Review: Don't Blame the Mud: Only Jesus Makes Us Clean by Marty Machowski Illustrated by Craig MacIntosh

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About the Book:

Marty Machowski helps parents talk to their children about temptations, choices and consequences

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.

My Thoughts:

I found this to be one of the best children's books in telling in a very simplistic way how sin stains us and how only Jesus can take that sin away. This story is about a boy who disobeys his mother and what follows is exactly what she said would happen. No matter how careful he was, he could not miss stepping in the mud on the trail that he thought looked so much more fun. After getting all muddy he then tries to hide his guilt. Unfortunately that only made matters worse and led his parents right to the place where he thought he could hide. 

His parents were fair and loving and explained to their son about salvation. I have really been enjoying author Machowski's books geared to explaining the Gospel to children. This was a delightful story book with lovely and colorful illustrations.

I received a copy of this novel from the publishers. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the 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 thirty years. Machowski leads Promise Kingdom, the gospel-centered children’s ministry of Covenant Fellowship.

He is the author of numerous resources for churches and families, including The Gospel Story for Kids series, The Ology, and Parenting First Aid. His latest release is the children’s picture book, Don’t Blame the Mud.

Machowski and his wife, Lois reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania. They have six children and two grandchildren. He is also the Executive Editor for Children’s Resources at New Growth Press.
 Learn more at www.martymachowski.com. He can also be found on Twitter (@MartyMachowski).  Craig MacIntosh is the illustrator of Don’t Blame the Mud. MacIntosh was a newspaper political cartoonist and illus­trator for 22 years and the artist for the widely published comic strip Sally Forth. He and his wife, Linda, live in Minne­sota and have two grown children.