Reading, Writing & Pondering

  You'll Always Have a Friend: What to Do When the Lonelies Come by Emily Ley is a lovely book about friendship aimed at children ages four to eight. This book measures about 9 by 13 1/2 inches and is 32 pages long. It is a good size to read aloud as a family and for kids to read alone. You'll Always Have a Frien d has good rhythm and the rhyming verse is encouraging and uplifting to children--and the adults listening. I think the illustrations by Romina Galotta are lovely and compliment the text nicely. I especially love how they are inclusive and show people of all colors and of varying abilities. I also like how this book encourages children to like themselves and to be themselves so people like them for who they are. Oh, that we would all have that encouragement and inspiration.  I have enjoyed this author's adult books in the past. This is the first children's book that I have read by her and I think it clearly reflects her lovely heart and spirit. I would love to...

  How do we have friends? I think that can feel mysterious, even for adults sometimes. Brindlefox   by John Sandford is a fable of a fox and a heron who become friends. For me, personally, this book took me back to when I read Aesop's fables as a child from a book my Aunt gave me. This book is Aesop fable worthy. Brindlefox has no friends. Since he doesn't invite anyone over, his house is rather a mess. One day a tree starts growing out of his back, which is odd, but he really doesn't care. However, because of that tree, in a roundabout way, Brindlefox learns about friendship--how to be a friend and how to have a friend. Brindlefox is a beautifully illustrated children's book aimed at children ages four to eight. This gorgeous book has a dust jacket and is roughly 9 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches in size and 32 pages long.  This book would make a lovely gift for a young child. It would be a good book to have in your home library. It could spark some good discussion among family...

  Friends make up a very important part of our lives. I like I Can Be Your Friend from VeggieTales in so many ways! This book features all your favorite veggies and offers a lot of great advice on both having and being a good friend. I Can Be Your Friend is a fairly small board book measuring about six by six inches and is about twenty pages long. This is a great size for kids to hold themselves. Aimed at children under four years old, the board book pages are easy for that age to turn on their own. It would also be a fun book to read out loud with family or at Sunday School with the great rhyming verse and brightly colored-illustrations of the personified vegetables.  I Can Be Your Friend helps children learn that to be good friends we need to take turns, share, use kind words and forgive when others goof up. As a Veggietales fan, I think this is one of their best books. I like how inclusive it is--"friends welcome new friends of all colors and shapes!" as well as how the...

Friendships are so important throughout our lifetime. Why not teach kids to have and be a good friend early? Penguin and Moose by Hannah C. Hall is a great book to read with a fun story about the importance of friendships. Penguin thinks he should be able to fly but he has one problem--he doesn't know how. With his friend Moose's help, Penguin hatches a plan to learn to fly. Together they have some fun adventures even though things don't go exactly as Penguin hopes. In the end Penguin does learn an important lesson of friendship. Penguin and Moose is an adorable book. I love the illustrations by Anna Chernyshova. This is a story the whole family will likely enjoy even though it is aimed at children ages four to eight. Penguin and Moose could create some fun discussions and activities as a result. My family all thought it was great and we did have some good talks about friendship--how to be a good friend and friends we appreciate. The book is nicely bound with a col...

It is no secret, children love wagons and getting to ride in a wagon. Who Will Play with Me? by Randall Goodgame illustrates in cute, colorful pictures and rhyming verse how much fun it can be when two get together with a wagon. Doug the slug found a wagon at the playground. . .but he gets in and finds he cannot ride in it without a friend. He then learns how much fun it is to give a friend a ride when he offers to give Sparky the bug a ride. This cute story is based on Philippians 2:3, "In humility, value others better than yourselves." (NIV) Who Will Play with Me? is such a cute story and a fun reminder of how to be a good friend to someone. This cute book is a part of the slugs and bugs series and is aimed at children 4 to 8 years old. The writing in this book is rhythmic and lyrical. I thought the rhyme was especially fun to read out loud. Who Will Play with Me? is not overtly Christian but it is a great a reminder to children to be kind and share, without sounding...

Friendship Promises is a beautiful gift book to give a friend on a special occasion. This gorgeous book features reflections about friendship from Never Unfriended by Lisa-Jo Baker, and Craving Connection from the (in)courage community. It also features beautiful pictures and space to journal or write special notes or stories to a friend. There is a mix of beautiful pictures, devotional reflections, prayers, Bible verses, and space to journal with prompts. This gift book also has a ribbon marker to save a spot to reflect back on. This is a book for friends to see your heart and to reflect on theirs. Friendship Promises is a book that I know would be nice to give as a gift to a special friend. At the same time, I was thinking it would be a good book to buy for yourself and to use as journal to reflect on how to make friendships better and keep friendship prayer requests safe. However, you choose to use this book, Friendship Promises is a lovely reflection of women's friend...