[SPEAKER_05]: Christian parenting.
[SPEAKER_03]: Welcome to the Bible for Kids Podcast with your hosts, author Trisha Goyer, and author and co-creator of Veggie Tales, Mike Nuraki.
[SPEAKER_03]: If instilling biblical values and kids is important to you, this podcast will give you the resources, wisdom, and hope to do just that.
[SPEAKER_03]: Now let's join our hosts, Trisha, and Mike for this week's episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the Bible for Kids Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Trisha Goyer.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I'm Mike N'Raki.
[SPEAKER_05]: Trisha and I have the pleasure of welcoming author Dominique O'Conquo, author of the Children's Book, God of Wonders.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think I got that pronunciation.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're right.
[SPEAKER_00]: A plus.
[SPEAKER_05]: All right.
[SPEAKER_05]: You're right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, well, like always, we like to start every Bible for kids podcast with a Bible for some mic.
[SPEAKER_05]: And today's verse is taken from Romans 1-20.
[SPEAKER_05]: For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.
[SPEAKER_05]: Through everything God has made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, so they have no excuse for not knowing God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Dominique O'Conquah is an award-winning Haitian American author and writing coach based in Miami, Florida.
[SPEAKER_00]: She draws inspiration from her family's adventures and has received awards from platforms such as Cricket's Reviews and Frider's Digest.
[SPEAKER_05]: Welcome Dominique.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for having me.
[SPEAKER_05]: We'd love to hear a little bit more about your family and your life and Miami, maybe just a little, you know, five minute, not five minute.
[SPEAKER_05]: You don't need to go on for five minutes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, I've born and raised in Miami, Florida, so it's, it's not very common to find people who are born and raised here, because I do.
[SPEAKER_05]: It's like Nashville, Nashville's the same way.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly, most people kind of congregate here, and it's basically a melting pot.
[SPEAKER_01]: My family came over here from Haiti years and years ago, and so aside from the two years, I lived in Texas, I've been here all my life, and so, you know, being born down here definitely spent a lot of time at the beach.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's not a time.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we'll get into how that inspired me to write this latest book.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's funny because I started to, I got my degree in technology and during COVID, you know, this, this aha moment I had when I saw just the devastation and people not being able to live out their purposes.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I had written a bunch of stories.
[SPEAKER_01]: And at that time being home, I said, you know what?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna start publishing this stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just kind of went down as rabbit hole.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was supposed to be one book turned out to be, you know, six books later.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm still doing this.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's so cool.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been definitely a beautiful beautiful journey.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: That's wonderful.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I got to imagine.
[SPEAKER_05]: So when I went off to college, I had the chance to go to either.
[SPEAKER_05]: Southern California, Arizona, or Chicago, and I pick Chicago because I don't know if I could trust myself with with doing homework when they're sunshine available.
[SPEAKER_05]: So I can't imagine being an author and in sunny Miami, it's like, oh, I got to stay inside and write and I can't go hot to the beach today.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, now I'm more and more.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've been doing some writing retreats that are like since being a
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Definitely.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to focus, but it's beautiful here.
[SPEAKER_01]: For sure.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's wonderful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to hear the inspiration behind God of Wonders.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you talked about your family's speech adventures.
[SPEAKER_00]: I talked about how that shaped the story of this mother and son discovering the mysteries of that ocean.
[SPEAKER_01]: yeah for sure so you'll find in all of my stories I'm definitely inspired by my kids I have three now the oldest is 17 and my daughter right after him is 15 and the youngest is nine about to be 10 I can't believe I have one oh well you are in the thick of it yeah right right to that little one I'm just kidding yeah right um but definitely watching them grow
[SPEAKER_01]: Their experiences experiencing life through them has been interesting, even going through the beach and experiencing that through them because I have my own experiences.
[SPEAKER_01]: But then when I watch them make friends and dig in the sand and jump over the waves, it's like, wow, you know, to be a child again is a beautiful thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you miss the the innocence and the wonder and the curiosity and just being able to absorb things and just the pure joy of it all.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I remember just one of our beach days, we spent the whole day pretty much from the morning until sunset and just just taking in everything.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just take we were kind of on the west coast of Florida and Sarasota, Sarasota beaches which are beautiful.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sandbar and we found sand dollars and we found these huge, I found this huge shell which I'm gonna show you guys there and I was like, what in the world is that?
