99 Stories From The Bible Review

My most recent review from Kregel is 99 Stories From The Bible by Juliet David and illustrated by Elina Ellis.  The illustrations take up most of the page with a short synopsis of the bible story.  It's not filtered through a Catholic lens, in fact, it's very mainstream to appeal to all Christian denominations. I wouldn't even call this a bible study for young children.  It's really an introduction to the main stories of the bible which is an ideal place to start.  Young children will be drawn in by the illustrations and learn the names of the the main figures as well as how they interacted with God and Jesus.  The stories are important for children to learn and grow in holiness.

I've seen/reviewed a few of these bible storybooks for young children and they all share many of the same stories.  So what would make a buyer choose this one among the many other books out there? For me, it's the illustrations that would make the difference (besides the price).  So, would I be drawn to this particular storybook over others on a bookshelf?  Probably.  The cover is bright and cheerful.

I was given a complimentary copy of 99 Stories From The Bible for my honest review.  No monetary compensation was given.

Peace & Blessings,
Noreen

NIV Adventure Bible Book of Devotions Review

I was contacted by DJC Communications to review a Zondervan NIV Adventure Bible Book of Devotions by Robin Schmitt.  This came with the Rock Solid Faith Study Bible and I did like this albeit it was not a Catholic bible.  I also appreciated this book of devotions.  Each day, there is scripture verse and a plausible scenario where one can choose either to listen to the Word of God, or choose to follow modern culture.  At the bottom of each page, there is either a section stating "Words to Treasure" or "People in Bible Times" or "Life in Bible Times" or "Live It".  Each section draws the reader into a better understanding of how to live out the scripture verse.  As a typical devotional works, there is one devotion per day for the entire year.  

What I like about it is that it is faith in action.  Teens and especially boys, as we all know, are bombarded with commercialization and the secular belief system.  Which goes against the Word of God and this creates confusion for our young teens.  As parents we need to help them grow in their faith and have a solid foundation so when they encounter peer pressure, God's word has been instilled in their hearts. And when they fall, they know we have a forgiving God and try not to do that again.  

A daily devotional geared towards this age group is ideal for preparing our young to face the world.  This book is geared towards boys and I think that's important because even though they share common struggles with their counterpart, they also have unique challenges all unto their own.  That does not mean that every scenario in the book involves boys, but the overall appearance will appeal to boys. This devotional book belongs to my son now and he will reap the rewards from studying scripture in this format.

I received a complimentary copy of NIV Adventure Bible Book of Devotions for my honest review. No monetary compensation was given for my honest review.

Advent Blessings,
Noreen

A Donkey's Tale Book Review

My most recent book review is called A Donkey's Tale by Stefano Gorla.  I received it from The Catholic Company for my honest review, as part of their book reviewer program. It's a unique perspective of telling the New Testament Stories of the bible from a donkey named Ladan.  The first chapter gives the fictional Ladan's autobiography which is sweet... "I am Ladan, son of Abinar, son of Nad."  Ladan is present to some extent in each story.  Either he is observing the scene or he is actively involved in it and is giving "the inside view" of each story. This is a sweet book with a total of 30 stories with each story on one or two pages plus illustrations.
Younger children will focus on one story at a time but older children can read more than one at each sitting.  For non-readers, this is not a good choice unless someone is reading it to them.  Some of the illustrations give a good hint as to what the story is about and others are too vague.  Overall, I liked the book for young children as a way to teach the bible stories.  It doesn't take the place of the bible, but it helps enrich their understanding of Jesus.

Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on A Donkey's Tale. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Blessings,
Noreen

Bumper Wipe Clean Activities Review

I've had another opportunity to review a children's book from Kregel Publications and it was fun to do so!  The book, Bumper Wipe Clean Activities, is geared for preschool  to kindergarten age children and as the title states, it's a reusable activity book. Each page has a 1-2 sentence explanation of a bible story and then a direction on what to do.  The book includes a dry erase black marker that is used to connect the dots, draw through a maze, trace a word...etc.  And the advantage is, that it can be wiped clean and used over and over again. The pages are sturdy and durable with brightly colored illustrations.  For young learners, it gives a snapshot of a bible story so it's faith forming and good for developing fine motor skills. I like it because they have so many wipe clean activity books out there with commercialized themes (i.e. Hello Kitty, Disney Princess or Thomas).  It's breath of fresh air that there is an option for parents who want their children to learn how to hold their pencils and do so in a faith building method.  Plus It's a small book that can easily be put in mom's purse and brought out during car rides or when trying to keep a young child occupied.  I can also imagine it being used in a preschool setting as busy work.  I would recommend this book for families and schools.

I was given a complimentary copy of Bumper Wipe Clean Activities by Kregel Publications for my honest review.

Peace & Blessings,
Noreen

Bible Stories Painting Book Review

I am participating in a Kregel Blog Tour this month with my review of Bible Stories Painting Book 2.  

As the title implies this is the second one in the series of bible stories painting books.  

The one that I am reviewing has two paint pallets on the inside covers with one page pictures of a popular bible story.  The child dips a paint brush in water and then onto the paint pallet.  

Then, paint on one of the 16 bible stories with 8 from the Old Testament and 8 from the New Testament.

Each story has a sentence or two of explanation of the bible story. 

 Candle Books publisher markets this painting book as mess free and it is for the most part. 

 The paint pallets do not make a big mess but the child must remember to wait about 5 minutes before closing the book in order for the paint to dry.

I asked my 5 year old nephew to test it out and give me his opinion.  

He asked me "what does opinion mean?" 

 I said, "you can tell me if the paint works good or not so good."  

His reply, "I can do that.  I'll give you my opinion."

Here he is pressing down the pages. 

