Left Out (Jill Atogwe and Marcin Piwowarski)

Have you ever wondered if, when God was creating you, He left something out?

As kids grow up and start comparing themselves to one another, feelings of inadequacy creep into their hearts.

Did God forget to make me as tall as everyone else?
Why didn’t God make me able to eat the food those kids can eat?
I wonder if God left out my ability to sing like the rest of my family.
Why didn’t God give me straight hair? Pretty skin? Name-brand clothes?

Left Out is a rhyming reminder that while God didn’t give everyone the same bodies or abilities, everything God left out is something He can use to write our stories for His glory. First-time author Jill Atogwe compels kids to believe that God uses what we see as our weaknesses to make us strong. By leaving some things out, we can learn to trust Him instead of ourselves. After all, God sets boundaries for his children in pleasant places (Psalm 16:5–8).

The cute and quirky illustrations show an array of kids of diverse races, varying cultures, different abilities and disabilities, distinct talents, and various socioeconomic statuses.

As kids read and look through the pictures, they’ll see that every child wonders if God accidentally left something out of them. But God doesn’t accidentally do anything; He intentionally created each person differently for His special purpose. By the end of the book, kids will be repeating the book’s chorus,

“What God left out is part of my story;
It’s all for my good and all for His glory!”