As a professional speaker and writer to parents I applaud and highly recommend this book! Written as a dialogue between parent and child, we hear the innocence of a child and the wisdom of the parent. For each naive question the parent gently shares an applicable scripture in today's language. When I speak on nurturing a child's spiritual development I ALWAYS recommend "Does God Know How to Tie Shoes?" to my audience. Not only can it help parents relate to their child but it can help us adults relate to our loving Heavenly Father. Books that are easy to read were often difficult to write and it's a gift to communicate truth in simple ways. ... I know from experience the research and labor that went into its writing. This knowledge gives me an even greater appreciation for the profound simplicity of "Does God Know How to Tie Shoes?"

As a professional speaker and writer to parents I applaud and highly recommend this book! Written as a dialogue between parent and child, we hear the innocence of a child and the wisdom of the parent. For each naive question the parent gently shares an applicable scripture in today's language. When I speak on nurturing a child's spiritual development I ALWAYS recommend "Does God Know How to Tie Shoes?" to my audience. Not only can it help parents relate to their child but it can help us adults relate to our loving Heavenly Father. Books that are easy to read were often difficult to write and it's a gift to communicate truth in simple ways. My book, Parenting Power in the Early Years, is an easy read and I know from experience the research and labor that went into its writing. This knowledge gives me an even greater appreciation for the profound simplicity of "Does God Know How to Tie Shoes?"

As a professional speaker and writer to parents I applaud and highly recommend this book! Written as a dialogue between parent and child, we hear the innocence of a child and the wisdom of the parent. For each naive question the parent gently shares an applicable scripture in today's language. When I speak on nurturing a child's spiritual development I ALWAYS recommend "Does God Know How to Tie Shoes?" to my audience. Not only can it help parents relate to their child but it can help us adults relate to our loving Heavenly Father. Books that are easy to read were often difficult to write and it's a gift to communicate truth in simple ways. My book, Parenting Power in the Early Years, is an easy read and I know from experience the research and labor that went into its writing. This knowledge gives me an even greater appreciation for the profound simplicity of "Does God Know How to Tie Shoes?"

Guess Who's Coming, Jesse Bear is the latest of the Jesse Bear series, a charming set of soft-cover picturebooks about young Jesse Bear, his family, and his friends. In Guess Who's Coming, Jesse Bear, the young ursine shares a delightful week-long visit from his cousin, with outdoor excursions, playtime and happy memories. Written by Nancy White Carlstrom in simple, friendly rhyming verse, and illustrated by Bruce Degen with affectionate color drawings, Guess Who's Coming, Jesse Bear is a highly enjoyable and recommended read-aloud story.

I now have 5 Jesse Bear books, Guess who's Coming Jesse Bear
is a great book for my grandchildren. They are easy to read and my grandson who's 2 has memorized some of the words. Again there is nothing more satisfying to sit and read to my grandchildren. Knowing the knowledge they get is the best. I will be watching for more of Jesse Bear books in the future!

My preschool kids love this story, especially when they learn that even little people can have complex relationships with each other.

Our son (soon to be 2 years old)loves this book. His birthday approaches, so he is excited to hear about birthdays in general. He has also been to a number of other parties recently, which helps. All in all a very happy book.

Again this series of Jesse Bear books are wonderful to read and fun for my grandson! One of the best thing in life are opening the doors to reading to your children/grandchildren.

My 3 year old grandson loves to come in and sit on Nana's lap to read "Jesse Bear Books" They keep him occupied and also calms him down before sleep. A great book!!

I bought this book for my niece, but my two-year-old son saw it and now I need to get a second copy. The words are a bit heavy for him yet, but he loved the pictures.

The illustrations in this book are absolutely marvelous. Swirling yellows surrounding a smiling, dancing main character and a beautiful full moon in a rich night sky are two of the illustrations that stand out in my mind. The sky is a backdrop for a little girl's activities, from learning to ride a bicycle to a quiet moment in the night. The layers-deep pictures are what caught my son's eye, but one of the things that I liked about them was that the little girl who is the main character has dark skin, but that fact is not in the least the emphasis of the illustrations or the story. The author and illustrator have made a universal story around a character who does not happen to be white. I was quite impressed.

The words are inspirational, The sky's responses encouraging a child to go out and dance or learn to ride a bike. In the end, the sky says that surely it is big enough that all of the earth's inhabitants can live under it in peace, and on the last page of the main text the reader pictures the little girl being grown up and saying, "I believe...."

The final page of the book shows the text of Psalm 19:1-4a surrounded by the little girl's paintings. This is the only direct reference to a particular religion, the remainder of the book being inspirational and spiritual without being religious. The Psalm text itself speaks of the heavens glorifying the name of God. Personally, I would not have included that text in order to be sure that readers outside the Judeo-Christian world read the book, but it is a lovely Psalm.

This is a beautiful book that children younger than four years will enjoy as well as their older siblings and that parents will enjoy reading aloud.

When I first read this beautiful book, I cried -- not from sorrow, quite the opposite. WHAT DOES THE SKY SAY is extremely uplifting -- a book to touch you deep inside while it gently reminds you of the importance in the heavens. The words are pure poetry, and the illustrations are outstanding. This is a book you'll want to share repeatedly. Your child will agree.

For those who are looking for a simple book to share, WHAT DOES THE SKY SAY is a fast and easy read, but the message is life-long and powerful. Inspired by Psalm 19:1-4a (yet not overtly religious), we witness as girls look to the sky for clues in how to live life.

