 Can you believe it’s ten years since these girls began sharing their stories with us? The book (and the sequels) are every bit as relevant today as they were when they were new. You can buy the paperback, the kindle version, or get the stories on audio. You can even get them in Croatian!
Don’t let your girls miss out….
Some of you will know that Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing, set up a resource (Write for a Reason) for new writers of novels for children, in response to requests for help. Registration for the updated course, which starts on 16th September, is now open, so we’re sharing it here, in case it’s of interest to you. 🙂
If you write/want to write novels for children/teens, and want to make them the best they can be, you will enjoy this ten week, step-by-step online course, wherever you are in the world.
Write for a Reason was set up by publisher Janet Wilson in response to requests for help from new writers. She has run courses before, but this is the most comprehensive to date, and will cover everything you need to write a successful novel for children/teens from a Christian perspective.
By the end of the course you will be buzzing with exciting ways to breathe life into your stories… PLUS you will have a complete story plan for your next novel!
If you are writing to share the good news of Jesus in some way, your novel will already be extra special, because it has eternal value, but the better written it is, the more children will read and enjoy it!
Isn’t that what we want?
In the parable of the talents, the servants who received the gifts had to put them to work… the servant who buried his talent was in trouble – don’t let that be you!
Most writers struggle on alone hoping (doubting?) their writing is good enough, but, as with any field of life, a little bit of training, support and encouragement can work wonders. Would someone called to be a counsellor start counselling without first getting some training?
“Thank you for taking the time to educate those of us who feel we have a story just waiting to erupt from the depths of our souls.”~ Leilanie
Hello! My name is Janet Wilson. I’m a mum, grandma and founder of Dernier Publishing (we publish Christian books for children) and Write for a Reason.
In my role as a publisher, I have learnt a few things about great novels. I would love to pass on my knowledge to you, to encourage and equip you make your stories the very best they can be.
I am a Christian, and this course reflects that, but whatever your beliefs, you will find plenty to help you in your own writing journey.
When you sign up for this course, you will gain IMMEDIATE access to the pre-course runway, which I’ve designed to help you get ready for the weeks ahead (including some fun writing prompts!).
I hope you will join me in the Write for a Reason Academy. I would count it a privilege to help you in the next step of your writing journey.
The Pre-Course Runway
Purpose: To get ready for the weeks ahead.
Module One: Reaching Your Target Audience
Purpose: To know who you are writing for, and get to know their world.
Module Two: Creating Your Protagonist
Purpose: To create a protagonist (main character) your readers will love and be inspired by.
Module Three: Creating Secondary Characters
Purpose: To create engaging secondary characters.
Module Four: A Look at Narrative Voice
Purpose: To consider all the options and choose your narrative voice for your next story.
Module Five: Weaving in Your Theme
Purpose: To know what your theme is, and how to make your “message” work in the context of your story.
Module Six: Creating the Perfect Setting
Purpose: To choose a great setting for your story, and build your fictional world.
Module Seven: Gripping Beginnings
Purpose: To have a gripping beginning for your story, to draw your readers in.
Module Eight: Satisfying Endings
Purpose: To work out a satisfactory conclusion for your story, that you readers will love.
Module Nine: Conflicts and Resolutions
Purpose: Work out all the terrible things that are going to happen to your characters between your beginning and ending.
Module Ten: Your Complete Story Plan
Purpose: To have a complete story plan in your hands, ready to begin writing your novel in full.
N.B. Each module will include a mixture of teaching and practical assignments. And they’re fun! Yay!
