The Bad Dream by Nicola Fairbairn and Ruth Hearson

The Rosie & Family series are unique from other children's books by providing biblical counsel in hard everyday situations

‘Joshua was lying in his bed wide awake. A bad dream had woken him up and he couldn’t get back to sleep.’

Having a nightmare is really scary! It can make us feel anxious, worried and upset. In this book Joshua has a bad dream, but he also discovers how what God says in the Bible can help when he’s feeling afraid.

This new series of softback, illustrated books is ideal for two-to seven-year-olds. They cover real life events and show how the Bible can be used to point little-ones to their Heavenly Father in every situation. Through clear illustration and simple language that children will understand, these books share theological truths that will help children become familiar with the Bible and bring gospel help and biblical counsel to families.

Title

The Bad Dream
Author(s)

Nicola Fairbairn and Ruth Hearson
Series

Rosie and family
ISBN

9781912373741
Publisher

10Publishing
Topic

Emotions
Pages

24
Published

01/4/2019

Download a sample

Overall rating

4.3 based on 3 reviews

The Bad Dream

The Bad Dream by Nicola Fairburn combine strong Bible truths with an engaging narrative. Colourful illustrations (by Ruth Hearson) and its short length make it the perfect bedtime story. A lovely little pillow to rest on before sleep. Review taken from Evangelicals Now, Armour Against Anxiety, September 2021

Catherine MacKenzie

I hope there are more books to come, because the initial three are very promising. They look at three common experiences of small children: taking part in Sports Day, preparing to welcome a new sibling and having a bad dream. Each one is written simply, in language which appeals, with a really straightforward message of how what the Bible teaches us about God can help us when we’re feeling proud, nervous, left out or scared. The stories expand upon a problem encountered by Rosie or her brother. When things come to a head, either Mum or Dad are there to listen, provide reassurance, and point them to one or two helpful verses from the Bible. I love the simplicity of these books, and I don’t mean that in a patronising way. They don’t try to do too much and thus go over the head of the children they’re designed for. Each one has a very clear aim: a problem that kids will relate to, followed by a Bible passage which can be easily understood and applied. The Rosie books have a subtler function too: they can provide us parents with some examples of how to share God naturally with our kids, how we can base their understanding of the world on what God has revealed in the Bible, and what kind of language we can use. These stories appealed to my 4 year old boys, who loved the illustrations and could easily follow the clear storyline. Even my 7 year old, who realised she was probably a bit old for the target audience, admitted to enjoying them quite a lot! I would suggest that 2–5s would get the most from the Rosie books, but for an older child with a lower emotional age, I’m sure they would go down well too.

Lucy Rycroft

Bad dreams can be absolutely terrible things for adults, so imagine how bad they must feel for a child? This little book helps small children think about the reality of who God is and how nothing is greater than Him. The book conveys the greatness of God from Isaiah 40:25–26, If God is big enough and powerful enough to create the stars then He’s big enough to look after us when we have bad dreams.