Whitman, Lauren, editor. Darcy is Always First: when siblings fight. Illustrated by Joe Hox. Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2024. 

Good News for Little Hearts series

Guide to Categories – Kid Review – review of books for elementary-aged and younger children

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In Darcy Is Always First, children will learn how to show love and patience to their brothers and sisters, even when they annoy each other.

It doesn’t matter that Darcy Duck is only a few seconds older than Delia and Denny—Darcy thinks she should be first at everything. That means that the ducklings always end up fighting to get their turn. Hurt feelings and anger abound until one day when their grandparents fly in for a visit. That’s when Denny’s determination to be first, ahead of Darcy, almost ends in disaster. 

Edited by counselor Lauren Whitman, Darcy Is Always First is part of the Good News for Little Hearts series that brings gospel wisdom and biblical counsel to families. Based on CCEF’s model of hope and help, each story focuses on an animal family’s real-life issues, encouraging young readers toward a growing relationship with Jesus during challenging circumstances.

Teaches children and parents how to apply God’s Word to the inevitable occurrence of navigating sibling conflict.

A special section at the end of the book guides parents in having meaningful conversations with their kids about putting others first and living at peace with one another.

Children ages four to seven will be captivated by Joe Hox’s colorful, fun illustrations that bring the animal world to life. 

Purchase Darcy is Always First on Amazon – https://amzn.to/3Yaw33n

My Kid Review

If there is more than one child in a family there is bound to be sibling conflict sooner or later. Darcy is Always First is the story of a family with three ducklings. The first hatched, Darcy, thinks she always has to/gets to be first which hurts the feelings of her siblings. The story is a good one to teach siblings to take care of each other – based on Romans 12:5.

The story ends with a section for parents on how to navigate sibling conflict.

Joe Hox created illustrations that compliment the text well and help non-readers to “read” the book on their own once they know the story. 

Darcy is Always First would be a great addition to the picture book section of a K-12 Christian school library. It is appropriate for preschoolers and early elementary-aged children

I received a complimentary copy of Darcy is Always First. This is my honest review. 

About the Editor – Lauren Whitman, MA

Lauren Whitman, MA, is a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), where she has served for over a decade. She also serves as the developmental editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling and is the author of A Painful Past: Healing and Moving Forward and A Biblical Counseling Process and editor of Henry’s Big Mistake and Darby Is Always First. Whitman, her husband, and their two children make their home in the Philadelphia area. 

About the Illustrator – Joe Hox

Joe Hox was raised on a farm in southern Iowa where he doodled whenever he wasn’t spading thistles or feeding pigs. Everyone knew by his crooked hay rows that he would choose art over farming. Joe earned his BA in art and education from Dordt College, and his MA from the University of Nebraska. Today he lives with his wife and four children in Pella, Iowa, where he illustrates and teaches art. Joe has illustrated all the Good News for Little Hearts series books.

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