Let Me Hold You Longer by Karen Kingsbury

Let Me Hold You Longer, written by Karen Kingsbury and illustrated by Mary Collier, is a book that every mother and father should read.  It tells the story of a mom that starts thinking about all the firsts with her little one - like the first step, the first word, etc. - but ends up thinking about all the lasts - like the last bedtime story, etc. - that will quickly pass without her realizing it.

I found this book in the children's section of our library but while I was reading it I kept thinking that it really is more of a book for Mom's than it is for children. I bawled my way through this one!  Seriously, I could hardly read I was crying that much.  Anna kept asking me what was wrong, but I kept thinking about my three older children who are all young adults now and how I had missed all their lasts.  In spite of my emotional breakdown, Anna did enjoy the book and I did manage to hold it together more during future readings.

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite Christian writers and I've read many of her Christian fiction books but I didn't know that she wrote books for children too.  I will be watching for more of them.

I found a Let Me Hold You Longer Promo on YouTube where you can hear Karen talk about the inspiration for the book and hear her read the book while the illustrations of the book are shown.

I am including this in my list of Christian Themed books because the author is known for writing books with a Christian emphasis but this book is really one that any parent will appreciate.