The O in Hope by Luci Shaw and illustrated by Ned Bustard is a beautiful book for children. This book is geared more for younger elementary students, although I read it to my ten year old son and we still loved it. Luci Shaw is an absolute treasure. I read this book after hearing her and Ned Bustard speak about this book on a podcast. I adore her personally and hope she has more poems turned into picture books like this. Ned Bustard was the perfect choice to illustrate this book. I highly recommend this beautiful, cheerful book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

This picture book features vivid cut-paper illustrations that visualize the concrete images in the poetic text. I found aspects of the poem abstract enough that I'm not sure if young children would connect with it, but they can enjoy the rhythmic language and emphasis on phonic sounds related to the letter "O," even if some of the abstract thought is beyond them. The vivid and colorful pages will definitely appeal to both children and adults, and the book has a nice message about hope and God's love.

Throughout the book, the letter "O" appears in different colors, and the note at the beginning of the book encourages children to find things in the illustration that start with that letter. Children could also count how many times the letter appears in the text. This would be a great choice for Christian families, churches, and Christian preschools, and would combine very well with a cut-paper craft for kids to do. The author's note also includes some open-ended discussion questions that adults can use with children.

This book wasn't quite what I was expecting based off the cover, as I did not realize that it was a religious inspirational poem. The paper cut illustrations are really nice, as well as the way that they open by encouraging children to look for the letter O in different O words. If you're interested in books that end with talking about God, then this could be a fun book to read for the letter O. It would not be good for any secular preschool, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and InterVarsity Press for the early e-ARC and opportunity to read and review this book. I absolutely adored the paper cutout art style of the designs, with beautiful scenes and animals bringing such joy and life to the page. I also like the poetic style of words with Os used throughout, so that reading aloud is full of the titular letter and on the text pages, little ones can spot the Os in each word. It's a clever and creative collaboration that is fun, engaging, and will be many families' go-to repeat-read for sure.

This book was ok. I love the cut-paper artwork, and frankly, I'd have enjoyed the book a lot more without the text. Then it would also be a lot more open. The o's in different colors throughout the text were kind of distracting, and I think the words detract from the ultimate message. I'd love if the text was more open, like showing the ox and just the word "strong," or "hope is strong" to let readers draw more connections.

A fun exploration of the letter O with Christian overtones and creative art. Great for kids learning to read.

I loved the collaged illustrations, which reminded me of Lois Ehlert's beautiful work. The story is a poem about the letter "O" with a Christian theme that would be perfect for very young children. The last page of the story did not load for me in my review copy, so in my version there was no actual mention of the word "hope."

The construction paper pictures were original, crafty and a good conversation starter. My grandson, who is in kindergarten, enjoyed seeing all the o’s in the words and the pictures. Poetry for beginners. Well-done. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in the format of an e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Love forms a circle that holds us all together, safe in the center of the loving heart of God.

Hope in poetry and in the letter O. With vivid illustrations you and your child will find hope in the promises of God. It is also good practice for us to look for hope. We can miss it and the blessing it gives. A great book to start your day and find a little in the words that have an O.

A special thank you to Intervarsity and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This book was adorable and I read it as I was looking for more picture books to be able to pass on to any future children, as well as to bump up my Goodreads goal. The art style was perfect

This is one of my favorite children's books that I have reviewed and as a book obsessed mom of a toddler I have been reading and reviewing a lot of children's books lately, many of which are quite good. But, this one stands above most of them for the toddler audience for ingenuity with this new twist on learning letters and pure creativity. I am so grateful to have received an arc copy of the digital version and discover a new young child author that is sure to be added to my short list of favorites that I always recommend.

My son is two and has been fascinated with all things alphabet lately. He has been hard at work learning and practicing the alphabet of his own volition and he loves pointing out letters in books or on packages but it is much easier for him to identify a letter when it is highlighted or featured in some way.

This book does an excellent job of highlighting the letter o in fun creative ways throughout the book. There was so much creativity, artistry and super learning potential wrapped into this one tiny book. I can't emphasize enough how absolutely impressed I was. I will definitely be watching this author and strongly hope that Luci Shaw eventually has an entire alphabet series and releases them in board book format for families with toddlers. I would buy that and would gift it to all of my expecting friends and family members.

Luci - If you happen to read this please please do the rest of the alphabet and some number books too for your new toddler and toddler family fans! The world needs this! My toddler needs this!

I highly recommend this book to all families with toddlers. Buy two so you have an extra when your toddler inevitably eats the first one or decides to "feed" it his milk.

Five very enthusiastic stars.

Absolutely wonderful book! Artwork throughout the book is fantastic and the story is great. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early and provide a review. I will definitely be purchasing the hard copy for my kids as I know they’ll love it! Great message in the story and incredible art throughout! Highly recommend.

This book was not for me. The cut-paper illustrations are beautiful, but there are religious themes that I don't find appealing ("the loving heart of GOD"). There's also a page with the text "O is as complete as a wedding ring," with an illustration of a feminine hand wearing a big diamond. I don't like the implication here that in order to be "complete," you need to be married.

If you can get past the feminist problems I had, and you believe in God, this book is great for phonemic awareness - teaching kids about letter sounds within words. The text/poem has some clever ways of highlighting the letter 'o' within words, such as "the heart of love and joy." It also compares the shape of the letter to things like the orbit of planets.

This will not download correctly to my device so I cannot view it. I do not want that to count against the rating so based on the idea of this book and the cover and illustration I will rate it!