I am Thrilled to Introduce My Original Fully-Illustrated Book: Captain

"I loved reading Captain and hearing what I imagine was the experience of growing up in Florida and going on adventures in the muggy heat. The “I am a very good captain” made my heart leap and break at different parts of the story. […]Broad audiences will have their souls lifted by this story."

-Shannon G. 

"[My wife] is currently reading Captain to our friend’s three-year-old as the child’s mother coos over the realism and elegance of the drawings. She has called Captain 'attractive' and 'tender' and 'wonderfully realistic' along the way. It feels like Captain could be read like an Advent story book…like a chapter a night over 2 weeks and then you just go back and start all over again. [Captain] is a foray into the “active business of seeing.”

-Jack G.

“[My daughter] has been totally captivated by [Captain] and I look forward to her growing with it[…] I don’t think a child has to understand every word in a story for it to impact them. If anything, the lack if understanding motivates them to learn more! 

I am absolutely obsessed with the Shipwright.[…] I just adore Him, He’s perfect, His design is just oh my gosh, what a beautiful depiction of the Lord. […] And ugh, the Good thing line… oh man the chills, the tears, the joy at [my daughter] growing up with this story!!! Thank you for blessing our home with this. I genuinely wish I had a million stories like this for her. It has everything I want her to take to heart. I’m so glad she gets to grow up with it.”

-Kat J.

"[Captain] is a beautiful book […] The writing is beautiful and cohesive. The vocabulary is beautiful and it, combined with the sentence structure, lends it to it being a family reading/story time book. 

I have two favorite parts here: the first is the description of what a good captain would have done after being robbed by the pirates, but instead Captain sits in his anger and self-pity and hurt. It was the most relatable part to me by far. The pinnacle for me, and the part that made me shed tears, was when the shipwright confronts Captain in their second meeting. I have been reading through Narnia again recently and [Aliya] captured the same thing Lewis did in the quiet truthfulness yet non-condemning nature of Aslan. 

The best part to me is when the Shipwright (great name, so much meaning nested there, not to mention the double entendre) gives Captain “his map but better”. I completely lost it. “He gives us the desires of our hearts.” I will never forget that image. Absolutely stunning. The third best part is that the book ends with a beginning to a new adventure. So brilliant. 

Thank you for writing this. It is such a gift to parents who want their children to find Christ in stories not explicitly about Him but that have Him in it. To have these characters learn these kinds of lessons in this way is such a service and gift. Thank you. It is a beautiful and incredible thing you have done."

-Justin J.