Rediscovering God in America

Rediscovering God in America is a very good resource for anyone wanting a broad overview of America's connection to God, as demonstrated by America's founding fathers and other American leaders throughout time.

The book was smaller than I had expected it to be. I also expected more pictures to be included. Unfortunately, there are only a few pictures at most contained within each chapter, and as I found myself reading the text, on several occasions I wondered why an accompanying photo was not included. Since this book was described as a walking tour I expected photos of the monuments, statues, inscriptions, and artwork. There are some photos, just not enough.

Since my family is planning a trip to the Smithsonian this summer, this was a perfect read to get educated on the various Washington D.C. monuments and their meanings, as well as how these fit into our faith and the faith of our founding fathers. I really learned so much in this book, far more than I had ever learned in school and it renewed my interest in American history. The writing is engaging yet succinct.

I recommend this book to home schoolers, people planning a trip to Washington, D.C., as well as anyone interested in United States history. Be prepared to use the Internet as a resource though for additional pictures.

I would also love to see a children's edition of this book. I was able to read it and then talk to my children about the meanings of the speeches, documents, quotes, monuments, and statues mentioned within. A book written on a children's level would have been better though.

I received this book from the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program.

Reviewed by Mom

Review of NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible

The NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible is a nice step in between a children's Bible and an adult Bible. I found the storybook format to be very appealing by keeping the stories to 3-5 pages. It reads like a traditional book with sentences spanning the entire width of the page and chapter titles at the top of each new story.

As a parent, I was surprised to find myself engrossed in the stories and kept reading until I had finished several stories. The format is just so pleasant for reading.

If you are buying this for your children, I would recommend they be at least ten years old because it is true to NKJV of the Bible.

Although this would not make a Bible substitute, it is a good way to introduce new Christians to two hundred and fifty of the more popular stories of the Bible without overwhelming them. Tweens and teens that are reluctant readers would also benefit from the format of this book.

There is a dedication page at the front of the book, and verse numbers throughout the book provide easy reference for further reading in the Bible.

The table of contents at the beginning make it easy to find your favorite stories easily.

Reviewed by Mom

Review: Busy People's fast & frugal cookbook

I love cooking with my mom and inventing new recipes. The good thing about this cookbook is that everything takes less than 30 minutes to make, and it doesn't have a lot of ingredients. I especially liked the dessert section since my mom doesn't make dessert too much. But, if I'm willing to make it she's willing to buy the ingredients.

Even if you don't want your kids baking and using the oven, there are recipes for them to learn. The first dessert recipe is Pineapple Cherry Delight. It takes yogurt, crushed pineapple, splenda, pecans, maraschino cherries, and mini marshmallows. You just mix it up! It's so easy. I like to put this into fancy ice cream cups and it's pretty healthy with the fruit, yogurt, and nuts.

Another easy recipe is Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan-covered Marshmallows (can you tell that marshmallows are one of my favorite foods?) You melt the chocolate and add cinnamon, marshmallows, pecans, and salt. I like to take this for a snack to school in a baggie.

There are also a lot of beverage recipes. I like the strawberry smoothie recipe the best. My mom lets me have that before bed.

Even though this is not a kids book, it's easy for kids to do the recipes in here and learn to cook. There are so many different things to make and every recipe really is easy. My dad said he'll help me make the baked beans wiht smoked sausage this weekend. It just takes sausage, onion, butter beans, baked beans, brown sugar flavored barbeque sauce, and brown sugar splenda. It sounds really yummy and I love hot dogs and franks so this sounds really good.

If you want an easy recipe book if you're just getting started cooking, try this one!

The Jesus Book by Stephen Elkins

My review:

I'm in third grade and I really loved this book. It's the first book I've seen that only talks about Jesus. I learned so much from reading this book and I plan on reading it over and over until I can remember everything about Jesus. My friends also like it, but the CD is not good for older kids. The pictures are very colorful so kids who don't read yet will be able to look at the pictures while their moms read to them. I love it!

