BookOpinion

Some holiday party hosts have that special touch. You know they have the gift of hosting when you look around the home, you talk to him or her, you mingle…and all of a sudden you realize there’s a warm glow all around.

A few Christmas seasons ago, I was at a party with just such a host. The evening get together of friends, food, and good cheer was already a hit and winding down. The host then called everyone into the living room and announced that she was going to read from a book.

“Every day the small wooden people called Wemmicks do the same thing: stick either gold stars or gray dots on one another. The pretty ones - those with smooth wood and fine paint - always get stars. The talented ones do, too. Others, though, who can do little or have chipped paint, get ugly gray dots. Like Punchinello.”

You could hear a pin drop. And by the time our host had finished reading “You Are Special,” most in the room had a tear or two. The host hit a home run. Max Lucado’s classic childrens book about Punchinello and his meeting with Eli, the woodcarver, made an incredible impression on us adults.

That’s what I’ve found out about many of Lucado’s books, either childrens or adults…they make an impact. His writing is clear and concise, simple but riveting, and reveals a message all should receive.

About the author from MaxLucado.com:

Max Lucado has touched millions with his signature storytelling writing style. Awards and accolades follow Max with each book he writes. Max is the first author to win the Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year three times—1999 for Just Like Jesus, 1997 for In the Grip of Grace and 1995 for When God Whispers Your Name. In 2005, Reader’s Digest dubbed him “America’s Best Preacher.” In addition, he has been an ECPA Gold Medallion finalist with more titles than any other author in the industry.

In 1994, he became the only author to have 11 of his twelve books in print simultaneously appear on paperback, hardcover and children’s CBA bestseller lists. Lucado set a new industry record by concurrently placing nine different Word Publishing titles on the CBA Hardcover Bestseller List in both March and April 1997. Max Lucado is a fixture on the national bestseller lists – a Max Lucado title has appeared on the CBA hardcover bestseller list every month for the past dozen years. He has appeared on the Publishers Weekly, USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists. He has won eight ECPA Gold Medallion awards.

Here’s some titles of Lucado’s books that follow the Wemmicks and Punchinello:

You Are Special
Punchinello and the Most Marvelous Gift
If Only I Had a Green Nose
You Are Mine

- Alexander