The Bab and Baha’u’llah: The Twin Manifestations of God – A Children’s Book

Melissa Charepoo has created several children’s books that make the significance of Baha’i holy days accessible to a young audience. You may remember her books about Ayyam-i-Ha, the Fast and Naw-Ruz. She also wrote The Life of Baha’u’llah and most recently she’s released The Life of the Bab. In this post we wanted to focus on her new book titled The Bab and Baha’u’llah: The Twin Manifestations of God.

This particular book, which you can purchase here on Amazon, draws our attention to the unique relationship between the Bab and Baha’u’llah, even though They never met. Never before had a Manifestation of God served as the Herald of another Manifestation, as the Bab did for Baha’u’llah, and for this reason, They are known as the Twin Manifestations of God. This book shares the facts and major milestones of the lives of both Manifestations in a format that is easy for children to understand. The illustrations are vibrant and joyful. In this interview, Melissa tells us why she was inspired to create the book, who its intended audience is, and how the book came together:

Baha’i Blog: What inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired to write a book that would explore the station of the Bab and Baha’u’llah as the Twin Manifestations of God in a format that was easy for the reader to compare, contrast, and memorize important facts and major milestones of both Manifestations.

Baha’i Blog: Who is the audience for your book?

The book was written for children 6 years and older but the whole family can enjoy it as well.

Baha’i Blog: Can you tell us a little about how you created the illustrations?

Similar to my previous books I wanted to create illustrations that evoked a sense of reverence and respect. Specifically, the illustrations in this book were created to reinforce the concepts in the text by researching primary and secondary sources of the history of the Baha’i Faith to include illustrations that will further describe an event or a fact in the life of both Manifestations. I then proceeded to create the illustrations in watercolor in the same style as my previous books.

Baha’i Blog: What did you learn in the process of making this book specifically?

The theme of perseverance is one that keeps coming up for me during the process of creating my books. I was in the process of creating the book when the COVID-19 pandemic started in our state and many things changed for our family. I was tempted to stop altogether and resume the project at a later time, but instead, I decided to work a little every day and with much sacrifice and support of my family, I was able to complete the book.

Baha’i Blog: And we are so glad you did! Thank you so much, Melissa, for sharing this with us.

You can purchase ‘The Bab and Baha’u’llah: The Twin Manifestations of God’ here on Amazon. You can find out more about Melissa and her work from her website delighted-hearts.com

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.