Tell Me the Promises

A Family Covenant for Eternity

By Joni Eareckson Tada
with Steve Jensen
Illustrated by Ron DiCianni

Crossway, $15.99

ISBN 0891079041

A Covenant for Family

Review by Leticia Berry

Promise -- a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something; reason to expect something. That's how Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines the word promise. In this day of careless talk and broken pledges, it's a word that may have lost its meaning, at least for many adults. But ask any boy or girl, and they'll tell you promises are made to be kept.

In the beautiful new gift book Tell Me the Promises, Joni Eareckson Tada and Ron DiCianni have combined their great talents in storytelling and art to set forth seven key promises parents want and need to make to girls and boys: the promises of protection, prayer, love, forgiveness, abiding presence, constant truth, and eternal life.

The section for each promise opens with one of DiCianni's gorgeous full-page paintings. More than merely illustrations, the pictures at first capture viewers with their color, tone, and craftsmanship. Upon closer examination, they communicate a message in themselves. For example, in the section that introduces the promise of forgiveness, a painting entitled "The Prodigal" shows a father in biblical dress warmly receiving his son on the road. However, the son is dressed in jeans and shirt, and the rooftops in the background appear to be modern structures.

The stories for the promises were written by Joni Eareckson Tada with Steve Jensen, and they vary from the classic fable to the contemporary. Each is about five pages long and has clear relevance to the promise it demonstrates. They involve both children and adults, and they are unforgettable -- real heart-grabbers.

At the end of each story in Tell Me the Promises is a high-lighted panel entitled "My Promise to You," a place for parents to make, sign, and date promises to their children. The sign of the cross pictured in a red wax seal adds significance, and the book becomes a permanent covenant-making between parent and child, or as the sub-title says, "A Family Covenant for Eternity." There's something truly biblical about that!

Leticia Berry is a mother who keeps her promises from Columbia, TN.