The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Follow God’s Amazing ABCs by Roxanne Giardina

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

Follow God’s Amazing ABCs by Roxanne Giardina Roxannegiardina.com Amazon.com God’s Amazing ABCs cleverly connects each letter of the alphabet to a specific Bible story, introducing young children to biblical tales through the familiar format of the ABCs. The rhyming and rhythm of God’s Amazing ABCs allows for quick, enjoyable reading that will draw in both children and parents alike. These Bible couplets will capture a preschooler’s attention, imagination, and heart, while teaching them Bible stories in concise, memorable rhetoric. Parents can enjoy making memories with their children, reading poems about God’s Word on a level each boy and girl can appreciate. Adding this book to a child’s library will reinforce their early learning, introduce them to numerous Bible stories, and is sure to be a treasured keepsake for years to come. About the author Roxanne Giardina has been to India, Singapore, and Israel, but has the most fun spending time with her grandson, Joshua. Her two grown children are married and living within a short driving distance. She has taught preschoolers, elementary students, teenagers, young adults, as well as those in prison. While teaching preschool she started writing poems to enhance the Bible stories for her preschool students. This began the several year journey of poem writing, which resulted in this book.

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their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host or the Chris Foss show. Some guests of the show may be advertising on the podcast, but it is not an endorsement or review of any kind. Today we have an amazing young lady on the show. We're talking about her book. She's a multi-book author and tends to write for children because children need to learn to read early on and of course, stories are such a great way to help educate them. She's the author of her latest book that came out at God's Amazing ABCs out September 3rd, 2024. Roxanne Giardina joins us today. Did I get that right, Roxanne?

Roxanne Giardina Very good, I'm impressed. Pete Slauson I was practicing in my head Roxanne? Very good. I'm impressed. I was practicing in my head and what little bit of brains I have left. So we're going to be talking about her book and some of her insights and what she puts into them so you can find out more about her and what she does. She graduated from UNO with a degree in early childhood education and is currently teaching in Round Rock, Texas. She's a teacher at heart and has taught everyone from preschoolers to elementary students,

teenagers to adults, always with a passionate focus on the Bible. While teaching preschool, she started writing poems to enhance the Bible stories for her preschool students. This sparked a passion and began a several-year journey of poem writing, which resulted in children's Bible poem books. Welcome to the show. Roxanne, how are you? Roxanne Larson Well, thank you.

Thanks so much for having me. I'm fine. How are you? Pete Slauson And so, you were the one that… Were you? No, I'm just kidding. I was going to do the police joke, but I'm not going to do it now. I was like, maybe you're the one who wrote the song about Roxanne.

Roxanne Larson And do you know, my whole life, not my whole life, but many years, people you're the one who wrote the song about rocks and do you know my whole life? Not my whole life, but many years people have sung that song to me and I don't think I've ever heard it I mean, it's a it's a great song the police in there hitting give us your dot-coms Where can people find you on the interwebs? on my website is RoxanneGierdina.com and it's R-O-X-A-N-N-E-G-I-A-R-D-I-N-A.com. So give us a 30,000 overview of what's inside the new book. I like to write poems and my daughter came to me one day and she goes, Mom, why don't you do an ABC book?

And I said, you know, I hadn't thought of that. So what I did, I always want to relate everything to the Bible because eternity lasts a lot longer than where we are now. And kids get so much information that is not biblical. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's not biblical. I think being able to stick biblical in there is good. So this book, it's couplets. So it goes quick and it's got kind of a sing song rhythm to it. So it's by that, because of that, I think it's enjoyable for kids. And it goes over the ABCs while also giving some insights to Bible stories.

Bible stories some kids may know and some kids may not know. Pete Slauson Hmm. Bible stories, the things that people are giving. Dr. Debra Ruhfus Yes. Pete Slauson And so, you use the ABCDEFG, the alphabet, to make those stories. Dr. Debra Ruhfus

Right. The first one, for example, the first one is a is for Adam the very first man. He made a mistake, but God had a plan And I also put up videos You can go to YouTube Roxanne Giordina and I put up three to five minute videos on each of the letters and some letters have more than one video and The reason why is because it's just a little bit of information on each of the letters and some letters have more than one video and the reason why is because it's just a little bit of information and if the kids want to know more there's a three to five minute video that they can watch and give them more information.

