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983 reviews for:
Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Todd Burpo
3.66 AVERAGE
983 reviews for:
Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Todd Burpo
3.66 AVERAGE
Christian or not, I think this book would appeal to everyone....it's amazing what this little boy described he experienced during a surgery where he supposedly died. The parts where he talked about Jesus was especially captivating. Highly recommend.
I checked this book out as an audio book from our library and had to finish it within 24 hours. It is such an amazing story that, as a parent, evoked a huge range of emotions.
There aren't very many books in life that "stay on my mind" but this is certainly one of them.
There aren't very many books in life that "stay on my mind" but this is certainly one of them.
I listened to the audiobook. I picked up this book on a whim because it's been on my list of "why would someone read that" books. I had so many mixed feelings about it.
On the one hand, I felt deeply for the struggles the Burpo family faced. We learn of their struggles with a string of medical scares that plunges them into debt, their son's terrifying illness, and a heartbreaking miscarriage. These are such relatable human struggles, and at first, I was intrigued by this peek into a culture so different from my own, one in which activating a prayer chain is a reasonable step when you're hoping someone will get well. Pastor Todd Burpo struggles with his faith in God when his son is near death at the hospital, asking how God could do this to him.
But then the book loses sight of the human struggles with faith and focuses on a young boy's wild tellings of Heaven.
We often imagine that we'll glimpse the afterlife in a moment of death. A near-drowning. Flatlining in the ambulance. Etc. Young Colton's father will tell you that Colton didn't have a near-death experience because he never flatlined during his surgery. So how could Colton have seen Heaven? Todd explains that away by finding examples from the Bible that show such a good thing could happen. As months and years pass, Colton continues to elaborate his story of his time with the angels, and the author treats his tellings like those of a prophet who shares pieces of a great truth only when his audience is ready.
It's frustrating. Throughout the book, Colton spins stories of Heaven, and his father hesitates, thinking things couldn't be right, but then reaching for examples that confirm Colton's statements. One gets the sense that you could find any passage in the Bible to prove anything a young boy who regularly attends Church and Sunday School could have imagined.
Regularly, we come upon gaps in logic, such as when Colton says he saw his sister in Heaven, and Todd recalls his wife's miscarriage. His parents never told Colton about that miscarriage, Todd says, so it's a miracle that Colton knows. They only told his older sister, and it's assumed she never told Colton, never asked him, "Did you see our lost sibling in Heaven?"
In another scene, Colton watches The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (The book skips over the fact that this movie is a straightforward Christian allegory, in which the lion Aslan dies and is resurrected.) Days later, Colton starts telling his parents that he saw a great battle in Heaven, with monsters and swords. The author makes no connection between the great battle scene in Narnia and Colton's tellings. But the book has laid these scenes side-by-side for us, the readers, to see--it's as if the book is working hard to undermine its thesis, that Heaven is real and not something humans have pieced together with materials from our lived experiences.
The author calls Colton an "eyewitness" to Heaven, despite what was obvious to me as a reader: That Colton has a wild imagination that his parents, so hungry to believe, fed and encouraged. It reminded me of the time my brother and I spent pretending we have daemons like in The Golden Compass. We were convincing! What if our parents had believed us and kept asking for more details? Surely we'd have spun stories as well.
I long for a book that could have engaged more thoughtfully with how this young boy has processed his near-death experience, how challenging it is to have faith, and how growing up with religion shapes children.
On the audiobook: On the plus side, it's quick. Four hours that I listened to while walking the dog. Unfortunately, listening to an adult man regularly put on a "child's voice" for Colton's dialogues became very irritating.
On the one hand, I felt deeply for the struggles the Burpo family faced. We learn of their struggles with a string of medical scares that plunges them into debt, their son's terrifying illness, and a heartbreaking miscarriage. These are such relatable human struggles, and at first, I was intrigued by this peek into a culture so different from my own, one in which activating a prayer chain is a reasonable step when you're hoping someone will get well. Pastor Todd Burpo struggles with his faith in God when his son is near death at the hospital, asking how God could do this to him.
But then the book loses sight of the human struggles with faith and focuses on a young boy's wild tellings of Heaven.
We often imagine that we'll glimpse the afterlife in a moment of death. A near-drowning. Flatlining in the ambulance. Etc. Young Colton's father will tell you that Colton didn't have a near-death experience because he never flatlined during his surgery. So how could Colton have seen Heaven? Todd explains that away by finding examples from the Bible that show such a good thing could happen. As months and years pass, Colton continues to elaborate his story of his time with the angels, and the author treats his tellings like those of a prophet who shares pieces of a great truth only when his audience is ready.
It's frustrating. Throughout the book, Colton spins stories of Heaven, and his father hesitates, thinking things couldn't be right, but then reaching for examples that confirm Colton's statements. One gets the sense that you could find any passage in the Bible to prove anything a young boy who regularly attends Church and Sunday School could have imagined.