 I think he was skeptical if the paint was real and would work. 

It worked similarly to watercolor paints.  

Only a little bit of water on a paintbrush was needed and the color turned out great.

Watercolors are more transparent then this paint.  

Which means the color strength was definitely better in this painting book.

 This painting book serves a dual purpose:  painting fun and faith formation.

It is geared towards young children who are just learning to read.

For the faith formation to occur, the parent needs to talk about what's on the page.

Otherwise, it's an ordinary painting book.

His opinion was that "the colors worked good and it's fun."
I told my nephew he could keep it so he'd have many more hours of painting fun.

That put a smile on his face :)

The Bible Stories Painting Book 2 is ideal for quiet activity either individually or as a group.

I think a preschool or kindergarten teacher could use this as enrichment when teaching a bible story.

All you need is a paintbrush and water and you're ready to start.

I was given a complimentary copy of Bible Stories Painting Book 2 for my honest review.  

The opinions used were my nephew's and my own.

Blessings,

Noreen

Bedtime Stories and Prayers Children's Book Review

I received a complimentary copy of Bedtime Stories and Prayers by Dandi Daley Mackall and Kathleen Long Bostrom from Tyndale House Publishers to review as part of their Tyndale Kids program.  It is part of the Little Blessings book series by Kathleen Long Bostrom.  It has a soft cover that is ideal for little hands and the immediate impact is visual.  Very sweet watercolor style illustrations all throughout the book.  Perfect for little ones.

Bedtime Stories and Prayers is constructed to include four different stories with each one having it's own theme.  They are all relevant to children and they should hear it from a very young age.  It begins with "God Makes Nighttime Too."  Next is "Thank You God!" The third story is "Blessings Everywhere" and ends with "God Loves You Just As You Are".  All are essential themes for faith formation for children everywhere.  The themes are repeated throughout the story to imprint it's message on the children.

The only problem I had was with the rhythmic structure of the text.  At times, it felt awkward when reading aloud and I found myself attempting to repeat it several times for clarification. I read through it a few times and experienced the same choppiness in certain areas of the book.  It was intentionally written in simple sentence format to rhyme which is ideal for young children yet it became choppy in some areas.  Overall, Bedtime Stories and Prayers is a sweet book with wonderful messages about God that children and even adults need to hear!

Blessings,
Noreen

Whit's End Mealtime Devotions

I was given the opportunity to review a Focus on the Family meal time devotion book for children published in 2013 by Tyndale Publishers.  

It's called Whit's End Mealtime Devotions: 

90 Faith-Building Ideas Your Kids Will Eat up! 

by the fictional character, John Avery Whittaker, 

of Adventures in Odyssey.  

This is a Focus on the Family Resource Book.

Whit refers to it as a "90 five-course devotional menus". 

 Each one includes a:

Mealtime Prayer ~ a fresh way to bless your food

Appetizer ~ a fun question or activity

Main Course ~ an object lesson or thought to chew on

Table Talk ~ questions to spark interesting discussions

Vitamin and Minerals ~ a creative way to thank God for your time together 

or a reminder that God provides all we need.

The book is broken up into three parts:

Any Day Devotions

Holiday Devotions

Theme Devotions

My first overall impression was "super cute and a fun way to teach your children the Christian faith in the comfortable setting around a dinner table."  

Children will love this book! 

It will inspire giggles, honesty, and thoughtful comments.

Parents will too, for it's easy format and non threatening questions.

It's not a theology or faith based test.

Children will not feel pressured to answer correctly yet to explore the scripture verses, 

how their actions either please or displease God, 

and invite Jesus into their meal time.

Whit's End Mealtime Devotions can be used over and over again. 

As children mature, they will find themselves thinking about the questions and answering in a whole new way than when they interacted with it the year before.

It's not only for home use but it can be adapted to use in a classroom or brought to a restaurant.

I can even imagine the creative minds of kiddos inventing and 

initiating their own five course menu conversations!

I would highly recommend this book for all families and for teachers.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Tyndale House Publishers for my honest review.

Blessings,

Noreen

Finding God in the Hobbit Review

I recently signed up to review books for Tyndale Blog Network and the first book they sent me is Finding God in the Hobbit by Jim Ware.  He is the bestselling coauthor of Finding God in The Lord of the Rings and Finding God in Narnia.  To be honest, I haven't read The Hobbit because I had little interest in reading about books with mystery and magical themes that have as their main characters: hobbits, wizards, elves, dwarfs, dragons and other fantasy type creatures.  Not my genre at all.  On the other hand, my brother loved this book so much that years ago, he named his dog Bilbo after the main character of the story.  That's all I knew and for me, and no offense to my brother, it seemed like it was written for children and had little to engage adults.  Or so I thought.

Jim Ware sets out to find God in this fictional story by J.R.R Tolkien.  And I'd say he did for the most part.  Each chapter begins with a short excerpt to a chapter in The Hobbit and then, Mr. Ware goes about pulling off the layers for supernatural meaning.  Next, he challenges his reader to look into their own lives and see the connection of our earthly life to heaven.  Does he always find supernatural meaning?  I don't think so for some of the connections felt loose.  He does include scripture and literary references that tie in with the main idea of each chapter.  Sometimes I was impressed and a few times, puzzled.

What I got for sure is that Mr. Ware is a big fan of this genre and especially Tolkien's work.  He does make this an easy to read book that does make you reflect on your life.  Surprisingly, it was interesting enough for me that I now want to read The Hobbit.  Now that I know there is more to it than some child like fantasy fluff story.  If that was part of Mr. Ware's goal, to entice new readers to Tolkien's work, he did just that.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book to read for my honest review.  No monetary compensation was given and this review is all my own.

Advent Blessings,
Noreen