Heaven

Tell Me About Heaven
$19.99
My youngest son Christian passed away almost 8 months ago in a drowning accident. He was 2 months shy of his 4th birthday. There are many children's books on the market dealing with death-- none of which I would consider reading with my boys (7.5 and 9.5yo). They would either be scary, too mystic, or say inaccurate things like "when we die we turn into stars in the sky."

This book, however, is different. We read one chapter a night together before bed. I am thankful not only for the use of Scripture in this book, but the illustrations and the gentle but straightforward story of a boy and his grandpa talking about the death of the boy's grandmother.

After each chapter, my boys would ask me to read more. :) I stuck with only one chapter a night so we could just talk about our memories of their little brother-- the fun times, the silliness, his antics and just HOW MUCH WE MISS HIM. I am so thankful that God gives us the grace to still laugh-- even when we're crying, even when we hurt so deeply! We would end the night by praying together and thanking God for giving us time with Christian and how, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we will spend eternity all together.. forever.. never to be separated again.

If you know anyone that is grieving the death of a friend or family member, this book is excellent not only for children but for adults as well. I highly recommend this book and reading it together as a family!

Thank you, Mr. Alcorn, for writing this book. A missionary friend also sent me your book "Safely Home" that ministered greatly to me. I have been a Christian for over 20 years (praise the Lord!) and I always knew what the Bible says about Heaven.. but your books have made it that much more REAL to me and has encouraged me to look further in the Bible and look FORWARD in my life (no matter how much my flesh just wants to stand still and feel sorry for myself).

Heaven
$14.99
German-born Tom Twyker, director of many successful films, is perhaps best known for 1998 classic, "Lola Rennt" ("Run Lola, Run").

In "Heaven" Cate Blanchart is cast as Philippa, an English school teacher working in Turin, Italy. This film has both English and Italian parts (with subtitles), lending to it's authenticity. Blanchart's male counterpart, Filippo, is played by Italian actor, Giovannis Riblisi. He is cast as a 20 year old police department employee who becomes sympathetic to Philippa's cause, springs her from jail; and manages to outwit the police and run, ride and fly (!) to safety, in the mean time falling in love with her.

Philippe and Filippo, though from different cultures, become unified in fate, and seem to become two halves of the same whole. Through much of the film Blanchart and Riblisi appear together, both wearing white t-shirts and slim-fitting blue jeans. Later, Philippa is shaved bald, presumably to help her to evade capture by altering her appearance. No big surprise. But then, the camera again shooting from above, reveals that Filippo is also shaved! Several scenes are shot in such a way that they appear to really belong together.

Which brings me to my initial point: Twyker's brilliant usage of mise-en-scene. By that I mean that the set-up of the individual scenes --in addition to having visual style and beauty--convey meaning and information above and beyond what is seen in other types of cinamatography, plus the dialog itself. I find this to be clever and artful. Just by observing how the characters, props and scenery are set up, we see another level of meaning and understanding. For example, how he sets up the scene in the barn as they eat together and then gaze at each other from either end of the film frame. Well, this is not a thing that can easily be described in words; you just have to see the film!

Lastly, I love how the film ends, and how it ties together the beginning scene in a helicopter simulator and also the enigmatic name of the film, "Heaven". Bravo!

50 Days of Heaven: Reflections That Bring Eternity to Light
$14.99
Everyone should read this book, especially Christians wondering about life after death. Alcorn takes scripture and make very clear what happens after we die. This book is very easy to read and very comforting.

Heaven
$5.99
While the complexities of family life are explored in this book from the standpoint of a young girl, this book contains and conveys many misconceptions regarding adoption and families. Today, families that are created by adoption, convey this information to children early in life, and the validity of family is challenged by the pseudo-angst conveyed in this book. Reading the reviews, particularly, those written by youngsters, indicates that this misconception is indeed conveyed by this book; that adoptive families are not "true" or "real" families. Over 5 million adoptive families in the US currently exist, and unfortunately this book feeds into the oft-repeated stereotype that adoption is a secret often hidden, and that a family that includes adopted children are "less real". The book of today that would better mirror such families would be one where the teenager responds: "Yes, I'm adopted, and this family is MY family"
Regrettably publishers and authors alike still latch on to the "orphan" and "the shock of adoption" themes as prime targets for pulp preteen and teenage fiction themes.