In The Secret Life of Bears, Joann Slead has written a unique story that portrays Jesus with a sense of humor and as the most lovey-dovey Papa Bear ever. By reading it, young children will see what a relationship with Jesus looks like. It’s an engaging and colorful book.
Welcome to this edition of Newsgram.
Growing up can be very difficult. Learning at a very early age how to shine, how to have hope and how to be able to look beyond their circumstances whatever they may be, is not an easy thing to explain or to understand.
Meet Joan Slead, a children’s book author who found a fun way to teach children that no matter what you may be going through there is someone who loves and understands them and is there for them when it feels like no-one else is.
Joann Slead – I’ve seen the ugly and the hard and the painful and I wanted to lighten it up plus there are children in the world that don’t have good relationships at home. They live in a difficult home for them to be in and if there’s a kind person who can read them this book they’ll know that somebody loves them and that’s something that I really, really want kids to be able to take away from, kids that have difficult homes and for other kids it just be fun and cute and they’ll learn about God and that’s wonderful for both.
In her book, The Secret Life of Bears, she did a clever thing. She turned Jesus into a bear with a sense of humor and he’s the most lovey-dovey Papa Bear ever.
Joann Slead – There’s baby bear and papa bear and those are the only two characters in the book except for a few insects and animals and papa bear just does everything baby bear needs. They go on adventures together in the jungle. Papa bear puts snow on the earth and baby bear is making snow angels below and its a linear approach to that relationship between baby bear and papa bear.
And she says the entire concept came to her like a dream.
Joann Slead – One day I jut sat down and wrote this book. It was like God just gave it to me. It didn’t need editing. It didn’t need rewriting. It was perfect the way it was and that never happens. I wrote it in 2019 and I put it in a drawer and I thought, well that’s never gonna be published.
Surprise! It was published and the one thing it was missing were illustrations.
Joann Slead – I’ve been working with this lovely guy from Moroccoa Mohamed Daamouche. He and I just had this great working relationship and the pictures show the words. They really do because that is how I saw it in my head.
The illustrations are fun loving and so relatable and they really reinforce the message that Papa Bear is more than some abstract concept he’s approachable, He loves you and he’s real. He makes cookies and can sing silly songs…
Joann Slead – Most kids don’t know that. God’s kind of boring in church. I would like them to know that they can have fun with God and that he’s not judging, he’s joyful and he loves them.
Oh, something else you should know. One of these reasons it was so easy for her to write was that it’s a sort of autobiography.
Joann Slead – This is actually my life written for children. Bears have always been my favorite stuffed animal since I was a little kid so when I got to know Jesus I became his bear.
Who doesn’t love a stuffed bear? She says thinking about Jesus in these terms helps children to know that He is approachable for them on their level and that He loves them and isn’t something the world needs right now? Joan thought so. So she dug that manuscript out of the drawer and got it published.
Joann Slead – It was nothing I would have done on my own. It was just one of those things that God just nudged me in the spirit and said, “Yea, I just want you to do this” and so I did.
The Secret Life of Bears will tickle your child’s heart as they learn about the love of Jesus. The fastest way to find it is by going to Secret Life of Bears.com but if you prefer the usual way you can find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
And that will do it for this edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com
Joann Slead was recently interviewed by Suzanne Harris on the Books on Air podcast. Tune it to hear more from her or by checking out her video interview with JT Crowley on Youtube or you can also listen to the Talking Books podcast.