The Plans I Have For You

by Amy Parker, Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Illustrator)

Overview

The Plans I Have for You combines playful rhyming text written by bestselling children’s book author Amy Parker with whimsical illustrations by award-winning artist Vanessa Brantley-Newton to create a book that inspires readers of all ages to dream about their future. God has great plans for each and every one of us, and this book encourages children to think about the talents that make them special and will help them imagine how God may use our unique traits to make the world a better place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310724100
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	08/25/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Amy Parker’s children’s books have sold more than a million copies, including two Christian Retailing’s Best award-winning books and the bestselling books A Night Night Prayer; Night Night, Farm; and Night Night, Train. Visit Amy at www.amyparkerbooks.com and on Instagram @amyparkerbooks and Facebook @amyparkerauthor.

Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker, and crafter. Her passion for children’s books began when she came across The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats as a child in the 1960s. Growing up in a musical family who loved to sing, Vanessa’s illustrations are as fun and whimsical as a beautiful melody. Vanessa currently makes her nest in Charlotte, NC with her husband of 20 years, their daughter, and a very rambunctious cat named Stripes.

Editorial Reviews

09/07/2015
For Christian children wondering what God has in store for them, Parker (My Christmas List) offers a playfully reassuring rhyme, written from the perspective of an enthusiastic deity. The focus is on future careers ("I need you in a hospital/ and you at the zoo./ You'll be an entomologist/ in a forest in Peru"), though a spread in which four children peruse a Bible is decorated with words like "patience" and "kindness," emphasizing altruistic values. Brantley-Newton (My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay) draws from an array of visual influences in her always energetic illustrations. In one early scene, a hand points out at readers from a cloud, like an Uncle Sam recruitment poster; elsewhere, children sit on an assembly line (which stretches over several pages) as robot arms outfit them with stethoscopes, musical instruments, and other gear. Parker's meter can be slightly shaky, and there's an overreliance on certain rhymes (you/do gets a workout, in particular), but the encouraging tone, range of careers represented, and ethnically diverse cast create the sense that the sky's the limit. Ages 4–8. Author's agency: Working Title Agency. Illustrator's agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Amy Parker's August release, The Plans I Have For You is sure to become a favorite of children ages three to seven although the recommendec;l age is 4-8. The rhythmic, rhyming text, enhanced by the whimsical illustrations of Vanessa Brantley-Newton, teach children are unique. Each one created with special talents and abilities according to God's plan and purpose found in Jeremiah 29: 11.'For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you...plans to give you hope and a future.'

Written from God's point-of-view, the jacketed thirty-two page hardcover uses story-in-rhyme to teach about Jesus, the Bible and God's plan for the reader.

'You are my hands and my feet there on Earth. I've given you a purpose
- it's been there since birth.'

'I've left you instructions - right here in my book. So open it often - and take a good look.'

Colorful illustrations mirror a variety of trades, professions and careers such as pilots, builders, chefs, doctors, nurses, artists and musicians who dance across two-page spreads to ignite children's dreams. This Christian themed children's book, The Plans I Have For You is sure to become a family favorite.

The Midwest Book Review

You are my hands and my feet there on Earth,” narrator God says to an array of kids. “I’ve given you a purpose—it’s been there since birth!” Splashy, energetic illustrations introduce us to the YOU Factory, a colorful, Willy Wonka–style building where God makes kids, imbuing them with all the skills they will need to be successful in life. Each has a specific purpose—a nurse, a zookeeper, an entomologist—and are encouraged to find the one thing that inspires them. The factory metaphor may not hold up under intense scrutiny, but the find-your-passions message is an appealing one. The joyful, rhyming text and bright,
whimsical illustrations make this well suited for read-alouds, and the religious elements are gently woven into the story—though God and the Bible both appear, neither is referred to by name—making this somewhat more accessible to a wider denomination. Parents raising their children to have faith in both themselves and in a higher power will appreciate this offering.
— Maggie Reagan

Booklist

You are my hands and my feet there on Earth,” narrator God says to an array of kids. “I’ve given you a purpose—it’s been there since birth!” Splashy, energetic illustrations introduce us to the YOU Factory, a colorful, Willy Wonka–style building where God makes kids, imbuing them with all the skills they will need to be successful in life. Each has a specific purpose—a nurse, a zookeeper, an entomologist—and are encouraged to find the one thing that inspires them. The factory metaphor may not hold up under intense scrutiny, but the find-your-passions message is an appealing one. The joyful, rhyming text and bright,
whimsical illustrations make this well suited for read-alouds, and the religious elements are gently woven into the story—though God and the Bible both appear, neither is referred to by name—making this somewhat more accessible to a wider denomination. Parents raising their children to have faith in both themselves and in a higher power will appreciate this offering.
— Maggie Reagan

Booklist

2015-05-20
God's address to the Hebrew exiles from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah is repurposed in this cheery picture book that emphasizes children's future careers.In this decontextualized interpretation of the well-known verse, God narrates the text in a first-person, chatty style ("Hey, YOU!") that urges children to discover their particular purposes in life, specifically related to career choices ("what I CREATED YOU to do"). The story begins with a fantastical factory in the clouds, controlled by engineers, and the disembodied hand of God pointing at readers. A sort of assembly line with seated, staring children scrolls across the bottoms of the pages, with the boys and girls receiving their professional wardrobes from robotic arms. Above the conveyor belt, smiling children are shown in various jobs wearing relevant career attire, with careful inclusion of children of many ethnicities as well as girls in science, medical, and construction jobs. While the text states that children will "find that one thing / that you love the most," its overall thrust when combined with the illustrations implies that God chooses a profession for each child at birth and that children should be working toward that profession from an early age. The concluding page urges children to stop reading the book and "go out and find my big plans for YOU." Readers with unemployed parents or parents toiling in miserable, unhappy jobs will be forgiven for wondering just where in God's plan their families fit. With this ahistorical interpretation, this book shows a disregard for both free will and the gradual maturation of talents and personalities. (Picture book/religion. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

Read More