A simple book trying to tackle a large concept. The idea that we were all created in God's image is a big idea. This book is suitable for younger children, with an adult to negotiate and add more detail/context to the content of this book.

It was alright. I was hoping for more creativity, but this erred on the side of church doctrine. The art is very graphics based.

I love the little seminary books. They are full of truth, with no fluff. Imago Dei teaches kids and reminds adults of how every human being is made in God's image in terms simple enough for a young reader or listener to understand.

Trying to explain that we are created in God’s image to young children is really challenging. The author has made a good attempt at this here, but I’m not sure that young children will understand very much more after having read this book.

The section I particularly liked was the one that talked about everyone being made equally in the image of God. I think the author would have been better to concentrate on this aspect of “God’s image” rather than to also try to explain sharing God’s love etc.

This is a simple book which tries to explore a big concept but I think the lack of interesting illustrations along with a concept that is really hard for children to understand means that it will not interest many young children.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book did a good job distilling down the concept of Imago Dei in a way that makes sense for young readers. While it’s a bit of a surface-level exploration into the topic, since it’s a board book—which are intended for very young readers—the presentation is appropriate for the target audience. I appreciated that it had a bit of an engaging storyline, rather than being too dry, which I’ve seen happen in some informative baby board books.

I did find the illustrations to be a bit lacking, however. While overall they were clear and colorful, a few felt just a bit too stylized and abstract, such as the illustrations intended to portray God. I did appreciate that there was a decent amount of diversity in the characters to make the book more relatable to a wider range of children.

Overall, I could see myself reading this book to my son and exploring the other books in this series. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book by Ryan McKenzie is the first in the series which provides a very basic introduction to Christianity for children. The writer attempts to introduce them to this difficult concept to help them grow as Christians from a young age who know that they are made in the image of God and that God loves them.

I like this picture book as it is the first book of its kind which I have seen which breaks down Christian concepts to young children. There are obviously some concepts more suited for older children but this is an ideal book for those very young children to help them understand the religion a bit more. The simple language and pictures present in this book make it ideal for the younger audience and even if they do not read the words they will learn a lot from just looking at the pictures which is very much ideal for a children's book.

The few things I disliked are, to begin with, the very simple description. This book is made for young children but it would have been nice to see the writer go into a bit more detail, especially for the older children, unless this is an idea for another series for older children because if so that would be great. Also, in this book the writer seems to favour some Christian ideas which other Christians would disagree with. For example, in the book the writer mentions the idea of Dominion and Stewardship, (obviously at a much basic level), but he only describes one of these ideas. Yes, the one he does look at is the right one but it fails to show how the religion can differ from different people.

Altogether, I rate this book 2 stars making it an alright book, ideal for younger children and toddlers. It makes the effort to try and introduce younger children to Christianity and it's ideas which is great and will help children develop a friendship and love with God. It would be lovely to see more books in this series including but not limited to; Worship, Prayer, Celebrations and much more. It would also be nice to see another two series one for the older children and one for teenagers which all progress gradually harder introducing new concepts.

This is a tough topic to explain to young children and I commend the attempt, but I'm afraid the illustrator has missed an opportunity for more inclusivity throughout.

He made everyone is his image. Image Dei is Latin for "image of God". We are like pictures of God to show the world what he is like.

A picture board book on what it means to be made in the image of God. It doesn't matter what skin color, what race, social standing, intelligence, we are made in the image of God. Important theology for all people and what a fantastic way to introduce your children to that theology. Highly recommend.

A Special thank you to Harvest House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This book explains a major theological point to young children in a way that is simple, plain, and clear. In addition, the illustrations are brightly-colored and attractive to a child’s eye. This would make a great gift for a young child and would allow the parent to guide the discussion as the child inquires.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher and Net Galley but the thoughts expressed are my own.

This book I felt is very straight to the point and could be a useful tool to help start a child's journey with knowing who God is. However I really wanted more in the illustrations and way it was written.

Like the other books in this series, it takes a complex idea and presents it in simple terms that small children can understand. Whether it's strictly necessary for small children to understand what "imago dei" means is up for debate, but the book finds a way to present the concept artfully and tastefully.

This is a book for kids. Young kids, toddler and preschoolers. The short sentences are easy to read for kids.

