Did you know that MY TENDER HEART BIBLE, which released earlier this month with Paracete Press, is part of a series? The second book MY TENDER HEART PRAYER BOOK will release this coming fall. And in the super neat category, my publisher Paraclete Press has created a special website for the series: https://mytenderheartbooks.com
It’s your go-to spot for all things MY TENDER HEART starting with oodles of fun stuff related to MY TENDER HEART BIBLE including:
The link to the MY TENDER HEART BIBLE story time which aired with Paraclete Press last week
A downloadable activity kit for MY TENDER HEART BIBLE which includes:
Printable Bible verse “Tender Heart Moment” cards
Printable Greeting Cards for Kids to color and give on special days
Printable Tender Heart Stickers
A special preview of My Tender Heart Prayer Book – coming this Fall!
Easy links for purchase from a broad array of vendors
The beautiful book trailer produced by Paraclete
A regularly updated listing of all my events
An “About the Creators” section
A contact tab so you can reach out to me or them
And this LOVELY endorsement from best-selling author Crystal Bowman:
The title says it all! My Tender Heart Bible is a sweet Bible storybook, just right for little hands and little hearts. Written in rhyming verse and paired with adorable illustrations, this collection of favorite Bible stories will help young children learn about people and events from the Bible, while reminding them of God’s unconditional love. I need it for my grandkids!
Crystal Bowman—award-winning, bestselling author of more than 100 books for children including, Our Daily Bread for Kids
I hope you will bookmark it for easy reference. (I’ll also include on my website’s designated book page for MY TENDER HEART BIBLE.)
My new book, MY TENDER HEART BIBLE, released a week and a half ago and, in celebration I have FOUR fun things to share today – including a GIVEAWAY! I hope you will grab a cup of coffee or tea and check them out.
First, on Tuesday, I was delighted to be hosted by Paraclete Press for a special TENDER HEART-themed Valentine’s Day story time which included a chat with host Rachel McKendree, a reading of three of my favorites from the collection, a Q&A and a sneak peek at my next TENDER HEART book which will be out in the fall. You can enjoy that here:
Second, in case you missed my interview over at Terrie Hellard-Brown’s “Books That Spark” podcast, here’s the link for that plus a snap-shot quote which really shows my heart in writing this new book.
Third, yesterday I was honored to be guest blogger over at Darlene Beck Jacobson’s blog on a topic close to my heart — sharing God’s Word with little ones in RHYME! (PLUS, Darlene is giving away one SIGNED copy of my newest release: MY TENDER HEART BIBLE. (This is the giveaway I mentioned above!) Find all the details here.
Finally, be sure to check out Sally Matheny’s review of MY TENDER HEART BIBLE. Her reviews are always so thoughtful. While you are there, I hope you will enjoy exploring her many other reviews as well.
Check back in next week for more fun bookish things! Happy Weekend, all! (And if you aren’t following my blog yet and want to, I’d love that! Buttons to do so are in the sidebar and footer.
VALENTINE’S DAY INVITATION! You and your little ones are invited to a special Valentine’s Day Book Launch Event for MY TENDER HEART BIBLE this coming Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 3pm Eastern. Hosted by Paraclete Press, the event will include:
An introduction to My Tender Heart Bible
A little chat time with the author – me!
A reading of THREE of my favorite stories from the collection
A Q&A
The unveiling of some awesome free resources to go with the book
I hope you will join us! To sign up, press here. It will also run on on Facebook so you can check here for that.
And if you want to order a copy for your church, school, or home library… or to give as a gift, check here for easy links.
And, just in case you haven’t seen the book yet, here is the book trailer:
Every day recently, I’ve been doing a little something special to get ready for my newest board book to release. Last week these special efforts included filming a short video introducing MY TENDER HEART BIBLE. Well, I just noticed that the video is now up on Paraclete’s website as well as their YouTube channel, so that means I can share it!
I hope you have time to take one minute and 37 seconds to listen. It’s short, but you wouldn’t believe how much time I spent getting my part just right! I hope it inspires you to order copies for the little ones in your life. Check my website’s designated book page for quick links to order the book through several major vendors.
Stay tuned for more fun bookish news in the coming days! Blessings, all!
What do these two gorgeous books have in common? February 7th, 2023 is their book birthday. (That’s today!) In celebration, author Natalee Creech and I are doing a double interview. First, I’ll ask her a couple of questions and then she will ask me. So, grab some virtual birthday cake (whatever flavor you like) and join us. Let’s get started…
Laura: Thank you, Natalee, for celebrating our book birthdays together. Your newest book Something: One Small Thing Can Make a Difference, published by WorthyKids, looks absolutely precious. I love its premise of exploring themes of compassion and empathy, encouraging children to take positive action in a needy world. What inspired you to write this book?