Come on in and join us! GUARANTEE
If you start the Write for a Reason Academy and find it’s not for you by the end of Module Three (as long as you have had a go at the set assignments), let me know, and I will refund your course fees. “How can they put their trust in Him if they have not heard of Him? And how can they hear of Him unless someone tells them?”Romans 10:14 (NLV)
Copyright Janet Wilson, 2019 PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS AND CONDITIONS
September 2019
Dear Friends,
I hope you all had a good summer. I spent a week in Minehead with my sister, who I haven’t been away with since we went to Austria for a week over thirty years ago! Where does time go? 🙂
August has been a quiet month for Dernier, for sales – please pray that schools, churches and parents everywhere will see what a fantastic tool novels are for building faith. We so long to know our books are out there, changing lives. Well, of course, it’s the Lord who changes lives, but he uses our words to touch people, whether spoken or written. 🙂
Now our books are also in audio, we have a new way to reach children who don’t enjoy reading. Please pass on the good news to any of your friends who have children. Maybe you could even buy an audio book for a child/family you know? Even children who love reading might also enjoy listening to a story while on the bus or train on their way to school!
Why not try out Mystery in the Snow? All you need is the recipient’s email address, and the book is sent to them to download. They can read it on their phone – or a parent’s phone… or a tablet, laptop of computer.
Schools
Some children are already back at school – some will be heading out this week. Let’s pray for all those who love the Lord, that they will be strengthened in their faith and hold on to what they know to be true.
This term we plan to start a campaign to Christian-based primary schools, encouraging them to use our books for their children as class readers, and to make them available in their libraries. Please pray for us – for good relationships with schools, and that many will take up our books. Children from every faith and none attend church schools, so library books have the potential to be read by children from all walks of life. Perhaps the Lord will use them to bring light in dark places, to open eyes and to turn children’s hearts to Him.
Book Club
Teacher Denise (Mrs Angell!) will once more be running a book club for children in Years Five and Six this term, at a local primary school. Denise says, “Every Monday lunchtime, we looked forward to gathering to read together and share our own experiences or predictions that came to mind as we followed the character’s adventure. Being a faith-linked book club, there were a number of books representing the main faiths of the world although of the six books we read all bar onewas a Dernier book! The children made the decision! I asked which had been their favourite and there was a draw between A Pennyworth of Peppermints and The Birthday Shoes as they enjoyed the mystery of them. Between the books, we must have covered many worries that the children have or will face and I pray that they feel equipped to know that they can pray for the Lord’s help and thank Him for the good times too. I pray that my book club has planted seeds of Christian faith that will germinate and grow at some time.
We’ll start with a new group of pupils in September so please pray that they will also be touched by these wonderful books.”
None of the children has to go to this lunch time club – they choose to go. Isn’t it great that they love reading and discussing Christian books? Please pray for Denise as she once again brings stories to children, almost all of whom are not from church families.
Prisoners’ Children
Angel Tree will once again be sending out some of our books to prisoners’ children this year at Christmas (apologies for using the Christmas word in September!). We don’t yet know which titles. Please pray the right books will go to the right children, and that the Lord will use them to open hearts. Please pray, too, for the children who have received our books as gifts over the last three years – maybe the books are still on a shelf… maybe they are much loved… the Lord knows! Let’s pray that the Lord will draw these precious children to himself, each one a prisoner’s child through not fault of their own.
Christian Resources Together
Our annual trade event will take place on September 17th and 18th at the Hayes Christian Conference Centre in Derbyshire. I will be there with all our books! It’s a lovely couple of days, spending time with retailers from Christian bookshops and other retailers. We love supporting the bookshops – they do a fabulous job.
The Beech Bank Girls are Ten Years Old!
The Beech Bank Girls books are ten years old this month! It’s incredible to think that these stories have been building girls up in their faith for ten years now, and are still touching girls’ hearts today with their message of life, laughter and faith in Jesus. Congratulations to author Eleanor Watkins, who has written such enduring, heart-warming, fun and inspirational novels for our girls. May the stories carry on bearing much fruit for many years to come!
It is totally awesome to look back and see how far Dernier has come, by the Lord’s grace, in these last ten years. Please keep praying for us – who knows what the Lord might do in the next ten? 🙂 Exciting, isn’t it! Please keep buying books – we need you to get the books into readers’ hands.
