Today I read a sweet book that stayed with me. The Suitcase by Jane G. Meyer is a simple story that gives adults and children food for thought about what really matters, what do we value above all? The watercolor illustrations by Chiara Pasqualotto complement perfectly the colorful, rich, but simple story. At first we meet the protagonist, Thomas and wonder at the things he does. I expected this to focus on his challenges and areas of struggle, but rather at the end, Thomas is the teacher. In fact, the Sunday School teacher in me was picturing all the lessons I could create from the contents of his suitcase.
This book has spiritual lessons straight from Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom of God. They are not explained in detail, but are alluded to and will be a great springboard for more discussion. Yet, through a subtle choice by the author and illustrator, we see the Kingdom of God in this very family. Thomas has his unique personality that everyone in the family seems used to and comfortable with. One sister seems to be of Asian ethnicity which brought to my mind questions about adoption or blended families. This isn't addressed in the text at all, and I couldn't help but think that in fact, it didn't really matter when what we are talking about is the Kingdom of God, the place where we are all family.
In this sweet tale, we see what it looks like when a family is loving each other, sitting around a table, listening and journeying toward God together.
I received a reading copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.