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, that's gorgeous.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just while I was sitting there in my lawn chair, like halfway, you know, elbows deep in the water, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Just enjoying it, you know, like a bath, a warm bath.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just started mentally writing this story.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was important to me because all my stories are faith-based, that not only you would recognize the science of it all, but also the faith part, the wonder of it, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so when you think about just all the things we find at the beach, they're there by design.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing there that's there by accident.
[SPEAKER_01]: The kids were complaining about the seaweed.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, there's so much seaweed.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I don't want it to touch me.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's girls.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then you go back and it's like, well, the seaweed, even the seaweed serves a purpose.
[SPEAKER_01]: And those are some of the things that I talk about in the book for a child to be able to understand.
[SPEAKER_05]: That's wonderful.
[SPEAKER_05]: You can't have sushi without seaweed, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, right.
[SPEAKER_05]: We got seaweed.
[SPEAKER_05]: Great.
[SPEAKER_05]: Well, I want to maybe take off on that point a little bit, you know, that those biblical truths woven into the story.
[SPEAKER_05]: Can you talk about some of those key biblical truths and, you know, especially regarding how science and faith are intertwined?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so like one of the things that comes up in the story is as the main character is sitting with his toes in the sand he's watching the waves roll over him and tickle his nose and his toes are in you know in the sand and he's enjoying that time in the beach and then the the question is well why doesn't the water come over the sand coming to you know over the beach.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so as he goes dive into the water, you see this picture of the seafloor, and he's kind of going in and he finds a sand dollar.
[SPEAKER_01]: So in the back of the book, there are some digital facts.
[SPEAKER_01]: And in that, we talk about why the seafloor shape is what keeps the waters at bay.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's like a big bowl, you know, in the forest.
[SPEAKER_01]: Our social deep to the child, you walk in, and you reach a certain point, and it's like, okay, I can't go any further, but we can't even fathom how deep.
[SPEAKER_01]: the ocean and it's because of that design we're not swallowed up by his waters and we can just swim in it and enjoy it, you know.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so the illustrations and the book shows you as he goes under the water all the fish and the marine life and the seaweed and the shells it's really really beautiful and kind of magical and majestic but also it's by design it's by God's design and it's the science of it all that helps the kid to make sense of it.
[SPEAKER_05]: Wonderful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and that scripture actually got it from the front of a book where it talks about, you know, we see God through creation and we see his invisible quality so these like that shell that you like this amazing things that are everywhere especially at the beach especially in the ocean under the water all those things so talk a little bit about why it's important for children.
[SPEAKER_00]: to learn about God through nature and using their five senses by our colors and all that, the rhythms and all those things where, you know, they would just see a beach, but we can help them kind of see God's hand in it
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and that's a great question.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, when kids start to learn, what did they do once they start to be able to use their fingers?
[SPEAKER_01]: They put everything they're mouth, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: They're attracted to noise, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: They observe us on our phones all the time.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they naturally, they want it to, they cry for it, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it was important to me to make sure that when you go to the beach, it's such a, it is a five-cent experience.
[SPEAKER_01]: You hear the waves, you can feel the sand, you can feel the sun on your face.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you can taste the salt water or, you know, you're bringing stuff in the joy of your very rarely, especially as a child.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're not there by yourself.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so being able to just kind of help the child to recognize that, and then the back of the book is there's a charge.
[SPEAKER_01]: The last page is when you're out in adventure like me, take some time and wonder, you know, see what you can see.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because God's wonders are all around you.
[SPEAKER_01]: You just have to pause and take a moment to be intentional to notice, you know, like,
[SPEAKER_01]: the new things that you see.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's true, that scripture starts off in the beginning of the book.
[SPEAKER_01]: And what it basically tells you is like, we can see God every single day.
[SPEAKER_01]: He reveals himself to us in nature.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, when I do school visits, I ask the kids, one of the questions I ask them is, what are their wonders that are not in the book?