To those who wonder, here's is my opinion: Imago Dei means The Image of God. We are all created as the image of God. What are the images of God (please read the book to see some examples).? But we are not God, we can't even always show His real image. Why? Because of sin. So how can we become the image of God? With Jesus' help.

So this is a book of becoming an image of God, not what sin is (trust me, it's one big headache teaching sin to kids.). The main idea is becoming a good resemblance of God. And for kids. I already feel grateful that somebody do the explaining instead of me. So yeah, this is a good book for kids.

This board book teaches children that because we are all made in the image of God, we all have equal value and worth. The text explains that when we create and build, take care of the earth, and build families and communities, we are imaging God to the world around us. However, even though this book is well-meaning, covers important points, and has diverse illustrations, it misses the mark in two significant ways.

Firstly, the art is extremely simplistic, and even though the cover appealed to me as great graphic design, the pages inside are not my style at all. I've seen worse, but with so many gorgeously illustrated Christian books on the market these days, it's hard to justify images that look like someone put them together in Paint.

Far more significantly, the book fails to address orthodox Christian teaching about sin, atonement, and reconciliation. The book mentions that because of sin, we sometimes don't reflect God's love correctly, but the text and illustrations sidestep the cross, simply saying that Jesus shows us what God is like and helps us live in a way that honors God. This is all true, but it is incomplete, and parents who are serious about teaching their children about the gospel won't want to spend money on this, when there are other books that explain how Jesus paid for our sin, makes us right with God, and repairs the image of God in us through the atonement and forgiveness of sin. These are all complex concepts that are difficult to introduce to children, but some books do it well, such as "The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross."

Because this book has unappealing illustrations and skips over key aspects of the Christian story, I would not recommend it. There is no way that a board book can cover everything important to someone's religious faith, but if a series is dubbed "Little Seminary," then it needs to cover core, basic doctrines. This book does not address Jesus's payment for our sins at any level, and only presents him as a moral example. If this book was part of a secular publishing series covering the basics of different religions, I could understand why, but because this is a Christian book from a series about different doctrinal concepts, I have a serious issue with this and would not recommend it at all.

I am going to assume that some of the formatting strangeness will be fixed once illustrations are added.
This book explains the concept of the Image of God wonderfully for young children. The message is biblically sound and the language is not overly dumbed down; rather, it is perfectly simplified for the target age group.
My one frustration was the odd formatting of the ARC. Some of the sentences or phrases were out of order, and the capitalization of Imago Dei changed frequently (imago dei, imago Dei, Imago dei, etc.). Otherwise, this was a lovely book that I would love to purchase for any church library, sunday school class, or even my own children one day.

Pros: This book caught my attention because of its title. Not only will young readers learn about how we are all created in God's image even though we may look different or be from a different place, young readers can also learn about how there are different languages we speak and read. I liked that this book included the importance of taking care of the earth and that we can see God in nature and music.

Cons: When I saw the second page of the book where there is one face with the caption "He made everyone in His image," I got nervous that this book would not be inclusive. As I kept reading, I was relieved to see more diversity in the people in the book regarding skin tone. I think this book missed an opportunity to include people with disabilities. Because this book is about how each of us is made in God's image, it is important that any reader of the book sees themself in the images in the book. I can see a young reader being disappointed by looking at the pictures and not seeing anyone who looks like them.

Imago Dei is a board book designed for infants to 4-year-old children, according to the publisher.

The book is colorful and will be attractive to children. On the other hand, this reviewer would question whether the text would be understandable to the intended audience.

What child is going to understand what “Latin” means. Asm another example, one page reads, “We all have the same dignity and worth.” These are terms that would not be understood by most infants to four-year-olds. The text may be more appropriate to those learning English as a Second Language (ESL). For these reasons, I can only give the book three stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

I really enjoyed the message of this book, I think it a great theology to be teaching children. However, the illustrations just aren't done in a style that I particularly love.

Loved the message of equality and inherent humanity for all and that the fact that we are created in God's image means we need to do good and do well on earth.

I don’t remember the last time I saw such a poor illustrated book. The text is so simple that you can go through the book without it. Overall a not a good book. I can not imagine a child that would be ager to read and reread this book