"What will Heaven look like? Who will be there? Will our dogs be there? What will Jesus be like?" These are the types of question my curious 5 and 7 year olds ask during our time of devotion. I've always struggled to describe the indescribable. As the song says, "I can only imagine", yet Colton Burpo doesn't just imagine he actually experiences Heaven first-hand.
This children’s version of the bestselling book does not go into details about Colton's illness and surgery, but just implies that Colton was very sick. It never says Colton dies only that he closed his eyes during this time of severe illness and when he opened his eyes he could see Jesus and Heaven.
My son's had many questions about how this was possible. Also curious about if they closed their eyes if they too may open them to see Jesus when sick. I found myself having to explain portions of the adult version of the book for them to fully understand the beginning of the story, but once we got going the content within was excellent!
This book brings comforting answers to those questions about what Heaven will look like, sound like and who will be present. It allowed opportunities to discuss family members who have already gone to Heaven that my kids have never met. It also did an excellent job of discussing the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) with a child-like innocence of the relationship.
This is a book that would be great for children in the second grade on up. My oldest was able to read this book with minimal assistance and able to grasp the reality of Colton's severe illness better than my 5 year old, however both were fascinated by the beautiful illustrations. I consider this book one for every children’s library.
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