[SPEAKER_01]: Stop that make you say, wow, and when I hear the kids' response, I'm like, man, they understand this already.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just connecting the dots.
[SPEAKER_01]: Those say things like, oh, it's all the different kind of flowers.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're right.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's so many variations in colors.
[SPEAKER_01]: God is an artist, you know, and we enjoy them.
[SPEAKER_01]: We snip them.
[SPEAKER_01]: We give them as gifts.
[SPEAKER_01]: But for a child to just make that connection on their own and say, yeah, you know, God has created this for me to enjoy is it's a beautiful thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And in my goal is just to make sure that these stories will help children to just kind of hold on through that as they walk through their life until
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, because it seems like kids sort of unlearn those things.
[SPEAKER_05]: They just sort of naturally drawn to them as kids, as kids, those questions that come naturally, those things that they pay attention to from their curiosity.
[SPEAKER_05]: And as they get older, you know, we just kind of learn to, you know, not see those things.
[SPEAKER_05]: So it's really, really good to be reminded of that.
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, that's so cool.
[SPEAKER_05]: So it is time for a short break.
[SPEAKER_05]: So we're gonna take a break and we'll be right back on the Bible for kids.
[SPEAKER_05]: What if you could empower kids to engage with the gospel?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Inspired by the animated film, guided by John, Jesus, disciple and friend, children journey from creation to revelation, discovering how every story points to Jesus, the light of life.
[SPEAKER_05]: With vibrant papercut illustrations, engaging stories, and space for reflection and prayer, this beautifully crafted Bible storybook invites kids to explore God's salvation story for themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: Light of the world Bible storybook is available wherever books are sold.
[SPEAKER_00]: This Easter experience the resurrection story through a fresh and powerful perspective.
[SPEAKER_05]: God's colorful Easter by noted biblical scholar Isama Kali invites children into the Easter story through the eyes of Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried Jesus's cross.
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[SPEAKER_00]: God's colorful Easter is available now, wherever books are sold.
[SPEAKER_05]: from the co-creator vegetals and the voice of Larry the cucumber comes in all new Dead Sea squirrels adventure.
[SPEAKER_05]: By the way, that's me.
[SPEAKER_00]: When Michael and Justin are forced to hide Merle and Pearl's identities in a class presentation, they turn to AI to generate odd squirrel stand-ins, Uncle, Merge, and Anne Purge.
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[SPEAKER_05]: Don't miss Cybersquirrels, book 13 in the Dead Sea Squirrel series, available April 7th wherever books are sold.
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the Bible for Kids, Mike and I are here with Dominique O'Conquel.
[SPEAKER_05]: All right, pronounce in her names like Champs, all right.
[SPEAKER_05]: All right, Dominique, you mentioned the, did you know section at the end of the book?
[SPEAKER_05]: And there are kind of science facts.
[SPEAKER_05]: Can you maybe talk a little bit more about that and maybe how parents can use God of Wonders book as a discipleship tool, maybe to start conversations?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, for example, there's one fact about a hermit crab and the one of the facts is did you know that hermit crabs are great recyclers?
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't grow their own shell.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so as they grow and I tell kids the analogy is like when you grow out of your school uniforms, your parents have to get you bigger ones because you need a bigger you need something to cover you.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so the hermit crabs do the same thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: They find the shells that are naturally created by the coral and the sand on the water.
[SPEAKER_01]: and they use those shells until they're too small and then they find the bigger.
[SPEAKER_01]: So someone else can use the shell.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it not only does the server purpose for them to have a home and it serves the perfect purpose for them to have protection.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so God designed that, the understanding that these crabs
[SPEAKER_01]: needed to be protected.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so God will pay so much attention to the smallest crab and making sure that they're okay and they can be protected.
[SPEAKER_01]: How much more would he do that for you?
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's a scripture says even the of the birds of the air, I think in Matthew Sixer, do not worry about anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: He talks about, you know, he could take care of the birds.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why not take care of you?
[SPEAKER_01]: Every little hair on your head.
