Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
ilovebooksanddogs avatar reviewed on + 359 more book reviews


This review is going to be a tough one, I wish I could say that I REALLy liked or LOVED this book but I didn't. I did LIKE it but and that's a BIG BUT....

I think most of us want to believe in heaven or already do. As a child raised with Sunday services and involvement in many church activities I did believe, but as I've gotten older and seen how religious views disrupt our world and peoples lives, I find myself becoming more and more skeptical. When my mother was dying and I was sitting next to her, a few things happened that made me lean toward believing once again.

I'm spiritual, not religious, and this is a religious book. I knew that by just reading the title and seeing it was written by a pastor, the boys father. I typically steer clear of this type of book but after hearing all the hype about it I decided to go ahead and read it.

Todd Burpo, the author and the little boys father, writes of many reasons for us to believe that his child really did die and visited heaven, yet there is no record at the hospital of his child dying or even coming close to dying while being operated on. The little boys innocence and knowledge of things that happened before he was even born was convincing me, to a certain point, yet, I'm thinking that his fathers own religious beliefs fueled this little boy into more and more revelations that I honestly am having trouble swallowing.
I'm just so unsure that this is a factual account. This book raised more questions about heaven and my belief in it than it resolved.
I thought it was well written, he wrote in an easy and open style but I'm skeptical still. This book did not change my mind on that. I guess I'll find out if "Heaven is for Real" when I die. I guess that's the best I can hope for.