Editor: Lauren Whitman

Subtitle:

When You Feel Guilty

When Halle gets new braces she has trouble saying some words. This irritates her brother Henry and one day he teases her in front of their friends and really hurts Halle’s feelings. Now Henry has this nagging feeling inside that he can’t make go away. He tries to just be nice to Halle, but that doesn’t help anything. When he learns from Mrs. Bixby about guilt and what God wants us to do after we sin, he gains the courage to make things right with God and with Halle. Part of the Good News for Little Hearts series, Henry’s Big Mistake offers concrete, grace-based help for understanding why we feel guilty and what to do when we feel it. 

Edited by Lauren Whitman, Henry’s Big Mistake helps young readers learn that confessing your sins to God is the only way to make guilty feelings go away and stay away. A special section at the end of the book includes a parent help page and the Bible verses referenced in the book are also available as a tear-out page.  

This colorful, beautifully illustrated children’s book invites children ages four through seven into Henry Hedgehog’s world. They will learn alongside him how they can go to God for forgiveness and also go to the one they have hurt—instead of trying to be better or covering up their mistakes. 

Henry’s Big Mistake: When You Feel Guilty is part of the Good News for Little Hearts series for ages three to seven, bringing gospel wisdom and biblical counsel to families. Based on CCEF’s model of hope and help, each story focuses on an animal family’s real-life issues, encouraging young readers toward a growing relationship with Jesus in the midst of challenging circumstances. Each individual story guides parents toward meaningful conversations with their kids, based on what Scripture has to say about living by faith in everyday life.   

With vivid illustrations by Joe Hox and a story children can relate to, even the youngest child will be engaged. Henry’s Big Mistake, along with all of the Good News for Little Hearts books, will become a lifelong gift for parents and children, as well as teachers, biblical counselors, and anyone hoping to provide concrete, grace-based help for young children. 

About the editor:

Lauren Whitman, MA, is a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), where she has served for over a decade. She also serves as the developmental editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling and is the author of A Painful Past: Healing and Moving Forward and A Biblical Counseling Process. Whitman, her husband, and their two children make their home in the Philadelphia area.  

About the illustrator:

Joe Hox was raised on a farm in southern Iowa where he doodled whenever he wasn’t spading thistles or feeding pigs. Everyone knew by his crooked hay rows that he would choose art over farming. Joe earned his BA in art and education from Dordt College, and his MA from the University of Nebraska. Today he lives with his wife and four children in Pella, Iowa, where he illustrates and teaches art. Joe has illustrated all the Good News for Little Hearts series books.