A Heart Like Jesus

January 27, 2003
Five years ago, beloved Christian author Lucado released Just Like Jesus, a work so well-received by the evangelical community that Lucado garnered a third ECPA "Christian Book of the Year" award, the only author to have won the industry's highest honor three times. W Publishing continues its successful marketing technique of repackaging Lucado titles for various niche audiences with this smaller gift book, filled with some of the best illustrations and anecdotes from Just Like Jesus.
At a time when readers seem to be gravitating toward easily digestible small hardbacks from A-list authors, Lucado's book will appeal both to longtime fans while reeling in some new and younger readers. The content is all familiar (if it ain't broke... ), but this offering is as polished as Lucado's books always are; if anything, his prose seems to shine more clearly in its concise format. Gone, though, are the original book's most whimsical chapters (such as "Finding Gold in the Garbage") and some of its intriguing and speculative tangents. However, Lucado's conversational, fireside-chat style remains a soothing balm to troubled readers who share his hope that they, too, can develop "a heart like Jesus." Biblically grounded and sprinkled with helpful anecdotes from Lucado's everyday life (much of which seems to be conducted on airplanes and in airports), this gift book offers substantive content in a Lilliputian package. (Feb.)Forecast:The sales for Just Like Jesus and its accompanying products (the devotional, the teen version, etc.) have topped a million copies, so the success of this gift book is a no-brainer. At least one Lucado title has appeared on the CBA bestseller list every month for the last 12 years, and he now has a total of 25 million books in print.