book review – Page 15

Hello, Florida! from Applewood Books: Review

September 26, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Florida feels like the girls’ second home. Rose and Beth were both born in Florida and my husband’s parents live there. We visit the state a couple of times a year and the girls have enjoyed many of the sites in South Florida, but it is such a big state and there are so many other places for them to learn about!

Hello, Florida! by Martha Day Zschock is a fun board book all three of my girls fell in love with! I’m always happy when something I have for Grace gets my other girls excited. She is in preschool so I don’t usually expect her books and activities to engage her sisters. This was one of those times and Grace’s older sisters took great pleasure in reading this story to her!

The first time I read this to Grace her sisters were working on their lessons. I figured they wouldn’t be interested in their sister’s new board book, so I didn’t think about reading it to all of them. Imagine my surprise, when I suddenly realized they had come up behind us and were reading over my shoulder. They really enjoyed seeing what the alligator tour guides told about Florida next.

Grace asked her sister just today, “Will you read to me?” I love that the girls enjoy reading to their youngest sister and it’s a fun way for them to practice oral story telling. So many different areas of Florida are represented in this short book. Florida is a diverse state, so much more than just the beaches and amusement parts normally remembered. The diversity of the land is well represented. The beautiful illustrations capture the imagination and once again the girls asked if we could visit the areas mentioned the next time we visit.

My favorite pages were about the Everglades, the area we lived in when Beth and Rose were born. We used to count the alligators in the canals created in the Everglades as we traveled to and from our town, but none were as cute as the two in this book! They are so sweet and made for excellent tour guides.

Whether you are visiting Florida for the amusements, the history, the beautiful nature, or because you have family there, this will be a fun book to take along with you. Perhaps you’re studying through various states around our country. This would make a fabulous addition as would many of the other books in the series. The detailed pictures make it fun to read over and over and will give even your youngest travelers a sense of what is in store for them!

Disclaimer: I received Hello, Florida! from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion.

Journey Around Maine from A to Z from Applewood Books: Review

September 25, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

My girls’ heritage begins in Maine although they aren’t very aware of it! My husband was born in Maine and lived there until he was eight. His mother and grandfather were also born in Maine. I was very excited to have the chance to help them explore this unknown part of their roots.

Journey Around Maine from A to Z by Martha Zschock was a great place to begin their journey! The entire Journey from A to Z series is an excellent way to learn about states and cities all around our country. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the amount of information on each page is extensive and thorough.

Rose asked the other day why we had stopped reading stories before bed like we used to. To be honest I hadn’t really made it a priority since we do so much reading during the day, but after our conversation I realized this was an important family time she was missing. I’ve been aiming to include this into our evenings which don’t include church and the girls are very happy we have renewed this part of our routine.

I actually had a really hard time getting through the book and we couldn’t get through it in one sitting! They had so many questions spurred by both the information and the paintings. “What’s that?” “What does that name mean?” “Can we go there one day?” The questions came flying faster than I could answer them!

Not only are many of the wonderful landmarks Maine is famous for represented, but it also explores Maine’s rich history. Everything from the Native American tribes and early settlers to lumber jacks and rock quarries are discussed. Science, geography and culture are all three explored. I loved the diversity of what was represented. Pictures books about states are typically very light on content and tend to focus on either history or geography. This book and others in the series are content rich in so many ways.

One feature we all loved was the sweet chickadee who acted as our guide through the book. On each page the chickadee is part of the painting and I let the girls take turns finding her. Grace informed me the bird was a little girl! Each book in this series has a different bird to take readers on their journey. It really was a fun treat to play seek-and-find all the way through.

My only lament is there isn’t a book for every state and major city!

Disclaimer: I received Journey Around Maine from A to Z from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion.

A Little Maid of Virginia from Applewood Books: Review

September 24, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Life in colonial America has become a recurrent theme for this year as we prepared for our trip to Williamsburg.

Rose loves all things history and is reading several years ahead of her expected grade-level. The struggle I have is providing her engaging stories written in a way that will challenge her, but also be age-appropriate. The Little Maid series by Alice Curtis has provided wonderful historical fiction at a higher reading level which is also appropriate for her young 8 years. She has read one other book by Alice Curtis which she really enjoyed and definitely looked forward to beginning A Little Maid of Virginia.

I scheduled Rose to read a chapter from the book each day. This was one of the most challenging books she has read simply because of the language style. Written in the early part of the 20th century, the complex descriptions and sentence structure are not easy for our 21st century minds. My sweet girl jumps right into challenges though and is not afraid to say, “What does this mean, Mommy?” I truly feel challenging a child’s abilities gently and intentionally is the best way for them to progress.

Rose enjoyed the historical aspects and it opened many opportunities to discuss life during this time as well as more information about the Revolutionary War. The fact that the story revolves around two girls who are cousins made it very enjoyable for her to read as she is also very close to her cousins.

