Hey God, I've Got Some Guy Named Jonah in My Stomach and I Think I'm Gonna Throw Up! Review & Giveaway

Disclosure:  I received my own copy of Hey God, I've Got Some Guy Named Jonah in My Stomach and I Think I'm Gonna Throw Up! to facilitate my review.  All opinions expressed are 100% my own.  Thanks so much to the sponsor for providing this giveaway.

     

I have a fun book to tell you about: Hey God, I've Got Some Guy Named Jonah in My Stomach and I Think I'm Gonna Throw Up!  by Troy Schmidt and illustrated by Cory Jones.  This is the first in a series (others include Hey God, Can You Stop the Rain so I Can Get off Noah's Smelly Ark? and Hey God, I'm Having an Awful Vacation in Egypt Thanks to Moses!).  In this book the whale tells his side of the story.

 B couldn't wait to start reading this one!

 A fun perspective

I love books that make you think and that give you a new and different perspective.  In this imaginative retelling, just like Jonah, the whale was given a task from God.  As you might remember, Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and tell the people to stop being bad and turn to God.  Jonah did not want to obey and went the other direction.  In this book, we read that similarly, the whale was told to swallow a human; but the whale went the opposite direction.  However, before he knew it he found himself with a human in his belly, more specifically Jonah.  This new ailment upset his stomach, gave him the inability to swim very far and other discomforts.

Jonah yelled, prayed, apologized to God and begged for deliverance while he was in the whale (not unexpected; have you ever considered what you might do in this situation?).  In Schmidt's account, this led the whale to pray, too.  He apologized to God for not wanting to listen and asked God to remove Jonah from him.  God revealed his plan of importance to the whale - the whale was needed to hold Jonah until he was ready to follow God with his task.  When Jonah was ready he would take a message of the Lord to thousands - and the whale would play a part in that.

Of course, please keep in mind that although based on Biblical truth, this is a fictional tale.  And to my taste, there was a little more complaining in this book than I would have liked.  My experience of knowing God is overwhelmingly joyful - even through sometimes really strange places or circumstances (not that I never grumble and complain myself, though).

I love that this book emphasizes how God can use anyone and everything for his purposes and plan.  Just as Jonah was used, so was the whale!

I really like the Parent Connection in the back of the book - there is something to Remember, something to Read, questions to Think about and things to Do.  I love this as it really brings it home!

This book is brought to you by B&H Kids and is available May 1, 2013 here.

Read more about the book below and make sure to enter the giveaway to win your own copy!

About the Book:
Oh sure, we've all heard the story of Jonah and the Whale a hundred times.  But have we heard it from the perspective of the whale who experienced that history-making event?  Hey God, I've Got Some Guy Named Jonah in My Stomach and I Think I'm Gonna Throw Up! imagines how that great sea creature from the incident might tell his side of the story, helping kids ages 4 to 8 discover a creative way of learning about that guy who was supposed to go to Ninevah.  The "Parent Connection" feature (inside the book) will help Moms and Dads take the story further with scripture references and tips on how to talk with their children about what really happened.

About the Author:
Troy Schmidt has writing and video production credits ranging from assignments with Disney (The Mickey Mouse Club) and Nickelodeon to Max Lucado's Hermie franchise.  He is currently the lead writer for The American Bible Challenge hosted by Jeff Foxworthy on the Game Show Network.  Troy and his wife have three sons.

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