{Book Review} Don’t Blame the Mud

New Growth Press has recently released another great Christ-exalting, gospel-centered, children’s book. It’s called Don’t Blame the Mud: Only Jesus Makes Us Clean. The book is written by Marty Machowski and illustrated by Craig McIntosh. Machowski has written numerous other books with New Growth Press, all of which are rich in content and made easy to understand for parent and child alike. 

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Don’t Blame the Mud: Only Jesus Makes Us Clean

The main idea of Machowski’s book is to help the child understand the nature of sin and temptation.

Don’t Blame the Mud begins with Max, an elementary-aged child, beginning to walk home from school. He recalls his mother’s instructions from that morning: “Make sure not to get your school clothes dirty”. Instead of walking down the sidewalk where he would most likely not get his clothes dirty, Max takes a trail along the creek. It was a muddy path that “seemed to call out to” Max. He believed that he would be able to catch frogs and skip stones all while being able to remain clean. After a few close calls, Max finally fell into the mud. He eventually finds his way home, and he immediately runs to his room in order to change his clothes so that his mother won’t find out. What he didn’t realize was that he had mud all over his face and body and that there was mud all over the house, leading right to him. Even after taking a shower, Max still felt dirty. Machowski then brings Max’s father into the picture, who explains to his son how only Christ can make us clean, how our sin and guilt are washed away by the blood of Christ. 

Machowski does an amazing job of showing what sin and temptation looks like, making it truly easy to understand for a child. I am very grateful for his emphasis on the necessity and sufficiency of Christ’s death on our behalf to make us clean. Even as an adult reading the book to my children, I resonated with what it was like to feel unclean after sinning. A shower (or anything else) was not able to take away the guilt and shame. But confessing our sins and receiving the forgiveness and cleansing that only Christ can provide is the answer! 

Features of Don’t Blame the Mud

• The gospel-centered content of the book (not focused on just being a good person)
• Great illustrations by Craig McIntosh
• Very easy for children to understand, and really helps them to make the connection to the gospel of Jesus Christ
• Great length for children
• Beautiful slip cover 
• The back of the book contains a page on “Helping Your Child Understand Sin.” It helps parents to go even further into their teaching of this topic to their children. It also has a page called “Helping Your Child Understand the Gospel.” Lastly, there is a page with key bible verses to remember, a prayer from Psalm 51, and a plea from John 13:8. 

Drawbacks to Don’t Blame the Mud

Though this book clearly and concisely brings the passive obedience of Christ into the story (Christ’s death), it does not discuss His active righteousness (His perfect life). I think there was room for discussion of Christ’s imputation of His righteousness to dirty sinners. I think that could have easily been woven into the discussion that Max’s dad had with Max. 

Summary

I can’t recommend this book enough! I think it’s an amazing way of teaching your children the nature of sin and temptation. It will really help them to grow in their understanding of God’s Word on this topic. 

Disclaimer: My thanks to New Growth Press for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book on behalf of an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.