This also would make an excellent read-aloud choice for family reading. It is a wonderful example of the living books way to introduce history to young girls. Many aspects of colonial times and the Revolutionary War are difficult to express to young children because of their sadness and violence, yet Alice Curtis inspired my daughter to want to know more and gently introduced her to this period of history.

Are you looking for great classic novels to introduce your daughters to history? This is a wonderful series to check out!

Disclaimer: I received A Little Maid of Virginia from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion.

A Week of Applewood Books and a Giveaway!

September 24, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

I’m so excited to have the chance to review for Applewood Books again! This company is primarily dedicated to the publication of classic, out-of-print books in order that they might be preserved for future generations. There are so many wonderful books from this company and I have the privileged to review four of them, one coming you way each day the rest of this week and a giveaway at the end too! Each day a new link will go live from the list below. At the end of the week there will also be a giveaway and the winner will get to choose one of the four books. I’m so excited!

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Robert Griffin III: Athlete, Leader, Believer by Ted Kluck: Review

September 24, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

2011

I’m so pleased to have my first guest-post from non other than my dear husband. We are a Redskins family and my girls all enjoy cheering on the team with their daddy. Enjoy my husband’s review of this new biography of the Redskins rising star, #10. (The pictures of the team are from our trip to Redskins training camp a few weeks ago)

I typically do a lot of reading and research while at work, I therefore don’t do very much reading for pleasure. Every so often, however, a book catches my eye and I just have to read it. Since I am a huge Washington Redskins fan Robert Griffin III: Athlete,Leader, Believer by Ted Kluck, was one of those books. I have been a Redskins fan my entire life. I have been a fan through some great years and remained a fan through some tough years. Ever since the Redskins drafted Robert Griffin III I have had high hopes for the Redskins.

The book begins by talking about what made Robert Griffin III into the athlete he is today. I learned how we was raised in a military family, his work ethic, and the support and encouragement he received from his parents. As I read through the book, I loved how chapter after chapter described the steps Griffin III took to get to the NFL and what happened once he was there. Being the Redskins fan that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters that recounted the 2012 NFL season. It was as if I could replay the games in my mind as the author described the details of the games.

Not only does this book talk about Griffin III’s NFL career so far in the NFL, it also addresses his faith. I love knowing how Griffin III’s faith fits in to who he is as a person and how it helps him as an NFL quarterback. According to the book he is a man of integrity which is a result of his faith in God, something lacking in many modern athletes. In a society where we hear of more and more athletes being jailed for more shocking and horrendous crimes, it is refreshing to learn about those who have not compromised their faith in the face of fame.

The only disappointing thing about the book for me was the number of misspellings and grammatical errors. While I still highly recommend the book, it would benefit from another round of editing.

This book is a great read for any football fan and especially a Redskins fan. It’s a book that will be hard to put down and could easily be read in a single sitting.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Seed Sowers: Review

September 16, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

My husband is a pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. A. B. Simpson did not set out to found a denomination, but rather a movement of God’s people to pray for, financially support, and send out missionaries to further the gospel all around the world. Now, more than 125 years later, our denomination still views its primary purpose as spreading the gospel around the world by equipping its members within our nation at the same time as equipping our international workers abroad. My girls have grown up within this culture and deeply love our times with international workers and hearing about God’s work around the world.

We also love to teach them about those who have gone before us in this endeavor. Seed Sowers: Gospel Planting Adventures by Gwen Toliver ($13.95) from Seed Sowers is a beautifully written book. It is also available as a hardback ($30.95) and in an Kindle format ($3.99) which we reviewed. Each section focuses on a different missionary who is now retired and some of their adventures focusing around their work with translating the Scriptures into the heart language of the nations. I love Gwen’s perspective as a current translator with Wycliffe. It is clear she has a true passion and love for seeing the Scriptures written in the heart-language (the language they most relate to) of groups all over the world.

We have loved reading this together, especially on Wednesday evenings. Children are welcome in our mid-week service and stay in during my husband’s Bible study. During the prayer time I take any children there to a small room just off the sanctuary to pray with them. If there is time after our prayer time I will have been reading to them from Seed Sowers. This is often just our three girls, but they love it and beg for more! They are disappointed when the adults are finished with their prayer time because it means I’m done reading.

Her writing drew my girls in and captivated their attention from the first sentence. I have aimed to read aloud more to the girls and this has been a perfect place to start. I have had to, “Read just one more Mommy!” more than once as my eager little sweethearts soak in the spiritual heritage of those who have gone before us. Rose has tried to sneak off with my Kindle to read ahead and Beth has been playing missionary as she pretends. Anything which brings excitement to my girls makes me happy. When it causes them to grow more deeply in their understanding of God and His work, it thrills me.