[SPEAKER_01]: and so just making the connections that God loves you if not more than all of the things that he's created and you're a wonder just like all the other things that he's created is a wonder.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, it's beautiful.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, I love what I love about children's books, you know, this is the connection because the parent has a child on a love or sitting inside by side, kids gathered around.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's that connection, but there's also the message and the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what do you hope children walk away with when the parent or they read your book?
[SPEAKER_00]: regarding the just the joint discovery and just those images because also the illustrations is just so, so much beauty.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can even picture kids just even flipping through it and like it those illustrations.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you hope they walk away with after reading this book?
[SPEAKER_01]: you know I want them to really be grateful for what God has given us to enjoy.
[SPEAKER_01]: I also want them to understand that we have to protect it you know.
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the things we talk about at school visits is just the amount of plastics, hermit crabs could move into a water bottle if they don't have anything else available.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we want to really take care of what God has given us, this planet, and also to just pause and really take in our surroundings, especially now, like everybody's walk around with their pet in their hands, they're looking at their phones and kids at a younger age or getting cell phones, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: It's kind of scary, you know, see a five-year-old six-year-old walking around in their own personal cell phone device.
[SPEAKER_01]: but so it's just one of those things like let's go outside let's see what kind of wonders we can find today you know like oh have you ever seen a rock this color or and it's good to be curious ask questions like as parents when the child asks you why is this guy blue you know these are questions we want to if we don't know the answer we have the resources and the tools look these things up
[SPEAKER_01]: But curiosity is such an important thing, especially as children grow because this helps them with their confidence and their knowledge, their conversation skills.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just want to encourage parents to answer all the questions.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's good for kids to be curious.
[SPEAKER_01]: We want them to explore.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just don't want, you know, as time goes on for children to lose that, that, you know, part of themselves because it's there naturally.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: Absolutely.
[SPEAKER_05]: Could you talk a little bit and I know as authors, we all have our story in terms of, you know, what really motivates us.
[SPEAKER_05]: But can you talk about your faith and how that influences your writing process and kind of, you know, maybe what drew you into writing and kind of what drives you to do that?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think, you know, the kids, again, inspire me to, to write, I remember during COVID going to the bookstore and looking through the, the Christian books.
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, you know, you have a million books in the bookstore, but the Christian books is like two shelves.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
[UNKNOWN]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you go through those two shows and like half of them are kids' bibles, which is great, you know, but I have a couple of those already.
[SPEAKER_01]: What else?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so you go through the rest of the stories and they're the same, you know, Jonah and the well and Noah's, you know, Noah's arc and so it's like, well this is, this is good, these stories are relevant.
[SPEAKER_01]: But where are the practical stories for kids, where they can really,
[SPEAKER_01]: insert their name and say, oh, this happens to me and where are those stories that can really teach them to everyday life experiences?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I said, well, I can write some of those because I have some thoughts on that and so as an adult, I look for, for, you know, faith-based books.
[SPEAKER_01]: and devotionals that can take me practically through life situations and encourage me in that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I read those scriptures.
[SPEAKER_01]: Those are important.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I enjoy reading stories that help me to say, yeah, when I'm angry or when I'm sad or when I have a lack of faith, these are the things that I need to consider.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, I'm sure kids will enjoy that as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they do.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so that occurs to me, you know what, if you told me, Tony Morrison has a quote that says, if you don't see the books that you want to read, write them.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I remember reading that for the first time, and I was just like, oh my gosh.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I'm gonna read it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Challenge accepted.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, it was a leap of faith because I, you know, again, I didn't go to school for writing or anything like I've always written stuff and so I did do some training and I went through some courses and I just started because you know, I do have a personal conviction to just do the things that God has put on my heart to do.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a reason why you have these.
[SPEAKER_01]: you're inspired in these ways and it's like it's for you to see okay I'm going to take that forward even if I'm scared or I'm not quite sure how to do it and so I'm just glad that I went I went with that gut feeling through faith by faith and to end up where I am today is it is a blessing.
[SPEAKER_05]: That's so great.
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you have the book there that you're going to read some?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah for sure.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's just start from the beginning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so thank you, start from the beginning.
[SPEAKER_05]: Okay, hold on, hold on.