Natalee: In this case, I actually started with the title because I had written a manuscript called Everything and was in the process of publishing Nothing with WorthyKids. I examined Bible verses that contained the word something and chose Matthew 25:35,36 to base the book on. Ultimately both books are both about love: Nothing is about how nothing can separate us from God’s love, while Something is about how we can love others.
Laura: What is your hope for this book as it makes its way into the world today?
Natalee: I hope that Something inspires us to open our eyes to opportunities to love like Jesus! I hope that it is a starting point for conversations about kindness and compassion but that it doesn’t stop at conversations – that it becomes a daily practice of being observant and acting when prompted by that feeling of compassion.
Laura: I think that it will be all that and more! Congratulations, Natalee. And now let’s switch things up and have you interview me.
Natalee: I’m so glad we get to celebrate our books together, Laura! I love that each story in My Tender Heart Bible has a heart moment that is a toddler-friendly prayer thanking God for something. In a short sentence, you naturally help kids connect the Bible story to their own lives and encourage gratitude. Writing a Bible for children seems like a big responsibility! Is this your first children’s Bible? How did you decide which stories to include?
Laura: Yes, this is my first collection of Bible stories for children and I agree that it is a big responsibility! I prayed over which stories to include because I really wanted them to fit together as a collection that individually, and as a whole, would show God’s redemptive love. I also wanted include stories about God’s beloved who were both girls and boys, men and women. That’s how I decided upon Esther’s story, for example. And I wanted six from the Old Testament and six from the New Testament so that the book would be balanced in that way and could be used as an introduction for littlest ones to the whole Bible. And, of course, I had to finish with the story of Jesus’ glorious resurrection!
Natalee: What inspired you to write this book and what is your hope for it as it makes its way into the world today?
Laura: The book is inspired by memories of sitting with my own children when they were little to read or re-tell Bible stories so they could grasp just how much God loved them. These readings sparked great conversations and ended with what I like to call a “Heart Moment” that connected God’s word to their experience. It is my hope that MY TENDER HEART BIBLE will be read with little ones in homes, churches and schools as a first introduction to the Bible and God’s love.
Natalee: Happy Book Birthday, Laura! May your My Tender Heart Bible be a blessing in the lives of many!
Laura: And the same to you, Natalee!
Learn more about Natalee Creech’s new book here and more about my new book here. All of our books are available wherever books are sold.
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With less than three weeks to go until MY TENDER HEART BIBLE officially releases, I’ve been busy getting ready. In anticipation, here are just a few of the things I’ve had on my to-do list:
1. Training Teddy, who has been my special bear since I was two, to be my storytime companion. He’s holding a tooth brush because the theme of our visits will be establishing cozy bedtime routines that include brushing teeth, getting in jammies, praying and snuggling up with a favorite stuffy to read books like MY TENDER HEART BIBLE!
2. Scheduling school, library, and bookstore events for the winter and spring. If you would like me to visit your school, library or bookstore, please reach out to me via my contact page. I’m also offering a handful of free 20-minute virtual visits, so reach out to me there as well if that is of interest. Check out the visits I have set up so far on my Upcoming Events page.
3. Setting up a small, but enthusiastic, book launch team to do things like share the book in their communities, recommend the book for purchase at their local schools and libraries, share about the book on social media etc.
4. Arranging and then preparing for a virtual book tour that includes stops at blogs, podcasts and more. Let me know if you’d like to be one of the stops.
5. Creating extension activities and crafts for teachers/parents to use after reading MY TENDER HEART BIBLE.
6. Being intentional about connecting and engaging daily on my various social media feeds. I hope you’ll join me there. There are buttons in the header and footer here for easy connecting.
7. Updating my author bio info on various book-related websites.
8. Preserving daily time in the midst of all this to write new stories, poem, and picture books. (I have several in progress.)
9. Remembering to BREATHE and ENJOY the process…
LEARN MORE about the book, including links for where to purchase, on my website’s dedicated MY TENDER HEART BIBLE book page.
Note: If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my blog using the subscribe button in the footer or sidebar. I post once or twice weekly with book news, inspirational reflections, tips, interviews and more.
Will you help my new bible story book make a BIG SPLASH when it releases next month by pre-ordering your copy today? Published by Paraclete Press, MY TENDER HEART BIBLE is a collection of 12 of my favorite bible stories, retold in rhyme with a simple prayer “heart moment” for each. Presented in 24-page board book format, it’s perfect for birth through about age 6. The publisher’s website offers a great description of the book as well as a sneak peek at three of the spreads which give a very good sense of the book. Here’s the link for that: https://paracletepress.com/products/my-tender-heart-bible
I didn’t realize with my first two books just how important pre-orders can be in capturing the attention of readers, booksellers, reviewers and more. As I have now learned, those pre-order sales get included in the sales numbers for the first week of the book’s release. High numbers can influence how many runs a book has, whether it makes a best-selling list and more. All good and fun stuff!
