“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
James 1:14–15
Lucy and the Saturday Surprise is the fourth book in the TGC Kids series. It teaches children what happens in our hearts when we are envious of others.
It presents a glimpse of how one feels after allowing sin to grow, and it models repentance and restoration in relationships disrupted by envy. In the story, Lucy and her brother Lewis head to the store with their dad early one Saturday morning to buy some candy. Lucy’s chocolate melts in the car while Lewis’ lollipop stays fresh. Clearly, Lucy is disappointed and wishes she chose the lollipop. Instead of deciding to wait until next Saturday to buy a different candy, she lets envy take over and, when Lewis leaves the room, she takes a bite of his lollipop.
Afterwards Lucy feels terrible and wants to hide. Her dad talks with her about envy and its pattern of seeing, coveting, taking, and hiding. Lucy recognizes that the fact that that there is a “pattern” must mean other people struggle with envy too. And she is correct! Before we sin, the enemy wants us to think that everyone does this. After we sin he wants us to feel like we are the only ones who have ever done this. Since there is a recognizable pattern, it must mean that many people struggle with envy. In fact, everyone does.
The use of candy for this book works better than a toy, I believe, because as we all know, both boys and girls like candy. Generally speaking, most boys don’t want to play with dolls (they want action figures), and many girls don’t want to play with cars. While it would be possible to find a gender-neutral toy that both boys and girls could agree on wanting, candy is loved by everyone. Perhaps a little too much, as we see here. We can desire something even as innocent as candy to the point that we take it from others, and then try to hide that we did so. What is great in these books is how the parents get down on their child’s level, speak calmly with them, and bring Scripture in to the discussion. There is no yelling, no threats. The only consequence here was the biblical model of repentance, as it is what one should do after sinning against another person. Sometimes even that can be enough to help prevent someone from stealing from another. Of course our misdeeds show themselves in different ways, but it’s nice to see that something like consequences doesn’t need to be so difficult for parents to come up with. Thankfully here, Lucy’s repentance led to her reconciliation with Lewis, who didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t make a big deal about her taking a bite of his lollipop. In fact, had she just asked, Lewis would have let her take a bite and she could have avoided this whole ordeal. But she learned something good about God in the process.
The book is illustrated well by Samara Hardy. People look natural and not stiff, no matter if they are standing, sitting, eating cookies, or giving a hug. There are also a few scenes where each child from previous TGC Kids books makes an appearance somewhere. The illustrations are very well drawn. Sometimes the background is left out, perhaps so that we will focus on the main characters, their conversation, and what they are thinking and feeling. While this might be the case (I don’t know), I much prefer having the background illustrated on every page. It makes the book feel less empty.
Recommended?
I really enjoy this series, and so do my kids. It’s biblical, well-illustrated, and there is a note to parents at the end of the book about how to talk with your kids about envy. There are innumerable things that can make us feel envy, even us parents. How we model that to our children will help them walk through life without feeling like they are missing out on so much stuff. Stuff that will either take up space in the corner of a room or will just be thrown out later. God also blesses us with good things—like lollipops on a Saturday morning—and we can be thankful for the good things he gives both to us and to others. This book offers an example of how we slowly train our hearts and the hearts of our children to rejoice with those who rejoice rather than envy them.
(Please excuse any typos. Our fourth child—our own Lucy—was born a few weeks ago, and I wrote this review with her wrapped on me in the middle of the night.)
Lagniappe
- Series: TGC Kids
- Author: Melissa Kruger
- Illustrator: Samara Hardy
- Reading Level: 3–8 years
- Hardcover: 40 pages
- Publisher: Crossway (September 19, 2023)
- Previous Reviews in this Series:Meg is Not Alone — Hill/Hardy
Buy it from Amazon or Crossway
Review Disclosure: I received this book free from Crossway. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.
Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
spoiledmilks 
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