Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Kid the Goat Won't Wear His Christmas Coa t by Lana Stenner is a board book aimed at children age four and under.  Kid the Goat Won't Wear His Christmas Coat is 20 pages long and measures roughly seven inches square. This book is sturdy and easy for little ones to hold and look at on their own.  While this sturdy book is easy for little ones to hold on their own, it is a good one to read as a family and discuss too. The story if a fun rhyme that gives children an idea of the consequences of not dressing for the weather. It also could serve as a discussion for how to handle it when children receive a gift that they don't really want as that happens in life. There is a place where it is said that adults know best for children. While this is usually the case, in some cases, it isn't. That could also be a discussion topic from the book. The back part of the book does feature the traditional Christmas story with a manger scene so for that reason, Kid the Goat Won't We...

  The Outsider by Katy Morgan is a re-telling of the Biblical book of Ruth for young people over the age of eight.  Ruth risks everything and goes with her mother-in-law Naomi after her husband and Naomi's husband have died in Ruth's country of Moab. They go back to Naomi's home country of Israel with the one true God. God takes care of Ruth and Naomi in ways that are unexpected to them through a kinsman-redeemer.  I thought The Outsider was well told. It was fast paced and it felt like I was right there in the Bible times with Ruth and Naomi. There is also a section of Notes from the Bible in the back as well as a book club discussion guide. This could be a good book to read as part of a home school curriculum. It could also be good in a Sunday school class or other church group to read in this age group.   I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own. 

  Princess Paris Finds Her Purpose is a beautifully illustrated book written by Demi-Leigh Tebow and illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov.  I like the message that comes through in Princess Paris Finds Her Purpose. Spreading Kindness is more important than looking like a Princess when her crown is stolen. This hardcover book has a dust jacket and is larger in size at a little over 10 inches squared. There are 32 pages of a fun adventure as the Princess goes through her day on her way to meet a King. On her journey, her crown is stolen but she is given many opportunities to be kind to those around her. One unique thing about this book is that there are African words that children can learn to say in another language and also learn the meaning of. I like that this book has so many positive things about it. I also love the beautiful illustrations. I especially like that the main character is a dog as a dog lover. It is an all-around fun read for children ages 4 to 8. I received...

  Do you like dogs? I LOVE dogs! I also love that dogs can do jobs that help people, like police dogs do. K9 Mattis On the Job by Mark Tappan tells "A Day in the life of a police dog." The illustrations by Donald Wu in this book are so life-like too! K9 Mattis on the Job is a large, dust-jacketed picture book that measures a little over 10 inches square and is 32 pages long.  This book tells the story of an average day in the life of police dog Mattis and his human partner, Sergeant Mark.  I love how this book shares little aspects of their lives. I also like how there are small boxes of fun facts in the pages that share some of the basic information about K9 Mattis life that go along with the story. I do think it would be helpful if somewhere they put some information on how people should approach police dogs--or not approach them, so children know better how to behave around them. Other than that, I think it is a great book with beautiful, colorful illustrations that gi...

The 5-Minute Bedtime Treasury by Hannah C. Hall is a beautifully illustrated children's book with some fun rhyming stories inside it. Measuring roughly 8 1/4 inches square it is a fun size to read in bed together. This story book is aimed at pre-school children up to age 4. There is one story that talks about going to school so kindergarten children may enjoy it as well. There are six stories in the 5-Minute Bedtime Treasury.  God Bless You and Good Night God Bless My Friends God Bless My School God Bless My Family God Bless My Home All of these stories are illustrated by Steve Whitlow with what I would call softly-vibrant pictures. The pictures look soft and warm and yet are vibrant in color. I think they are just gorgeous and well liked by children. Then all of these stories are nicely written in a rhyming style that is truely a pleasure to read and fun for children to listen to.  The 5-Minute Bedtime Treasury could be a fun baby gift or a gift for a young child, besides bu...

  Grey loves food! Today, Grandma is teaching him how to make Vietnamese dumplings. In What's In a Dumpling, Grandma? by Linda Meeker, families can learn how to make dumplings along with Grey. How cool is that for those of us who are foodies? In What's In a Dumpling, Grandma?, children can learn to try and appreciate foods from either their own culture or a different culture. There are many ways this book could be used that could make it fun and educational. I must admit, I am not on TikTok so I was not familiar with Grey and Mama. Those are are fans would definitely want a copy of the book. However, if like me, you hadn't heard of them, this is a fun book for families who enjoy trying new foods. It also could be a fun book for grandparents as it shows the love and care between the generations. It a fairly large book, measuring a little over 9 inches square. The illustrations by Sandra Eidi are bright, colorful and well done. It is just a lovely book for children and famili...