Right, I’d better let you go and get ready for the new term, or perhaps your holiday, or just back to your usual day to day activities. Whatever you do, may you know the Lord’s presence with you.
Grace and peace,
Janet
P.S. Don’t forget to try one of our audiobooks!
Do you struggle to talk to your children about your faith/biblical issues?
Christian books are a great way to start conversations.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Choose your book and order,
2. Read together or separately (as appropriate)
3. Chat about the book.
You never know what seeds might come from the characters in the stories!
It’s raining! What about a good book? How about this one? You can get the kindle version or the audiobook instantly, or order from the website for the next wet week!
Don’t let the children you love miss out on this fun story. Jesus said Let the children come to me. Giving yours a book like this is doing exactly that.
This book touches on themes of God knowing best; friendship; caring for each other; answered prayer, and racial harmony. Plus there’s buried treasure, and Joshua gets to go to The Village of the Dead Snake!
Want to encourage your girls to keep walking with Jesus? Try this audio book! Available all over the web, including on Google Play for a once-only purchase, if you’re not looking for a subscription.
It’s getting towards the end of the summer holidays, and the evenings are drawing in. Time for some family reading! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to spend some time together with a fun novel, and the added bonus of spiritual input. Seize the day! The days pass so fast…
If you have 8-11s, try this one…
What about this one for 9-12s?
And there are lots more to choose from! 🙂
Our girls are facing all sorts of pressures from every direction.
We brought out the great fun, brilliantly written Beech Bank Girls books for you to give to all the 10-14-year-old girls in your life, so you can encourage and inspire them in their faith.
The first book in the series (Beech Bank Girls, Every Girl Has a Story) sensitively covers the following issues (do you know a girl going through any of these?):
As you see, the Beech Bank Girls go through all the same pressures and trials many girls face – and have a lot of fun together, too – this book includes a miracle and a party, plus Annie joins the BBGs and finds faith for herself!
If you are looking for a book to build your girls’ faith, or show girls who have no church background that it’s great to be a Christian, this is the one for you. These girls are normal and fun!
“Really enjoyed it and found it helpful at the same time.” – Claire
Dear Friends,
It’s that time again! Here I am with the monthly round up of news.
Something is eating my beans!
For the first time ever, I’m growing beans in our garden. The plants are luscious, with all that sun we had and then the rain… but something is eating all the new little beans!
I need to do something to stop the creepy crawlies stealing my crop!
It made me think. Plants can look strong, but how can we be sure our children/the children on our hearts will always be strong in their faith?
We can’t, of course. Only the Lord can touch hearts, change lives.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a part to play. The Lord has chosen to use us! Scripture tells us we must talk about the Lord and His ways with our children as we walk along the road of life together (Deut. 6:7, 11:19).
This isn’t an optional suggestion, and the consequences of not doing so aren’t worth thinking about. Of course we want our children to be happy, healthy and to do well in life, but above all else, when we belong to God, we want them to know Jesus. Nothing else compares, does it?
Evangelism has to start at home. There are many ways to bring faith into conversations, and you will want to read the Bible and pray together when you can…
And there’s another easy and entertaining way to bring up issues of faith – fun, relevant Christian stories are brilliant conversation starters!
If your children don’t like reading, you can read to them, listen to the stories on audio, or buy kindle ebooks so they can read them on their phone/tablet/laptop with the free app.
You can start today! Here’s what you need to do:
1. Choose your books and order, either here or from your local Christian bookshop.
2. Read with your children, or if that’s not possible, send your gift with the message, “I saw this and thought of you.”
3. Discuss the story in person, on the phone, skype, whatsapp, instant message service…. or by letter. Where there’s a will there’s a way!
Pray and see what the Lord will do! We have had some amazing comments from parents/grandparents/carers/teachers and children who have read our books – it’s not an exaggeration to say our books have changed lives.