Mom's Review:

I was recently taking my daughter and her friend for ice cream and in the car my daughters friend asked her when she was going to have first communion. How do I explain to the little girl the difference between being a Catholic and being a Baptist? I decided to go a different route and explain what our churches have in common. This book was very helpful for the girls to explore the beliefs they had in common.

As soon as we got home my daughter ran to her room to get this book and the girls read it. It was a nice way to bring them together despite the fact they attend different churches.

If you'd like to teach your child about Jesus, this is one of the best books I've seen on the subject. This 96 page book has the following sections:

Who Jesus Is

What Jesus Did

What Jesus Taught

When It Happened

Where It Happened

Why It Happened

How It Happened

The book is written at a 2nd/3rd grade level, but I would not hesitate as a parent to introduce this book to children in Kindergarten all the way up to 4th grade.

As usual with these kind of books, I was less impressed with the CD, but I do think preschoolers would enjoy listening to it.

Scripture references are at the top of each story, so if your older child is looking for more in-depth stories, they can read them right from the bible as well as the condensed version presented in this book.

This hardcover book is very sturdy and smaller than normal so it's perfect for children to hold.

An extended 19-page preview can be found at the following link so you can guage for yourself whether or not this is age appropriate for your child.

http://tinyurl.com/TheJesusBook

Review: I Believe Bunny by Tish Rabe

I Believe Bunny is the first in a series to come by author Tish Rabe. I thought the watercolor and pencil pictures were really beautiful. I love to paint with watercolors also.

In this story, bunny finds a mouse that is going to drown in the river unless someone helps. Bunny prays and then Bunny's friends show up to help.

My mom always teaches me to pray to God when I need help and this book can help kids to remember to pray when they need help by thinking of this story. You never know when you are going to be in a dangerous situation and need God to help you.

I recommend this book for kids from ages 3 to 6, and even though I just turned 8, I'll be reading the rest of this series when it comes out. It's also a hardcover book that can be donated or given away when you're done.

Review: 100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs

I loved reading 100 Bible Stories. The pictures were really cute and colorful and the stories were short. Even though I'm seven, and this is recommended for younger kids, I think kids as young as one, and up to my age would enjoy it. I didn't like the CD though. The music was very babyish and I had to turn it off after only a couple of songs. I was expecting a short song and then a read along story, but was disappointed. Also, each story tells where the bible story is located so I can read the story in my Bible if I want to know more.

I would recommend this book for ages three to four, but older and younger brothers and sisters will probably want to read it too.

Review: The Wackiest Wildest Weirdest Animals in the World

I love this book. The DVD was very funny. I didn't know Jack could trip so much. The animals were very interesting and I learned about so many animals that I have never heard of. This is my favorite book about animals and I would check it out from the library if I didn't have one already. Sometimes I just read this book before bed and then I have very cool dreams. I hope to work at a zoo when I grow up. I would recommend this book for ages three to nine.

(Mom's review below:)
The Wackiest Wildest Weirdest Animals in the World by Jack Hanna was far more fun and entertaining that I had expected. Each large, colorful page identifies the animal as either wild, weird, or wacky near the bottom of the page. In total, there are ten wacky, ten wild, and ten weird animals featured. My favorite was the Blue-footed Booby, the first wacky animal.

General facts are highlighted, such as diet, habitat, and size. Short attention spans will appreciate the callout boxes that highlight interesting animal facts and trivia. More curious and devoted animal fans will enjoy the longer narrative on the side bar that goes more in depth with additional interesting animal facts. The pictures are eye-catching and shows the animal in it’s natural setting.

The final two pages of the book have a 37 word glossary to explain terms found throughout the book, such as scavenger, nocturnal, billabong, brackish, and more. My animal-crazy daughter immediately read the book cover to cover and watched the DVD twice with her best friend. They loved the video, but I can imagine younger children may not understand or enjoy the parts of the DVD where animals are not involved.

