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Stories Behind the Traditions and Songs of Easter reveals the real inspiration behind the customs, symbols, and special music of Easter. Through his gift as a storyteller, award-winning author Ace Collins brings new meaning and depth to the celebration of Easter.

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Are you looking for a meaningful way to celebrate and share God's love at Easter? Spend meaningful time with Jesus this Lenten season as you read through The Easter Code, from Ash Wednesday to Easter, written by bestselling author O. S. Hawkins.

Follow the journey of Christ through the places, people, and events in His life all the way to His resurrection. The Easter Code is a meaningful way to celebrate and share God's love at Easter.

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Hey Listeners, today, is International Children's Book Day. Founded in 1967, the day is observed on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, April 2.

In honor of this – we have two amazing children's books to share with you today.

First up we have I'm So Glad You Were Born by Ainsley Earhardt.

Parents and children both have big dreams—about their life and the wonders the future holds. I'm So Glad You Were Born celebrates those dreams as well as the wonder of everyday experiences like sweet and special snuggles and cuddles, fun times and learning times too!

I'm So Glad You Were Born is an inspiring and loving message to your child, sure to become a go-to favorite for reading aloud as well as during bedtime snuggles!

Next up we have I'm Going to Have A Good Day! Daily Affirmations with Scarlett.

I am beautiful. I am kind. I am loved.

In this uplifting picture book, young readers will discover how they can use daily affirmations to remind them of who they are and what makes them special. Join TikTok sensation Scarlett Gray and Tiania Haneline as they repeat exuberant affirmations that empower Scarlett throughout the day and inspire those around her to create their own uplifting self-talk.

Build up your loved ones with encouraging words of affirmation, and they'll be saying, "I'm going to have a good day!"

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Aziz was more than an interpreter for Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux during Chad's eight deployments to Afghanistan. He was a teammate, brother, and friend. More than once, Aziz saved Chad's life. And then he needed Chad to save his.

This gripping account of two war heroes and friends puts human hearts and names alongside the headlines of one of the most harrowing moments in our history, giving you a closer look at:

• The resilience of Afghanistan and its people
• The twenty-year war that took place under four presidents
• A mission accomplished and the work that's still to be done

Saving Aziz is more than a story of war and rescue: it's about breaking down prejudice and apathy--and why risking it all is worth it when it comes to loving one another.

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These are tough times. Amid global isolation, economic downturn, and social unrest, could you use a dose of happy right about now? Learn the secret to lasting joy that will endure through any season of life.

In How Happiness Happens, Max Lucado shares the unexpected path to a lasting happiness, one that produces reliable joy amidst any life circumstance. Based on the teachings of Jesus and backed by modern research, this book presents a surprising but practical way of living that will change you from the inside out.

In this book, Max will help you discover:

• Happiness is not selfish
• People are a joy
• There is strength in choice
• Happiness happens when you give it away

What are you waiting for? Open the unexpected door to joy and walk in. There's no better day than today to start your happiest life yet.

How Happiness Happens is also available in Spanish.

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We were lucky enough to ask narrator Brittany Pressley a couple questions about the narrating process, and she knocks it out of the park with her answers!

Brittany is an AudioFile magazine Earphones Award–winning narrator, she's also known for international TV and radio commercials, plus acting and singing...and more! She has recorded over 100 titles and has received several nominations for American Library Association's annual list of Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.

Basically she's amazing! And we had the pleasure of having her narrate two recent books, Without a Hitch & A Place to Land.

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Without A Hitch

When floundering and unlucky-in-love twentysomething Lottie Jones lands a new career as a wedding planner at a top-tier boutique event firm, she begins navigating a cutthroat workplace specializing in over-the-top details, unlimited budgets, and a broad spectrum of taste. Whether planning for parachute landings or wrangling intoxicated groomsmen, she has her hands full at every million-dollar wedding she helps organize.

