Author: elizabethjameswrites

Encouraging kids (and the grown-ups who love them) one story at a time! Follow along at www.elizabethjameswrites.com for the latest updates about my latest writing projects.

I’m so excited to share my new book, Pippa Speaks up!, that I just can’t wait any longer! 

GET YOUR DOWNLOAD NOW!
That’s why I’ve posted an exclusive excerpt of the book, available now for my newsletter subscribers, that allows them to read the ENTIRE first chapter. Sign up for those emails here. Because that FREE download includes more than a dozen illustrations and a glimpse at some of the kid-friendly facts that are featured in the back of the book!

ABOUT THE BOOK
This groundbreaking illustrated chapter book series introduces kids to Pippa Potter…who just happens to be the President’s daughter. Readers will be transported to the surreal (but real!) world of life in the White House as Pippa grapples with relatable struggles—such as missing her mom (who’s always busy now that she’s President), struggling to fit in at school, and definitely not wanting to have to give a class speech!

However, what makes this series especially unique is that it weaves proven mental health resources and techniques directly into the narrative, empowering kids to integrate them into their own lives, too.

Pippa Speaks Up! is the first book in the “Pippa Potter, President’s Daughter” chapter-book series for kids ages 8-12, which uses the power of an exciting narrative to introduce kids to proven therapy techniques and provide invaluable mental health support addressing a variety of SEL topics, the first of which is childhood anxiety.

JOIN THE JOURNEY
Pippa Speaks Up! will launch in January 2024, and in advance of that, I’m doing a Kickstarter to help bring it to life! 

I hope you enjoy getting to know Pippa a little bit better through these pages!

 

I’m so exited to share that a Sunday School curriculum I wrote is now available from The Sunday School Store! This curriculum introduces the beautiful metaphor of God as light in the Bible, helping young believers see the path of truth clearly. This engaging series dives deep into the theme of ‘light’ and its connection with truth. Each lesson uses key Bible passages to help children understand God’s unchanging truth and how it can daily guide their lives.

Live in the Light: A 4-Week Children’s Ministry Curriculum is a four-part study that will explore the Biblical topics of “God is Light,” “Jesus is Light,” “From Darkness to Light,” as well as what it means for us as believers to “Let Your Light Shine.” This series also includes crafts, activities as well as memory verse and activity pages that go along with the lesson every week. It’s packed with fun things to do!

If you work in children’s ministry, make sure you check it out or share with your church. As a bonus, The Sunday School Company, always offers one week of the series as a free download so you can always just check that out if you’re not sure if you want to purchase it or not.

You can access “Live in the Light: A 4-Week Children’s Ministry Curriculum” now from The Sunday School Store.

Stay tuned for more children’s curriculums that I’m developing!

I’m pleased to share that I am being published in my first book, Pray a Word a Day, vol. 2 from Guideposts! This 365-day devotional features a specific word each day with a related message, prayer and Scripture to help you find, seek and grow in your faith each day. 

I have three devotionals published, around the words “rend”, “pivot,” and “graft.”

You can order the Pray a Word a Day, vol. 2 devotional through Guideposts here.Plus, if you order it by June 14, you can get free shipping with the code PAW2SHIP.

Here’s more about this devotional, from the publisher’s website:

Enrich your prayer time and enhance your heartfelt connection with God with an all-new daily devotional unlike any you’ve seen before.  In it’s simple yet powerful format you’ll be encouraged each day with 

A word to focus on

A subject to pray about

And a blessing to receive.

Like its best-selling predecessor Pray a Word a Day, Pray a Word a Day Volume 2 will make your prayer life more fulfilling than ever before. It is a non-dated, 365-day spiral-bound book that invites you to connect with God in ways that will inspire and uplift you—while giving your prayer practice a fresh boost.

Each day’s entry presents a single word such as “precious,” “answer,” “hear,” “forget,” or “breath” as a focal point. Then, the meaning of the word is further illuminated with an inspiring and motivating quote or Scripture that is sure to stir your soul. That is followed by a heartfelt, personal, and lighthearted 2-minute reflection, and a prayer written by one of our gifted Guideposts writers. 

You’ll be amazed at how Pray a Word a Day Volume 2 will awaken your spirit and help you feel spiritually grounded throughout your day. Centering your prayer and praise around a single word, will get you thinking in new ways and help you discover fresh enthusiasm in your daily devotional practice. 

INCLUDES A FREE BONUS GIFT: Pocket Prayer Cards

You’ll get 12 beautiful Pocket Prayer Cards with your purchase. Each card has lovely art, an uplifting Scripture or quote, and a prayer prompt like those you’ll find on every page of this powerful devotional. They are yours FREE—yours to keep no matter what.

Order the Pray a Word a Day, vol. 2 devotional through Guideposts here.Plus, if you order by June 14, 2023, use the code PAW2SHIP for free shipping!

 

I’m pleased to share that three new children’s ministry curriculums that I’ve written are now available through The Sunday School Store.

Here’s a little bit more about each one:

 

“United in Christ” is about the togetherness we share with all believers. This world is full of division. Kids need the love and unity of the church more than ever. As followers of Jesus, we can experience joy in our relationships together. This 4-week curriculum series will help children discover the blessings of the church. Find “United in Christ” Children’s Ministry Curriculum here.

 

“The Holy Spirit and Me” is all about the third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit can be difficult to understand, but He provides the spiritual power available to all believers. Jesus frequently taught the importance of knowing God through the presence of the Holy Spirit. This 4-week curriculum series will help elementary-aged children understand and experience the Holy Spirit daily.  Find “The Holy Spirit and Me” Children’s Ministry Curriculum here.

