By Max Lucado
Crossway Books
www.crosswaybooks.com
Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187
Your Special Gift is Max Lucado's latest picture book for children. In this sequel to You Are Special, the Wemmicks learn that each of them has a special gift only he or she can use to help a family in trouble, a family on their way to meet their creator.
If you've not met the Wemmicks, let me describe them briefly for you. Lucado has set a town, late renaissance in style, which exists because the "people" (hinged wooden figures) have been made and placed there by their creator, Eli the woodcarver. In each of the stories, the Wemmicks go to Eli for help when encountering unknowns. Of course, this is meant to directly parallel our relationship with God. In You Are Special, the Wemmicks require Eli's assistance in figuring out how to apply their gifts, not just for this family, but for many people they've yet to meet.
The illustrations, as in Lucado's other Wemmicks books, are soft, whimsical caricatures. The writing style is sweet, direct, not condescending to the children, and enjoyable even for adults.
I enjoy Max Lucado's children's books, as do my children. We have some of the Wemmick videos, so my kids are perhaps more familiar with and attached to the characters than children who do not have such exposure. In any case, the first time we read this book together, the little ones (ages four and six) spent about half an hour poring over the pictures after I had finished reading. My 9-year-old took the book to her bed to look at and read, and about an hour later my 11-year-old had it back in the living room, reading it to himself.
I especially appreciate the message of Your Special Gift because our family has recently had to learn the ins-and-outs associated with our newest member: a baby with special needs. As presented in the story, each of us has our own God-given talents and place in this world. Appreciating our own peculiarities and those of others and then using our talents to the glory of God are worthy goals. I work to cultivate those abilities in my children. Your Special Gift takes it one step further: we are not merely to use our innate talents to the glory of our Creator, which has become a rather trite saying to many Christians, but we are to use those talents directly in showing others the path to the One who provided the talents to begin with.
This book would be a worthwhile addition to any family's library. We enjoyed the illustrations and the story, and this book has become a favorite with all ages.
Product review by Carrie Wilbur, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, September 2006
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