Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

“A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubtand 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 theangels sang to me.”

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his familywas 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 itwas 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 thesurgery–and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents weredoing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked ofvisiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom hehad 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 thatmatched 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 glimpseof the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobodywears glasses.”

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

A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven.

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

Todd Burpo is pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan, a volunteer fireman, and he works with a garage door company. He and his wife, Sonja, have four children: Colton is an active 13-year-old; he has an older sister, Cassie; a younger brother, Colby; and a very special sister he met in heaven, yet to be named.

Lynn Vincent is the New York Times best-selling collaborative writer of Heaven Is for Real, Same Kind of Different As Me, and Unsinkable, and she was the collaborator for Sarah Palin's Going Rogue. The author, coauthor, and collaborative writer of ten books, Lynn worked for eleven years as a writer and editor at the national news biweekly WORLD magazine. A U.S. Navy veteran, Lynn lives in San Diego, CA.