Book Review: "Are We Still Friends?" by Randall Goodgame

One of my favorite things is to harness the power of story when attempting to teach my children important lessons. We have been created by God to relate the most to story and analogy when it comes to understanding new concepts (we see this in Jesus’ insistence on having much of His teaching be done in parable form!), so when a new Slugs and Bugs book comes out, I jump at the chance to read and review it!

In this endearing tale, Sparky and Doug join their friends for Picnic Day, each bringing their favorite snacks and other foods to enjoy. At one point, while Sparky walks away from the picnic to play with other friends, Doug is left in the presence of Sparky’s Flavor-Blasted Pizza Chips, and the temptation is just too great.

Doug first decides it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just try one of Sparky’s chips. Well, that one chip quickly turns into Doug eating the entire bag, all without fully realizing what he was doing until he looks down and the bag is empty.

What follows is Doug’s poor attempts at covering his tracks and shifting the blame onto the other animals there that day. Before long, however, Doug finally comes clean, apologizing to Sparky, and expressing his worry that Sparky won’t want to be friends with him anymore.

The book ends with a most beautiful picture of Christ-like forgiveness and what we should do during the hard times of friendship. If you are wanting to tangibly teach your children the beauty and importance of forgiveness and reconciliation, this book would be a wonderful addition to your family library! I highly recommend it!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.