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Love Your Yard: Nature Study Books to Spark “Creation Appreciation”
Nature Study … or Creation Appreciation? I’m a nature study junkie. And my kids have been along for the ride since birth. It’s so much a part of our life that we can be very annoying to hike with. Ahem. We need to reclaim “nature study” and call it “Creation Appreciation.” Nature study (or Creation Appreciation) is a delightful opportunity to get to know our Creator better. His Creation is truly magnificent. The order inherent in nature testifies to his design and sovereignty over every detail; google the fibonacci number and flowers, pinecones, or shells, and be amazed. If ever we needed reminders that the Lord is in control over…
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The Storm by Amanda Jennings
Gripping And Consuming The Storm by Amanda Jennings is a marvellous contemporary psychological read that will consume your thoughts. The action alternates between 1998 and fifteen years later from various points of view. The reader becomes completely caught up in it all. We know that there was a defining moment but we do not know […]
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Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis
Beautiful Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis is a most beautiful contemporary novel about friendship, love and being lost. The novel is beautifully written and very emotionally charged. It is about feeling lost and longing to belong. I loved Emmie Blue, the main character with her huge heart and her searching for a home. Setbacks […]
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Called To Protect by Lynette Eason
Out Of The Top Drawer Called To Protect by Lynette Eason is a marvellous Christian suspense. It is the second book in the Blue Justice series but can be read as a stand-alone. The series follows the St John family, all of whom work in the emergency services. This book has Chloe and her K9 […]
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A World of Discovery by James Brown and Richard Platt
A World of Discovery introduces pre-teens to the basics of technology and invention. A World of Discovery by James Brown and Richard Platt. Candlewick Studio, 2019, 63 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 7-12 Every technology we take for granted had to be “discovered”—usually by necessity followed by invention, but not always. The need for wheels seems obvious but the reason some cultures never got around to making them is that they’re very hard to make (ever try drawing a perfectly round circle?). The technology for making the technology had to come first. Penicillin, on the other hand, had been around in the form of bread…
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Everybody Counts by Kristin Roskifte
Everybody Counts is more than a counting book: it includes big numbers and big thoughts. Everybody Counts: a Counting Story from 0 to 7.5 Billion by Kristin Roskifte. Magicon Fortag (Wide-Eyed Editions), 2020, 56 pages. (Originally published in Norway, 2018) Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: all ages We start with “no one.” No people, that is, just a monochrome bucolic landscape. Then, “One person. He is lying in bed counting his heartbeats. He wonders how many people are looking at the same stars right now.” Next page: “Two people in a forest. One of them says something the other will remember for the rest of his life.”…
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An Anchor On Her Heart by Patricia Lee
A Gift From God An Anchor On Her Heart by Patricia Lee is a most delightful contemporary Christian novel about love, friendship and our faithful God. It is the first book in the Mended Hearts series and I cannot wait to read the subsequent books. The novel concerns the sea and a community. The sea […]
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Once A Hero by Jan Thompson
Righting The Wrongs Once A Hero by Jan Thompson is a contemporary Christian romantic suspense and the second book in the Protector Sweethearts series. It can be read as a stand-alone. It is an exciting and complex read. I must admit I got confused at times trying to follow the intricacies of the action. I […]
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The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
The One and Only Bob stars the cynical, lovable mutt from Katherine Applegate’s 2012 Newbery-award-winning novel. The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate. Harper, 2020, 334 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 8-14 Readers of The One and Only Ivan will remember Bob, the stray pooch who met Ivan by waking up on the 400-lb silverback gorilla’s stomach. Life has improved for Bob, as it has for his friends frm the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan and Ruby the baby elephant now live in a spacious animal preserve where they can congregate with others of their species and roam at will—within…
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Rapid Fire: YA Fantasy, July 2020
Two series starters that fizzled and two new authors to enjoy. *Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer. Page Street Kids, 2020. 400 pages. The first hint (besides the lovely cover) that the book was going to be good: Rosamund Hodge liked it. The second hint: mentioning “spinners of stories” Diana Wynne Jones and Robin McKinley in its dedication. The third hint? I was too busy reading to notice . . . An absolutely lovely fairytale retelling, Echo North places Joanna Ruth Meyer soundly in story spinner tradition. (Kirkus and Publishers Weekly both gave it a starred review.) Echos of different fairytales are woven together in a vaguely Russian landscape. Beautiful…