The included DVD runs 19 minutes in length, and more than half of the time does not involve animals but rather just Jack Hanna and crew bloopers, such as Jack falling down (all the time), a sound man sleeping on the job, Jack mistakenly purchasing women’s shoes for himself in Africa and getting laughed at, Jack trading the shoes for two necklaces in an open-air market, Jack getting dressed up as a warrior, and Jack showing up late for a safari appointment. The animal scenes are cute, especially when he keeps getting his knees pecked. The footage also contains older footage of him with his daughter

The hardcover was larger that I had imagined, measuring 10.75” x 10.75”. Although the hardcover is very sturdy, the inside binding left a little to be desired, and with only two reads, I found that on page 20/21that the back binding was already exposed, but considering this is both glued and threaded, I expect the pages will not fall out.

Review: The American Patriot's Bible

The American Patriot's Bible takes an interesting approach to by combining American history within the context of the Bible. I agree somewhat with other reviewers that feel the Bible should remain seperate from American history, but on the other hand it's an interesting approach that I am exploring. The books of the Bible remain intact, but interspersed throughout the book are glossy pages with short history lessons such as western expansion where the editor of this book, Dr. Richard G. Lee plays history professor by telling us the impact and roles that Christians played in that chapter of American history. This lesson falls between Isiah 48 and Isiah 49. 

Within Jeremiah 31 there is a short 4 page history lesson where President Lincoln is quoted during the Second Inaugural Address of March 1865 as saying "Both [North and South] read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes." 

Beyond the short, very unintrusive history lessons, the book is really beautiful and easy to read. The font is easy on the eyes and large enough that it won't strain your eyes. The beginning of the book has a presentation page, followed by marriage and ancestral record charts, then church membership records, along with a map of the United States and 2 lined pages for recording special events and other records. The history lessons are full of photos and artist renderings. 

At the back of the Bible is a listing of every US President including Barack H. Obama and the years they served. There is also a subject index, a concordance, and several pages of biblical maps in the back for reference. 

This makes an ideal Bible for family Bible study, but I don't think it's very practical for carrying around since it is quite large and a hardcover. 

Overall, I'm very happy with this Bible and I enjoy reading it. I highly recommend checking out the 18 page preview at this link. 

- Girls Only Book Reviews, Review by Mom ;-)

A fun and exciting way to hear the New Testament

I am so thankful to have the Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament MP3 Set. My favorite new way to read the bible is to listen to it on my mp3 player. Now I can carry the bible with me in the car, in bed, or anywhere else for that matter. This 3 CD set is contains 23 hours of mp3 recordings with teen stars such as Alyson Stoner, Corbin Bleu, Emily Osment, Cody Linley, and Jordin Sparks.

In the enclosed leaflet, there is a plan they give you to listen to the entire New Testament in 40 days. I've listened to the first half a few times already and have learned so much because this is not nearly as complicated as reading the New Testament.

If you don't have an mp3 player, this will also play on your computer as well as many home DVD and CD players (if it supports mp3 format).

My brother and I are always short on time, and now that we have the New Testament on mp3 we can listen while we eat breakfast, do chores, or even ride in the car.

The Tutu Ballet by Sally Lee

The Tutu Ballet is a short picture book the celebrates the diversity of talents, sizes, and colors through the use of forest animals. The author directly uses the diversity of the young animals talents to show that everyone is special in their own way and by doing your best at what you're good at you can be a part of a whole.

None of the animals are good at doing every ballet move, but some can jump better, some can twirl better, and others can kick better. More subtle, the animals vary in color, size, and gender.

This would be an excellent introductory story about diversity for young children if you are looking for a story to spark a conversation about how we can be different but still wonderful.

The Dragonfly Secret by Clea & John Adams

The Dragonfly Secret is about a little boy who dies young but is very much alive in the afterlife. He reaches out to his parents through a Dragonfly he has befriended. His grandparents, also living in the afterlife, join him in helping to reach out to the grieving parents.

This book is very touching and sweet, and can provide reassurance to parents who have lost a child that they will see their child again.

Although this books message will appeal most to adults, children will also enjoy the vivid pictures and simple story.