Inventing a Celebration I’ve never had much use for Halloween. We didn’t celebrate it when I was growing up, substituting other family fun that day, and now I am simply turned off by the ugliness of the decor. But give me a reason to celebrate, and I love inventing traditions! Most conveniently, Reformation Day also falls on October 31st, so we use it as a day that varies the school routine, gives us an excuse to eat chocolate, and let the boys pick out their own gift. (I’m all about simplicity, since we also have an annual harvest party with lots of doughnuts around the same time!) Several years ago…

The Story of Us tells the full redemptive story of Scripture in poetic form, using the classical 4 elements of earth, air, fire, and water. *The Story of Us by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Kevin & Kristen Howdeshell. Beaming Books, 2022. 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 4-8. Recommended For: All ages. “One day, Creator came—to sort the mess…” So begins this poetic exploration of the grand story of Scripture: God, the Creator, made man to live in His perfect world. But sin entered the world, causing the entire creation to suffer (not just mankind). The Redeemer came to restore both people and creation itself. And one day,…

Editor’s Note: Our Honey for a Child’s Heart Read-along readers are thinking about Chapter 15: “First Books for Readers.” Beginning readers should be primed with a rhyme, and an enthusiastic grownup interpreter! The Joy of Nursery Rhymes Originally published on the Tumblon website, January 16, 2009 Want a delightful book for a very young child? Get Mem Fox’s Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Mem Fox , who lives in Australia, has done some wonderfully creative books for children, and here she is teamed up with illustrator Helen Oxenbury who lives in England. Along with charming pictures of children from all over the world, marveling…

(Note: Betsy and I are indebted to Ethan Pettit, librarian and Children’s Literature professor from Covenant College, who enlightened us so much in seeing Christ in literature and taught us to discern Truth and Story.) “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein…” Psalm 24:1 (ESV) This verse applies to books and readers, too. This is the foundation of why we read to the glory of God, because we have Him to thank for excellent literature. What are we at Redeemed Reader looking for when we read? Above all, TRUTH and STORY. God is a God of words. God uses words to reveal…

Mouse siblings Violet and Jobie must suddenly fend for themselves in a world both terrifying and lovely. Violet & Jobie in the Wild by Lynn Rae Perkins. Greenwillow, 2022, 227 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 4-8 as a read-aloud; 7-10 for independent readers Back to Nature It all began with the cheese game, otherwise known as a mousetrap. Siblings Violet and Jobie have learned to beat the game with the aid of some slender object (like a pencil) capable of snapping the trap without injury to mice. They’ve become quite clever at indoor life, even to understanding some of human language due to long exposure…