When you start an audiobook and your children immediately pay attention, listening raptly to the story being told, you know you’ve found a good one. It may help that they had already heard “Sam and Saucer,” the first book in the series (I’ve heard a 3rd one is coming), and that they know the author’s voice and associate Melinda Johnson with the story of Sam and the sweet, energetic little Corgi, Saucer, but whatever the reason, the peaceful, happy car ride was worth it.

I enjoyed listening to this book, and I found that it more richly developed the characters introduced in the first story, but did so in a manner that the book also stands alone. I loved the depth of this book and appreciated hearing the characters’ struggles and successes in relationships with one another and with their faith. The stories-within-the-story also led to some creative thinking by my children, as they each talked about what they might write if they were the children in the book.

We appreciated the scene from Christmas, and while the children felt for Sam, they were also overjoyed at the ending, when Sam revealed that while he’d initially been disappointed, he’d learned to look at the situation from a different perspective, one that allowed him to see things from a lens of developing faith.

Another thing that the author did well was to depict the very real struggle of one of the nuns; one that many of us face in our day to day lives: That of comparing ourselves to others. Sister Anna goes so far as to “place a fleece” in order to hear from God, and she’s wisely redirected by the abbess. I felt that it was a good depiction to my children of the fact that not only do children struggle, but adults do, too, and that we’re all learning and growing in faith and love together.

My children and I all look forward to hearing what comes next! ( )