"Prince of Peace" Akiane Kramarik age 8
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Akiane KramarikThroughout Heaven is For Real Todd talks about a game they played with Colton; whenever they saw a picture of Jesus, they would ask if it was right. Todd then learns about this girl who started having visions of heaven when she was four years old and started having visions of heaven and painting her visions. When Todd asked Colton if Akiane Kramarik's painting "Prince of Peace" was right Colton finally said yes. Akiane Kramarik is now 19 years old and still paints her visions of heaven. Akiane recently was interviewed on Katie Courics talk show to talk about her experiences and paintings. (Right) Unlike Colton, Akiane grew up in a nonreligious household with one agnostic parent and one atheist parent and she never had a near death experience yet for some explainable reason she can capture the image of Christ.
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Reverse Maus
The Maus comic books are written about a father son relationship just like Heaven is For Real. In Spiegalman's comics the fathers experience is told through interviews with his son. Reversly Todd Burpo tells his sons story as it is told to him. Both Colton and Vladek have a unimaginable experience that their father-son counterpart deems book worthy. While Colton's story tells about the indescribable glories of Heaven, Vladek oppositely tells the nightmarish stories of surviving Nazi concentration camps. Both stories are incredible and unbelievable but on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of what they experiences. Also while Todd and Colton seem to have a good father son relationship Vladek and Art seem to encounter many rough patches.
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Todd and Colton Burpo
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unbelievaBle
Religion is a very touchy subject with many people especially when it comes to after life and heaven and hell. Needless to say when Colton goes to heaven most people have a hard time believing what he says. A major theme in his book is childlike faith. As a preachers son some people write off Colton's story as just fact feedback. But what this story really captures is childlike faith. Todd struggles with how to believe his son because all facts make what Colton says impossible. Colton's impossible visit to heaven changes the perspective of the whole town. People say ignorance is bliss but sometimes knowledge is too much and causes a loss of innocence. Colton has touched his family his community and now through the movie the world. Colton enlightens the world by his childlike faith. Most people don't want to talk about Christ or faith or heaven and hell but Colton gives people hope for their future. It's hard to believe in the unknown. Life like when you're in a dark hall and you don't know what is coming next but you have to keep going to get to the end. The only problem is we don't know what comes at the end. Death is scary but with Colton's story he brings hope that there is life after death and the good things are to come. The proclamation scares many people but it also teaches childlike faith and to not be afraid of the unknown.
NonFiction Non-Boring
When most people think of Nonfiction they automatically think boring. Generally people wrongly associate nonfiction with textbook style publications and long biographies about one topic like whales or George Washington; books that are good for research papers but not the most interesting reads. That general assumption could not be more wrong. Both Heaven is for Real and Unbroken have proven to me that Nonfiction can be a pleasurable read. The reason Unbroken and Heaven is for Real are good reads is because they tell a story not a list of facts. Nonfiction is a true story as opposed to something made up. Just because it is factual does not mean it has to be present in a timeline or a list of facts. Both Laura Hillenbrand and Todd Burpo bring their respective story to life. Laura Hillenbrand spent years researching and interviewing Louis to become knowledgeable about his story so that she could bring it to life and allow readers to experience what Louis experienced. When Hillenbrand wrote the book she wasn't trying to write a historical reference book, or even an autobiography of Louis. Laura was writing a story just like fiction authors do except her story really happened. Todd Burpo narrates his own story of what happened to him and his family after his son took a trip to Heaven . Todd Burpo was not writing a journal on theology or a reference article on appendicitis. I think these are the kinds of works that are usually associated in Non-Fiction, but both authors had a story to tell not a essay to present.
The Non-Fiction is what makes these Non-Fiction Books Enjoyable. The facts make the books realistic. As a reader it is easier to connect to a book when it is realistic. Some times fiction either falls into the genre of Fantasy, which is completely unrealistic, or Fiction which if well written is a good read but if poorly executed is no fun to read because it is so unrealistic the reader struggles to relate. When reading nonfiction the reality is what makes the book exciting. As a reader I was awestruck to think about Louis being stuck on a raft with no food for weeks on end, and a little 4 year old boy being whisked away to Heaven and repeating the experience in such detail. So next time you have to read a non fiction book have an open mind because nonfiction has the potential to entice you in ways fiction simply can't accomplish. |
Movie Review
I went to see Heaven is For Real and was disappointed that the movie didn't parallel the book very much. Because Heaven is For Real is a true story and considering the religious nature of the story I feel like it is very important for the movie to stick to what happened. Colton's story is already unbelievable so when you change the story is detracts from the miracle that actually happened. For starters the book goes into great detail about how sick Colton was and explained that they had already been to see a doctor and the doctor said Colton didn't have appendicitis then went to a different hospital days later and found out his appendix had ruptured. The details are what allows you to see how Colton got to the the near death stage. In the movie Colton is sick for a very short time the days pass quickly and to be honest it looks like his parents were just dumb as a stump and didn't want to take him to the hospital. Also when Colton wakes up from surgery in the movie he says he wants to go hold the spider, in reference to the tarantula he had been too afraid to hold days earlier at a museum they went to. For movie making purposes it is making the point that he isn't scared anymore because he met Jesus. That's great, but not what happened. In reality Colton held Rosie the Tarantula before the surgery on the day they were actually at the museum. When the Burpos can't pay the medical bills in reality Todd's mother sent money then the whole community sent money to help them out, in the movie they discussed their economic problems but no money came. By sending money it shows that the community supported this family. After Todd has taken so much time off in the movie his church wants to find someone new. This completely contradicts the supportive community that sent money in the book. There are many other things that are left out from the book including one funeral where Colton starts screaming wanting to know if the man knew Jesus. Also the producers changed the way Colton first told his parents about his trip to heaven and how Sonja found out about Colton meeting his sister. I also felt like the producers portrayed Sonja as sort of ditsy, self absorailbed, and she kept trying to romance Todd and get him to stop worrying about Colton's trip to heaven. This is not the impression i got of Sonja after reading the book. Overall the main idea of the book remained true but to me the details are what make the story special and removing and changing the details bothers me because of the nature of the story.
Colton's Quest
Colton's trip to heaven was a quest according to Foster's 5 components of a quest.
Quester: Colton is the quester because he takes the trip to heaven.
Place to go: His trip to the hospital will also take him to heaven.
Stated reason to go: Colton goes to the hospital for his appendicitis.
Challenges along the way: Colton almost dies from appendicitis and faces multiple surgeries and days in the hospital. His story also faces adversity.
Real Reason to go: The real reason for a quest is always self knowledge. Colton learns about heaven and he teaches others about heaven by telling his story.
Quester: Colton is the quester because he takes the trip to heaven.
Place to go: His trip to the hospital will also take him to heaven.
Stated reason to go: Colton goes to the hospital for his appendicitis.
Challenges along the way: Colton almost dies from appendicitis and faces multiple surgeries and days in the hospital. His story also faces adversity.
Real Reason to go: The real reason for a quest is always self knowledge. Colton learns about heaven and he teaches others about heaven by telling his story.