 

“Fulfilled” is a 4-Week Easter Curriculum for Kids. It is all about how Jesus accomplished salvation for God’s people, as promised in the Old Testament. Children will learn the “why” behind Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection: that he endured it all because of his undying love for us! Find “Fulfilled” Children’s Ministry Curriculum here.

Each of these series also include crafts, activities as well as memory verse and activity pages that go along with the lesson every week. Every single one is packed with fun things to do!

If you work in children’s ministry, make sure you check it out or share with your church. As a bonus, The Sunday School Store, usually offers one week of the series as a free download so you can always just check that out if you’re not sure if you want to purchase it or not.

In case you aren’t following me on Twitter (find me here!), I wanted to post an update letting you know that I have joined the #MidWeekCritique team, which will offer writers the chance to win picture-book critiques every week!

#MidWeekCritique was started by Lori Keating, and I personally have benefited from her critiques over the past few months. So, I was thrilled when she decided to expand into a team and invited me to join them!

Each Monday, one of us will post the giveaway for three PB critiques, which will be announced on Wednesday (hence, #MidWeekCritique). 

Here are the three other awesome children’s writers who make up the #MidWeekCritique team:

@LoriMKeating
@AprilBerryBooks
@C_Alemshah

Follow us all to see when we post our giveaway! I can’t wait to get started!

Happy New Year!

This is the time, each year, when we take some time to think about fresh starts and new beginnings.

That’s why I’m so exited to share the news that a Sunday School curriculum I wrote is now available from The Sunday School Store that teaches kids what the Bible actually teaches us about heaven!

One of God’s greatest promises is that this life is not all there is—we can spend eternity with him. But what will that eternity look like? What does the Bible really teach us about heaven? 

All Things New: A 4-Week Children’s Ministry Curriculum is a four-part study that will answer those questions and more so that children can better understand—and become excited about—this Biblical view of heaven and the various ways God will make all things new in it, including: New Creation, New Jerusalem, New Bodies and New Hearts.

This series also includes crafts, activities as well as memory verse and activity pages that go along with the lesson every week. It’s packed with fun things to do!

If you work in children’s ministry, make sure you check it out or share with your church. As a bonus, The Sunday School Company, always offers one week of the series as a free download so you can always just check that out if you’re not sure if you want to purchase it or not.

You can access “All Things New: A 4-Week Children’s Ministry Curriculum” now from The Sunday School Store.

Stay tuned for more children’s curriculums that I’m developing!

I am pleased to share that another one of my short parenting articles has been published in the December 2022/January 2023 issue Focus on the Family magazine! You can find it on page 10, where it shares different ideas to celebrate and make the New Year special with your family.

Find out more by reading the article in this month’s issue of Focus on the Family magazine!

Just in time for Christmas, I got the chance to check out a copy of Seek and Find: The First Christmas by Sarah Parker and Andre Parker from The Good Book Co. (Available on Amazon and The Good Book Co.)

This is seek-and-find takes a 12-days-of-Christmas approach, instructing children to start off finding one object, then two of one object, all the way up to 10 of the same objects. They generally start off easy with large objects that you can’t miss. As the number of objects increases, they generally get smaller, which makes it harder to find everyone although none of them are “tricky” as is the case in other seek-and-finds.

I liked that it portrays a more accurate sequence of the Christmas, with Jesus’ birth falling about halfway through the story, followed by Jesus’ visit to Simeon, the Magi seeing the star, visiting Herod and finally presenting their gifts to Jesus on the last page.

This seek-and-find book was able to engage all my children, ages 6 to 9. We did find that it was hard to keep track of the smaller objects that you had to find multiple copies of, so we used a dry-erase marker to help keep track. The pages are thick like board-book pages, so they can withstand this and erasing. (And a magic eraser got the marks off without issue!)

Find Seek and Find: The First Christmas on Amazon and The Good Book Co.

 

I recently got the chance to review All About Christmas by Alison Mitchell from The Good Book Co.

This is a book for the entire family, chockfull of fascinating facts about the history of Christmas and life during Jesus’ time that it is truly a book for all ages: My younger children enjoyed finding a page or two for me to read to them, while I myself was enthralled by page after page!

Basically, the book walks you through the Christmas story as told by Luke and Matthew. It breaks these passages down, defining words and incorporating cross-references, while also giving a more well-rounded picture of their meaning and putting them in context. There is also just really interesting things you learn, such as:

  • what life was like for kids during Jesus’ day and the toys and games they played
  • Biblical background about angels
  • information about the Roman occupation and King Herod
  • the history of some of the first Christmas carols
  • different Christmas traditions from around the world.

Thick with beautiful pictures and illustrations, it is a coffee-table-worthy book that you could leave out and thumb through for all of Advent and reread again and again each year.

Find All About Christmas by Alison Mitchell on Amazon and The Good Book Co.



With Halloween behind us and Thanksgiving around the corner, Christmas is not too far off, either.

Which is why I’m so exited to share the news that a Sunday School curriculum I wrote to walk kids through Advent (the weeks leading up to Christmas) is now available from The Sunday School Company!

“Humble Beginnings: A 4-Week Children’s Ministry Curriculum” is a 4-week series that teaches kids the Christmas story through the lens of the humility toward God and his will that each of the key players showed: Mary, the shepherds, the wise men and Jesus himself. It also includes crafts, activities as well as memory verse and activity pages that go along with the lesson every week. It’s packed with fun things to do!

If you work in children’s ministry, make sure you check it out or share with your church. As a bonus, The Sunday School Company, always offers one week of the series as a free download so you can always just check that out if you’re not sure if you want to purchase it or not.

You can access “Humble Beginnings: A 4-Week Children’s Ministry Curriculum” here from The Sunday School Store.

Stay tuned for more children’s curriculums that I’m developing!