Crispin's Rainy Day by Forrest Dickison

In Moscow, folks are fond of saying that stories are soul food. In fact, that’s the title of the podcast hosted by N.D. Wilson and Canon Press CEO Brian Kohl. Kids will listen to stories, and they will feed on them, so the question is, what kind of stories will you provide?

Forrest Dickison received his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New Saint Andrews College in 2021. Canon Press recently published his first book, Crispin’s Rainy Day. He has previously illustrated numerous books, including Hello, Ninja and Sir Badalot.

Too often today, children are subjected to dumbed-down stories meant to appeal to the childish part of them rather than challenge and raise them upward. The same problem pervades the whole manner in which many Christians attempt to raise their kids in the faith: concepts like “children’s church,” which attempt to bring the service lower rather than boost the children by early engagement with beauty, goodness, and truth. Forrest isn’t interested in providing more cartoon slop like Cocomelon. His drawings are clear but full of life and meaning, and his characters meet challenges in the world and in themselves through which they must grow in order to succeed.

Dickinson is currently working on an illustrated version of Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki Tikki Tavi as well as another book about Crispin. Outside of his writing, he is a prolific artist and enjoys playing basketball and spending time with his wife and four children.