Celebrate Lit / July 3, 2025

If Jesus Came to My School

About the Book If Jesus Came to My School

Book: If Jesus Came to My School

Author: April Graney

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Release Date: June 10, 2025

In this beautifully illustrated picture book, a young girl learns how Jesus’s love can shine at school through her compassion, kindness, and inclusion. In this whimsical tale, a young girl imagines what it would be like if Jesus visited her school as a boy. She would show Jesus around her classroom, introduce her friends and teachers, listen to story time, and eat lunch together!

But Jesus wouldn’t stop at learning and sitting in class.

He’d invite the lonely to join in on games and find a way to love and get along with everyone. Soon, the young girl realizes that even though Jesus doesn’t attend her school, he can live through her. Through rhyming text and vibrant illustrations, children will be inspired to make a difference in their schools through their actions. Because as they treat each other right and classes become families, Jesus truly will be in their school.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on If Jesus Came to My School

If Jesus Came to My School is a wonderfully illustrated and skillfully written story for young children that you don’t want to miss. Not only are the illustrations wonderful, but the written words come to life. Children are spellbound, and the message it delivers is a great one.

In our house, we’ve loved reading this sweet book. It has mostly been used as a read-aloud book. I’ve read it to my younger children who are between nine and one years old. They all listened intently. Some of my older children have read it to the younger ones as well, and I think they like it as much as the younger ones.

We love the rhymes! It makes it fun to read as you meter the words. We also love the story. If Jesus came with us for a day, anywhere is fun to think about. What would He think about how we act? About what we say or what we do? This book opens up some great conversations with the children in your life.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of If Jesus Came to My School

April Graney is a teacher at Cookson Hills, a children’s home and school for at-risk students in Oklahoma. She is the author of The Marvelous Maker: A Creation and Redemption Parable and the ECPA Christian Book Award finalist The Marvelous Mud House: A Story of Finding Fullness and Joy.

A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, April loves studying and teaching the Bible. Her greatest joy has been raising five children with her husband, Tom, in their crazy, loud, happy house at New Life Ranch, a summer camp and retreat center where they have served for over twenty years.

More from April

When my husband, Tom, was in high school, a classmate leaned over and casually asked, “Hey, would you like to go to church with me sometime?” Tom wasn’t opposed to church. He’d just never been invited before. This invitation got him to a place where he began hearing the gospel. Finally, at a youth rally, my future husband tearfully repented of his sins and trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross for his salvation. He walked down to the center of that arena, with hundreds of others who had done the same. I’m incredibly thankful for his classmate who had the courage at school to ask his friend to come to church, something which changed the entire trajectory of his life.

Our nation’s schools are filled with kids who need to hear the gospel.

After encountering the woman at the well, Jesus told his disciples in John 4:35, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” I believe this could be said of our schools today. There are nearly 60 million school-age children in the United States. The Barna Group reports that nearly half of all public educators are practising Christians, and 86 percent of Christian families send their children to public school. Christians are in public schools. I hope to support and equip them by providing tools for them to teach their children about Jesus, the gospel, and his love. I hope to help families to see the fertile soil of our nation’s schools and be faithful to shine the light and love of Jesus in our schools. They are ripe for harvest.

When school children encounter the love of Jesus, they become places where kindness, love and respect can flourish. With the divisiveness in our nation, it’s so important to teach our children how to treat each other with kindness, inclusion and understanding. We can teach our children that everyone is created and cherished by God. We can help reduce bullying in schools when children celebrate their differences and stand up for each other. Our schools would be places of impact for the individual and the school community. These are the truths that I hoped to communicate in If Jesus Came to My School, and I hope that readers will take these lessons to heart and make a difference in the world!