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm gonna grab my blanket, I'm gonna black grab my blanket.
[SPEAKER_01]: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait
[SPEAKER_01]: I leave for my shoes and dash onto the sand, bucket and shovel held tight in my hand.
[SPEAKER_01]: I pause at the point where the sea cannot pass, where the sea lead lines up like a patch of green grass.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why is the sea lead surrounding my feet?
[SPEAKER_01]: The beach is much better when it's clean and neat.
[SPEAKER_01]: Fish find it comfy, a snug cozy stay, a safe place for resting both night and day.
[SPEAKER_01]: I watch as a waves rise and tumble so close.
[SPEAKER_01]: They sprinkle my nose and watch sand from my toes.
[SPEAKER_01]: God shaped the sea floor to keep waves away.
[SPEAKER_01]: I find my first wonders to start off the day.
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, that's that's wonderful.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I get it is I love I just like look around look around like You just uncovers all kinds of stuff and the pictures are really really really visually beautiful like the kid Even without the words if they just flip through the pages, they'll understand what's going on because it's very clear You in his expression in the colors That that he's just exploring and finding things so
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: That's so wonderful.
[SPEAKER_05]: Well, so what would you say to parents who want to raise their kids with strong biblical values, but maybe you don't know where to start, you know, especially when it comes to planting those seeds early in childhood?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think, you know, consistency is probably the best thing, you know, and you start with the little things like I have a friend of mine, she's like 80 something years old and there's one thing she told me a few years back is I want a simple faith.
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, sometimes we over-complicate what that means, you know, what faith is, what God is expressed for, and she's like, you know, I just want to be able to pray and listen to good Christian music, gospel music, and to read my Bible, you know, and it's like, all that of stuff is great.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so for for children, it's the same thing, you know, we can start with just a simple faith.
[SPEAKER_01]: praying for dinner, praying before bed, reading fake-based stories, watching good television programs, really paying attention to what they're absorbing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then if you're part of a local church or community, making sure they're plugged in into kitsch church and things like that is also very helpful because this is where they build bonds and friendships.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I don't think it requires much more than that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, when we can teenagers, there's a whole different story, but Yeah, which is what you're going through right now, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: It helps because, you know, scripture leaders says if you raise a child in a way, they go, they, they should go, they'll never depart from it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that I think it plant those seeds early on.
[SPEAKER_01]: They can hold on to that stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: And regardless of whatever happens, they will always come back to God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I truly, truly believe that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, it's just like keep a simple, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love how those childhood books, you're talking about reading stories to them how much they mean I was going through like we moved clean and stuff out and my daughter who lives in Europe, it's like mom don't get rid of any books.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like go through that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, being photos and saying she lives in Europe, she comes to come back and July, but like which ones do you want to keep get she takes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sue cases a book just two kids home with her kids just like I love this one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like I didn't think much of that book.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean but the little seeds of faith that they They love and through story it's just it's meaningful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now she's gonna be passing those on She's already has some of the other books passing it on to her kids and I love that But you did talk about the illustrations what what was the like working with the illustrator did you you know Did you see things did you had changes made how was the process of working with the illustrator on this book
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, this particular illustrator, she really took the ball in and ran with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: She didn't need much art direction.
[SPEAKER_01]: Typically, the publisher will help to find like a batch and then they'll send samples and then the publisher will rate and I will rate.
[SPEAKER_01]: In this go round, we rated the same illustrator as number one.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, stars align, meaning that they're available and it's within the budget and they work.
[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, you send them the manuscript with some notes, maybe you paste some pictures in there and you hope that when they send you their first feed sketches, they're on target.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I really didn't have a lot of notes for her, just little things, like, you know, the light, lighthouse was on the left, now it's on the right, you know, we got to make sure there's consistency and things like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you could tell from her body it works that it's her style to draw very whimsical and very magical.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so she really did do a good job of making sure that that kind of translate it in the book.
[SPEAKER_01]: Even though it's not a magic book, but you know, about magic steam and what that looks like.
[SPEAKER_01]: A friend of mine who read this, who just got her copy in because the book was just released.
