*I preordered a copy of Recipes for a Sweet Child, then joined the launch team for the book. This means I was provided with an advanced edition of the book in order to write my review before my preordered copy arrives. This review is my honest opinion. This post includes affiliate links which means I may earn commissions for purchases made while using my link.

I was first introduced to Katie J. Trent as a new homeschool mama last year. I started subscribing to all the homeschool bloggers’ newsletters I could find, and they often shared other bloggers’ links. Somewhere in there, I discovered Katie and heard about her first book, Dishing Up Devotions, and was intrigued.

My Faith

Growing up, I was raised Catholic. I attended a public school during the day, but I went to CCD weekly to learn about my religion. Each week I sang in the children’s then teen choir. I also taught Religious Ed as a teen, joined the confirmation retreat team, volunteered for Vacation Bible School each year, and even attended a “DDA” retreat as a teen with girls from other churches. Yet despite all of this, I never learned about Bible study. One would think that my experiences would naturally lead into it, but they didn’t. Even joining Christian Fellowship in college didn’t translate to a Bible study practice.

All this is to explain why Katie’s book, Dishing Up Devotions, fascinated me. The idea that you could intersperse some kind of Bible study and devotions with baking? It felt like something that I could do as a way to start to bring my religion and faith to the forefront of my life.

Recipes for a Sweet Child

Recipes for a Sweet Child is Katie’s sophomore novel and has a similar premise to her first. When you mix devotions and recipes then bake them with love and a commitment to God, you’ll wind up with a delicious dessert to feed your soul.

There are 36 chapters that can be used as weekly lessons for your homeschool. Katie’s a homeschool mom so she intentionally chose the number of chapters for that purpose. Whereas Dishing Up Devotions was based on the traits that God calls on us to attain, Recipes for a Sweet Child is focused on altering common challenging behaviors we may be seeing within our children.

Each chapter focuses on a behavior through:

• Bible Verses relating to the behavior
• Stories to introduce the behavior – often a personal anecdote
• Parents’ Prayers
• Teachable Moments – ways to introduce each topic to your children at a variety of levels
• Conversation Connection – questions to ask your kids to encourage an open conversation about the topic
• Family Fun – a game to play to reinforce the lesson
• Baking Buddies – an introduction to the related recipe
• Recipe for a dessert or another sweet dish named to relate to the chapter theme

Devotions and Recipes: My Thoughts

I really enjoyed reading Recipes for a Sweet Child, but more than that, I’m excited to use it In Our Homeschool. The challenges that Katie included in the book are universal challenges that most children, most people, will go through at least once.

Some of the chapters that currently apply for my family are Opposition/Defiance, Whining/Complaining, and Back Talking/Arguing. I like how Katie draws a parallel between the behaviors of our children and those of God’s children in the Bible.

Whining and complaining may not seem like the biggest issue in the world, but it caused the Israelites to wander in the desert for forty years instead of entering their promised land—which tells me it’s a very big deal to God.

Recipes for a Sweet Child, pg 192

Katie’s activities relating to the behaviors are creative and fun. For example, when learning about back talking and arguing, your family can put on a mock trial. This allows everyone to learn about the appropriate ways to debate and plead their cases, along with the importance of accepting and trusting the judge’s (parent’s, boss’s, etc) final decision.

The recipes featured in Recipes for a Sweet Child are just as creative as everything else. Sometimes the recipes naturally fit with the behavior (resistance to schoolwork -> Tug-of-War Apple Pull-Apart Bread), but sometimes they needed a creative element to fit (opposition/defiance -> Don’t Be Defiant Gravity-Defying Cake… a normal cake with a “gravity-defying” element added). Either way, they reinforce the lessons and bring the family together for baking and eating.

Prayer for a Sweet Child 

As noted earlier, the Bible verses in Recipes for a Sweet Child each relate so well to the challenging behaviors. Many of the verses would lend themselves to copy work and memorization. All of the verses are great for initiating journaling exercises for parents and children alike, as well as prayer.

Each Parents’ Prayer that Katie supplies is well thought out and feels like a natural prayer from the heart for God’s assistance. It can be used alone or as a launching point for further prayer for our children. It could also be used as inspiration if you’d prefer to speak directly from your heart instead of from Katie’s.

Overall Review

I think Katie said it best:

You can go through the book chapter by chapter as a preventative teach- ing tool or skip right to the issue you’re facing. Also, there’s no right or wrong way to utilize the various features in each chapter. While I recommend be- ginning with the devotion and prayer (for your own sanity and peace of mind), you can choose which activities to utilize in the way that works best for your family. They can be done in a single day, spread throughout the week, or spaced out even longer if you wish. They’re simply tools to help you feel confident and capable as you teach and disciple your kiddos.

Recipes for a Sweet Child, pg 15

Recipes for a Sweet Child can be used in a variety of ways depending on what you need as a parent. You can use it as a weekly addition to your homeschool/family, or use it specifically when a behavior arises. You can pick and choose which portions would be helpful for your family and go from there. I personally think that baking through the book, even if a behavior/lesson doesn’t yet apply, would be a delicious endeavor!

Interview with Katie J. Trent

Hi Katie! Can you share a little about yourself and what you do for my readers?

Hi friends! My name is Katie and I’m an author, speaker, and homeschool mama of two! I’m also the founder of Family Faith-Building Academy (a 6-week digital discipleship course for Christian parents) and Community. I equip and encourage mamas to grow their faith, strengthen their family, and simplify their homeschools with my creative, interactive devotionals and other online resources. I also regularly speak at a variety of homeschool conferences and other events. 

What inspired you to write Recipes for a Sweet Child?

I spent over a decade counseling children, teens, and families, and have worked with thousands of families in ministry over the past 15 years. My heart is to equip parents to effectively disciple their kids in fun, meaningful, and memorable ways. That’s why I wrote the book, to provide a simple yet meaningful resource to support and equip parents to navigate all of the most common childhood struggles. I wish I could sit down to coffee with each of you to swap stories and share encouragement, but since I can’t be everywhere, my hope is that this book feels like I’m right there beside you, championing and supporting you along the way!

How did you choose the challenges you focused on in Recipes for a Sweet Child?

I chose to stick with the 36-week format (typical school year), and broke the struggles into three categories: emotional, behavioral, and relational struggles. Then, I began to list out the most common issues I’ve encountered as I’ve worked with families over the years, and discipled my own children. 

Tell me about the recipes. How did you choose the recipes? Did you create them all yourself? What inspired you to pair recipes with devotions?

The recipes are a mix of treats and snacks that paired well with the biblical lessons I was teaching. Some of the recipes have been passed down from my own mother, but many are recipes that I’ve collected and tweaked over the years. They are mostly family favorites with a few fun new recipes in the mix. I had to go gluten-free several years ago and found that I didn’t like most of the store-bought treats, so I spent a few years learning to master gluten-free baking so I could enjoy delicious treats at home. 

The idea for my first book, Dishing Up Devotions: 36 Faith-Building Activities for Homeschooling Families came from a writing conference where I met my agent. She loved my writing but needed a book that was unique in order to pitch an unknown author to publishers. She saw on my website that I loved to bake and have fun with my kids, and suggested I think of a book that combined devotions with my recipes. As I sat down to pray about it, the idea immediately came together for the biblical character-building devotion. I love making things concrete and fun, and everyone loves a delicious treat!

How can my readers connect with you online?

I’d love to connect with you via social media (Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest) or my website (where I share all sorts of great resources, reviews, freebies, etc.) at KatieJTrent.com

Thank you so much for your time! And thanks for joining us In Our Homeschool!

Thanks so much for having me! It was my pleasure!