Whether “your children” are family, friends, church kids, pupils or friends and neighbours’ children, every one deserves to have someone talk to them about Jesus.
How will they know if no one tells them? But think what could happen if YOU DO?
Audiobooks
Know a young person who prefers to listen than read? Want them to be taking in good stuff? You can find all our audiobooks now, all over the web, ready for you to download for all your 8-16+! Pretty much wherever you usually buy your audiobooks, you can get ours – iTunes, Audible… or if you don’t want to buy a subscription, Google Play. 🙂 You can buy the books for yourself, or as a gift for anyone with an email address. Just download with the free app, press play and enjoy as many times as you like!
Sharing the Wealth
A pastor’s wife I know through social media, Claire, gave her daughter A New Me to read. This is what she said, “Just a bit of encouragement for you – my daughter has just finished reading this book… and LOVED it! She said she wished she’d picked it up as soon as I gave it to her.” Get this book from our website or from Christian bookshops. Don’t delay – time passes too quickly when they’re growing up!
The main character in this book, Jess, is from a broken home because her dad drinks, is threatened with eviction because her mum can’t pay the rent, goes to live with an elderly aunt in a village (with her mum and brother), is bullied at school, foils a cockfighting gang, and becomes a Christian! Why not buy a copy for a child you know who is going through a tough time?
Email Marketing
The time has come for Dernier to move into email marketing. We have always supported Christian bookshops, and will continue to do so, but we also need to realise that we can reach so many more children by moving into new ways of publicising our books. So I’ve set up a new email list, separate from this newsletter. If you would like to be part of it (you will receive weekly-ish emails instead of once a month) please click here. It’s exciting because I know we will be able to reach a wider audience this way, but I do hope those of you who can will continue to buy your books from bookshops – they are a great witness, and serve the community in a much more personal way than email ever can. May the Lord continue to bless the outreach of bookshops. We love them!
Summer Reading
So now it’s time to get your summer reading books, whether you buy paperbacks, audiobooks or kindle books. We have books suitable for ages from 8-16+. Time to choose!
I hope you all have a wonderful summer, enjoy lots of good books and watch your children grow in their faith!
Janet
P.S. Please join us in praying for all the children who will be reading Christian books this summer (not just ours!). May many hearts be touched, seeds sown and lives changed.
P.P.S. This is the link to sign up to receive regular emails from us, to keep you informed, and give you offers and updates.
Try before you buy! Get your FREE copy of The Treasure Hunt ebook (pdf) when you join our email list. Read this exciting story (featuring four children from a church youth club who solve a mystery) with your family and discuss the issues it raises. Perfect for building faith together! Or just read it on your own and enjoy.
Don’t miss out, click this link, download the book straight away and start reading at bedtime tonight!
If your kids get bored on long journeys, download one of our audiobooks! Search for any of our titles on Audible, iTunes, Scribd, Google Play (if you want a one off instead of a subscription) and enjoy together! Christian books are a great way to bring up good faith conversations, however you enjoy them. (You can, of course, get a good old fashioned paperback if you prefer. :-))
.
Kids hot and bored? You can buy Dernier books on kindle and give them to your kids NOW! USE the weather and inspire them in their faith – read together, discuss the issues and multiply the good stuff! Try this one!
More of our books are now out as audiobooks, ready for kids who are not so keen on reading, or for all the family to listen to on that long journey!
London’s Gone is the latest to hit the virtual shelves. This gripping drama for 10+ is available from your usual subscription service (eg Audible, iTunes)… or Google Play for a once-only purchase.
Don’t miss out on this fab opportunity to share your faith with your kids, and talk about the issues.
Reading Christian stories together is a great way to fulfill Scripture’s commands to talk about the Lord and his ways as you walk along in life together.
