My B.A. degree included a heavy focus on the great classics of English literature. Among them was a book by a barely literate Baptist preacher—John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. A massive volume I consulted on English literature said that Bunyan demonstrated that you don’t need great education or great literary technique to write a great book—you just need something important to say.

About a decade ago, I established a small publishing imprint (Mill Lake Books) to help people with something important to say, especially Christians, get their books published. The imprint has now published over 30 titles, and I have far more people requesting help with their books than I have time to work on. Some of the authors have advanced university degrees, even doctorates, and some have much less formal education. Some authors I have known for years, and some I had no acquaintance with at all until they contacted me by email.

One of the latter is Pamela A. James. Her qualifications are that she has a Bachelor of Religious Education degree and has been a Sunday school teacher for many years. Her more important qualification is that she understands children and is able to communicate on their level.

Pamela wrote a small book called Living in God’s World: A Book of Instruction for Children of All Ages. The book has 24 one-page “chapters” accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations. In each chapter, a child asks a basic question, and then Pamela answers with information from the Bible. The book covers key themes from the Bible—creation, God, sin, and forgiveness. The chapter titles include: “Where did our world come from?” “Why should I learn about God?” “What does God want me to do?” “Why do I have to obey my parents?” “Why do I have to go to church?” “Why is it so wrong to tell a lie?” “What am I supposed to do when people do mean things to me?” “Why do I have to give?” “What does it mean to trust God?” “Why did Jesus come to earth?” “How can I ask God to let me become part of His family?” “What if I do bad things?” and “Why did God create me?”

This is such a simple book that it could easily be dismissed as old-fashioned and not very important. And yet it presents the teaching of the Bible and the Good News about Jesus in a simple way that children can easily understand. It made a profound impact on some of my grandchildren when they read it. I recommend it. I am glad Pamela sent it to me. It was a privilege to help her get it published.

Living in God’s World is distributed by Ingram and is available through bookstores and through online retailers such as Amazon.