Randi's Review	Cathy's Review	Kathleen's Review	Lynn Anne's Review	Eli's Review

Review by Randi

Snapshots of Heaven is a softcover book, approximately 5 1/4" x 8 1/2" in size, containing 40 stories (191 pages) of thought provoking and heart warming memories of the author's experiences with his own children. The short biography, from his website tells us "MICHAEL WELLS is an author, entrepreneur, husband, and father of two. The stories in Snapshots of Heaven are the stuff of his own experiences as a father. His driving ambition is to encourage and motivate adults everywhere to tell their stories of the little ones who “show them heaven before their time.” He makes his home with his American wife and two great kids in Montreal, Canada."

The premise that "children touch our lives in so many ways giving us glimpses of heaven before its time" makes this book more than just tales from a father. Wells does a great job of not only entertaining us with his stories, but also reminds us just how important these little folk are, worthy to be treasured and given the priority in our busy daily schedules.

Snapshots of Heaven is written in three sections

• Everyday Lessons; stories of things like goodnight kisses, and the wake up call to true priorities
  
• Special Occasions; vacations, special games, weekends, and holidays
  
• Growing Up; reminding us of how fast time flies with stories about letting go

At the end of each of the three sections is an area to record your OWN Snapshot of Heaven by writing a short story of one of your memories and perhaps attaching a photo.

While not a scrapbooking book per se, I feel this a valuable read for anyone with children in their lives. Most of us can stand a brush-up in recording our memories in a more in-depth manner, and this book encourages us to do so. Not only will it challenge you to record these memories, but also to prioritize so you have even MORE memories to record! This is a great lazy-day summertime read. Check it out soon.

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Review by Cathy

Snapshots of Heaven is an easy to read, enjoyable book with forty short stories about children that will warm your heart. The book is full of everyday memories and cute stories about family life with children. This book would be equally enjoyable for a new parent, as well as parents of teens. Following each section of the book is a few pages for the reader to add a photo and record their own snapshot of heaven.

As for the application for scrapbooking, the way the Michael Wells records tiny pieces of everyday life is inspiring. For most of us, journaling is the hardest part of scrapbooking. Each of us does have a little piece of heaven with our children. We simply need to record it.

While the book, Snapshots of Heaven is not a traditional scrapbooking instructional manual, it is a delightful read that will inspire your journaling. The book is well written, with a great variety of topics. This book would make a great gift for a new parent as well as a seasoned parent or grandparent.

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Review by Kathleen

I received a copy of the book, ‘Snapshots of Heaven: 40 Funny, Profound, Real-life stories about children’ written by Michael Wells. This 191 page book is a sweet collection of stories about the author’s children and family. His goal: to record real-life tales that touched his heart, and will touch yours too.

I admit, at first I wondered why I would be interested in reading about a stranger’s children. But as I sat down to read the short stories, I found myself thinking about my own children, my nieces and nephews, and the things they say and do that have an impact on my life whether big or small.

I have used this book as a jumping off point to really write down the stories. It is easy to forget that the reason we scrapbook is to record a history that will hopefully be passed along to many generations or even to remind us in the years to come of what we were like. What I really got from this book, besides many smiles, was that it IS important to write about those fleeting moments. All too soon my children will be grown and will I REALLY remember the funny way they said ‘peetoes’ instead of tomatoes? How my son became obsessed with hopping on one foot? Or my daughter would insist on wearing her winter hat in the bathtub?

If you are looking for an easy read that will make you smile and most likely prompt you to record those precious, everyday moments, I would recommend reading ‘Snapshots of Heaven’ by Michael Wells.

The paperback book retails for $14.95.

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Review by Lynn Anne

Michael Wells's self-published Snapshots of Heaven is a collection of stories about the author's children. Though it's not a scrapbook, nor a book about scrapbooking, Wells presents his book as a sort of scrapbook filled with "kid moments" that he likens to glimpses of Heaven before our time. The stories may not be as "profound" or even funny as the book's cover claims, hidden beneath a lot of extra prose and somewhat heavy-handed moralizing. But this 191-page afternoon of easy reading may encourage reflection on one's own special moments, and encourages the reader to write down their own 'snapshots,' which can certainly be of value to scrapbookers.

