Review of Snatched Up to Heaven for Kids

[MAXINE PURDY]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Snatched Up to Heaven for Kids" by Jemima Paul, Arvind Paul.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Snatched Up to Heaven for Kid is a colourful picture book that specifically targets Christian families. The book is about an eight-year old girl called Emma and her family who all have a strong Christian faith.
It's definitely a book for sharing. Young children will enjoy snuggling up to an adult to hear the short stories about Emma’s experiences of heaven and hell. It would also be ideal to use in school (UK) to discuss what Christians believe about the afterlife as part of their religious studies.
Upon opening this book, I was charmed by the child-like illustrations. They are bold and rather old-fashioned yet, when looking more closely, the illustrations themselves could be improved. Jesus, for instance, lacks a Middle Eastern appearance, looking rather white-skinned and there is very little diversity throughout the book. The book also seems geared more toward girls in that the main characters, Emma and Bella, are girls. This is also reflected in both the illustrations and descriptive language. Boys may not easily engage with this book.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two stories. Emma visits heaven in her dreams with her sister Bella. She shares her dreams with her family who help her to work out what they could mean. There’s so much to think about and discuss that more than one story a day may be an overload of information, ideas and thoughts.
Emma's parents also make links to relevant Bible verses and these are listed. Each story throughout the book raises interesting ideas about heaven and helps children to think about being sorry for doing the wrong thing. However, in my opinion, the last story sets a completely different tone. At this point, it all becomes too preachy and the language overbearing.
I would advise that the story about hell should be read in advance by a parent if sharing it with a young child as it could be rather worrying, especially at bedtime.
The editing of the books is done to a very high standard with no mistakes in the text.
Because of the lack of diversity, bias towards girls, and rather preachy last story I have awarded a score of only 3 out of 5.

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Snatched Up to Heaven for Kids
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