Let me tell ya ‘bout…a thing called love: New book builds faith in young hearts

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – “I had recently graduated from theological college when my little girl asked me, ‘Daddy, where is God?’ I was completely at sea—struggling to translate lofty theological truths into words a three-year-old could grasp.”

These are the words of Bruce Dutton, author of the newly published children’s book, About Love.

It’s a surprising and touching way to begin our conversation about what inspired him to write the book. “My wife was patiently watching my floundering attempts,” Bruce recalls. “And just as I paused for yet another try, she gently said, ‘Do you mind if I have a go?’

“I nodded, speechless. Then she turned to our daughter and said, quietly and clearly, ‘Jess, always remember that wherever love is, God is close by.’ I’ve never forgotten that moment—or that stunning answer.”

Now a grandfather after more than 50 years in Christian ministry—including leading a community refuge for homeless youth, leading^[a] Australia’s first residential school for training Christian youth and community workers, and serving as Principal of a small K–12 community school informed by Christian values^[b] —Bruce tells me that conversation was one of the key moments that sparked the idea for About Love, the first in a planned series of children’s books aimed at nurturing faith in young hearts.

Among those young hearts are his six grandchildren—with a seventh on the way.

Another source of inspiration was Gary Chapman’s 1992 classic The Five Love Languages. While psychological research offers limited support for Chapman’s core theories, many therapists and psychologists agree on this: people give and receive love in diverse ways, and the concept of “love languages” can be a helpful framework for identifying and understanding these expressions.

Bruce believes that even though some children grow up in challenging circumstances, most little ones have some experience of love—whether from caregivers, extended family, or the world around them.

Drawing on real-life moments with his grandchildren, About Love begins with toddlers’ everyday joys and the different ways they feel affection, connection, and care. Each page features bright, full-colour toddler-sized characters describing their experience of love, accompanied by a simple phrase or sentence introducing one of nine “languages of love.”

Each double-page spread gently links these expressions of love to the love of God, pointing young readers to the idea that God is the source of all true love.

“Well, that was the theory anyway,” Bruce says with a chuckle at the end of our chat. “But the most rewarding part is that About Love has become our almost-three-year-old granddaughter’s favourite book. She keeps asking her mum to read it to her! I hope it helps her—and lots of other children—grow to recognize and embrace God’s love. That’s my prayer.”

Bruce and his wife now run a mental health therapy practice in Launceston, Tasmania, drawing on their decades of experience in Christian ministry. With real-life toddler moments and whimsical illustrations, About Love celebrates the many ways love is experienced by little ones—and gently leads them toward the heart of God, who is love itself.

About Love, published by Ark House, is now available globally. For interviews, contact dutton.bruce@gmail.com.