Snapshots of Heaven is presented beautifully, as a glossy 5.5" x 8.5" paperback with eye-catching cover art featuring "professional snapshots" of a variety of happy children and families. Several pages of praise-filled blurbs raise the reader's expectations and introduce the author, Michael Wells. Wells is a father who decided to document his special moments with his children, then motivate other adults to share their children's stories as well. This book, in fact, is billed as the first in a series, which intends to include other people's stories in future editions.

The stories themselves are categorized in three sections, titled, "Everyday Lessons," "Special Occasions," and "Growing Up." Each section begins with a photo illustration and a relevant quotation (highly suitable for use in a scrapbook!). Each ends with a couple of blank lined pages, a place in which to glue a photograph, and exhortation to 'write your own' similar moment on the pages provided.

Wells's "snapshot" moments are of the type all parents encounter on an occasional and sometimes daily basis - cute things that kids say, funny ways in which they see the world, loving thoughts they share in the moment before they fall asleep at night. Wells describes a "shaving cream blizzard" he discovered in his son's room one night, which the boy had seen on the counter and mistaken for indoor snow. He describes in detail his frantic reaction to his daughter's first week at overnight camp. The stories tend to beat the reader over the head a bit with The Point. Remember these moments, they're going fast. These moments are important. Don't lose these moments. I'm so glad I didn't miss this moment. At times, I wished I could say to the author, "I GET it - now get on with the story!"

Often, the stories also have to be ferreted out from beneath overly long and tedious prose. An entire paragraph of one story was devoted to describing the giggles of the author's daughter and friend - as a volcano, a cloudburst, and a sea of bubbles. All apt metaphors, no doubt, but in this case 'fewer' would have been 'more'. Lotsa giggles - got it. On with the story!

The point Wells drives home, however, is one that scrapbookers will recognize and appreciate. The moments are important, and they do go by quickly, and they will be lost if not cherished from the get-go. And, of course, writing them down is key. The most poignant story in this book, for me, was a conversation Wells had with another father, about how that father viewed his duty as his children's chauffer. I won't give away the ending, but it's enough to make anyone stop and take stock of what's most important.

I can't tell you this book is necessarily worth the cover price of $14.95 US/$16.95 CAN. But if you can find it in your library, go ahead and take it home for a test drive. Perhaps the stories will remind you of moments you've had with your own children that you wish to record. Maybe the author's reflections will help you recognize these moments when they do occur, and perhaps you'll even decide to share some of them on the Snapshots of Heaven website. If so, then it may indeed be worth the cover price to keep a copy on hand - because those memories and moments are what scrapbooking is all about.

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Review by Eli

And now for something completely different…a book review that on the outside may not seem to be directly related to scrapbooking but on the inside is a world of inspiration.

Snapshots of Heaven, written by Michael Wells and published in 2005, offers almost 200 pages of real life stories that Wells experienced with his two children, Jeremy and Jenna. The book has three sections, including: Everyday Lessons, Special Occasions and Growing up. Each contains a number of quick anecdotes with Wells’ reflections. All of them feature a life lessons, or “a-ha” moments experienced by Wells as he grew into being a father. At the end of each section, Wells provides a few pages for journaling about your own “Snapshots,” giving you a jump start on a page or mini album. There’s room for a photo and a few pages for journaling.

Being a mom of one daughter, I felt what he wrote about. He captured what I think are universal truths about the loveliness, delight, unpredictability, chaos and sometimes pure wit of children. He reflects our younger selves and gives us a way to rekindle some of the magic that we traded in for grown up “knowledge.”

So what’s in it for the crafter? Lots, I think. If you have young children, you don’t have much time to scrap, much less read. Wells’ quick, easy stories can be read in minutes. If you can take two minutes in the bathroom, you can read one of his stories and be inspired to hold precious this season in your life and to translate that into art celebrating it. If you have grown children, you will find his promptings great for reminiscing about the growing years, bringing a fresh perspective to them. If you don’t have children, the moments shared in the book can take you back to your childhood and give you touch-points to direct your creative life.

Conclusion: Let me just say, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I felt that reading it slowly and pondering the stories provided me with a framework for recording my feelings of every day life that I want to capture and share with others through scrapbooking. It brought back memories of my own childhood and waved little white flags over moments in my life that say, “Hey, remember you are special.” I know that might sound a little trite but I think we can all use a bit of magic in our lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to capture a bit of that magic.

For more information visit SNAPSHOTS of HEAVEN