I love that these captivating stories were written after the author was able to interview many retired missionaries. They are first-hand accounts and this is invaluable. So many books of missionaries are written from research. This is not necessarily bad, but using primary source material for historically accurate books is vital. As I read I watch as my girls are transported to jungles, islands, and other far-away places. I typically allow them to draw while I read. More often than not they are listening spellbound as the crayons and pencils lay unused on the table and eager faces lean in waiting to hear what comes next.

My favorite response from my girls came from Beth as we prepare for our recent conferences where two married international workers shared about their work in Russia. When I was telling the girls about the services we would be attending each night Beth twirled around the room and said, “I’m just so excited! It will be just like our missionary stories!” To hear my six-year-old proclaim her excitement over hearing about God’s work in other lands brought tears to my eyes and joy to my soul.

I can only hope there is a sequel to this book. I know there are so many more stories of God’s faithfulness as many before us made so many sacrifices to bring God’s Word to then nations.

Read more reviews from my fellow Crewmates!

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Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again from Greene Bark Press: Review

August 30, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

My girls are always so interested in the why of everything, especially safety rules. We have been very strict to teach our girls they must obey, even if they don’t understand why at the time for their safety, but explaining why has also been a very important part of our teaching. They need to obey, sometimes blindly, but teaching safety should occur other times as well.

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This sweet little book by Ginger Pate is a wonderful tool for gentle instruction of safety rules and the reason why we have those rules. Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again ($8.50) from Greene Bark Press Inc. is beautifully written and engaging for my girls who are in just the right age range, 3-8. I think the format is best suited for preschoolers simply because it is a board book. Most grade-school kids will balk at board books, although my girls are an exception to this! I’m not sure if it is because they don’t experience the peer pressure to fit-in, but so far I have yet to hear one of them complain a book is too little for them.

My oldest, who is eight, grabbed it right out of the box and settled down to check it out. She is obviously past the board-book stage, but my girl will read anything she can get her hands on. I think she secretly wanted to check it out before her little sister got to it! It wasn’t long though before Grace found her new book and immediately fell in love with the little duck, Wally. What an adorable protagonist!

One of my favorite aspects is howWally is instructed by his mother about safety rules when crossing the street. In a society where a good portion of the media portrays parents as irrelevant and often idiotic I am pleasantly surprised when books or other media put parents in a positive light. Mama Waddlewater is protective and wise. She instructs her son and gives reason and makes sure he is safe.

I also liked how Mama Waddlewater teaches Wally to practice. He insists he was going to cross the street the right way and tells her indignantly he knew better. Mama says it is still her job to make sure he is safe. What wonderful words from a storybook which have echoed my own so many times!

Beth enjoyed reading this to her little sister. It was fun to hear them discussing the pictures and enjoy the book together. They both said this book was fun and I found them reading it several times.

This is really just such a pleasant story and so sweetly written! To see what my Crewmates had to say click below!

I Am Ruth: Review

August 13, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Ruth…a poignant love story…a hopeful legacy…an unwavering loyalty…and it’s all true.

Our world wants to denounce the truth of Scripture and portray it as irrelevant myth. Doing so takes away the accountability laid out for us by our Creator. Rather than living life in a way which serves God and puts the good of others above our own our society pushes us to live selfishly, being more concerned about our own benefits than even those we are closest to. We know better, but sometimes we need a reminder.

Ruth has always been one of my favorite books in the Bible. As a girl I was drawn to the love-story between Ruth and Boaz. As a woman I am drawn to the parallel love-story of our Savior, our personal kinsman-redeemer.

I am Ruth from Master Books (a division of New Leaf Publishing) is stunning, simply stunning. I vividly remember the Bible storybook my parents read to me with a real-life person photographed as Ruth. Perhaps this is what initially drew me in. The rest of the book’s pictures were mostly paintings, merely an artists renderings. Just like then I was drawn to the realism. I once again have the visual images of real people and it was like reading the biblical account for the first time.

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The beautiful images taken on location in Israel capture the imagination. They are so beautiful and full of emotion you can imagine the individuals speaking the words of Scripture as you read. I felt the despair as famine and heat forced Elimelech to feel desperate enough to leave the land God had given his ancestors.

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Weep with Naomi and her daughters-in-law as they journey back to Israel and eventually part with Orpah.

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Listen in to the conversations Ruth and Naomi have as they discuss the wheat Boaz has allow Ruth to glean.

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Celebrate the marriage of Ruth and Boaz followed by the birth of Obed as you see the joy-filled faces of the couple and Naomi.

I think what struck me most about this book was while the photography by Kenneth Berg drew me in, the excellent exposition of the book kept me reading. Each chapter of Ruth is written in full form, but before you get to that Brenda Duff fills in the historical details and significance of various aspects of the Jewish culture. Never has Ruth held so much meaning for me personally.