Oh, so they can learn all the good stuff there. Now is that the theme through your three other books? I believe you have a total of four, is that correct? The three other books, what that was, was I was teaching at a preschool and we had Bible stories. And I was like, I wanted to enhance their story and I like to write poems. So I would get so excited. I would go home at night and I'd write a poem for whatever Bible story we were introducing that month. And it just, it blossomed into enough poems to have three books. Yeah. And I am so sorry. My dog never barks. And of course, he waits till we get on here. There's probably some mailman's coming.

So I apologize for that. But I would, like I said, I would go home and I would write those stories and then I'd get to go to school. And what I would do is I would compile, I don't know, let's say about four, five, six, seven, eight of the poems together, because I just taught two year olds, and I'd make a little book, and I'd give it to them at the end of the month, that they could go home. And they would use them, the parents told me they would use them as bed top stories.

So that gave me the thought, oh, maybe somebody might want to publish these. And so I put them out there and somebody did. So that began the journey. Oh, wow. That's pretty darn amazing. Yes. The very enjoy, which has been very enjoyable.

When did you know that you were, you were, when did you know that you were good at poems and you started poem writing? It's so funny. Remember answer machines? And I would do a little rhyme on the answer machine. Or like for everybody does Christmas stories and things. And I would do a poem for the Christmas story. So I just have enjoyed doing that. And it, you know, but you know, it came to a place in my life where I was like, what am I going to do now? Because I was newly divorced. And I'm like, what am I going to do now? Because I was newly divorced and I'm like,

Father God, what am I going to do with my life now? I had been a stay at home mom, I didn't know what my life was going to consist of. And my daughter and all of her wisdom, she's mother, she said, your degree is an early childhood, why don't you go teach preschool? And I was like, you know, that's a good idea.

So from the mouth of the babes, right? I was like, you know, that's a good idea. So from the mouth of the babes, right? I did that, you know, I went and I was holding those babies when they're two, they're still babies. I would hold the babies and then just fill me up with all their love. And then I'd go home and all the creativity would start to wow. So it was, it's just been a journey and it's been a good journey. And it's one that I don't think this is the end of it. I have other books inside of me that I want to have published. But we have to start somewhere. That's true.

That's true. Build your audience and all that good stuff. But most of the authors on the show, they've done that over the years, so they're in the works of doing that where they build their audience and they get their books out there and the books tend to progress as they get going. Now, on books that you're maybe working on for the future,

are those books that still are targeted towards young children or are you thinking about maybe doing, you know, ones geared towards adults? No, I like, so I haven't even thought of adults. It's funny, I like teaching adults, but I like writing children's poems. I mean, I have written some poems for adults, but for some reason, my mind just tends to go, is geared toward the little kids. Like I have, I've got two good night poem books already written and I'm waiting to see what this one does to see how, you know, how that goes. You just can't have a plethora of books out there and nobody buying them.

Do you have to get them sold? Yeah, that's definitely true. And so it looks pretty, let's go wander through some of your other books so people can get familiar with them too. You've got Treasure Chest of Precious Pearls, Daily Diamonds. Tell us about that. Julie Daily Diamonds is a book that, it's got 31 poems in it, and each of the poems has an illustration to go with it that the kids

can color. So it's kind of like a fancy coloring book, but it's like a devotional of things in the Bible, like the fruit of the spirit. And it tells you different things, truths from the Bible that are in daily diamonds. And if you go through one every day, you've got a new point for every, you know, every day of the month. Yeah. And kids always like going back and rereading. So, when they're little, you can do it, you know, every month. You can do it every month.

Pete And the great thing about kids is they reread stuff over and over and over. It's the way they master stuff. That's how they, that's why they watch those Disney movies over and over again. It's kind of how we learn. We learn through stories. We were just talking about that with an actor on the show a few hours ago. You know, stories, learning through stories and all that stuff is so important.

Now I guess the treasure of chess pearls encompass three different of your books. There's the New Testament nuggets and the Old Testament oracles, and the one we just referenced daily diamonds. If you want to maybe talk to us a little bit about those. Right. Yes. So, all the Old Testament stories are in Old Testament oracles. The New Testament stories are in the New Testament.