Regularly, we come upon gaps in logic, such as when Colton says he saw his sister in Heaven, and Todd recalls his wife's miscarriage. His parents never told Colton about that miscarriage, Todd says, so it's a miracle that Colton knows. They only told his older sister, and it's assumed she never told Colton, never asked him, "Did you see our lost sibling in Heaven?"
In another scene, Colton watches The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (The book skips over the fact that this movie is a straightforward Christian allegory, in which the lion Aslan dies and is resurrected.) Days later, Colton starts telling his parents that he saw a great battle in Heaven, with monsters and swords. The author makes no connection between the great battle scene in Narnia and Colton's tellings. But the book has laid these scenes side-by-side for us, the readers, to see--it's as if the book is working hard to undermine its thesis, that Heaven is real and not something humans have pieced together with materials from our lived experiences.
The author calls Colton an "eyewitness" to Heaven, despite what was obvious to me as a reader: That Colton has a wild imagination that his parents, so hungry to believe, fed and encouraged. It reminded me of the time my brother and I spent pretending we have daemons like in The Golden Compass. We were convincing! What if our parents had believed us and kept asking for more details? Surely we'd have spun stories as well.
I long for a book that could have engaged more thoughtfully with how this young boy has processed his near-death experience, how challenging it is to have faith, and how growing up with religion shapes children.
On the audiobook: On the plus side, it's quick. Four hours that I listened to while walking the dog. Unfortunately, listening to an adult man regularly put on a "child's voice" for Colton's dialogues became very irritating.
Dit is een beroerd boek. Laat ik eerst voorop stellen dat ik religieus ben en in de Hemel geloof, ik geloof echter totaal niet dat dit boek een werkelijk verslag is van hoe de hemel eruit ziet.
Alle dingen die het jongetje vertelt, kan hij gehoord hebben, ook al is het hem niet direct verteld. Kinderen pikken heel wat op en een kind van een dominee/pastoraal werker (ik weet niet precies hoe je in dit geval pastor moet vertalen), zal echt meer van religie weten dan een gemiddeld kind. De ouders stellen leidende vragen, en het kind zelf is te goed om waar te zijn.
Heel opvallend is dat blijkbaar Jezus een Evangelisch Christen is en Jezus in de hemel wonden in zijn handpalmen heeft (hoewel dit niet is waar hij ze zou hebben, ook al laten afbeeldingen dit zien).
Dit boek is verder mwah geschreven. Al met al een sentimenteel snert-boek en de theologie klopt ook niet.
Alle dingen die het jongetje vertelt, kan hij gehoord hebben, ook al is het hem niet direct verteld. Kinderen pikken heel wat op en een kind van een dominee/pastoraal werker (ik weet niet precies hoe je in dit geval pastor moet vertalen), zal echt meer van religie weten dan een gemiddeld kind. De ouders stellen leidende vragen, en het kind zelf is te goed om waar te zijn.
Heel opvallend is dat blijkbaar Jezus een Evangelisch Christen is en Jezus in de hemel wonden in zijn handpalmen heeft (hoewel dit niet is waar hij ze zou hebben, ook al laten afbeeldingen dit zien).
Dit boek is verder mwah geschreven. Al met al een sentimenteel snert-boek en de theologie klopt ook niet.
I understand there are many skeptics and critics of this story and I also realize that being a person of faith makes me more likely to believe what I've read and to WANT to believe it. Putting aside all of that I also just found it to be a charming, well-written story that wasn't over-the-top in any areas. I'm thankful for the Burpo family that Colton survived the health scares he faced and that they managed to hold on to their faith, and even grow it all the more, in the midst of the trials they faced. That isn't always the case. I believe that God allows miraculous, inexplicable things such as this to take place from time to time; whether to bolster those who already believe, or to reach those who don't, we may never know.
My kindle broke so my mom lent me this book. It was a good, quick read that I finished within a couple of hours. Inspirational and cute story...but I'll stress that inspirational novels are not my favorite.
Soooo...it's an odd dilemma. This book was an emotional read for me because of the content, but the writing was only so-so. I think the author really made no claims to be a writer -- he was just telling his story. So I don't fault him for the mediocre writing. I would say, if you want to read this book, if you are interested in it, or if you've been through some sad experiences in your life lately, then read it. If you could care less, don't pick it up because it will just irritate you.
There are a number of other reviewers I concur with so I can be short. It is a captivating story, and for that reason you power through it. Not every book published is supposed to be of great literary value, some are destined to set their hooks in you and hold on. I enjoyed the informal conversational style. In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter to me if it is true or not, others can debate that. I am happy that it makes me think and question and wonder. I think that is enough. I will be asking my 15 year old son to read it. We don't take him to church because I was raised as a Catholic and I don't believe it is ok to pick and choose what aspects I follow. Recently he told me he doesn't believe in God because of the preponderance of scientific info, including but not limited evolution. I guess I need to challenge him to think too!