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I’m not the only one who loves this book! Check out what others have to say by clicking on the link below!

Disclaimer: I received I am Ruth as part of the Moms of Master Books Team. I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way.

N is for Noah: Review

August 10, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Have you ever considered teaching theology to your preschooler? I hadn’t. We have taught her for a long time about how Jesus died on the cross to pay for her sins and how we are all sinners, but this is about as deep as it went. I suppose I just fell into the trap of thinking there is no way a preschooler could comprehend much deeper. I’m so grateful for Master Books (A division of New Leaf Publishing Group) and how they are giving me opportunity to rethink this type of thinking. The most recent book I’ve had the privilege to review as a Mom of Master Books has challenged me to

Reviewing N is for Noah has been unbelievable fun. When I found out it was coming to review I was mildly interested as I thought it was simply going to be the story of Noah’s Ark told in the framework of an alphabet book. Cute, yes, but nothing really different. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Prior to this publication are two other books along the same idea called A is for Adam and D is for Dinosaur. I would love to have the first two in this series after having experienced this one!

Grace loves this book. We have been doing one page a day much to her dismay. The spiral bound book follows the story of Noah, but teaches so much more than this. Through a simple rhyme preschoolers learn why there is sin, why we need a Savior, who that Savior was, that we can trust the Bible to be true…the list just goes on and on!

On the reverse side of the picture and poem is a teacher page which tells you what to say. Am I the only one who loves scripted lessons? There are times when I’m at a loss as how to explain something. I typically know the answer, but translating that information into elementary-ese…let alone preschool-ese…presents quite the challenge! Ken and Mally Ham took this challenge and created a resource to empower parents and teachers with accurate, age-appropriate answers. In addition there are activity ideas, additional biblical connections, and discussion questions…so many options for you to further your study. I think this would be a great resource for anyone planning an alphabet study as well.

Are you ready for another awesome thing about this book? There are free coloring pages to use with your children! My girls adore coloring anyway and I love how many of Master Books publications have free resources offered on their website.

This is one of the most doctrinally sounds preschool resources I have ever had the opportunity to use. Click below for more reviews if this fabulous book from my fellow Moms of Masterbooks!

Disclaimer: I received N is for Noah as part of the Moms of Master Books Team. I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way.

Global Art from Gryphon House: Review

July 26, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

There is nothing more fun for my girls than an art project. I’ve admitted it before…art isn’t my favorite area of teaching. I like the outcome, but the effort to get everything going and be a frustrating point for me. The best art projects are ones I can use with all three girls at the same time, use your average art materials I already have on hand, and most importantly connect to their learning. I have found all three to hold true for Global Art from Gryphon House.

Global art is intended to use with elementary age students (k-5) but I have found the majority of these activities can be used as written or moderately adapted for younger children. Although I didn’t use this with older students Art is typically adaptable to almost any age and I think many of these projects could work well with middle school students. This book costs $16.95 which is an incredibly reasonable price for the great number of projects ideas available.

Each project includes geographical, scientific and/or cultural information which brings all sorts of conversations to the table as the girls created their masterpieces. I love how easy this book is to incorporate with whatever history or geography we are studying. I simply look in the table of contents for the country or continent we are studying and choose which project we want to do.

One of the projects we did was from Antarctica. We’ve been having quite the heat wave here in the South, so I thought thinking about cooler areas of the world would be fun! I adapted the project so all three were able to enjoy themselves. We first talked about where Antarctica was and why no one lived there. Then I read the short paragraph on how snowflakes are formed by small ice crystals.

Then they got to work! First they painted snowflakes and then sprinkled them with salt. The idea is the salt would change and form crystals. To say the girls love to paint is an understatement. They spent a long time working on their creations and really enjoyed adding salt as they went along.

First they painted a small portion of the snowflake and while it was still wet added the salt.

Grace enjoyed this part! She kept picking colors that weren’t very bright, but she didn’t seem to mind!

Beth tried several different ways of doing this particular art project. She likes to see how things will work different ways. For some parts she put the salt on first and then painted. Sometimes she followed the directions. Sometimes she added a lot of water on top of the salt. She’s my little experimenter!

The effort all three of my girls put into this was fun to watch. They were focused and excited for the entire 30 minutes they worked. I loved listening to the conversation between them about how the salt was acting on their papers, how they liked each other’s color choices, and what it might be like to live where there is always snow. I was once again reminded of the reason art is important. Creativity inspires learning and it was a lovely bonding moment for the three of them.

The final project!

Gryphon house has an abundance of resources and after reviewing just this one book I have been very impressed. Not only will I be using this throughout our homeschooling, I’m also looking forward to using it during missions lessons with the children at our church. As we learn about missions around the world and focus on different countries I am looking forward to using a lot of these projects. Art which engages and encourages learning is always welcome in our home!

Don’t forget to check out the other reviews from my Crewmates!