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

Prayer Starters & Patron Saints

Our religious education program has changed at my church this year.  Instead of having a classroom of first graders each week, we've switched to a homeschool program.  Which means the main teachers of our students are the parents.  The families will come in once a month and divide up into parent and children groups.  Even though I miss having my students each week, I'm happy that I get to review once a month, what they've learned from their parents.

Today we talked about prayer and the various types of prayer.  I found the best prayer starter prompts over at Catholic Icing and if you are a subscriber, you can download her printable for free!  Lacy has fabulous hands on resources for young children to learn about God and their faith.

There are 24 prayer starters in each set.

Since it was our first class, I introduced them to two patron saints of students

This idea came from Jessica over at Shower of Roses:

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Catherine of Alexandria

I'm offering up prayers for all of our parents, as the primary teachers of their children, may they find inspiration and guidance through the grace of God.

Peace & 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

Julie Freeney Designs

Julie Freeney is an incredibly talented artist who now has her collection of stained glass-inspired paintings of floral and plant life patterns for sale on Etsy.

About 20 years ago, Julie created this piece of art of my dog and it looks just like he did!

She drew it from a picture and captured him so intricately.  Even the expression.

That's my Stormy dog :)

Since then, her talent has grown and I am the lucky recipient of this beautiful necklace.

Isn't it gorgeous?  

She creates using all different types of colors, shapes and floras in her jewelry.

You can also purchase her beautiful creations in prints.

Julie is new to Etsy but she won't be for long.  Her talent is amazing!

Here's a link to her site:  Julie Freeney Designs

I also bought this one:

Each time I wear either necklace, I am stopped and asked about where I got them.

Very original quality work.

Peace & Blessings,
Noreen

The Candle Classic Bible Review

I am participating in another Kregel Publications Blog Tour by reviewing The Candle Classic Bible.  This is a christian bible that is retold into 365 stories.  Just the right size for one story a day for little ones.  The book cover and many pictures within have a vintage type of style to it.  I like it instead of the big brightly colored ones for young children.  I would think it would capture a child's imagination and bring them into the story. My son is a bit older and he read through a number of the pages and said "it lacked details" but considering it's geared for younger children, that was done intentionally.  It's written in an easy to read format that can be read in many sessions or for older children, they can focus on multiple stories in one sitting.  I do appreciate the titles before each story with the referenced scripture. I can see this story bible being used in homes as well as in an elementary classroom.  This bible is not appropriate for memorizing scripture but definitely for learning the morals, lessons and stories within it.  I believe it's a good place to start for teaching children about God and their faith.

I was given a complimentary copy from Kregel for my honest review.

Peace & Blessings,
Noreen

Misery Loves Company Book Review

My latest book review is a mystery called Misery Loves Company by Rene Gutteridge.  The premise of this book is the disappearance of a grief stricken widow.  She works from home as a blogger and after writing a negative review of a best selling author, she is nowhere to be found.  I felt a bit confused in the first few chapters with the roles of the characters and had to go back a couple of times to clarify who was who and what was happening.  And even to this point, I don't think the author wrote how the main character was kidnapped.  I may have missed it but I believe the details were left out.  This may not have been important to the author but I wanted to know how it was done.  I also felt the book was a bit misleading with the "Don't tell me it's terrifying.  Terrify me" comment in her review. I expected more of a thriller aspect to it that left me a bit disappointed.   I didn't want goriness like Stephen King's Misery but if you're going to say "terrify me" it builds up an expectation to be terrified.

After the first few chapters, I found the book to be compelling enough with wanting to know what was going to happen next.  I read the book in a couple of days and overall liked it.  It's a good book to read over the summer while at the beach or pool.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided you with a complimentary copy of this book.

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