Not many book signings include a bounce house with free snow cones and popcorn, but this is no ordinary book signing. This is a party celebrating a book made for kids by kids.
Two of the newest Christian children’s book authors are children. They’re also siblings.
Meet 10-year-old Izabella and 7-year-old Caleb Titus Cooper, the homeschooled brother-sister duo who wrote one children’s book each with their dad, Dr. Caleb Cooper. Dr. Cooper is a firebrand revivalist and pastor of New Hope Revival Church in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. (Yes. That’s the town’s real name.)
Izabella, the oldest, co-authored The Power of the Blood of Jesus Christ: God Wants Everyone to Go to Heaven. Her younger brother co-authored How Powerful God Is: God Uses Kids, Too!
In a Facebook post their father says, “Meet these two Holy Ghost Spiritual Sharpshooters! God has raised them up for such a time as this to counteract spiritual darkness. Libraries and bookstores are boldly filled with magic, witchcraft, homosexual and transgender identity books to infect the minds of the next generation. These voices of the next generation will reverberate from sea to shining sea, sending spiritual shockwaves across this great nation.”
Before co-authoring these two books with his kids, Dr. Cooper already authored four books, including Jesus Focused: Awakening Endtime Prophetic Strategy and The Call for Strong Godly Leadership. With the rise of children’s books promoting transgender ideology, homosexuality and witchcraft, he sees these two new children’s books as a way for his kids to represent “the true voices of the next generation.”
While it’s clear that Dr. Cooper is a writer and a huge fan of his kids’ writing, he emphasizes that he didn’t push them to write these books. In 2020, both of Dr. Cooper’s kids showed an interest in writing. He describes what happened: “I’m writing, and the kids come in, and my son says, ‘Dad, I want to write a book,’ and then my daughter too, she goes, ‘Yeah, me too, dad! I want to write a book.'”
Instead of shutting the idea down or brushing it aside, Cooper encouraged it and said, “OK! What do you want to write about?”
His son, Caleb Titus, answered, “I want to write about how powerful God is.” His daughter, Izabella, answered, “I want to write about the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Those answers became the titles of the books, and from that small start, Dr. Cooper helped them write both books by capturing their thoughts on his iPad. The kids were involved in everything from the writing to the art direction.
“For my generation, I wanted the cover of my book to be more intense,” says Izabella. “It’s not just anything little that He did. It’s big, and it’s intense. So I wanted my cover to be intense and not so cute.”
Although Dr. Cooper is proud of them for writing the books, he’s more excited about something else. “The phrase that comes to mind immediately is a ‘pioneering spirit,'” he says. “There’s no real blueprint to this. What do you do with two kids who are feeling stirred? There’s no guide. There’s no handbook here.”
His kids possess a pioneering spirit, but it’s easy to see where they got their love for writing. “What inspired me was because I’ve seen my dad write so many books,” says Caleb Titus. “One day, it was a Saturday, I told my dad I wanted to write a book. And he said, ‘OK. I’ll work with you,’ and then that’s how I got my book.”
Both kids were inspired to write because they saw their dad writing, but Dr. Cooper gives credit where credit is due — to his wife, Erica.
“She homeschools our children, and invests so much time in them,” he says. “Their ability to articulate and desire to move forward in this is rooted and grounded in her constantly training them up and equipping them daily.”
Erica Cooper describes her kids as “brave and anointed.” “It’s an honor to watch them grow,” she says. “I’ve homeschooled them since they were in preschool.” She continues, “They don’t have a Jr. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit roars in both of them just like He does in adults.”
In reference to his kids, Dr. Cooper quotes Psalm 127:4-5 (NKJV): “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.”
Dr. Cooper and his wife have a quiver with at least two arrows, and it’s clear to see that they’re happy about it. While there isn’t a literal city gate where they can speak with their enemies, there are online bookstores like Amazon where they can share the truth with their enemies and friends alike, and if the Cooper kids share the truth with you in person, along with it, you might get a free snow cone.
You can order these books by visiting calebcooperministries.com. {eoa}
Rob Vischer is a freelance writer for Charisma Media.
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