Best Children's Author Nominees 2023

Ezer the Bagel; The Rescue

"Ezer the Bagel" is a fun-loving book series that helps children with life skills that really matter, such as: self-worth, awareness of self and others, resilience, courage, purpose, and more!

Today' s culture has made it more and more challenging for children to walk in the confidence of who they were created to be, and parents need trustworthy resources they can rely on.

Ezer the Bagel book series is an excellent resource every parent can trust.  "The Rescue" is the first book of this wonderful series and it tells the heartwarming story of Ezer's adoption with a message that helps children understand their personal value.

 The Shepherd and the Squirrel

Sammy is not your typical squirrel. He searches for nuts when he has to, but his most favorite thing to do is collect stones. Sammy's strange hobby causes for him to cross paths with a young shepherd named David, who uses these special stones to protect his flock. Follow along on Sammy and David's adventure as it lands them right smack in the middle of a battle against a terrifying giant. David's faith provides a never give up attitude which turns out to be his mightiest weapon of all. 

The Day Walt Met Me

Aleesa St. Julian is a twelve-year-old Christian published author who began writing at the age of four.  She was blessed with an ability to read by the age of one.  God placed on her mother's heart these words about Aleesa, "She is made to delight people in the Lord." Her young life's pursuit has been to glorify God through her many talents. 

The Day Walt Met Me is the sequel to The Day I Met Walt and is based on a true story about a little girl and a friend brought together by God to demonstrate His love and remarkable grace.  Both of them learned that God does not leave us in our times of sadness, but instead He comforts, He loves, and He restores troubled hearts.  Through this simple but remarkable story of fear, bullying, forgiveness, and even death, God proves that He masterfully rebuilds burdened souls and plans it all in advance!

Lucy & the Lake Monster

Lucy Lago is a nine-year-old orphan. She believes that Champ, the Lake Champlain Sea Serpent, lives and lurks in the lake by her cabin in Crown Point. She lives there with her grandpa, who she calls "Papa."  Despite mockery and mercenary forces opposing them, Lucy and Papa determine to venture out on their rickety rowboat and bring awareness of America’s Loch Ness Monster to the world.  Co-written by Academy-Award-considered filmmaker Richard Rossi and retired schoolteacher Kelly Tabor, Lucy and the Lake Monster is a children’s series and soon-to-be feature film that masterfully illustrates how to overcome mental health challenges like worry, depression, and anxiety with childlike faith. 

Fly High: Understanding Grief with God's Help

 Experiencing loss-in the varied ways it comes to us-affects everyone differently. As adults, we have ways to verbalize how we are feeling. Many children, however, lack the vocabulary and the understanding to name the emotions they experience when they go through grief. They just know they are hurting inside. They are feeling sad, angry, lonely, or maybe even scared. These feelings manifest in different ways depending on the age of the children. Our book is about a sister and a brother who love watching a mama bird care for her babies until the unthinkable happens-the mother bird dies. In this story, the reader is taken on a journey through various stages of emotions associated with grief. It ends, however, with baby birds learning to fly, and the promise of hope that is found in new beginnings. With hope-filled language featured in the layered-text format, our desire is that each reader will discover it's okay to have the feelings he or she is having and that, each new day holds healing, hope, and promise.