Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2017

178 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestofMP.com feature A new five-book series, “Fruit That Lasts,” was penned by co-author Nena Jackson of Charleston and longtime friend Kristi Smith of Birmingham, Alabama. These children’s books highlight the many adventures and misadventures of young characters Franny and Pom Pom while they navigate how to live in the fullness of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and, with guidance from wise grandmothers Nana and Rue Rue, create fruit that lasts. “Fruit That Lasts” is a series of fun and engaging stories that help parents, grandparents and children’s ministry leaders share a complex religious topic with younger children. “While writing the series, I was in the process of becoming a grandmother, and we knew other women who were longing to leave a legacy and teach their grandchildren,” Jackson explained. “It was our desire to give grandparents a fun way to teach their grandchildren, and, with ‘Fruit That Lasts,’ it is easy because the kids love the characters.” Modern day parables, the stories can stand alone or work together as part of a series that has also been prepared as a project for vacation Bible school programs and has already been utilized in Kenya, Africa. Longtime best friends Kristi and Nena were sitting in a park when the idea of the story seemed to float from the tree overhead and into their souls, igniting a passion for a new calling. They since labeled this phenomenon the “download” that gave them the desire to write, “Fruit That Lasts.” Franny Fig is a friendly young girl tree who is so nice she might just annoy you a little. She is always on time, always kind, always respectful, always joyful and always doing the right thing. Readers will have a hard time not liking Franny because she isn’t conceited or arrogant, overly concerned with her looks or controlling – she’s likable. Pom Pom, however, is an adventurous young pomegranate tree who will tickle you as she dreams up fanciful solutions to nonexistent problems, clumsily falls into difficulty and lazily avoids hard tasks. She put the “mis” in misadventures. She believes she is smart, angered easily and a slow learner, but despite all of this, she is the reason you keep reading. Nena Jackson, left, and Kristi Smith penned the Fruit That Lasts series. BY STACY E. DOMINGO Modern Day Parables Fruit That Lasts Children’s Book Series Photos courtesy of Fruit That Lasts.