~~ from book origination to becoming a show on Pure Flix
I am thrilled to share a guest post from Lee Ann Mancini about how she started with her Sea Kids stories. I met Lee Ann at a book conference and am grateful for her dedication to ensuring children learn about Jesus. Her books are perfect; they have a positive and impactful message that kids will understand and the images will rival any Disney book. Lee Ann has had the joy of seeing her characters come to life in 26 episodes on Now Media, PureFlix and TBN. I hope you enjoy learning about how it all started as much as I did. Donna
My children are now grown adults. However, while they were still young, I remember thinking to myself, “There aren’t many resources out there to help parents like me teach their children biblical principles regarding difficulties children face daily.” In response to this need, I began to write stories with Christian morals for my children. My goal was to teach my children how to respond biblically to real-life scenarios like being bullied. When my children grew up, I held onto my handwritten stories, thinking that perhaps I would read them to my grandchildren one day. But for years, they only gathered dust in the attic.
Over the course of time, though, I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at me, urging me to do something with the stories my children had loved. I had no desire to be a children’s author. Then again, I never had the desire to be an adjunct professor at a Christian college either. But God had other plans for me. Fast forward several years, I am not only an adjunct professor at South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary, but an award-winning Christian children’s author and the executive producer of a new Christian animation series called Sea Kids!
Today, children have a great need for products that tangibly show them how to live out the biblical principles that their parents, grandparents, and ministry leaders have sought to instill in them. There are certainly many wonderful children’s Bibles, Bible stories, and Christian character-building stories available on the market today. However, most of these books do not focus on real-life dilemmas that Christian children encounter on a daily basis. Christian children need to be reading stories that teach them to turn to Jesus in times of trouble and to give thanks to Him in times of gladness!
Let me share my mission with you. My desire is to create products that help parents build a strong foundation in Jesus in their children before the age of ten. After all, if radical Islamists can raise up children to kill in the name of Allah, we need to raise up children to love in the name of Jesus! The foundation we give our children in the Lord must be rock solid. The Lord has called all of us to adhere to Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which states:
“4Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
Impress is a command. By definition, it means “to mark, brand, mold, impact, influence, teach, love, lead, and disciple our children.”[1] We must teach our children God’s Word in such a manner that it leaves a lifelong impression on their heart, soul, and mind.
Sea Kids
In addition to my 7 award-winning picture books for children ages seven and under, my new animation series, Sea Kids, features 26 high-definition, closed-caption episodes that are each twelve minutes long. Throughout the series, Freddy, David, Melissa, and their friends navigate the rough waters of peer pressure, temptation, fear, forgiveness, obedience to parents, bullying, lack of self-esteem, and so much more. Each action-packed episode is beautifully animated and shows the characters praying to Jesus, asking Him for guidance and wisdom. Children can easily relate to these adorable characters and the problematic situations they encounter. My prayer is that the Sea Kids will help every child build a strong foundation in Jesus and, in so doing, become a living example of biblical virtue.
Children can view our episodes on Right Now Media, Pure Flix, and Trinity Broadcasting Network, or they are for purchase on our website: https://seakidstv.com In addition, all of our books are featured on the amazing app, Novel Effect, which you can download here for FREE: https://noveleffect.com Novel Effect has many classic children’s books, such as Good Night Moon and Love You Forever. As you read through a book, the app plays sound effects to accompany each page of the story! Children love this interactive app because they enjoy triggering the sound effects as they read the story.
We must use every resource at our disposal to help raise the next generation up to be strong believers in Jesus! Radical Islamists understand the importance of indoctrinating children at an early age, and so they teach children as young as eight to kill in the name of Allah. Knowing this, should we not boldly seek to indoctrinate our children to love in the name of Jesus? We should strive to help them build a rock-solid foundation in Jesus before the age of 10. The time is now! Instilling a biblical foundation of truth in our children will not only transform their future, but our future too!
For more information on our products and our curriculum, please visit: SeaKidsTV.com
Lee Ann’s Bio
Lee Ann Mancini holds a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies from Regent University and an M.A. in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Trinity International University). She also holds an M.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies and an M.A. in Christian and Classical Studies from Knox Theological Seminary.
Lee Ann is an adjunct professor at South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary. She is the author of the Adventures of the Sea Kids book series, which has won numerous accolades, and is an executive producer of the new animation series, Sea Kids.
Lee Ann serves as a board member of the Alexandrian Forum, an organization founded by Dr. Warren Gage Th.M., J.D., Ph.D. that seeks to provide pastors and their congregations with life-changing, biblical teaching that emphasizes seeing Jesus in every story of the Bible. She is also a speaker for Christian women groups regarding the redemptive power of the gospel represented through the types of brides of the Church.
Lee Ann maintains memberships with organizations such as the
Christian Women in Media Association and the Advanced Writers and Speakers
Association, a group that provides support for Christian women writers and
speakers.
[1] Art Murphy, The Faith of A Child: A Step-by-Step Guide to Salvation for Your Child, 36.