About the Book

Book: Building Character Through Picture Books: 25 Family Devotions Based on Favorite Picture Books

Author: Terrie Hellard-Brown

Genre: Devotional

Release Date: May 27, 2023

Bring the Bible into bedtime. After reading the picture book together, families can read the short devotion, discuss compelling questions (questions for younger and older children provided), and end with prayer together as the children prepare to sleep. The book includes 25 devotions matched with 25 popular and classical picture books. Each devotion includes a section for parents to go further in the discussion or to add an activity to continue the conversation the following day.

Click here to get your copy!

Author Interview

1. If you could spend the day with anyone (living or dead) who would it be? Why?
Thom Wolf, one of my seminary professors. He used to be a pastor in Los
Angeles. Last I heard, he was the president of the Baptist Seminary in Thailand. But he is
one of the most interesting, knowledgeable people I know, and he really challenged me in
my walk with Christ and in my teaching. I’ve always wished I could just follow him
around learning from him for about a year. But I’d take a day!

2. Do you have a special writing area?
I love to write in my office. My office was a gift from my family
last year. It is decorated with all my favorite things including quotes
from literature and bright colors. It has my craft cabinet with all my
jewelry-making supplies and painting supplies. It is my creative place
for writing and making art. It is wonderful!

3. How do you balance writing time with the demands of life/family?
This is so hard for me. I love all that I do, and I tend to
overcommit myself. I teach, I’m a mom and pastor’s wife, and I write
and create. My husband teases that I don’t sleep. I’ve really started
making family time more of a priority lately. I realized I was not being
the wife I should be. We are both busy people, and both love all that
we do, so it is easy to lose sight of the simple but most important
things in life, and that is keeping our relationships strong. So, I have
to plan and make it a point to spend time with the people who are
important in my life, and especially with my husband. My kids are
grown, but I still make it a point to spend time with them too. I don’t
know any other way than to make it a priority and an appointment
when necessary. I determine to focus on them and what they are
saying because it is easy to keep thinking about what I’ve been
teaching or writing or what I need to get done for the next deadline.
But we all need to be heard. We all need to share what’s on our minds
and hearts with each other. So, balance has been a challenge for me,
but I’m doing better.
When my children were young, we were on the mission field.
Many times I felt like my life was running me with four kids and an
active ministry plus I worked as a teacher part of our time overseas. I
was able to make family time a priority because they were my main
ministry and focus. I also learned to ask for help. I had someone come
help me clean once a week. This made life much more manageable. I
needed that. It’s not like you have family nearby who can help babysit
or anything. We had friends who would sometimes let us go out for a
date night, but that was usually after 9 pm at night, and we really just
wanted to go to sleep! But we’d go out and spend some time just
being us again.
Three of our four kids are on the autism spectrum, so life has
always been challenging as we tried to find out how best to help them
be successful. One of the wonderful things about being on the mission
field is our family is super close. And raising children with special
needs caused us to keep them as a priority. Nothing else was more
important than our family. Ministry was important but did not outweigh
the importance of our family. That was not always an easy balance,
but having that attitude and priority made a difference in how we
planned our schedules. One of us was always home with our kids in
the afternoon and evenings no matter what else was going on.
5. What kind of research do you do?
6. How long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
7. Was there anything you found interesting while researching the topic?
8. Do you have any writing quirks?

4. Do you read much?
I read and listen to podcasts constantly. I am reading or
researching almost daily. I love learning as much as I love teaching.

5. What is different about writing non-fiction vs fiction? Would you say
one is easier than the other?
I find both challenging when writing for children. One of the
biggest myths I found I believed was that writing for children
should be easy. It is not! When I write a picture book or
children’s story for a magazine, I may edit that story dozens of
times before it is ready. Always, whether writing fiction or non-
fiction for children, I must be aware of the words I’m using. Are
they right for the age level to which I’m writing? Am I using a
word they don’t know yet, and if I am, is it one they should learn
at this age? How can I get the message across in the fewest
words possible? I say that every word in the story has to fight to
be there. We have to edit every word.

About the Author

Terrie Hellard-Brown uses her experiences as a mother of four (three on the autism spectrum), 35+ years in ministry (15 in Taiwan), and 35 years teaching to speak to the hearts of readers. She writes and speaks to empower children and adults to embrace everyday discipleship every day. She teaches workshops and writes devotional books, children’s stories, and Christian education materials.

Her podcast, Books that Spark, reviews children’s books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion leading to teachable moments with our kids.

Her blog discusses living as a disciple of Christ while discipling our children. She challenges us to step out of our comfort zones to walk by faith in obedience to Christ and to use the nooks and crannies of life to disciple our children.

More from Terrie

As an English teacher, pastor’s wife, and missionary, I LOVE books. I’ve taught every grade from pre-K to community college in my career and taught the Bible to people who didn’t know anything about the Bible or Jesus, and through it all, I’ve come back to the joy of picture books and the simplicity of sharing stories that change lives. Of course, I love teaching Shakespeare, Dickens, and C. S. Lewis, but picture books are still where my heart is. So, it was only natural that I combined my two favorite things: picture books and the Bible.

My friends affectionately call me the Picture Book Lady since I have one to offer for almost any topic, event, or purpose. This new devotional book is no different. A dear friend said one day, “You should write a devotional book based on picture books!” Who wouldn’t jump at such a fun project!?

I chose some of my favorite picture books where I found connections to Scripture, and I began to write devotions to go along with each book. I wanted to use general market books so that we can use whatever book we’re reading with our children to make spiritual connections and bring in lessons naturally in those teachable moments. That’s how Building Character Through Picture Books was born.