Do your kids love to listen to stuff on their phones? But there are so many voices out there! Want to give them an exciting Christian novel to listen to? Another of our books is now on audio! This gripping novel (I Want to Be an Airline Pilot) takes place in rural Rwanda – you will love it too, so why not listen together on a car journey? You can download it from Google Play here. Or get it from audible, iTunes or from your usual audiobook platform.
Don’t leave your children’s spiritual health to chance. Do what you can now. You won’t regret it if you do, but you might regret it if you don’t.
If your 10-14-year-old girls love listening to stuff on their phones and you want them to keep walking with God, you can now get all these fun Christian books on audio from Google Play. We can’t change lives ourselves, but we still need to reach out to encourage and inspire! #dernierpublishing #funbooks
Don’t let your girls miss out. The stakes are too high.
2. Scroll down until you find the Google Play option of the book you want to download.
3. Click and buy!
You will now have instant access and your girls will be good to go this evening!
Oh, and 4. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move. 🙂 Who knows what He might do through your gift?
More and more church kids are walking away from faith, and many young people are growing up never hearing the good news of Jesus. There are so many conflicting voices out there, leading young people in all sorts of different directions.
We publish fun, exciting, relevant, faith-building novels for you to share with the children and teens in your life, to encourage and inspire them in their faith.
Our stories are more than great stories – they change lives. You can make a difference, an eternal difference, by reading them with the children in your life. If you can’t do that, don’t let them miss out – send the books and pray.
Who knows what the Lord might do? But don’t delay. The time to sow seeds is now, because tomorrow might be too late.
Here’s what you need to do.
2. Enjoy the books together
3. Pray!
We are delighted to bring you the second of the Beech Bank Girls books in audio format, which is brilliant for girls who love their phones!
This is the second title in the series, available from google play. Girls can now listen to this fun, relevant Christian book on their phone!
OR you can download from many different audiobook subscription services, such as Audible, iTunes, scribd and audiobooks.com. Simply put the title in the search, and up it will come!
AND/OR you can buy the paperback if your girls love to read. 🙂
However you get it, make sure you do – our girls seriously need encouragement. All sorts of voices are coming at our precious girls from all sides – these fun stories tackle issues from a Christian perspective. “My 13 year-old granddaughter was riveted, and read through all four books about the Beech Bank Girls in the half term week that she stayed with me,” said one Granny, concerned for the spiritual welfare of her granddaughter. Church girls are dropping out of church, and many are growing up never knowing that the Lord is there, He cares, He answers prayer, and he can help us, whatever sort of trouble we get into!
So buy your copy today – paperback or audiobook. You need to sow seeds if you want to reap a harvest.
Clive Lewis (author of The City Kid) is back from his trip to Uganda. Thanks for your prayers! Clive says, “I returned from Uganda last week and enjoyed great fellowship with family, friends and Christian brothers and sisters.” Clive and his team took lots of books with them – please pray they will have a good impact on readers. This picture is of Clive with the vicar of the parish of Obiya in northern Uganda which Clive’s parish supports. While there, Clive talked to Dickens Zziwa from SU Uganda, who was the recipient of a box of The City Kid on a previous visit. Clive says, “He [Dickens] said that last year’s supply had long since dispersed, and he added encouraging words about the impact of The City Kid on some young people.” Great news indeed! If you or someone you know is going on a mission trip this summer, would you buy books to take along? Please contact us for quantity discounts. Always glad to help!
More fun, faith-building Dernier books are winging their way out into the world today! Here they are, boxed up and ready to go! If you don’t want your children to miss out, order your books today. We’d love to help you. We love our books, but what we really care about is the children who read them. – Janet
In Deuteronomy 11, the Lord, through Moses, urges the people, concerning his commandments: “Fix them in your hearts and minds. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
This isn’t an “if you like” suggestion. The words are so familiar that they can wash over us. But it seems to me that it is deadly serious.
