Don’t Blame the Mud Only Jesue Makes Us Clean by Marty Machowski

  

For young readers and families, Don’t Blame the Mud paints a vivid and accurate picture of sin and God’s plan of redemption. Written by best-selling children’s author Marty Machowski, this beautifully illustrated picture book teaches children how to recognize the lure of temptation and the truth that bad choices lead to bad consequences.

One day, Max takes the muddy path along the creek home, disregarding his mother’s reminder to keep his school clothes clean. After crashing into a mud puddle, he tries to hide his mistake and discovers the stain of his sin goes deeper than the mud he can wash away. In this lovable, relatable, and heartwarming tale, Max learns his heart needs to be cleaned, and Jesus is the only one who can wash away his sin.

By clearly articulating the gospel, Don’t Blame the Mud helps parents create an environment of confession so kids can own up to their own mistakes—in the freedom of Christ—rather than place the blame elsewhere. Parents, teachers, and caretakers can help children identify with the real-life draw of temptation and the real-life consequences of sin, understanding the value of God’s salvation through the cross. Instead of teaching kids how to deal with a problem, Machowski uncovers the real issue of sin and provides a gospel answer.

Author

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for over thirty years. He is the author of  The Gospel Story Bible, Long Story Short, Old Story New, the Gospel Story Curriculum, the Prepare Him Room advent devotional and curriculum, Wise Up family devotional and curriculum, Listen Up family devotional and curriculum, Dragon Seed, and The Ology. He and his wife Lois have six children and two grandchildren, and they reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Illustrator

Craig MacIntosh was a newspaper political cartoonist and illustrator for 22 years and was the artist for the widely published cartoon strip Sally Forth. He and his wife, Linda, live in Minnesota and have two grown children.

My Thoughts:

On the forward page you see the scripture “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. That scripture is a perfect setting for the books story. 

The illustrations are captivating and have so much to explore throughout. The entire book is in full color.

The story is about Max a young boy on his way home from school in his nice school uniform. He was told to not get his clothes dirty but come home first and change. Along the way you see a mud puddle following him around. The mud represents sin and is tempting him to disobey and they to try and hide what he did. He gets caught and blames the mud rather than taking responsibility of his own actions. Then Max takes a shower and the sin is still making him feel dirty still. It’s not until he fully understands that only Jesus can make him clean is he free. Afterwards his guilt and shame are gone as Jesus is living inside of him.

At the end of the book is a page for the parents to help you teach your child about understanding what sin is. The next page covers teaching your kids to understand the Gospel. The last page gives you several key Bible verses to remember.

Marty Machowski is one of my favorite children authors. This book is excellent! The Mud monster or image is perfect. I think the story is very relatable for kids to grasp the story of redemption. It explains how we are covered in mud (sin) on the outside and inside. Only Jesus can clean us inside and out.

The only issue I had was with the print on a few pages. The words blended in the background and were hard to read. My daughter struggled on a few pages. Other than that I would still 100% recommend this book. 

I received a free copy of this product from New Growth Press in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.