Walking On Water is a classic book by Madeleine L'Engle, author of timeless treasures like A Wrinkle in Time, A Ring of Endless Light and others. Though I was familiar with her fiction I had never read any of her spiritual classics. 

Convergent/ Penguin Random House, LLC has presented a beautiful reprint featuring a modern and (though understated) artistic cover. This updated version also contains a very well written preface by Sara Zarr who places the work in context and emphasizes its value in today's world. Don't skip it! 

Christian Artists in all areas are still asking the same questions: How do we balance our faith and art? L'Engle attempts to answer this mountain of a question and, I believe, in her own way she succeeded. 

Apart from the Bible, no book has impacted me as deeply as Walking On Water.  I couldn't put it down. I felt like I was having a great conversation with the author herself as she not only spoke to me, but understood me. She grasps the rich tangle of an artistic mind and the layers of questions and fears we wrestle with. She also shouts with literary elegance the great responsibility and opportunity we have as artists to create with God and heal our world through the act of obedience and willing participation. She explains in brilliant language things I think our souls already know on some level, but couldn't accept.

My book is all marked up with underlining and notes in the margins. Everything spoke to me on a deep level I can't even fully explain.

This book reached me where I'm at. It gave a sort of marching orders to be excellent, not create bad religion.  To create in union with the Creator. To guard the dreamers, the children, the places of fairy tales and unicorns and art. To be who and what I am with no divisions.

I needed this message and I believe others do as well. 

I highly recommend this book for artists, those who value art and for anyone that teaches children. 

I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review. ​

Links:
Website: http://www.madeleinelengle.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadeleineLEngle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tesserwellMLE/
Purchase at:
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/96880/walking-on-water-by-madeleine-lengle/#collapse2

It is my sincere honor to give this book 5 stars and, if I could, I'd give it a galaxy. 

The adult coloring craze has infiltrated bookstores and online book selling sites with record sales. Why not? Coloring is fun, relaxing and good for you.  With a certain level of stress commonplace in our society, the invitation to slow down and reflect is enticing.

Everything Beautiful is a coloring book that delivers beauty and so much more. Forty-five beautiful designs were contributed by nine talented  artists. Each design features a hand-lettered quote and artwork on high quality perforated paper. On the back of each design page there is additional information on the source of the quote. For example, if a quote is from a hymn the entire hymn would be written on the reverse side of the page. The print is light so it won't be visible on your coloring page. The book also contains a playlist of encouraging and soothing Christian music to listen to as you color. 

When I color, I enjoy peace and quiet. I like to kind of be in my own head. Music is sort of distracting to me when I'm being artistic. However, the playlist is stellar and it can be played anytime for your enjoyment. I feel like I received three special thing in this coloring book: A casual Devotional, coloring pages, and music. 

Here are my favorite features:

1. I LOVE the diversity of the artists. Some styles speak more to me, (I love Katherine Howe's illustration and I'm not a fan of Lisa Shirk's squinted hand-lettering). The fact that I can now discern what I like and don't like and why makes me feel like I'm active in the process. 
2. The Intro is very well written. One line says "Everything Beautiful is about finding beauty in the everyday, the mundane, the broken, and the scary." They nailed it. 
3. I really appreciate that they list the entire quote source, a bio of the person quoted and artist info on the back of each page. In most cases there is a great amount of space for journaling as well. Journal in pencil so it doesn't damage your coloring surface. 

I give Everything Beautiful a full 5 star rating. Though it is intended for adults, it could easily be used by girls 10 and up. The coloring skill is not too intense. 

I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review. ​