Set against the glamorous, ruthless world of high-end Southern weddings and inspired by real events in the authors' lives, Without a Hitch is a hilarious romp about taking ownership, facing fears, planning your ex-boyfriend's wedding, and choosing a happy ending that wasn't what you once expected.

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A Place to Land

A hidden past isn't past at all.

Violet Figg and her sister Trudy have lived a quiet life in Sugar Bend, Alabama, since a night forty years ago that stole Trudy's voice and cemented Violet's role as her sister's fierce and loyal protector. Now Trudy spends her days making sculptures from found objects and speaking through notes written on scraps of paper, while Violet runs their art shop, monitors bird activity up and down the water, and tries not to think of the one great love she gave up to keep her sister safe.

Eighteen-year-old Maya knows where everyone else belongs, but she's been searching for her own place since her grandmother died seven years ago. Moving in and out of strangers' houses has left her exhausted. After seeing a flyer on a gas station window for a place called Sugar Bend, Maya chooses to follow the strange pull she feels and finds herself on the doorstep of an art shop called Two Sisters.

When a boat rises to the surface of Little River in the middle of the night, the present and no-longer-buried past collide, and the future becomes uncertain for Maya, Violet, and Trudy. As history creeps continuously closer to the present and old secrets come to light, the sisters must decide to face the truth of what happened that night forty years ago, or risk losing each other and those they've come to love.

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Part life story, part philosophy text, and part spiritual guide, Sister Jean's wit, wisdom, and common sense has broad appeal and application that transcends religious creed, belief, and even feelings on Loyola's basketball team.

Along with her collaborator Seth Davis, an award-winning writer, broadcaster and New York Times best-selling author, Wake Up with Purpose! lets you experience:

• Sister Jean's words and her spirit.
• her sharp sense of humor.
• life lessons gleaned from one hundred years of living.
• universal themes that connect us all.
• priceless wisdom.

The driving force inside Wake Up with Purpose! is the narrative of Sister Jean's fascinating life--from teaching at a Catholic school during the Second World War to serving on a Chicago college campus in the sixties and beyond to cheering from the sidelines of a men's basketball tournament in March 2018.

As you learn about Sister Jean's century-long life, you'll feel just like the Loyola students do when they knock on her office door, plop down in a chair, and ask if she would have time to chat, an activity that she still does daily.

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In her first solo memoir, New York Times bestselling author Joanna Gaines invites us on an authentic and deeply vulnerable journey into her story--and helps shine a light on the beauty of our own--guiding us to release the weights that hold us back so we may live and share our story in truth.

In The Stories We Tell, Joanna takes us through personal stories to help us learn how to release the weights that can be holding us back so we can live and share our story in truth.

The book is an invitation to take stock of the different chapters of our lives, both the good and the bad, and to only carry forward what is valuable and meaningful.

Stick around to the end of the episode to hear a bonus excerpt from "The Magnolia Story," Chip and Joanna's first book.

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Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free by Alice Faye Duncan celebrates the life and legacy of a modern-day Black leader while sharing a message of hope, unity, joy, and strength.

Could one person's voice make a difference? Could Opal bring about national recognition of Juneteenth? Follow Opal Lee as she fights to improve the future by honoring the past.

Through the story of Opal Lee's determination and persistence, children will learn:

· all people are created equal

· the power of bravery and using your voice for change

· the history of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, and what it means today

· no one is free unless everyone is free

· fighting for a dream is worth the difficulty experienced along the way

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Guilt. Shame. Insecurity.

You were made for more than a love/hate relationship with your body. In Breaking Free from Body Shame: Dare to Reclaim What God Has Named Good, Jess Connolly has a message for you: Whether your struggle is with eating and exercise habits, stress or trauma, infertility or injury, this book makes space for you.

Jess Connolly is a bestselling author, sought-after speaker, and trusted Bible teacher who knows this inner conflict all too well, and this book details her journey--and yours--of setting out to discover how to break free from the broken beliefs we all hold about our bodies that hold us back from our fullest life.

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