Thank you to #netgalley for giving me a copy of #IcanOnlyImaginepictureBook to review. I love the song that inspired the book. I thought this might be just the song lyrics with pictures to go along with it. I liked that it went deeper into what a child would actually imagine about heaven and God. This is not a book for my classroom, but one that I would buy for my kids to have at home in our library.

I loved this story! Very cute story to make children understand that Heaven is something that we should look forward to and illustrate what it will really be like. My four year old enjoyed this story as did I!

I received an electronic ARC from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley.
Based on the song "I Can Only Imagine," this story takes us through what children think about Heaven and life there. The colorful illustrations bring the story to life. Young readers will relate to the story and the questions the young narrator asks.
A read aloud for Sunday School and Children's Churches.

Lovely book. Helps children to discuss heaven and how they may have a spiritual relationship with the father.

#NetGalley #IcanOnlyImaginepictureBook

This title is a re-conceptualization of the song (and now movie) I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe. It's authored by Bart Millard with Laura Neutzling. I am only passingly aware of the song by this title and I have not seen the movie - neither of which is necessary to capture the essence of this children's picture book.

First let's start with the artwork. The images are crisp, bright, colorful featuring joyful scenes centered on some of life's most cherished moments. The artwork is by Sumiti Collina which effectively captures the everyday moments of joy which (hopefully) are present in children's lives.

The story is told from the perspective of a child who is contemplating the question, "What will heaven be like?" These imaginings cover the range of human experience from eating, playing, sharing friendship, dreaming, worshiping, and simply being in God's presence. These all help to cast a hopeful and joyful look to the future of believers in Jesus.

The one caveat is the absence of the hope of resurrection. With the resurrection of Jesus as the first fruits, the Christian church confessed and held to "the resurrection of the dead." In an odd sort of juxtaposition the book imagines a myriad of physical experiences which are anticipated in an apparently spiritual heaven. This seems to reflect the present common hope of heaven which can be absent from physical resurrection. The physical restoration of the fallen and groaning creation is a central biblical theme.that could stand more contemplation and proclamation in our present times. This physical restoration and resurrection is perhaps even more difficult and astonishing to imagine, but God does not surrender his creation to corruption.

Even so, this book accomplishes the task of calling believers to imagine their joyous future.

4 stars

This picture book encourages the reader to imagine how life in Heaven with God will be. Using child-appealing illustrations and questions of wonderment, a reader of any age will begin to wonder and imagine how wonderful an eternity with God can be long after finishing the book.

I Can Only Imagine: A Friendship with Jesus Now and Forever by Bart Millard of MercyMe with Laura Neutzling
Illustrated by: Sumiti Collins
Publisher: Thomas Nelson: Children’s
ISBN: 9781400321339

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Thomas Nelson: Children’s for the ebook ARC of I Can Only Imagine: A Friendship with Jesus Now and Forever in exchange for an honest review.

I CanOnly Imagine asks questions a child might ask and invites families to wonder together: What is heaven like? What does God do? What would it be like to spend a day with Jesus? Children will see that although experiencing the glory of heaven may be far off, we can enjoy a friendship with Jesus every day - right here on earth.

I give this book a rating of 4 stars. I read it to my 4 year old daughter. She enjoyed this book and its colourful illustrations. This is a good book for encouraging children to have a friendship with Jesus. I also think it would be a good book for young children who are having questions regarding loved ones life and death. It shows that even though you can’t see someone they will always be with you.

This is a really cute book! When I first opened it, I thought it was just going to be the lyrics of the popular song, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it includes lots of fun text of kids asking questions about what heaven will be like. I enjoyed sharing this with my two pre-reading sons.

Based very loosely on the popular song, "I can Only Imagine" this is a beautiful children's book, written in rhyme, that tries to imagine what heaven is like and what God is like.

"I can only imagine what God thinks is fun.
We could jump in the lake and soak in the sun,
Splishing and splashing and shouting, 'Hooray!'
Would God like to float on a warm summer day?"

It starts out with "The more I imagine, the more I wish I knew." How true that is. Heaven, in so many ways, seems a mystery. We know it will be amazingly wonderful beyond anything we can imagine and yet it can feel so stiff and far off too. While a lot of the things in this book seem far fetched, who really knows? Quite possibly there could be pancakes in heaven, they would be the best ever, of course. The one thing I like about this is it makes heaven seem real and personal. It feels like something children can grab a hold of and imagine about as well. While we might feel we are beyond wondering if we will need to make our bed, that can be a real thing for children who are in the throes of learning to do these kinds of tasks.

I also like the idea of God playing with the children. Again, it feels far out there, like God will just be sitting on His throne, but who really knows? What I do know is He will be personal and approachable. So I think this can be a great book for triggering imagination and curiosity about heaven in little people's minds.

