INTERVIEWER: “Well, the story of a little boy 's near-death experience and what he described as a trip to heaven quickly turned into a best-selling book. "Heaven Is For Real" has spent the past 52 weeks on the New York Times best sellers list, including 44 weeks at number one. And now the family who brought it to us has brought out a children's version called “Heaven Is For Real For Kids”. And Todd, Sonja and Colton Burpo are with us this morning. Good morning to all of you, it's good to see you again.

ALL: Good morning.

INTERVIEWER: Let's recap for those who aren't familiar with the book. When Colton was 4 years old he had a burst appendix, had several surgeries. Having come through that, he started telling you guys about having seen Heaven. What did he say, Todd?

TODD: I think his stories have been incredible. He can see us where we were in the hospital while he was in surgery, so that first grabbed our attention because those facts, we didn't know how he knew them. Then he goes on to talk about a sister he met in Heaven, my grandfather, and of course he tells us what God looks like. The only painting of Jesus that he's ever said is right, the information he shares is pretty incredible.

SONJA: Colton seemed to know things you had never told him. After all, he was only 4 years old.

TODD: He told us about our miscarried daughter and about a great grandfather he had never met and various other things.

INTERVIEWER: Colton, it's been eight years now, it's a long time for anybody. do you still have those vivid memories of heaven?

COLTON: Yes, I do.

INTERVIEWER: And what stands out most in your mind? What can you really still see?

COLTON: Well, the things I remember most are my family members and Jesus.

INTERVIEWER: Do you worry at all that those memories will get fuzzier and fuzzier over time? That happens to everybody.

COLTON: No. I think those memories are implanted.

INTERVIEWER: Let's address the scepticism, because I know you're familiar with it. I guess it has two parts. on the one hand some people are just - they want to believe this, who wouldn't want to believe it, but they wonder could it really be true that someone so young could actually see Heaven and live to tell about it.

TODD: Well, we questioned our son as first. I think, as parents, everyone can tell when their 4 year old is telling the truth. When they're telling you things they cannot make up. We're close enough to verify the story. For people that are farther away, we understand that. But we also see all the people that are finding peace and hope and comfort from Colton's story. So for those people that might even be against the story, we just look past them and see all the people that are getting peace and hope. It’s incredible to have ideas. What do my loved ones look like, how am I going to meet them, what is it going to be like. And for them to hear that and have peace, that's what we focus on.

INTERVIEWER: It's an amazing perspective to start thinking in those terms and I think the other criticism would be, ‘well, you wrote a book about it, now you've got a kids book and I hear a movie might be in the works’. So for those saying, ‘is this all about getting a profit’, what would your response be, Sonja ?

SONJA: It's not about that. We're just going to share the story, God blessed the story and a lot of people have found different parts in it; that felt their hearts and are touched by it. Our intention was to just write and help a few people and it just kind of exploded. The kids’ book, we're super-thrilled about.

INTERVIEWER: Colton, I know people that are your age can read it. Are you pretty excited about that, about sharing your story?

COLTON: Actually the [kids’] book isn't for my age [12]. I’d say the adult version is more their age. But for kids 4 through 8, it [kids’ book] is a 32-page picture book. So it works for them pretty good because the wording is easy; pictures describe the story.

INTERVIEWER: Well, it 's wonderful to have you here. Have you thought about who might play you in the movie?

COLTON: I have no clue. I think those two [his parents] already have a few people [in mind] but I don't.

INTERVIEWER: All right. Well, you'll have to pick somebody pretty good to play you. Thank you so much. It’s great to have you. Once again the book is “Heaven is for Real For Kids."

PUBLISHERS DESCRIPTION:

A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe." - Ron Hall, coauthor of 'Same Kind of Different as Me'.

Do you remember the hospital, Colton? Sonja said. 'Yes, mommy, I remember, he said. That's where the angels sang to me.

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren't expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy's trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how 'really, really big' God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton's uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, 'Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.'

Heaven Is for Real will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child.