So many voices are coming at our children from every side. We are so busy. They have other interests. But they are being seduced away…
Could there be anything more important than to help them understand the good news, and what it means for them and us? And I’m not just talking about our own children – we are called to go into all the world… Jesus doesn’t want any of the little ones to perish.
I wish I’d had Dernier books and the discussion questions back when my children were small, and I was a youth club leader. I prayed with them and read Bible stories, but we could have gone so much deeper sharing life stories, discussing issues… and so much more, as we walked along the road together.
Don’t miss out – buy a book today for a child on your heart, download the discussion questions and get talking.
Jo read Rebecca and Jade: Choices at the same time as her fifteen-year-old daughter. She said, “I thought Becca’s journey to finding her own relationship with Jesus was brilliantly covered. The book also gave me a good opportunity to open up the subject of abortion with Abi and we had a really good chat.”
If you want to fulfill your responsibility and draw closer to your children, 1. choose your book, 2. download the questions and 3. get started!
Most of our books have online discussion questions now. The latest addition is London’s Gone (with grateful thanks to Brenda Lord for her wisdom and help). Beech Bank Girls questions coming up next! Please pray as we finish up this task, because it takes a lot of careful thought. We need the questions to be suitable for use in a school/non-church environment as well as in Christian families, so we need to be sensitive, as well as making sure we’re covering the vital points in each story.
Caroline used the Deepest Darkness discussion questions when reading the book with her nine-year-old son, Jaidon. She said, “They started some good questions and I was able to answer with examples from the book in a way that helped my son understand and relate to real life. He suffers from low self-esteem and anxieties. I was able to use Abi’s experiences of overcoming her fears, to try to get him to see how he might overcome or build upon small steps like Abi did.”
Good, isn’t it? Let’s pray for Jaidon, and for so many other children like him, who are reading our books today, and finding a gem of truth to draw them closer to God with, or without support.
Prayer is so vital! When I first set up Dernier, I used to have a wonderful group of people who prayed for Dernier and the work we do, but when I moved house (seven years ago now!), it gradually fizzled out. My fault entirely. I’d really, really like to set up a new email prayer group. Prayer is so key to all we do for the children – there’s a battle on, and we need to fight in numbers! If you’d like to be a prayer supporter, I would be so grateful. Just reply to this email and I’ll set up a new group.
This is so exciting! All our books have now been uploaded to various distributors of audio books, and one by one they should become available within the next 40 days to download online all over the world. This is brilliant, because they can reach a whole new audience – children who don’t enjoy reading, and for families to listen to together. Kids love to listen to stuff on their phones – what could be better than a Christian book? 🙂
At the time of writing, only A New Me, A Pennyworth of Peppermints, Revenge of the Flying Carpet and Beech Bank Girls, Every Girl Has A Story are available, but this list will grow!
.
There are two ways you can buy the audiobooks:
1. You can join a subscription programme, such as Amazon’s audible programme. Here’s the link to join (with A New Me in your free month’s trial).
2. You can buy the book alone from Google Play. For example, here’s the link to A Pennyworth of Peppermints.
If you try one out, please do leave a review!
If your church is running a camp or club this summer and you’d like to give away books, email me for quantity discounts (just reply to this email). Books keep the message going after the event is over – and whole families might read them. We know of one instance where a mum started going to church after reading her son’s book… and became a Christian after hearing the preacher.
I’m in the process of re-vamping the website – would you mind taking a look? Is there anything you like or don’t like? Or that doesn’t work on your mobile or tablet? Anything I’m missing that would make it simpler for people to choose and buy books? Thanks in advance for your help. 🙂 You don’t have to buy from our website, of course! You can buy all our books from Christian bookshops, so if you have one in your area, do support them.