[SPEAKER_01]: Since all the pre-orders were shipped out, she said it reminded her of heaven on earth.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, wow.
[SPEAKER_05]: I didn't think of that, you know what I was like yeah, well, it like all I would need is the beach has some mingles and I'm good You know the beach has some mingles I'm set I love that Yeah, when my wife was pregnant with her second child all she would eat his mangoes
[SPEAKER_05]: So it was heaven for her.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if I can only one food, that would be mangoes.
[SPEAKER_05]: I love it.
[SPEAKER_05]: So Dominique, what finally what else is next for you?
[SPEAKER_05]: And are you working on another book?
[SPEAKER_05]: What's sort of your next project?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, I always have stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: I have a few stories floating out right now that I'm hoping some publishers are going to want.
[SPEAKER_01]: One is a devotional on the names of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we know God has many names.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yahweh, Shadai, just, and so explaining those names through scripture and through practical stories.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, girl wakes up, her stomach hurts, all kinds of things.
[SPEAKER_01]: I wrote another story about
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a personifying the rainbow, rainbow is a character, store clouds are the the the bad guys, you know, the sun comes up the moon and so it's just this whole, you know, production of
[SPEAKER_01]: a beautiful day that gets ruined by the storm clouds and it just talks about why Dodd his thing got for rainbows is the name of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's put into perspective why God God's promise with the rainbow.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a fun story, but there are also some digital facts on the back of that as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I like to put STEM, you know, science and faith together.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I actually wrote a bit of great novel that is also being looked at right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: which is more of a pivot, but that one is definitely more of a multicultural story about a girl who travels a Haiti for the first time.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm excited about that because there's a lot of nuggets in there as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I write notes in my phone.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are definitely around the holidays when there's more downtime.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll start to actually put things on paper.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I write mentally sometimes, like I'll be chewing on a story for a while and I'll have a thought and I'll take a note because it's okay, in my mind I have to kind of flush it out before I actually sit in front of sitting from the computer usually the last step for me and things go pretty quickly after that.
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, wow.
[SPEAKER_05]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, it's the opposite for me.
[SPEAKER_05]: Usually I can't.
[SPEAKER_05]: I think better with my fingers with venom with my brain.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because, you know, the situation would happen.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, oh, I didn't think of her or, you know, I just appreciate kind of moves around.
[SPEAKER_01]: I kind of ran in my mouth.
[SPEAKER_01]: My mouth a little bit for actually spit it out.
[SPEAKER_04]: Don't only get it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: So um, don't think thank you so much for joining us today, but before we go, can you share with listeners where they can connect with you online or they can learn about God of Wonders and your other books?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, for sure, so definitely on social media as D.O.K.
[SPEAKER_01]: writes, that's my initials and then writes the WRITES.
[SPEAKER_01]: I also do have my website, DomNecalCompo.com.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I encourage everyone to subscribe to the newsletter because I blog on my site as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I wanted one of my most popular ones is about the Daniel Fast that I did a couple of years ago.
[SPEAKER_01]: and the effects that had on me, and so, those were the easiest ways, social and in my website, and I'm usually pretty responsive, but I'd love to connect with everyone, yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: wonderful.
[SPEAKER_05]: And O'Conquill is okay, O and K W O.
[SPEAKER_05]: If you want to go to that website.
[SPEAKER_05]: So, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_05]: Listeners, be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram at the Bible for kids.
[SPEAKER_05]: The Bible for kids is now a 501 C3 nonprofit.
[SPEAKER_05]: And we'd love to have you join us in our mission of reaching kids with the message of the Bible.
[SPEAKER_05]: Visit thebibelforkids.com to explore our store, donate, or learn more today.
[SPEAKER_05]: Dominique, thank you so much once again.
[SPEAKER_05]: We'll see you next time.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thanks for listening to the Bible for Kids Podcast with Trisha Goyer and Mike Nurekki.
[SPEAKER_03]: Be sure to connect with the Bible for kids on Instagram, Facebook, and at the Bibleforkids.com.
[SPEAKER_03]: The Bible for Kids Podcast is powered by the Christian Parenting Podcast Network.
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