In this episode we talk with Marianne Hering and her fun books for Focus on the Family’s Imagination Station Series that make history come to life for older elementary children.
Our Guest: Marianne Hering
Marianne Hering was a founding editor of Focus on the Family Clubhouse magazine. Since then she’s been writing for children and editing Christian books for adults. Find out more about the Imagination Station book series that has sold more than 1 million copies at MarianneHering.com. You can also get the free Yak phonics book by clicking on “early readers.”
Books Discussed in This Episode:
Transcript with Links:
Terrie:
Welcome to “Books That Spark,” a podcast for parents and caregivers, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions and discussions leading to teachable moments with our kids. Today we have a special guest, Marianne Hering, and she has written so many books that are just wonderful to read. They’re so much fun, and I can’t wait for her to share with us today about her books. Thank you for joining us today, Marianne.
Marianne:
Oh, it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Terrie:
You write a lot of Christian historical fiction for older children, and it’s through Focus on the Family, correct?
Marianne:
Yes. It’s Focus on the Family, and they co-publish with Tyndale.
Terrie:
Okay. And it’s the Imagination Station history-based stories.
Marianne:
Yes. They’re historical fiction.
Terrie:
What age group are those geared toward?
Marianne:
Really readers seven and up, but my target audience is really 10 and 11-year-old boys.
Terrie:
Okay. So tell us about, you’ve written quite a few, tell us about the books you’ve written.
Marianne:
Oh my goodness. I’ve really just tried to zero in on like, one day or one event in Christian history and kind of go deep into that day or that event for kids. I recently did Magellan. I found out that he landed on an island in what is now the Philippines, and he preached and like 500 people accepted the Lord, and then he did a healing, and it was a really exciting healing because they didn’t want to get rid of the idols in the room. And he said, Well, get rid of the idols, I’ll pray for him, and if he’s not healed, you can chop my head off.
Terrie:
Wow.
Marianne:
I really kind of just, when I read that, I had to write a book for it, and then unfortunately he dies later, but
Terrie:
Yeah,
Marianne:
I usually don’t do death. I’ve done a few deaths, but it just happened. That was the part of the story where he died. It was at the very end of his life. So, but anyway, that just, that just was just really brave. And so I wanted to highlight that. And I also tried to show he was a very flawed individual, so I tried to, to show people as they are in history with their, you know, strengths and weaknesses so that everybody who reads them knows that they really need God, that they’re- I mean, there are human heroes, but there’s no one like Jesus. So I try not to do hagiography, which just makes them, you know, perfect. And
Terrie:
Yeah.
Marianne:
All that. So,
Terrie:
Well, I wondered about that, and I mentioned it to you in an email, you know, how do you write historical fiction for children? Because there are so many flaws, there are so many tragic things that happened in history. How do we approach that for children in an appropriate way?
Marianne:
Right. Well, I just try and stay away from, you know, being too dark, but it got hard. The reason I chose Magellan, I was looking to cover somebody in the Middle Ages, and there was just nobody that was like, I don’t know, a real, you know… Somebody to model, you know, kids to model their lives after. And I’m not sure you could model your life after Magellan, because I think we have discovered all the continents now, but, I’d be surprised if there was one sitting out there. So yeah, I have to pick my stories very carefully. You know, I have side plots going on, you know, I’ve got time travelers and they, you know, Patrick and Beth have their own problems. You know, I try to show like I did the Pilgrims, and I tried to show their tension with the Indians, but also that they, you know, resolve them even though they stole their corn in the beginning. So you just have to tell the whole story. And so usually history is pretty faithful in showing human flaws. So you just get it out there, that the people are trying and that there’s a battle out there and it’s worth fighting for.
Terrie:
I’ve been reading your book, one of your newest ones out about Lincoln and his family, and I love how you get to meet his children and all of that through the story. Can you tell us about that one?
Marianne:
Ah, yeah, well, there was, I kind of did a Civil War and I just fell in love with Lincoln. So when he got inaugurated there, it was very scary because he was a very unpopular president from the beginning. And on the train ride there were bombs and everything. And so I wanted to tell that story. And then it also had Allan Pinkerton in it, and I kind of got really kind of in love with Allan Pinkerton. He was such a fascinating man. And Kate Warren was the first female detective, so it was just an exciting time, wanted to show him. And also Mary Lincoln, she gets a bad rap. She really was the backbone of the anti-slavery thing. She really pushed him. She was an abolitionist. She grew up in the south, but she would help slaves leave her own home. She would put food out into the forests so that they could, you know, continue to eat till they could run away. So anyway, that wasn’t in the book, but I just wanted also to show a reasonable Mary Lincoln.
