The Shoe Box (Children's edition)

I bought this book for my 6 yr old for Christmas 2011 because I love Francine River's stuff. Little did I know that this book was just as much for me as for her! I read it to my 3 girls (6, 9,& 10) on Christmas Day. It was SO meaningful to me. I had my dad read it to our entire family on Christmas Day. He did not understand what he was getting himself into :) He literally could not hold it together while he was reading it. He was sobbing. Several of the adults were in tears, the meaning of it is life changing. I love that it teaches kids to put their burdens and troubles and junk and ALL of their cares in the shoebox and give it to Jesus Who will carry it for them. I wish I would've heard that concept when I was their age. They didn't understand all the crying, but they will when they grow up and have their own share of trials in this life. I have since bought this book for several people who are going through their own trials and carrying huge burdens. It is an amazing reminder that Jesus wants to carry our burdens for us and of His deep love for us! Buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a very charming book. As a result of the book it inspired my family to create shoe boxes to give during the holiday. It was amazing what good it did. Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful.

Karen

"The Shoe Box" by Francine Rivers is a delightful, sensitive and heartwarming illustrated children's book with a wonderful Christian emphasis. The book measures 8 1/2 inches by 10 3/4 inches and has 27 pages of beautiful illustrations and just the right amount of text. The artist, Linda Dockey Graves does a superb job of conveying the emotions on the faces of the characters in the book. There is a special presentation page at the beginning of the book. This presentation page is great to fill in for a loved one when given as a gift. It seems somewhat distracting if you wanted to present this book to a library. The last page of the book presents a personal testimony from the author describing what gave her the idea for the book.

Timmy O'Neal comes to live with Mary and David as a foster child after his father is in prison and his mother has to work all day leaving Timmy alone in the house. Timmy arrives at his new foster home and is warmly received by his new foster parents - Mary and David. Upon arrival Timmy has very little possessions but his one most important possession is an old shoebox with a red lid and the words "Running Shoes" printed on the side. Timmy takes his shoebox with him where ever he goes- to school, Sunday School, bedroom, school bus -- everywhere. Everyone is curious about the contents of the shoebox, When asked what was in the box, Timmy just said "things". All during his stay, Timmy never smiled or seemed very happy. That is, until one Christmas Eve, when something wonderful happened. You will want to read this marvelous book to experience a wonderful miracle in Timmy's life.

If you object to the Christian faith, you may not appreciate the last few pages of the book. You could however, appreciate the rest of the book and who knows, you may see and experience something you never dreamed possible by reading the last several pages. While this is a children's book, most adults will also be touched by this story. There is also an adult version of this book.

Very sweet story about a foster child. Francine Rivers writes great adult and children books.