Many thanks to Denise Malagari Heebner for her recent review of Peril and Peace: Volume 1 by Mindy and Brandon Withrow. Here’s a little of what Denise had to say:
“Their writing is superb. They don’t miss a beat. I think this is one of the best ways to introduce someone to the greats of the ancient church. This is a collection the whole family will enjoy.”
-Denise Malagari Heebner (reviewsfromthepew.wordpress.com)
Read the full review here: LINK
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Many thanks to Danika Cooley (thinkingkids.wordpress.com) for her recent review of Guarding the Treasure: How God’s People Preserve God’s Word by Linda Finlayson (CF4K, 2011).
This summer, as the boys and I are gearing up for our first year of our 3 year Bible survey with Bible Road Trip, we decided to read a book about the Bible’s journey through history.
Linda Finlayson’s Guarding the Treasure: How God’s People Preserve God’s Word is a fantastic resource for children ages 7-12! My boys have been uncharacteristically still during our read-alouds as we’ve explored the stories of people throughout history who have defended, translated, and spread the Word of God.
Guarding the Treasure was published in 2011 byChristian Focus Publications. To date, I have not read one children’s book by Christian Focus that I have not loved. You can see a table of contents for the book, as well as an excerpt, on their website here.
My favorite place to purchase Christian Focus books in the United States is Grace & Truth Books. Their prices are wonderful and their shipping is prompt. I love the selection they offer.
OK! I was going to tell you about how much we love Linda Finlayson’s engaging book!
Guarding the Treasure mixes narrative biographical stories with short articles explaining history. Ms. Finlayson takes us all the way from the writing of the Scriptures up to present day translations. Children are introduced to some of God’s “authors”, as well as to historical figures like Athanasius, Jerome, King Alfred, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, William Whittingham, Laurence Chaderton, William Carey (and a host of missionary translators), and Cameron Townsend.
Each story is told in the form of a narrative. Children have the opportunity to live a scene from the history of the Bible’s preservation, translations, and its spread throughout the world. Each narrative section is followed by a brief article explaining some interesting fact about what we’ve just learned. For example, the chapter about King Alfred includes an article entitled “Who Are Those Guys With the Funny Names?”. Ms. Finlayson briefly introduces children to each of the scholars that assisted King Alfred in his translation efforts. Her language is inviting and interesting. My children have greatly enjoyed her short articles.
Following each narrative chapter, there is a shorter chapter that explains the history involved to bring us to the next moment in time in the Bible’s journey. These chapters are highly informative and engaging; not the dry history of my childhood readings.
The boys and I have studied each of the men Ms. Finlayson highlights as we’ve gone through history. Even so, the unique focus of Guarding the Treasure on the preservation of God’s Word has allowed us to place our studies in a different context. It has made our education richer, and added another dimension to our perspective.
Guarding the Treasure is book 1 in a new series: Defenders of the Faith. I have no idea what the rest of the series will cover, but count me in as an enthusiastic new fan! I might even be willing to stand in line at midnight for the next new release.
~ Danika Cooley
Danika Cooley is a children’s writer with a love for God’s Word, history, wisdom and small people. Her work has appeared in magazines including Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr.; Upper Room Ministries’ Pockets and Devozine; CBH Ministries’ Keys for Kids, and Cobblestone Group’s FACES and Odyssey. Her work also appears in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Mothers and Daughters.
You can see this review in its original context here: LINK.
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“My family has been using the Westminster Shorter Catechism with good result with our children but it’s also been slow moving. Sometime the cadence and structure can be cumbersome for a four year old to repeat back and learn.
We had received My 1st Book of Questions and Answers when Claire my oldest was first born from our church. But it had been lost for a time and forgotten. Claire, now four, was recently walking around with it and I asked her what it was. She said it was her new Bible.
I took a quick look at it and saw some of the endorsements and was intrigued. After further examination later that night, I decided for now we would switch over to My 1st Book as our teaching tool.
The main benefit of this handy book is that it takes the some times wordy and confusing language structure (at least for a four year old) of the well-known catechism and conveys the same truths with precision.
