That Little Voice in Your Head is a book for children about conscience. It follows Emma, a little girl who loves chocolate, as she learns that her conscience is a gift from God, how she should listen to it, and how she can help it work better by teaching it what is true. Written by Andy Naselli, this is his first book for children, as well as his first book published with CFP, so we wanted to ask him a few questions about himself, and why this is an important topic for children to grasp.
Where do you come from and what do you do?
I was born in California.
I am associate professor of New Testament and theology at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis and one of the elders of Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Can you tell us a bit about your family?
My excellent wife, Jenni, and I have been married since 2004, and God has blessed us with four daughters. Jenni’s university major was Early Childhood Education, and our girls benefit from that every day.
Our family lived in Cambridge, England, for the first half of 2018 while I was on a research sabbatical. Here’s a family picture with King’s College Chapel in the background:
Your book That Little Voice in your Head is coming out soon. What prompted you to write a book about conscience for children?
My friend JD Crowley and I wrote Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ for adults. My daughter Kara, who was eight years old at the time, asked me if I would write a book on the conscience for children. How could I say No to that? So I attempted for write my first children’s book.
The book is aimed at quite young children – do you think this is a concept they’ll grasp fairly easily?
Yes. The gist is easy to understand. Some will discern nuances better than others.
You’ve written a number of books for adults, but this is your first children’s book – did the writing process differ at all?
Yes, in two ways:
1. It did not take nearly as long to draft.
2. It took longer to revise. Seriously. I always request feedback on my writing from a wide spectrum of friends—from those with no formal theological training to professors with PhDs. When I requested feedback on this manuscript, I was surprised to receive so much. My dear friends apparently felt much freer to share their opinions about a book for children. (And I’m grateful.)
What did your daughter think of the book?
Kara thinks it’s decent for a short kids’ book. But she prefers epic series like Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and Red Wall.