I'm sorry, my dog barked again and made my mind go off. The New Testament stories are in the New Testament. I'm sorry, my dog barked again and made my mind go off. He's going to do that just to aggravate me. So I apologize. No problem. Anyway, I did those books to introduce the Old Testament and the New Testament. And how it started was, I had all the poems and my daughter was pregnant. And it was like, oh, I'm going to put all these poems in a book for my grandbaby. And that's how it began. I put them all in one giant book for him.

And then when a publisher came and was interested in it, then I was able to divide them up. Pete Slauson And what's next for you? Do you have some other books you're working on maybe in the next year or two that you'll be publishing? Dr. Debra Johnson Like I said, I have the two good night books that I've already done and I'm just kind of waiting to see what this does. But I honestly have thought about books for like specific stories in the Bible for children,

like David and Goliath or Jonah and the whale or New Testament stories, Peter the fisherman, because kids like the rhyming aspect and they also need to hear these stories. They need to know the truths of the Bible and that their God loves them and that they can learn about Him and His world and what He has created for them. Pete Slauson And what age are they usually targeted to? Dr. Cammie Cammie The ABC book, I think, is like probably kindergarten

age. The other three books are probably, I did them for two year olds. So I'm thinking probably two to six or seven. If they like to color, then seven year olds definitely would still enjoy that. Oh, so they can color these? The three treasure chest of precious pearls they can color.

And kids love to do that. They love to interact with everything and get it on. What do you hope people come away with as they read your books? I would like for this to minister to the spirits of the kids, but not only them, but their parents. I think that this world needs hope in it. This world needs, they need something else to focus on besides all the bad things that are going on. And if we can realize that there is an eternity, that there is a God who loves us, that cares about us,

then these books I think help do that. Pete They certainly do. The, you know, being able to learn about life, learn young, and reading is so important. Why do you think reading is important in shaping the brain? You're a teacher. My mom is a teacher and my sister is. So I think very highly of teachers and we should. How does it help develop the brain to start reading at an early age, do you think? I think there are connections that are made in the brain when they read early, that some connections have to be made at certain ages. You don't lose them forever, but they just aren't as sharp. It's kind of the same with music or with anything you learn at an early age.

If you start developing it early, it becomes solidified and it becomes a part of who you are. Like, if like these these points, if the children know them kind of like nursery rhymes, if they know them and they say them over and over again in their minds, it becomes a part of their spirit, it becomes a part of who they are and it enriches their lives. Oh, because, because again, it's, it's putting healthy, positive information into them. As we go out, what do you hope people come with is read your books, give us your dot coms, future pictures of what's going on, et cetera, et cetera.

It's my website is RoxanneJordina.com. I do have YouTube videos out there, A through Z. They're three to five minutes long, and I'm starting to have more than one video per letter, because there's more information in the story that you can just put on one video. And I don't want to make them too long because kids attention spans aren't that long. But also in the future,

what I want to do, I hope to start this summer, something totally different than this is begin to teach the Bible on a YouTube channel. Because what I enjoy is I like looking at the symbolism behind the stories in the Bible, and if you do that, they apply to your life in a way that you never imagined. And when I started doing that, I was amazed at the answers that I found in the Bible. It wasn't just history stories, but it was stories that if you dig deeper, you can find out how much more it can apply to your life than you ever imagined. Pete Oh, yeah. When did you first get exposed to the Bible and religion? Kirsten Oh, you know, I became a Christian, I got saved when I was eight.

Pete Okay. Kirsten But when I was 12 years old, I wanted to be on the Bible quiz team. Pete Oh, okay. Kirsten So, I was on the Bible quiz team as long as they'd let me be on there. When I was 19, they're like, okay, stop, you get off. But I've always loved memorizing parts of the Bible. I've loved teaching it. It's just who I am.

It's where my passion is. I do enjoy teaching other things. I really like teaching math. I think it's a blast to get kids excited about something they didn't know they could be excited about. So I enjoy, I do enjoy those types of things. I don't just have my head in the Bible 24 hours a day. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but I do have

other things I like to do. Like I have a dog, like you have heard. And I do like doing certain types of exercises and things. And I like being around my family. So there are other things I enjoy doing. But right now my focus is on these books and trying to get the word out there in case anybody is interested in just another way to introduce the Bible to their child without it being like a real heavy hitter. Do you see? Does that make sense?