On top of the story line, the book is a very nice hardcover with a dust jacket. The illustrations are very well done. The children are not completely real to life, but neither are they caricatures that don't look like people. And the colors are vibrant and clean. It's just a well done book.

And as I already mentioned, it's written in rhyming form. Any children's book written in rhyme automatically gets a higher grade from me. I love reading rhyming books to my daughter. They don't get old near as quick when you read them over and over.

I received this book from Book Look Bloggers and was not required to write a positive review.

I Can Only Imagine
By Bart Millard
This book mimics the famed song, I Can Only Imagine, but filtered through a child’s eyes. “Do you wake up in Heaven with your hair all a mess?” “The more I imagine the more I wish I knew.” “If I spent the day with God what exactly would we do?”
This book is simple but has a big impact. A child’s mind is so curious, and this book addresses that curiosity by questioning right along with them. The end is significant though. “I don’t have to wait to spend time with you.” This was a great way to open conversation on how we can be close with God. I really enjoyed this sweet book, from the illustrations to the story, this was a great book.

I really enjoy christian books for children, This one is beautiful (inspiring colors and every page is a delight) Anyway, I must say I did not like the content that much. I like to read this kind of books myself first then with my kids.. I had highly expectations about this one because everyone was talking about it and the song and the movie. The drawings are beautiful as I said, but the content? I don't know. I expected a more biblical material. This book talks about some of the questions small children may have, and is a very clean book, The thing I'm dissapointed about is that it does not go deep into the content. I'm sad to think how shallow are some materials to let children know about God, I know that responsibility belongs to the parents, we just have to admit some just buy things like this and give it to them without realizing if it is enough or they need to go through it with them. I dream about beautiful books with deep content. More of His Word inside, and in this case, texts about God and heaven. I respect everyone's work, and I don't know why they choose to leave it like that, This one was not for us. I just reviewed I Can Only Imagine (picture book) by Bart Millard honestly. #IcanOnlyImagine(pictureBook) #NetGalley

I Can Only Imagine is such a rich and colorful Picture Book for children. I would have loved this for my son. The story is quite pert to children. I enjoyed it for myself. We need these Christian themes for our children in the times like these don't you all think? I cannot say enough about this book.. Wonderful job! I received a copy of this book from the Publisher and Netgalley; all of the opinions expressed in this review are all my own.

I Can Only Imagine is another one that I recently received from NetGalley (my new favorite book source!!). This book is beautiful! There are parts that are direct quotes from the song by the same name, and the rest is along the lines of will there be pancakes for breakfast when I’m hungry, and what will we play. Would Jesus play and ride bikes? This book is so much fun and gets everyone thinking about how it will be in heaven. It definitely takes a child’s faith to imagine and believe!

Beautiful book with great pictures. I read this to my grandchildren ages 4 & 8 and they both loved it. This book gave them a better understanding of God. Thank you, was a pleasure to read!

"I Can Only Imagine" (picture book) is a wonderfully written and illustrated book. I love the message and fans of the song and the movie will love it too. This would make a great addition to your child or family's library. I see it as also a book great to use in ministry or preschool as supplemental material.

With smooth flowing and playfully rhyming text, and detailed illustrations full of striking colors, "I Can Only Imagine" is a stunning children's book that I highly recommend to parents and libraries. This book will surely capture the attention of children and inspire them to set their minds on God and Jesus, as well as imagine what awaits us in Heaven. I really love this book.

This is a sweet book with wonderful illustrations. The colorful pictures depict all the action described as the child imagines what heaven might be like. From ice cream to campfires to jumping in lakes and playing with puppies, heaven is filled with amazing things, but the very best one is the relationship that exists with Jesus.

I highly recommend this book and young children will enjoy sharing it with a parent or grandparent.

This was a beautiful, fun book to read with my 3 year old! It really opened the door for some great conversations about heaven and it also provided opportunities to expand his imagination! (the day after we read it we laid down outside and looked at the clouds together!)

The illustrations are beautiful too...nice and bright and colorful.

I highly recommend this book for all ages, but especially for parents and grandparents who want to have more spiritual conversations with the "little people" in their lives.

This is a beautiful picture book that goes along with the popular song and now movie. The story follows a young boy as he imagines all the things that he may see in heaven. He thinks of things like having ice cream every day before lunch and camping in the outdoors. The illustrations are so beautiful and draw readers into the story. An ideal book for bedtime or family reading time.

My girls and I found this book to be a delight to read together. Every page had us looking for the puppy and seeing the funny thing that would come next. The full-colored pages are illustrated well and we enjoyed the storyline. Of course, the song is one of our favorites and that drew us into wanting to be sure to read this one.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.