Also by this author: Shades of Light
Published by IVP Kids on June 25, 2024
Genres: Children's
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Discover the Power of Art, Emotion, and Prayer with Sharon Garlough Brown's Not Finished Yet
Sometimes, you see, Wren and Gran didn't paint flowers or clouds or birds or trees.
Sometimes they painted their feelings.
She and Gran called it "painting prayers."Enter the childhood story of Wren, the beloved character from Shades of Light by Sharon Garlough Brown, in Not Finished Yet, a beautifully illustrated book that helps children explore their emotions and connect with God through honest prayer.
Wren's journey begins in Gran's art studio―a place filled with love, creativity, and encouragement. Through painting, Wren learns to express her feelings and discover God’s presence in every part of life. Together, Wren and Gran share a practice they call “painting prayers,” guiding young readers to see art as a way to explore their emotions and communicate with God.
Accompanied by Jessica Linn Evans' exquisite illustrations, this heartfelt story opens the door to meaningful conversations with children about feelings, faith, and prayer while inspiring creativity with every page.
Complete with a special note from the author, Not Finished Yet offers an opportunity for caregivers to talk about their faith together with children and teaches them that God welcomes honest, heartfelt prayers.
Sharon Garlough Brown writes novels of spiritual formation. Her books float in the liminal space between fiction and non-fiction—they are definitely fiction but their power and purpose go beyond just entertainment. Of course, I think that’s probably what most fiction authors would hope for, but Brown has gone beyond that to create study guides and other non-fiction materials to aide with really grasping the themes of her books. Shades of Light was released in 2019 and revolved around Wren, a social worker who finds herself overwhelmed with life. She finds solace and healing through art, spiritual formation, pastoral care, and therapy. While books with an overt message like this can often come across as clunky or heavy-handed, Brown handled everything with a lightness and grace that, hopefully, showed readers that getting help for mental health is not weakness and that there’s more to therapy than lying on a couch in an office. Now five years later, Sharon Garlough Brown reworks those themes for a young audience in a picture book that takes a look back into Wren’s childhood.
It should go without saying, but Not Finished Yet is a standalone product. It is tied to the Shades of Light world in that it has the same main character and many of the same themes, but young readers aren’t missing out by not knowing about the original story. But those who do know the original story will be blessed to see this touching interaction when a child Wren and her grandmother. It brings life and depth to the world Brown has created. It makes it feel even more like her book world doesn’t just exist between the covers of books but flows out into the real world. It also creates a sense of inter-generationality. Children and adults can enjoy the same characters and talk about the same themes and storylines, share the same experiences, all in a way that is touching and relevant and appropriate to their situations.
In the book, Wren’s grandmother helps Wren use art to work through feelings of disappointment and sadness. It’s a child-appropriate, approachable explanation of art therapy that showcases the value of art as more than just an artistic exercise. Brown also explores the theme of expressing so-called negative emotions. Too often, kids (and adults) are encouraged to suppress negative thoughts and emotions—particularly toward God—and this allows them a pathway toward expressing those emotions in a positive and healthy way.
With art being central to Not Finished Yet, the book’s illustrations are also key to the book’s success. Jessica Linn Evans gives readers a style that captures Wren’s watercolors and gives the characters themselves a sense of realism and vibrancy. The nods to van Gogh are also a nice touch.
Not Finished Yet does for kids what Shades of Light did for adults. It’s a beautiful, touching book and I’m so glad that this message that Sharon Garlough Brown has given for so long to adults can now reach a younger audience.