It's just kind of light. You got to be serious. You got to have something for light for kids or, you know, it's way too hard or, you know, you know, you don't hand them more in peace at two years old. I mean, you can, but I can be able to pick it up. So I'm just going to just be like, what is this crap? And it's war and peace, man. It weighs like five tons or something. Start with something light then. And of course, pictures are a great way on the illustrator on it. Did you work with the same illustrator in all three

or four books? But you know, that's, that's a really good question. For Treasure Chest of Precious Pearls, the lady who illustrated those, I found her through a teacher friend of mine. Pete Oh, wow. Dr. C And her mother wrote children's books, but never was able to get them published. So, the fact that she was able to illustrate mine was really, it was really neat. But God's Amazing ABCs, one of my students, one of my fifth grade students, after I left

the school and was at another school, I contacted his mother, I didn't want to contact him, you know, directly, I contacted his mother to see if he would be interested in illustrating the book. And he was, and he was such a good student, and he comes from such a good family, his name's Kason Webb. And he comes from such a good family that it's nice to have something good happen to good kids. It seems like sometimes all the bad ones get the attention, or the ones who need more help or whatever. He was just a good kids. You know, it seems like sometimes all the bad ones get the attention, the ones who need more help or whatever. He was just a good kid.

Pete Slauson Oh, wow. Julie Bounds You know, who did his work, who was, you know, he was just a model student. And one day, I was walking down the hall at school and I'm like, who drew this picture? And somebody said, okay, send it. I'm like, I didn't know he could draw. So, I found out he could draw. And when I started this book, he was the one I contacted. Pete Wow. And he did the wonderful pictures in it and made it look great. Yeah, I mean, we need more young people to read, you know, utilize their brain, critical thinking, and reading just does that for you. It makes you think about things, it makes you

understand your world better and everything else. I think it's one of the most important things. My mom, I think, was reading to me in the womb. I know she was writing to me in the womb. She has all these letters that she wrote while she was pregnant with me. That's right. Yeah, it's pretty cool. She compiled them in a book and all that stuff.

But I think just having that sort of experience with being educated early and reading and of course teachers inspiring us to be better people and know ourselves. I mean, I just think that makes such a great difference. So yeah, I'm glad we got it there. It looks like we got the dog to finally, he really just wanted to be on the show, I think is what it was. I apologize. I guess if you never barks, never. I mean, we just, maybe we should have more dogs on the show. I think maybe that's what he's upset about. He's, hey man, why are you holding out for dogs, man? Dogs need to get on

the show too. So my dog's pretty quiet. My dog never says anything. My dog's whatever. He's doing a silly little show there again. You got that going for you. So anything more we want to tease out or talk to us about, about future projects you're working on and the books that you've got going on? No, I'm just excited about this book and hoping the other three can come to life again. And I'm excited about my videos. And please go watch the videos if you get the book because it will really help the kids. It's got a, I have a little puppet, a girlfriend of mine made the puppet for me. And so there's a puppet on there, my little lamb, and the little lamb sings the couplet and we talk about the story

and what's behind it. It's really neat. Do all the books run with the same characters to them or? Julie Larson No, no they don't. No they don't. Because they're about different stories in the Bible. But the video, I see what you mean because I have a little lamb because my girlfriend's extremely talented and I'm like, can you make a puppet for me? A little lamb?

I need to talk to some kids don't want to see me on a video. They want to see a lamb, you know? So she made a real cute little lamb for me and the little lamb and I talk back and forth about the story. Yeah. Oh wow. So it's kind of neat. It's been fun to have you on the show. Give us your dot coms one more time as we go out. RoxanneGiardina.com. Thank you very much, Roxanne. We certainly appreciate it.

Thank you so much. I've totally enjoyed it. Thank you. We have too. Folks, go to pick up the book wherever fine books are sold. It's called God's Amazing ABCs. You can find it on Amazon and other places. And check out our other books as well.

Get your kids reading. Make them smart. I've seen some of the kids out there these days and they need to get off my lawn. Anyway, I watched too many Clint Eastwood movies evidently, and then I've gotten too old. Go to goodreads.com folks, search Chris Foss, facebook.com for says Chris Foss, Chris Foss, one of the Tic Toc, and all those crazy places. Be good to each other.

Stay safe. We'll see you next time.