People Who Think We're Special

Associate Dean, College of Education, Columbia Int’l University

Director of the Lowrie Center for Christian School Education

International Christian Education Speaker and Author

This book has it all — rhyme for early literacy development, captivating photographs that help the young child to relate truth to life, clear statements of biblical truth, and clear and precise helps for parents to interact and teach children. Developmentally appropriate books that convey truth to a young audience while at the same time engage and involve parents are difficult to find.

As a university professor of both Early Childhood and Children’s literature, My Whole Self Before YOU will become part of my personal library.

Dr. Uecker views placing God’s Word at the center of the curriculum as essential to the Christian school movement. The mission of the Lowrie Center for Christian School Education is to facilitate international networking, research, innovation, and the advancement of enduring ideas foundational to excellence in Christ-centered schooling around the world.

Executive Editor, KidzMatter Magazine, 2009-2017

Christian Freelance Writer, 16 Children’s Ministry Books

Good morning, Susan ~ It was a joy to spend some time talking with you at Children’s Pastors’ Conference.

Let me tell you what happened right after you left the KidzMatter booth. The book [you gave me] was on the little table next to me. [An associate who was also at the conference] has an autistic daughter—his oldest daughter of three. She is 7 years old now and until about 6 weeks ago was non-verbal.  She’s also been sporadically and unpredictably aggressive and physical. She’s never warmed up to me, along with most people, and because of my fragile physical condition, her outbursts could easily hurt me.

The lady who was watching the girls during CPC brought them by the booth while things were slow. I looked up and said, “Hi, Luci.” She responded and very calmly walked over to me. She handed me her glasses and wanted me to hang them through my necklace, so I did. She thought that was funny, and actually half-smiled. She took my necklace and shook it so it sounded like jingle bells. I let her shake it while I sang “Jingle Bells.”

Then, I asked her if she would like for me to read her a book … that I had a wonderful book with beautiful pictures. She came closer and watched as I opened the cover. I pointed to a picture of a child holding a thumbs-up and said, “Can you do that, Luci?” She mirrored the photo with her thumb up. I pointed to a child holding up their hand and said, “Can you do that, Luci?” and she mirrored the photo. I turned to a page where the little boy is playing with the water fountain and she opened her mouth several times as if she were trying to take a drink. As I asked her questions, she started responding with words—words that I’ve never heard her speak, and I’ve known her since birth. It was a precious time with her.

When I got home, my son said, “What was the highlight of CPC?” And I said, “It was the time I got to spend with Luci.”

Just thought you’d like to know how God used your book as a bridge to help a little girl who is just learning how to respond to her world.

In His incredible joy,

tina!

Founder and President of Celebrate Kids Inc, Fort Worth, TX

Internationally Celebrated Educational Speaker

Author of How Am I Smart? A Parent’s Guide to Multiple Intelligences

Thank you for writing My Whole Self Before YOU. It’s marvelous for many reasons! You have perfectly interpreted the Lord’s Prayer with accurate and developmentally appropriate concepts.

The rhyming adds to the prayer rather than taking away from the message.
The pictures add greatly to the book. They are vibrant and relevant to the text and will enhance children’s comprehension, retention, application, and joy. Many cultures and both genders are well represented.

The “Side by Side Comparison to the Lord’s Prayer” will help people quickly decide the prayer is good for their children to learn.

The Learning Guide is ideal. There’s freedom — the book is great without it. With it, more in depth understanding will result.

Including “The Prayer Life of Jesus” is a wonderful way to keep the focus on Jesus and allows for a deep connection to be made between children and Jesus as they discover He models everything for them.

I believe it will sell very well!

Celebrate Kids, Inc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people meet their core needs of security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence in healthy ways. Through books, workshops, and seminars, Dr. Kathy presents practical, results-oriented concepts that give children, parents, and teachers the tools they need to improve children’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual health thus increasing success in school and life.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Gaylord Diocese, Michigan, 2008-2014

For those of us who work in faith based education the goal is not only to form a child’s mind, but their heart as well. It is difficult to find materials or help children move beyond the fundamentals of memorization toward deeper understanding. Susan Case Bonner’s book, My Whole Self Before YOU, is an invaluable aid to all people of faith. What a beautiful gift she has given to parents, catechists and teachers in faith based schools.

The book is a wonderful resource with its rhyming verse, captivating photos, and a clear developmentally effective approach to “unpacking” the Lord’s Prayer. It will be an important supplemental resource in our Catholic Schools here in the Diocese of Gaylord. Thank you, Susan, for teaching adults how to teach children how to talk to God!

Editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review, Oregon, WI

Teaching prayer often proves difficult for many Christian parents. My Whole Self Before YOU is a prayer guide for parents who want to better educate and inspire faith in their children, using verse, photography, and much more with tips for parents on teaching their kids how to better pray. With plenty of lessons and activities to consider, My Whole Self Before YOU is well worth considering for Christian children and parenting collections.

Established in 1976, the Midwest Book Review is an organization committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. They do not request remuneration from authors or publishers in order to avoid any conflict of interest issues.