Terrie:
I love that. That was one thing I did notice in the book too.
Marianne:
Yeah, she’s often portrayed as just really out there. And she did have her bad moments, but you got to understand, her husband was shot in front of her, her son, you know, people were dying all over. It was just a very, very stressful time, and I’m not sure any one of us could have done any better.
Terrie:
Wow, yeah, that’s true. That’s good. Well, how many total have you written for this series?
Marianne:
I’m working on 31. There were three that I didn’t do, Sheila Seifert, and I’m blanking on the other woman’s name wrote them. They were, I think the late twenties, 27, 25, and 26. Paul’s shipwreck. And then, I can’t remember the other two, but all the other ones I’ve either written or co-written, I just find it easier to write them by myself. So now I’m just writing them all by myself and I just finished one on Noah’s Ark.
Terrie:
Oh, fun.
Marianne:
Which was so much fun, because I got to put the giants in there, and giants are always fun to write about, so I guess, yeah, I give you more giants.
Terrie:
So you cover history from biblical history up to, how much into modern history have you gone?
Marianne:
You know what, I have gotten into the sixties with the Fear of the Spear, oh wait, or maybe it was the late fifties. The Alka is in Ecuador, and the Jim Elliott, I can’t remember the first, it’s not Steve Saint, Steve Saint was the son, but anyway, they martyred him. I got there and then right now I’m doing 1960, I’m doing Bible smuggling into Russia.
Terrie:
Oh, wow.
Marianne:
So that’s the latest. And it makes me nervous because some of these people could still be alive. And I like for the In Fear of the Spear, I had to get the Saints family permission. That was a delightful experience. They’re wonderful. So yeah. So people are alive. It just makes it all that much more difficult.
Terrie:
How cool. Well, it sounds so fascinating. Well, and Brother Andrew just passed away, and we need to tell his story some more.
Marianne:
Yeah. So yeah, I’m focusing on- I’m not making it him, but a character like him passing off Bibles in Red Square.
Terrie:
Wow. Oh, how fun. Okay.
Marianne:
It is fun. It was, it’s a lot of fun to do the research and then actually see photos, and I didn’t really know how strongly they were indoctrinating the kids. I just thought they kind of made it hard for the churches, but they were indoctrinating kids in the school and telling them, “Oh, you know, if your mom or dad prays, or they read the Bible or whatever, just humor them and you know, you’re not going to change them, but it, you know, God’s not real.”
Terrie:
Yeah. Oh, it’s the same now in both Korea and China. South- I mean, North Korea, they encourage children to turn in their parents. And in China it’s- the indoctrination is just so strong. It’s an active process they’re working on to harden children’s hearts against anything that has to do with God. It’s just heartbreaking.
Marianne:
It was pretty bad. I haven’t quite finished my thing and they had a little club, I’m trying to remember what it was. My father-in-law was in Hitler youth, but they weren’t so they were more pro Hitler, less anti-God. They just kind of tried to kind of sandwich Hitler in with God.
Terrie:
Yeah.
Marianne:
They didn’t try to eradicate God, but uplift Hitler. But yeah, that, in Russia it was very much like your comrades are your, you know, you’re supporting everybody else and who needs God, the community will take care of you. Some of the other books, the missionaries, The Battle for Cannibal Island is one of my favorite. Those Methodist missionaries that went to Fiji were just amazing. They were all in. And it’s very humbling to know what they sacrificed to preach the gospel to cannibals. You know, who could easily be seen as the least of anybody in society. Who would want to go and convert a cannibal? Certainly no monetary gain.
Terrie:
No, for sure.
Marianne:
So I’m looking for something set in Australia. I really want to have a kangaroo on the cover of a book. And I’m also looking for a story with a balloon, a hot air balloon in it.
Terrie:
Oh, how fun.
Marianne:
I want to draw it on the cover. So that’s how sometimes how I pick my stories is, I’ll think of a really exciting cover scene, and I’ll write a book to match it.
Terrie:
Oh, that’s kind of fun. I love that. And you also write early readers, some phonics type books. Can you tell us about those?