The sky speaks to all of us through these children and teaches us to enjoy blessings, weather storms, and embrace all that life delivers -- easily understood by the very young, yet a touching lesson for all ages.

Pure joy.

Nancy Carlstrom's delightful, imaginative, and engaging text perfectly captures the wonder of watching the sky and listening to its many sounds both dramatic and subtle in the changing seasons and in all kinds of weather. Tim Ladwig's artwork is as memorable as his subject matter and perfectly suited capturing the imagination and attention of a child. What Does The Sky Say? is an enthusiastically recommended picturebook for family, school, and community library collections and reading lists for young, inquiring minds.

This is a wonderful book for teachers to read aloud in the primary grades and probably higher. I happened to pick it up to read orally to my first graders, just to fill a few minutes, and my heart was captivated. Definitely, a special book about aging.

This book is magic for anyone who has an elderly neighbor. The simple, yet poignant illustrations take you from the happy times with Miss Lilly to her death. Though it deals with death, the book has a hopeful message at the end.

Moving is never easy for children. But Nancy Carlstrom's mama mouse affirms the fears of her child while offering a future full of possibilities. The pictures are great, with lots of little details for young readers concerned about the transition and location of all their "stuff."

We are on the brink of moving and my 3 1/2 year old loves this book. The little mouse in the book doesn't want to move, but all the while he's watching his mom pack up all of his favorite stuff. The mom ensures him that their new home will have all the great things that their old one does, but will be even better. This book has sparked some great conversations with our son about moving and how we will always remember the fun times we had in our old house, "but it's better to all together in someplace new." This is a great book for a child to "read" along - he/she will enjoy saying "But I'm not moving, Mama!" throughout the book.

This is the second book we've read in the Jesse Bear Series, and we love it as much as the first one, "What Will You Wear Jesse Bear?" We plan to buy the rest. The illustrations are wonderful and hold my two year olds attention as he soaks up all details. He loves the little bear and his parents. The rhyming style is very catchy and has enough repetition to keep a toddler involved. The book shows a typical toddler (who happens to be a bear) trying his best to get wet in all sorts of daily activities. He is continually thwarted by the warning "Better not get wet Jesse Bear!" until his parent bears finally let him loose in his own pool. My son LOVES to say that line as it is repeated throughout the story and yell "SPLASH" when Jesse Bear gets to jump into his pool. Surprisingly, the book made the sublte point to my son about puddles and such. When he runs across them now, he shakes his head and says "better not wet, Jesse Bear"

As church librarian, I bought this book for our church library for this Christmas season and I am glad I did. Most children have several books of the Nativity, but this one has a slightly diifferent take on it. Each page of text calls Jesus a different name, like "bread", "vine," "life," etc. The text is best read slowly and meaningfully as it is written very well, and the prose is delicious on the tongue. At the end, it lists all the various words for Christ found in the book with scriptural references. The Illustrations are lovely, freely done oil paintings. If you want to purchase a truly meaningful book for kids ages 4-8 for Christmas, I can suggest this as being a fine choice. Nice job to Nancy Carlstrom and the Illustrator, Lois McElrath-Eslick.

The first time my son saw a Jesse Bear Board Book at 10 months old we were at the library. I had to re-check it out 2 times (the max they would let me) because he couldn't part with it. This started me on a hunt for all Jesse Bear Board Books. My son is now 17 months and they are still his favorites. He can say them a long with me. We read them over and over and over every day! He loves lots of books, but these are truly the greatest hit I have seen yet. After teaching school to Kindergarteners and Pre-schoolers, using the other Jesse Bear Books, I am glad to find Jesse Bear books for the toddler. We are sold on Jesse Bear at our house. What a fun way for children to be introduced to the world of words!

My daughter has loved this book since receiving it on her first birthday. We like that Mommy, Daddy and Jesse bear are interactive in the story.The ryhming text makes it easy and enjoyable to read after a nonstop day.

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?, is an excellent book. This book focuses on younger children, but is interesting and fun for all to read. I am currently 16 years old and I have owned this book since I was very little. One can tell by the condition of the cover it was a very well liked bedtime story. The story tells of Jesse, a little bear cub, and what he does during the day. Jesse goes through the story telling what he wears for every activity he does, whether it is sand, a shirt or his pajamas. Jesse is a very mischevious, and spunky little cub who will keep you paying attention throughout the story. This book has great illustrations and will be treasured forever.

We love Jesse Bear. My husband and I are touched by the way our now 15 months old baby loves this book...she likes to hear the story over and over (like is normal for all kids at this age) a lot more than she like to hear other stories, she knows many words and acts out (in her very own way) the things that Jesse Bear is doing. When Jesse Bear's pants dance she dances, she touches her toes and screams TOES! when Jesse Bear is playing with a rose in his toes...She waits excited for the part about Jesse Bear wearing his CHAIR! and for the carrots and PEAS!, she loves the blanket that's blue and plays peek-a-boo and gives "bear hugs" to us...She just totally loves it. The illustrations of the book are beautifully done...Although I did notice that the papa bear comes home at night just for bath and bed time I don't consider that to be incorrect at all...the story portraits a very loving papa bear who -in this case like for many real life families- is working out all day. The mama is home taking care of Jesse Bear...I think this story could represent any happy family's normal day, whether is the mom or the dad working out of the home or both, the story has a main caregiver with the child all day and a loving parent who comes later on. The rhyme is nice, sweet and musical. My daughter can spend a long time just browsing through its pages and mumbling with joy things about Jesse Bear's adventures. This book is MUST HAVE for babies and young children.