  If you are looking at this book, then you may be already familiar with Dude Perfect. If not, Dude Perfect is a group of five friends who initially made basketball trick shots for fun. Cory Cotton, Coby Cotton, Cody Jones Garrett Hilbert, and Tyler Toney are the five friends who are all from Texas. Kristin Hilbert is Garrett's wife.  Good Night, Dude Perfect is a fun Bedtime book aimed at ages four to eight. This book is one that has a lot going on in the page illustrations from Alan Brown. Those illustrations are bright and colorful fun illustrations for young sports fans. This book is 32 pages long and a little over 10 by 8 inches in size. It could be fun to read to a child or group of children as well as a fun book for kids to look at on their own. I would say this is sort of a special interest book for kids who especially like sport and those who are familiar with Dude Perfect. The text is fairly wordy--much wordier than Good Night Moon, which this book mimics. I think t...

  It is easy to feel alone sometimes--no matter what our age. We talk about God with our children, but it takes time to get to know Him. Is God Awake? by Sheila Walsh is a good book to read with young children to help calm their fears and turn them towards knowing God. Is God Still Awake? is a fairly large book at roughly 8 1/2 by 10 inches and 32 pages long. It is written for children ages four to eight, which sounds about right in reading it. It is a great book for early elementary children. The illustrations are bright and vibrant and they draw you in. The words often rhyme and are likely to be comforting at times of fear and feeling alone. There is a bit of humor at one point with the dog and the cake her mom made, which I thought made it fun.   Sheila Walsh also points children to the Bible for proof of God's character and the faith of parents or other loved ones. The language in Is God Still Awake? seems to be age appropriate. I think it is a great book for those wh...

  Are you a gardener? I am. When I saw this beautiful book, The Sower by Scott James, I knew that I had to get a copy.  The Crossway website says this book is aimed at children five to 10 years old. It is 48 pages long and approximately eight inches square in size with a dust jacket. I think the illustrations are beautiful in an artsy sort of way.  Andrew Peterson writes the forward, which I think is beautiful as I can relate to his love of nature and God's creation.  The Sower is an artistic metaphorical book relating God to a Sower. It seems to me that this is a book that one would appreciate more as they got older. I think younger children require some explanation to go along with the book. There is a Bible verse before the book begins and one at the end. If I were reading this book to my son when he was younger, I would have read slowly and taken time to explain some of the meaning, which I think would be made easier by the fact that we actually garden so he kn...

  Love You S'More by Melinda Lee Rathjen is a cute book to start out the Summer reading season with a young child or group of children.  Love You S'More is a 20-page board book measuring 7 inches square. It is a great size for young children to hold on their own. From the back of the book, "Enjoy  three of life's greatest pleasure--love, puns and s'mores with this silly story about two raccoons competing to see who loves the other s'more." That sums up the book well. It is a cute book. It would be great fun to read with a bunch of young children at a family reunion type gathering while making s'mores. It would also be fun to read parent to child. . .and in many other circumstances. It is just a cute book with fun lyrics that go so well with summer s'mores. Love You S'More also has cute illustrations of the raccoons with their faces covered in s'mores. I love the whole package. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinion...

  Castles and dragons and mystery abound in the new middle-grade fantasy book, The Dragon and the Stone by Kathryn Butler.  The Dragon and the Stone begins with Lily McKinley finding a dragon named Cedric in her kitchen eating her dinner. Things start to get really crazy for Lily after she confronts a bully named Adam in her school yard and the a stone pendent that belonged to her father, who recently passed away is now glowing, and she is transported to a magical place with the magic pendent when she puts it on.  I enjoyed this magical book even though I don't read a lot of fantasy. It would be a fun book to read as a family. There are themes of faith, mourning, sacrifice, salvation, and redemption. The Dragon and the Stone has some fun characters and is a wonderful adventure into a magical land. I enjoyed the characters and the surprises along the way. There were some points that would make for some great family discussion. While it is a fun book as a whole, there are ...

Scarlett's Spectacles by Janet Surette is a such a sweet children's book. Scarlett often wakes up grouchy and grumbly--until her mom points out that she has a choice on how to look at her day. Can she focus on what she is thankful for instead of everything she doesn't like? Scarlett's Spectacles could be a book we all could use--not just the children ages four to eight that the book is written for. My whole family enjoyed this story. The verses rhyme and tell Scarlett's story of changing her outlook. We loved the whole idea of putting away our grumbly glasses and putting on our glad glasses instead. I think we will be talking about this book for awhile--and reminding each other which pair of glasses we look better in. Not only is the story fun and easy to apply to our lives, but the illustrations are so cute in this book. They are bright, cheery and fun. The book is also a large board book with sturdy pages for young hands to turn. Between the fun-to-read ...

What young person isn't up for a new adventure? The Great Lemonade Stand Standoff by Art Rainer is a new chapter book adventure that not only has a fun story but also teaches kids about using money wisely. Actually, this is the first book in a whole series of money-related adventures for kids. In The Great Lemonade Stand Standoff , kids follow Jake, Sophia, and Brody as they help a classmate raise money for a new pet shelter as they learn about helping others and giving. The story is a mix of fantasy, fun and adventure but it all has a real life lesson as it teaches children the importance of giving. This is a Christian-based book with Biblical values and includes some Bible verses in the story. The Great Lemonade Stand Standoff looks to be a great start to a new chapter book series for children in first through fourth grades. I think it is a fun story that should get children interested in it while learning about giving. This whole series looks like one I could get behind a...