Marianne:
Yeah, thanks for asking. I’m going to start launching those. My friend Laurie Scott and I did a phonics book on yaks–that short a–because nobody ever does yaks. We wanted something different besides cats and rats and bats, and we wanted to get that ck in there. So anyway, we wrote a book on yaks and we’re going to do all the cks. We have a book on ducks and a hen that cluck-clucks. They’ll be coming out probably in January and go to my website, MarianneHering.com. I should be having them out and they’re free. We just want kids to learn how to read and we want them to laugh. So they’re really funny.
Terrie:
They are. I read the Yak one and I just love it. I thought, Oh my goodness, I’ve got to get these books.
Marianne:
Well, great. I’ll let you know, I’ll let you proofread because
Terrie:
Oh, I would love that.
Marianne:
Yeah, they’re really fun. And Laurie is just, she’s got such a whimsical art style. So an ick is chicks with sticks. So just a whole bunch of animals and lots of short vowels and a lot of fun. And then I think after we get done with the original phonics books, we’ll try and tell Bible stories. We tried to tell them like in phonics, just the beginning, and it just didn’t work, and they seemed kind of disrespectful and you couldn’t really make a point. But we’ll be telling some really fun stories once we get to the, get past the basic phonics.
Terrie:
Well, and what I love about it too is in the back of your book, you have some factual information about the animals that you’re talking about, and I thought that was a nice element. You don’t often get that. And I thought that was great.
Marianne:
Yeah. So yeah, we do have the nonfiction and then the moms can read that. And we also have some jokes in the back yaks and…
Terrie:
I remember that. Yeah. And then you give some more information on grammar, and I mean, they’re just well done. I just really like them.
Marianne:
Well, thank you.
Terrie:
Thank you for spending time with us today, and I’m really excited to read more of your books. I love history, and I love when good historical fiction teaches us so many good things about character qualities and bravery and sacrifice people have made. And I think you’ve really hit on some wonderful stories.
Marianne:
Well, thank you Terrie. I appreciate that compliment.
Terrie:
Marianne, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s been really great talking with you.
Terrie:
Thank you for joining us for “Books That Spark,” a podcast, celebrating books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussions as we disciple our children and help them follow Christ with their whole hearts. If you would like to connect with Marianne, you can reach her on her website at mariannehering.com and she has her free phonics books or early reader books that you can download there. The Yak book is available now, but keep checking back because the others should be out there soon and I tell you, they are just really, really done well. And then if you would like to connect with me, you can reach me at terriehellardbrown.com. You can also find the show notes there with links for this episode. You can comment on this episode and ask questions. We will respond to every question and comment. Marianne had a few books she wanted to share with us today, and so I’ve put those links in the show notes. Be sure to go to my website and check those out. They’re not her books. There’s some other books she recommends that are chapter books that will appeal to your upper elementary, middle school grade students. They’re about Vikings, they’re about history and they will bless your family and you are welcome to join our mailing lists. Marianne and I both would enjoy if you would come to our websites and check things out. Check out the free items we have, join our mailing list if you’re interested. If you join my mailing list, you will also get a legacy email, which is about two months’ worth of a weekly blog post that is specifically for you that I’ve written just for those on my mailing list to bless you and encourage you. Remember too, if you join my mailing list, you get a monthly newsletter that includes our book club, that has book recommendations for every age group from board book age up through young adult and parenting books, both Marianne and I just want to bless you and help your families to learn more about how wonderful our God is. And I hope that you can feel that when you visit our websites. I certainly can see it when I visit her website, and we want to bless you. That’s why we offer the free things that we do to bless your families and to bless your kids. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and share. The more you like and share, the more other people know we’re here. And we really do appreciate you, and we’re so thankful you were here.
Your Host: Terrie Hellard-Brown
Terrie Hellard-Brown writes and speaks to help children and adults find God’s purpose and plan for their lives. She teaches workshops and writes devotional books, children’s stories, and Christian education materials.
Her podcast, Books that Spark, reviews children’s books that spark imagination, emotion, questions, and discussion leading to teachable moments with our kids. Her podcast posts each Tuesday morning.
Her blog posts discuss living as a disciple of Christ while parenting our children. She challenges us to step out of our comfort zones to walk by faith in obedience to Christ and to use the nooks and crannies of our lives to disciple our children.
Terrie uses her experiences as a mother of four (three on “the spectrum”), 37 years in ministry (15 in Taiwan), and 32 years teaching to speak to the hearts of readers.
Her motto is “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be WONDERFUL” and keeps her childlike joy by writing children’s stories, delighting over pink dolphins, and frequently laughing till it hurts.
