Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery

These stories will deepen your Christian faith by helping you practice Christian values in your daily at home, at work and in the community. This collection will open your heart to the experience and expression of more love in your life and will remind you that you are never alone or without hope, no matter how challenging and painful your circumstances may be.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Inspirational, Religion, Christianity, Short Stories, Self Help

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series, which currently has over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997.

Canfield received a BA in Chinese History from Harvard University and a Masters from University of Massachusetts. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with author Mark Victor Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. After three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.

Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live and the BBC.

Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life.

Jack Canfield was born on August 19, 1944, in Fort Worth, TX. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor). He attended high school at Linsly Military Institute, Wheeling, WV, 1962. He went to college at Harvard University, B.A., 1966; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.Ed., 1973. Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum in 1971 (divorced, November 1976); he married Georgia Lee Noble on September 9, 1978 (divorced, December 1999); he married Inga Marie Mahoney on July 4, 2001; children: (first marriage) Oran, David, Kyle, Dania; (second marriage) Christopher Noble. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

Reviews

[Maria Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not my typical kind of book. I usually go for the supernatural stuff, but these books were part of Amazon's "Daily Deal" at a great price do I decided to go for it. I loved these stories, they were heartwarming and taught me some valuable lessons. I bought another Chicken Soup book that I'm looking forward to reading next.

[★*☆♪Ev★*☆♪ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these. They are probably my favorite story's that I have read in these series so far. They are so funny, sad, and inspiring.

[Hailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book.
It was interesting to see through the eyes of people with different religious backgrounds than I, and realize they're not really different at all. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it is comforting and strengthening to know that God helps all of His children who love and remember Him. The evidence that God is real is alive in all of these people and their stories!! :)

[Annie Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a set of short stories best for a bed time read. This book is nothing about religion but more about application of Christian values to an everyday life. The stories belong to different topics such as hope, miracles and death. And a few stories are even life changing. They will surely change your perspective towards the things in life. Sure a must read for every Christian.

[Maggie F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul has great motivational and amazing stories about God and the impact he has made on other people's lives. Some of the stories that I read were really beautiful and talked about God's miracles and merciful love. Reading Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul made me feel very encouraged and hopeful, and I would definitely recommend it!

[Kathy Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I need to get closer to my faith this book really helped.

[Denise Boulet]

Wonderful book! Still read it from time to time!

[Lora Swafford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the stories, however most of them rarely had anything to do with Christianity in itself. But all together, great stories.

[Kathleen Garber · Rating 3 out of 5]

My copy of this is actually from 1997 although the photo above is of the updated 2012 edition. A lot of the stories took place many years before the book was published so you can tell the stories are a little outdated but hey were still inspiring.

For some reason, the second half of the book was better than the first. I just resonated with the stories, or enjoyed them more I guess.

As with all CSS (Chicken Soup for the Soul) books the stories are broken up into categories. In this case they are: On Love, On Giving, On Parents and Parenting, On Faith, On the Lighter Side, On Death and Dying, A Matter of Perspective and Overcoming Obstacles.

The story that moved me the most was Thank You, Miss Evridge from the On Faith category. It’s a story of thanks to a teacher from junior high. The author lost contact with the teacher and wasn’t able to send the thank you letter to her so he shared with us.

This resonated with me because I wrote a thank you letter to a guidance counsellor I had in high school. I had a rough 4 years and I saw the counsellor daily, sometimes a few times a day, pretty much every day. She was very helpful and never seemed tired of me. I didn’t know how to contact her though so I never got to give her the letter directly.

The book makes a great bathroom reader as you can read 1 or a few stories, depending on how long you are. It’s like a little faith pick me up throughout your day!

[Elizabeth Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book when I was at my local library's book sale and found this book and bought this wonderful book for only a dollar. I finished reading it today, and it was so beautiful, I am immediately recommending it to everyone who can read it! Not all the stories were my favorite because they are meant to reach out to all people who have experienced things I can only imagine. These stories reached my heart and fed my soul which reminded me that miracles happen every day, and sometimes we are the miracle. It is important to remember that no book is going to have all the answers we look for or bring us closer to God unless we open our hearts to him. This may not give us spiritual clearance to wisdom only to a select few, but it reminds us to be humble, and that God is strong when we are weak, and is always with us. I recommend this book to those that would like to see from a new perspective, enjoy feeling refreshed, re-energized, and encouraged in ways you could not expect after reading this. There will not be a dry eye in at least one of the stories you can encounter in this book with many vastly different types of stories for any kind of day you're having as a pick me up and reminder, "God loves you. Pass it on."

[Boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sedikit berbeda dengan edisi untuk remaja, buku yang secara khusus memang ditujukan bagi umat Kristen ini memasukkan unsur-unsur keKristenan di dalamnya.
Kumpulan kisah-kisah menarik tentang hidup, pergulatan batin, konflik antar sesama, konflik pribadi, keluarga, lingkungan sosial, Gereja, dan juga relasi pribadi dengan Tuhan masih disajikan dengan format yang sama dengan "Chicken Soup for teenage soul". Akan tetapi nilai-nilai positif yang disampaikan sudah lebih banyak untuk ditujukan pertumbuhan iman seorang Kristiani. Motivasi dan inspirasi masih menjadi hal yang wajib disampaikan melalui kisah-kisah tersebut.

[The Book Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love chicken soup!
Maybe that’s one of the reasons I choose to read this book. :D

“Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul” is a collection of stories from different authors. These [101] stories will deepen your faith, open your heart and re-kindle your spirit.

“I will Honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.” ~Charles Dickens (That’s my prayer,)
“Live in such a way that those who know you but don’t know God will come to know God because they know you”
~ Anonymous
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
“Within every adversity lies a slumbering possibility.” ~ Robert H. Schuller
“God helps the brave” ~ J.C.F. van Schiller

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of Chicken Soup for the xxx were quite popular twenty or thirty years ago. I picked this one up at a free site and was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I read an entry or two along with my morning devotion and it helped put me in an upbeat mood for the day. Some of the stories will seem familiar, some a bit corny, some seem downright impossible, but all satisfied that part of me that wants to believe that even with everything going on in the world today, people are at heart good.

The snob in me is a bit surprised that I read this book, and even more surprised that I really enjoyed it.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (rating seen may vary depending on whether the site allows half star ratings)

I've read other Chicken Soup books in the past, though not recently. I thought I'd read this before, and yes, a few of the stories did seem familiar, but many did not, so I must have read a different book from the series.

There are so many stories (101 according to the cover of my copy) that almost everyone should find at least one story that they like or one story that touches them. I found many of the stories uplifting. Some were sad and some made me laugh.

[Tasha enderby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't imagine the time it takes to put one of these chicken soup for the soul books. There are many theme's, something for everyone and I have never really put a thought to actually reading one. This book was a gift from a friend and so I felt like it would honor our friendship to read the gift before passing it on to someone else. This was a wonderful book on faith, hardships, love and pure miracles of God. My own faith grows stronger with these tales and I found the pages quickly turning.

[Jessamay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt a lot of stories would have touched me more, if the writer hadn't made them so ridiculously over-sentimental. This wasn't true for all of them, but some of them, while the intention was clearly to have me in tears, instead just made me roll my eyes. A lot of them weren't particularly Christian - someone just happened to mention God at some point. They were largely very nice, and quite uplifting, but I don't feel they've really inspired me on my Christian walk, or anything.

[Nivea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was amazing... It had several heart-warming stories that everyone can connect to at a personal level. I also loved how the book explores several themes such as faith, love, overcoming obstacles, etc instead of just focusing on a single topic... The book is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who reads it, with its optimistic take on life.

Kudos to all those who worked hard to present such a beautiful book to the whole world!!

[Iantony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly my kind of book, mostly since I'm not the religious type. Still I found this book interesting! I got to see the live story of people with different religion and cultural backgrounds, how they solved their problems, be thankful for their graces, et cetera. These stories are comforting and heartwarming. To put simply, reading this book will 'keep your faith in humanity in check.' Thanks to my ex-girlfriend back then in high school for this gift. I still keep the copy until today.

[Eddie Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book always strengthen me when I feel lost in life. I learned some life stuffs through the contributors' experience. Some stories make me laugh, some stories start me to cry, some stories build regret in my heart, and some stories encourage me to re-think about my life.

Good!

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories are priceless ... many very inspirational, lots of tear jerkers. Really good reading for evening devotions, or for light quick stories ... just make sure you've got time for a few tears (and also lots of smiles!)

[Martine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. Makes a great "bathroom" book. No matter your faith the stories will touch you one way or another. Some were very inspiring. Great work can't wait to pick up my next Chicken Soup book.

[Taryn Spearey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! All of the short stories were so moving and touching. It was really great to see so many stories about other people who have a belief in God.

My favorite section of the book was the 4th section on faith. That was good.

[Jo Skeffington · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of the stories but certainly not a keeper book. There was a quote from Corrie ten Boom that I did appreciate. “Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”
Thanks.

[Raquel Iacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these stories. Cried for quite a few. But I skipped the parents and parenting chapter as well as the death and dying chapter. A little too personal at the moment if they are sad! Maybe I’ll try them later.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favorite Chicken Soup for the Soul book! It is fantastic!! I like the others as well, but this one just lifts your spirits.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Inspirational stories... with smile, tears, joy,...

[Marty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book or a pick-me-up in your faith.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the million stories-short and very touching for some.

[Partridge Public]

Canfield, Jack

[bree]

cant wait to read it. :)