Painting Angels

By: Melinda Johnson

Narrated by: Melinda Johnson

What happens when you can’t get away from the person who drives you craziest? Sam and Macrina are about to find out. Stuck working together to help the nuns, Sam and Macrina come up with a thousand reasons to disagree. Sam is too rude. Macrina is too bossy. Summer at the monastery will be miserable if they can’t find some common ground. With the help of three friendly nuns, a runaway bunny, and Saucer the trusty corgi, Macrina and Sam discover a big secret that helps put them on the road toward peace.

©2020 Melinda Johnson (P)2020 Melinda Johnson

A must read, our favorite of the series.

A delightful book where profound truths are wrapped in abundant love. Great as a stand-alone read, even better as the third installment of the "Shepherding Sam" series. My seven year old loved to hear how Sam learns how to make room in his life for someone who although seems so very different, is very much someone who struggles, just like Sam, and gets tangled up in their own unique troubles. Highly recommend for both children and families, especially if you like barnyard fun, set in the peaceful tranquility of monastic wisdom. We liked the audiobook version of Painting Angels so much we also bought the audio versions of Shepherding Sam, and The Barn and The Book too!

Another Winning Story

Yet again, Melinda Johnson gives us a wonderful story with an engaging narration in the audio recording of Painting Angels. Her narration gives such charm to the list of characters we have come to know and love in the series. Somehow, she manages to make even the animals endearing and charming. The children, nuns, and animals in the story are all familiar by this third book of the series, and this allows for deeper character development, and what I feel to be even deeper topics than what were explored previously. The struggles that the characters work through are relevant to the target audience, and I am so grateful to be able to share this story with my children. I recommend that anyone with elementary and middle grade children seek out this book, and the series, and add it to their home library.

Painting Angels touched my heart

I didn’t really expect a children’s book to move me like this one did. I decided to review the audio book version of ‘Painting Angels’ because my son (and all of us, really) loved the first two books in the series. For a long time now, my son has been asking when the newest “little boy, the dog, and the monastery” book was going to arrive on our doorsteps. He loves melinda’s cute voices, her sweet stories of a boy and his pup, and the little adventures the children get into together at the monastery. This story delivered all those things, and then some. I wasn’t expecting the ‘and then some’ to bring me to tears.

My favorite parts of this book were the focus and character development of Macrina and Sam, and the morals that we witnessed both Macrina and Sam learn in different ways. Without spoiling the story for you, I will say that “love is the only rule” is something I have to repeat at the top of my lungs when life with little children and a pandemic and homeschooling get hard. It’s poignant in and out of the monastery, in every moment, especially now. I am grateful for God speaking to us through this sweet story, and I hope it touches your heart. I highly recommend this series, and this sweet third installment.