Books
Christian Books
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Where The River Takes Us by Lesley Parr
Friendship & Adventure Where The River Takes Us by Lesley Parr is a very engaging children’s novel set in the Welsh valleys in 1974. 1974 was a time of unrest in Britain with three day working weeks and regular power cuts. Times were hard for many but even harder for the leading character and his […]
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Newbery Buzz #1: A Rover’s Story
It’s that time again, readers! The hour for selecting winners of the world’s most prestigious children’s book award draws near. Redeemed Reader has little (that is, NO) influence on that decision, but we like to speculate. This year we’ve set apart five likely buzzed-about titles for a closer look. Betsy leads off with Jasmine Warga’s A Rover’s Story. Betsy: Jasmine Warga is no stranger to Newbery love: Other Words for Home earned a Newbery Honor in 2020 (see our review). Other Words for Home is a novel in verse about a refugee girl; A Rover’s Story centers around a robot headed to Mars. The rover’s name is Resilience, Res for…
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Wintry Picture Books: A Book List
Whether you live in a place with snow or not, January is the perfect month for a cozy snow story (or three). Look for some of these at your local library and enjoy a long winter’s evening story time. The Wintry Picture Books book list below includes books both old and new. Enjoy! WINTRY PICTURE BOOKS: A BOOK LIST Winter Poems selected by Barbara Rogasky and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Scholastic, 1994. 40 pages. All Ages. A marvelously well-illustrated anthology of poems all about winter: snow, bird migrations, sleigh bells, even sickness! Read our review. Snow by Uri Shulevitz. Sunburst Books, 2004. In spite of the doubtful predictions in the media and…
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New Neighbours For Coronation Close by Lizzie Lane
A Snapshot In Time New Neighbours For Coronation Close by Lizzie Lane is a marvelous historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. The book is set in Bristol in 1936 and provides a social commentary on the times. We see terrible slum conditions that some find themselves living in. This contrasts with the new council houses. […]
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Gladys Hunt on the Value of Fantasy
Editor’s Note: We kick off the New Year, and Month #5 of our Honey for a Child’s Heart Read-along, with one of the most popular and venerable genres in children’s books. George the Dragon-Slayer Originally published on the Tumblon website May 19, 2009 “A serious attack on the fairy tale as children’s literature comes from those who do not wish children to be frightened,” writes C.S. Lewis in an essay entitled, Three Ways of Writing for Children. Those who say that children must not be frightened mean two things. First, they mean that we must not do anything likely to give the child haunting and disabling fears, and secondly, they…
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The Real Dada Mother Goose by Jon Scieszka
In The Real Dada Mother Goose, popular humorist Jon Scieszka subjects familiar nursery rhymes to every possible variation. The Real Dada Mother Goose: A Treasury of Complete Nonsense by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Julia Rothman. Candlewick, 72 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-14 “Dada is creating art with humor and absurdity to challenge what many people might think is right or normal.” That’s Jon Scieszka’s definition, and it’s the mildest interpretation of an art movement, dating from the turn of the 20th century, that has been profoundly subversive. Dada, along with other art forms like Theater of the Absurd, taught the art world that nothing…
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I’ll Never Tell by Philippa East
Wow – Engrossing! I’ll Never Tell by Philippa East is a totally engrossing contemporary psychological thriller that grabbed me from the start. The tale is cleverly constructed as we hear two different distinct voices and there are two alternating time periods as we move backwards and forwards in time. We follow a rather rich suburban […]
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Death Comes To Marlow by Robert Thorogood
Uniquely Blended Together Death Comes To Marlow by Robert Thorogood is a marvelous contemporary cosy crime drama which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is the second book in the Marlow Murder Club series but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading book one first for maximum enjoyment. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with the […]
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Out of Range by Heidi Lang
Out of Range puts three warring sisters into a life-or-death situation that will destroy their bond—and perhaps their lives—or restore it. Out of Range by Heidi Lang. Simon & Schuster (Margaret K. Elderberry Books), 2022, 301 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Sisters, Sisters Abby, Emily, and Ollie (ages 14, 12, and 9 respectively) belong to a stable family with a stay-at-home dad and a successful career mom. They’ve always gotten along, up until the time Abby developed her first crush and a circle of middle-school friends. Now she no longer has time for little sisters and family traditions. After getting stiffed by sis too…
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Belittled Women by Amanda Sellet
Belittled Woman features a contemporary Meg, Jo, and Amy reluctantly participating in their mother’s pet project: a tourist attraction reenacting scenes from a certain 19th-century novel. Belittled Women by Amanda Sellet. HarperCollins (Clarion), 2022, 371 pages. Reading Level: Teen, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 13-16 Trapped in a girl novel! Every teen girl’s dream job must be to play the role of Jo March with her all-girl family in live reenactments of Little Women. . . right? But this is Jo Porter’s life. It’s her mother’s dream, not hers: when Mom inherited the Kansas farmhouse, her bright idea was to open the house to tourists and play Marmee to her…
