Based on author Rachel Joy Welcher’s experiences, this gentle, compassionate picture book assures children (and adults) that God never leaves them so they don’t need to be anxious. As a child, Welcher was afraid of the dark and, when she woke up in the night, her fears overwhelmed her. When her pare
Note: The Banner has a subscription to republish articles from Religion News Service. This interview by Kathryn Post was published on March 27, 2026, on religionnews.com. It has been edited for length and Banner style.(RNS) — Seven years after first airing, the mega-hit biographical Jesus drama The
Shooting Up isn’t, as I first assumed, a memoir of a drug addict. This is author Jonathan Tepper’s wild, loving, and harrowing story of growing up as a missionary kid among heroin addicts. Billed as a mix of Angela’s Ashes and The Cross and the Switchblade, this memoir lives up to both titles. It’s
Author Jaime C. Finn is the founder and president of Foster the Family, a U.S.-based national nonprofit that serves vulnerable children and the foster families with whom they find shelter, and other initiatives to assist foster families. God Loves Kids is based on her experiences as a foster parent
A young girl knows that Jesus was once a child like she is now. She imagines what it would be like if Jesus came to her school for a day. How would Jesus act? What would he say? What would she show Jesus?Author April Graney’s playful, rhyming text and illustrator Yana Kozak’s cheerful, bright pictur
It’s been 14 years since the trio Point of Grace offered a new full-length album, but the wait is over. The 10-track recording Lady Wisdom features the beautiful harmony and God-centered focus that helped the group capture 27 No. 1 songs and 13 Dove Awards.“The older we get, the more we see pain and
For those who want to go deeper into the spiritual practice of hospitality, this loving book holds a gentle invitation to go beyond entertaining to cultivating a posture of welcome, at home and out and about.Spiritual director Laura Baghdassarian Murray draws on the hospitality of her Armenian cultu
Amanda Janson’s debut record, Sinner to Saint, provides an intimate, vulnerable look into the singer/songwriter’s life. “Sinner to Saint is written as a journey,” Janson said in a release. “It starts in tension, doubt, and broken places, then slowly walks toward surrender, healing, and identity in C
Abigail loves “first Saturdays”—the first Saturday of each month when she and her younger brother and parents go for a nature hike, often to their favorite place, a waterfall deep in the woods. As they make their way beneath huge trees and over large rocks, Abigail thinks about what her parents taug
When Stephanie Miller was 16 years old, her parents died in a car crash. The Amish teen was forced to live with her aunt and uncle, a dour couple who compelled her to do most of the household chores and to care for their growing family. Keeping a tight rein on the young woman, they allowed her to go
Matthew Goode translates his standard sardonic character into a new version in Dept. Q: a PTSD-riddled detective making lemonade from the lemons he’s been given.Detective Carl Morck is not a nice guy when we meet him. He’s not likable or sympathetic. And then—that moment that changes everything arri
Lynn Austin is well known for her historical and biblical fiction, with more that 2.5 million copies of her books sold through the years. Her newest is sure to continue that trajectory as she takes on a dual-timeline story. She also stays close to her West Michigan home, setting her novel in an 1873
Illustrator Evan Turk’s exquisite, brilliant artwork and author Sandra Neil Wallace’s poignant, historically relevant narrative capture the extraordinary life of a Ukrainian girl who grew up in anonymity, yet became the driving force to keep the Ukrainian art of pysanky alive throughout the world.As
Jonathan Cain, member of the popular 1970s and ’80s rock band Journey (which still tours widely today), offers the Christian solo project, “Only a Prayer Away.” The six-selection EP showcases Cain’s signature piano abilities and gives listeners a rock-and-roll feel.Pastor Greg Laurie inspired the ti
In their thought-provoking exploration of the nature of work lived out in a fallen world within God’s good boundaries of finitude, authors David Buschart and Ryan Tafilowski critique the faith and work movement, pointing out that a theology of work for the real world needs to be grounded, not in the
If you’re looking for a masterclass on the craft of writing, look no further than Marilyn McEntyre’s new book Start with a Word. This author of numerous books on faith and language—including Word by Word: A Daily Spiritual Practice and Make a List: How a Simple Practice Can Change Our Lives and Open
Author Sarah Shin, a Korean American theologian, and her husband, illustrator Shin Maeng, creators of the children’s picture book, The Deliverer Has Come: A Christmas Story, join forces once again to share the good news of Jesus’ redemptive work for the nations and the cosmos.Young Anastasia and her
Are we still brave even if we are pushed or forced to do something incredibly hard? That’s a question reverberating through Project Hail Mary, a movie meant to be seen in theaters if there ever was one.Another way to pose the question is this: How do we show up for ourselves and others when in the m
Based on author Esau McCaulley’s recently published God’s Colorful Kingdom Storybook Bible, this picture book relates the story of the first Easter from the perspective of Simon of Cyrene.In his introduction to Simon and Jesus, McCaulley invites children to think about their perceptions of heroes: “
Author and poet Kathleen Norris, well known for The Cloister Walk, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, and many other books, invites readers into an intensely personal narrative about her life with her younger sister, Rebecca Sue.When Rebecca Sue—called Becky by her