Friday, November 18, 2011

Double Book Review - "Heaven is for Real" - Todd Burpo and "Heaven is for Real for Kids" (Sprituality/Afterlife)

I received this ebook from www.booksneeze.com for free in exchange for an honest review.

Little Colton Burpo became very sick when he was a very small child. There were several misdiagnosis that caused a bad situation to become even worse. The parents were brought to their knees in prayer as they asked others to pray for their little boy as well. In the end, Colton survived after a life-saving surgery. However, he came very close to death. After this ordeal, little by little he began to reveal to his parents things he had "seen" while he was so sick. These things included what appeared to be a trip to Heaven. His parents could have just brushed it off as a wonderful dream, but some of the things he told them were things that he could not have known about such as meeting a sister than he had never been told he had (his mom had a miscarriage before he was born).

I had read this once before. A person had lent it to me when we first found out my oldest had her brainstem tumor (which is stable at this time). It did give me comfort in that time of uncertainty. I am a believer, and I believe Heaven exists (Even if I am still not sure he really saw all he said he saw and that some of his memory is not really something he saw but things he heard in Bible school). It also gave me comfort that he saw the little girl his mom miscarried. I have had 2 miscarriages and I do believe our babies are in Heaven (or an intermittent paradise) waiting for us and I do look forward to meeting them someday.

I took away a couple of stars due to really liking the book, but not LOVING it like I do other books. It would not be fair for me to give a book I like the same amount of stars as a book I LOVE. Another reason is because sometimes I thought the book rambled a bit. There was a lot of information we did not need to tell this story (like the entire chapter on the bad things that happened to the dad..he did not have to go into such detail, in my opinion). Also because I am still not sure where I stand on how realistic this is. I believe he saw something..I just do not know what or why it would be given out in bits and pieces. I wonder if some of the responses came from him being unintentionally coaxed into saying something or if he overheard conversations he was not intended to hear (I know I did this as a child).

All in all though, it is a good read and will make you think. I would suggest for people to read it and form their own opinions.



Book 2 - "Heaven is for Real for Kids"

This is a companion book to the very successful book, "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo. This book tells the same story the original book did, only in Colton's own words this time. It is told at a level that a child could understand. I would say children could really appreciate the book from ages 5-8 or so. I think the subject matter would be a little much for anyone under the age of 5 (unless it is a very mature for their age child).

I think my oldest, who is 7, will enjoy reading the book with me and then having a discussion about it. Before we do though, I am going to examine my own feelings, and that of my husband a little deeper. I think all parents should do that before they let their child read this book or read it to them. It is very thought provoking and I am sure it will raise questions from an inquisitive child, questions that do not have an easy answer.

As a former oncological/hospice nurse, I do believe people see things as they are dying. Some people seemed so at peace and even spoke of beautiful things. Others said hello to someone that the family said was long dead. Others just seemed to go to sleep. Others..well I honestly do not want to know what they were seeing...I'll leave it at that. I just still do not know though..was it the meds? Was it something else? It is something to think about.




Feel free to comment below. I am interested in what people think about this book.

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