It’s also recommended by Presbyterians and Baptists alike. From what we’ve used so far and from my examination of section on topics like baptism I don’t see anything that would prevent it being used with good results by either denominational members.
Our plan is to now use My First Book for the next year with my four year old and then start my youngest on over the next 6 months to a year. With just over a hundred questions you could easily complete the book 10 or 20 times over the course of 3 years. It’s the perfect tool to get children use to the question and answer style of learning and also prepare for a more advance catechism like the Westminster Shorter.”
-Mathew Sims (grace4sinners.blogspot.com)
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Many thanks to homeschooling family who blogs at www.se7en.org.za for this wonderful review of Eric: Liddell: Finish the Race.
Recently I was thrilled to discover that Christian Focus Publications has a great blog, up and running showcasing their latest kids books, called Christian Focus 4 Kids. Previously I have written about how important it is for our children to read about Christian Heroes… Christian Focus 4 Kids is a Publishing house that publishers lots of great christian biographies for kids of different reading abilities. One of their popular series, the Trailblazer series has recently become available on the Kindle. Which is fantastic news for us, I love packing our Kindle with books for the kids to stumble upon and discover.
A couple of weeks back Christian Focus 4 Kids, posted a post asking if folk would like to review one of their latest titles:
Who can resist an Eric Liddell biography, I dived in at the opportunity and my kids joined in as we read our way through it. This book is a book about the life of Eric Liddell… his whole life. What a relief to find a book about Eric Liddell that is about more than just his dash around the race track. It is definitely not just the race in the Paris Olympics, made famous by the popular movie, Chariots of Fire.
Hood #5 To be honest I usually give books from the Trailblazer series to my kids to read, especially those in the easy reader stage. The chapters are short and manageable, there are questions at the end of the book, which help you to highlight the main point of each chapter. Because I had signed up to write a review I had to read this book all the way through myself and I was more than pleasantly surprised!!!
Hood #4 I have to say I have a whole new respect for this series, the chapters may well be short and readable for the beginner reader but they are not by any means simple or written down to the younger reader. Oh no, the chapters of this book are packed with facts and interesting anecdotes. What can I say, I found it a really interesting read and I am thrilled to discover a book that treats the beginner reader with some respect. Not to mention, there is fabulous timeline that provides hooks between the subject and other historical events that they might know about and so help them relate the book to knowledge they already have. Just because this book is marketed as a children’s book don’t for a moment think that an adult wouldn’t enjoy the read. It was a quick read, I admit, but I so enjoyed that this book really is packed with interesting details.
Hood #3 Eric Liddell was born in born in China in 1902, and spent his early years there. When he was of school going age his parents brought him and his older brother home to attend a The Boys Mission School in England. As you can imagine it wasn’t an easy childhood to be split away from ones parents but he was an affable fellow and seems to have survived the rigors of boarding school with the very occasional visit from his parents. His love of sports, particularly rugby and athletics, began at school and he carried his passion through to University. He began entering races and winning. My children so enjoyed hearing about his athletics preparation and training, particularly for the Olympics, very different to the very over the top practices of today!!!
Hood #2 As you read the book and through his remarkable racing career, you come to realize that athletics was not his life calling, but serving God with all his heart certainly was. God used a good friend and a mentor to prepare his heart and soul for returning to China. He returned to China in what some say was the prime of his athletics career, where he worked as a teacher… He married and had three children, the youngest never actually met him because just before he was put into a prison of war camp he placed his family and then pregnant wife on a ship for Canada, where they would be safer. He suffered for his belief, but never gave up, he served his fellow prisoners but eventually illness and malnutrition got the better of his strong body. He eventually died of a brain tumor and tragically his family never saw him again.
Hood #1 My children were fascinated by this story and they were sad for his family, especially the baby that he never got to meet. But above all else they were inspired by a man that gave of his best in everything, often coming from behind he conquered all, through hard work and an incredible faith in his Savior. His life was a true reflection of a christian hero and he ran his race for God without faltering.
You can see this review in its original context here: LINK. We would also highly recommend you take a look at the letter author John Keddie received from Eric Liddell’s youngest daughter Maureen. You can read it here: LINK.
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