So, if you are thinking of purchasing MY TENDER HEART BIBLE (perfect for Easter, birthdays, baptisms, baby showers etc), I would be delighted if you would consider pre-ordering it from Paraclete Press, Amazon, Christian Book or your favorite vendor.
Or. if you want SIGNED copies, my local book store has a special deal for you! If you PRE-ORDER my new book from The Town Book Store in Westfield, NJ, any time between NOW and February 7th (the book’s release day), owner Anne Laird is offering a 10% discount off the retail price. Simply mention that you want the “MY TENDER HEART BIBLE DISCOUNT”.
If this interests you, please call the store. Be sure to explain that you would like to have the book signed by the author and pass along the names you’d like included. They will take the order and do the transaction. I will then come in and sign the book or books. Depending on where you live, you can either pick them up in-store at no extra charge, or have them mailed. There will be a shipping fee to cover the cost of mailing, but they can give you those details.
You can reach The Town Book Store at (908) 233-3535. You can also email the owner, Anne, at anne@townbookstore.com. Either way, remember to ask for the MY TENDER HEART BIBLE discount.
Thank you, The Town Book Store, for making this possible and thank you, readers, for supporting my books!
NOTE: If you are long-distance and prefer to order from the vendor of your choice, I’m also happy to make arrangements for a signed book plate to be sent to you by sending me a SASE. Just let me know and we can make that happen.
Who’s ready for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD Virtual Book Launch Party? I am and so is my storytelling companion, Mouse. That’s why we’re inviting you to join us on Instagram Live on Thursday, December 1st at 7pm Eastern to celebrate the release of HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD. Enjoy a reading, games, a virtual BYO snack, and a simple book-inspired craft. To access the party, simply stop by my Instagram page at 7pm Eastern on the 1st.
Here’s the description:Count to TEN with Mary and Joseph as they await the birth of Baby Jesus in this sweet rhyming board book for littlest ones. Published by Paraclete Press and illustrated by Gabi Murphy with plenty to notice and count on each spread, it’s a charming introduction for littlest ones to the real gift of Christmas – Jesus!
Here’s the book trailer, if you want a sweet sneak peek:
BUT, WAIT. THERE’S MORE!!! Since SIGNED copies are part of the fun, I’m delighted to share that signed book plated copies are available (at a great price!) at PremiereCollectibles.com/happybirthday. So, if you want signed copies – and live too far to come to one of my in-person events, this is a great option. I’m grateful both to my publisher and to Premiere Collectibles for making this possible.
Mark your calendars! Stay tuned, very soon for the “party craft” reveal so you can be sure to have your materials ready for the party. I thought this was a fun way to celebrate with friends near and far, so please let your friends know so they can mark their calendars too.
In her memoir A CIRCLE OF QUIET, Madeleine L’Engle writes, “Those of us who write are responsible for the effect of our books… Like it or not, we either add to the darkness… or we light a candle to see by.” As a writer for children, I take those words to heart and I hope my my newest board book, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD, will do just that.
Inspired by a favorite Christmas verse from Luke 2:19 that describes Mary’s soul-filling wonder as she pondered the events surrounding the birth of Baby Jesus, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD offers littlest readers and their caregivers a chance to slow down and point and count and marvel on each and every page as they celebrate the birth of the Light of the World.
Here I am sharing that inspiration on my porch this summer:
Happy news! The process of updating this website is almost complete, and I think it’s time to welcome you back. I hope you enjoy perusing the fresh pages and soaking up the new look. Keep in mind that I’m still working on many details including adding social media links “above the fold”. Any guesses as to what that means? The books page and links are also still a work-in-progress, but I hope to have those complete by next week.
Now here’s a fun challenge for you. Remember how I said I wanted to somehow honor my mom – whose beautiful banner graced this blog for its first ten years? Well, I figured out a way to do just that. If you discover it, please let me know in the comments section.
Finally, it’s hard to believe, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTMAS CHILD releases in FOUR days! The virtual blog/podcast tour kicked off this week with these two wonderful blog stops.
Tour Stop #1: Have you ever wondered about the journey a book takes from inspiration to publication? Find out HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD’s journey in this post over at Kathy Temean’s blog. And while you are there, be sure to enter her giveaway for a fresh-off-the-press copy of the book. All the details are on her blog. And only a handful have entered so far… just sayin’.
Tour Stop #2: Head over to Write2Ignite for a thoughtful review of HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD by Kathy O’Neill. Also included are thoughts on “7 Ways Happy Birthday, Christmas Child Helps Us Slow Down and Allow Little Hearts and Souls to Fill with the Wonder of Jesus’ Birth.”
Laura Sassi Tales 