Reading, Writing & Pondering

    All we have to do is look around and we can see that God made us all differently. We have different hair colors, different body shapes and different abilities. We are also different colors. In Creative God Colorful Us , Trillia Newbell helps middle grade students understand our differences and to celebrate them--as all of us are God's children in His family. Creative God Colorful Us starts out with a letter from Newbell explaining why she wrote the book and how to use it. There are seven chapters. Each chapter is framed around one big idea for kids to focus on. At the end of each chapter, Newbell asks them some questions to think about and to either write about or talk about. There is also an activity at the end of each chapter to help each big idea stick in the kids' minds. At the end of the book, Newbell also includes a list of helpful words to know from the book, Bible verses to read, and a letter to adults who are guiding families to help them enjoy their differences....

Laurel Millard is eighteen years old and the youngest in her family. Her father passed away when she was little and she lives with her mother. Much to Laurel's consternation, her older siblings recently reach a conclusion that she should be the caretaker of their mother as she ages. About the same time, Laurel gets a job as a silk weaver at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition in 1895. At the exposition she meets a variety of people including a couple of perspective suitors. Laurel gets to know the girls in the silk weaving room, the security guard, Willie Sharp, and the dashing Langdon Rochester who is the heir to his father's steam-powered-engine empire. Will one of these men be willing to court Laurel knowing her mother is part of the package? In Kim Vogel Sawyer's newest historical fiction novel , A Silken Thread , she tells a compelling story of coming of age in the late 1800s during a time of continued racial struggles in the South. I found the history of the Cotton E...

Young children never seem to be bashful about asking questions about everything and anything. What do you do when you children ask questions about skin color and why we are all a little different color? Colorfull by Dorena Williamson is a sweet story with beautiful illustrations to help young ones celebrate skin colors of all shades. Colorfull tells the story of Imani and Kayla who are best friends who celebrate their different skin colors. This story is told by Granny Mac and talks about God's colors in food, nature and skin colors. Granny also talks about her gray hair so there is some celebration of age differences to in this book. One of the things I especially appreciate about BH Kids books is the parent connection page. This page includes a verse to remember, a Bible section to read, and questions to think about and discuss with your family or group reading the book. Colorfull has this page in the back of the book. Both the story, the gorgeous illustrations, and the par...