Her Bestest Friend

Simply Sophie Simpleton by P.G. James is a perfectly charming Christian children’s novel, just right for children aged eight years and over. It is the third book in the Sophie Simpleton series but can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed catching up with familiar faces.

The story is set in Australia in the mountains during the 1970’s. As the novel opens and closes, there is a tremendous storm. This reminds the reader that through all the storms of life, Jesus is in the boat with us.

Sophie Simpleton loves Jesus. He is her “bestest friend.” She talks to Him daily, living her life in the shadow of the question – what would Jesus do? She doesn’t always get it right, and that’s part of her charm and what makes her believable. Sophie Simpleton struggles with life just as we do. She has the big question – why do bad things happen to good people? Often there is no answer to that question but we just have to trust that God is good and God is love.

Sophie Simpleton is kind-hearted, standing up for what is right. There is a joi de vivre about her. She has been a victim of bullying, and still is, but “she made a conscious decision to reach out a hand of mercy and forgiveness.” She rallies behind other victims and befriends them.

As a child of the 1970’s I loved some of the cultural references. I, too, played elastics in the playground (and was rather good at it!). There is an old-fashioned party with party games, and the present Sophie Simpleton wants most, is a big dictionary. I loved that instead of birthday wishes, there are birthday prayers. It was a time of simplicity – no electrical gadgets to distract the children from the freedom of playing outside.