I think that’s it for this month! Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement. Do pass on this letter to a friend – we need to keep “enlarging the place of our tent”. 🙂
Have a wonderful July,
Janet
P.S. In case you’re in a hurry and have skimmed, here are the essentials:
* Some of our books are now available on audio for your kids to listen to on their phones
* You can download discussion questions from our website to help you and your children get the most from the books
* Reply to this email if you’d like to be a Dernier prayer supporter
* Contact me for quantity discounts of books for summer clubs and camps.
And if you were forwarded this from a friend, you can subscribe here. 🙂
Morning, Janet here. Last year we started sending boxes of books to Kenya, for children in slum schools on the outskirts of Nairobi. This is such a heart-warming picture – I was told the children were so excited to have story books – this little chap just couldn’t wait to get reading!
One day I’d love to go… in the meantime, please do pray for all the children who read our books all over the world, whether they are privileged or destitute, seven years old or seventeen, at school, in refugee camps, or at home, with single parents, no parents, or children of a father with four wives. Every child is precious. Every single one.
If you’d like to send a box of books to Nairobi, we can do it on your behalf – we work with an organisation called Education Bridge Africa. £250 would cover the cost for as many books as we can fit in a 5kg box (including shipping). That’s around 40-50 books (some are lighter than others). Let me know if you want to be a hero for children like these – reading will help them out of poverty, and reading Christian books will help to build their faith.
Janet
Let’s pray for the preparations of summer camps and clubs starting soon! They can be such a vital time in the lives of young people – fun and good news are a fabulous combination! If your church or organisation is planning an event, and you would like to give your children books to keep feeding them with good news once it’s over, please get in touch with us. We’d love to help if we can.
Hello, Janet here, founder of Dernier Publishing. I just wanted to drop in and let you know that as well as working on books, I also run a resource for Christians who write novels for children. If you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you! You can hop on over to the Write for a Reason website by clicking on this link.
Hope to see you over there! – Janet
These books for 8-11s are off to a bookshop. We don’t know who will buy them and who will read them… but we can pray for them! Will you join us? So many issues are bombarding our children. Let’s be the bearer of good news! If we can help you with books for the children on your heart, please contact us. Or you can buy all these books for yourself – simply go to the ‘Books for 8-11s’ tab and add the books you want to your basket! Couldn’t be easier… but you could change the world for your readers.
You don’t have to join a subscription programme to listen to Beech Bank Girls, Every Girl Has A Story. You can download it direct from Google Play and enjoy it forever!
Do you have children who don’t enjoy reading, but love listening to a story? Want to build their faith? You do not have to subscribe to a monthly programme to benefit from audio books – you can download whichever book you like, when you like, from Google Play.
Here’s the link to buy A Pennyworth of Peppermints on audio for just £7.99.
The book is set in Weymouth and Portland (Dorset) and begins when Ben, Sidney and Vera find a message in a bottle – little dreaming of the adventures this will lead to. The main characters are at the end of their primary school education during the 1914-18 war.
You can also use author Mary’s discussion questions, to build your relationship with your children, and build your own faith at the same time!
Yipppeee! You know we exist to unite concerned Christians with life-changing stories for the 8-16s on their hearts? Well, we have three more inspiring books now on audio, so you can share these great stories with the young people in your life on a car journey, or even buy one for someone in a different country! Simply choose the one you want, search for it online and download! Be the bearer of good news.
These Christian books for children are going out into the world today, ready to change lives! If you want to be part of it, you can find Deepest Darkness here, and I Want to Be an Airline Pilot here. You can’t be a winner if you don’t take part! You can also use the discussion questions, if you want to read these lovely books alongside your kids. Keep those conversations about faith going – share you faith – you never know where it will lead. 🙂
Christian books can change lives. Sometimes the seeds take a long time to grow. Sometimes they fall in thorns and weeds, or on the path, or on rocky ground. So we need to keep sowing, and never give up. Maybe, one day, some of the seeds you have sown will grow into mighty OAKS.
So keep sowing those seeds! Why not buy a book today, for a child on your heart? This seed could be the one that changes a life.
.
