Review: Heaven is for Real

I have always hesistated to read memoirs regarding visits to Heaven and Hell because I am very skeptical of people who write books and go on tour for profit to tell the story of their experiences. I would think that if someone truly had that type of experience that they would not be the least bit concerned with profit and more concerned with freely giving the message they have been given. The Coltons don't strike me as that sort of family, so I was much more open minded about reading this book than listening to the audiobooks and attending the events put on by others who have had near death experiences and visited Heaven or Hell.
With that in mind, I read Heaven is for Real with a critical mind and checked my reactions and thoughts frequently while reading this book. From what I can tell it does seem very plausible that this is a true story and I did find reassurance and inspiration from reading about Colton Burpos experiences in Heaven and the unfolding of the story as he tells it to his family.
Although the Burpos are constantly amazed at the things Colton says, I can recall when my own son was four years old. He picked up on everything and was very good at articulating his thoughts. Considering his father, Todd Burpo is in the ministry, it should not be too surprising for Colton to talk about Heaven and other biblical based stories since I would imagine he has heard conversations regarding these topics since birth. Mr. Burpo several times mentions that he didn't think that Colton could have learned these things from Sunday school, but I would think that would be the least of his exposure to conversations revolving around God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Heaven, Hell, and Satan.
I did enjoy the book and would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Heaven and near-death experiences . It's a short read and I would put the book at about a fifth grade reading level so even younger readers could easily understand this book.

Book read and reviewed by Mom

Gigi's Big Break DVD

I loved this DVD. Gigi has such a cute voice but makes mistakes just like every kid. She lies about how a vase broke and then the lie snowballs into more and more lies. Eventually she learns a lesson and tell the truth. Telling the truth was so much easier!

In the next episode, her parents tell her she is going to be a big sister. She is so happy. Then her friend tells her that her parents will only have time for the baby and she decides to move in with her friend.

My best friend and I love Gigi. She is cute and is easy to relate to. I have some the books by Sheila Walsh like God's Little Princess Devotional Bible and Gigi, God's Little Princess and really liked the DVD even more. It brought Gigi to life. I recommend this DVD for any girls ages 4-8, but probably ages 5-6 would be able to relate to it the most.

I received this DVD from Thomas Nelson publishers for review. I hope to watch more Gigi DVD's in the future.

Review: Biblezine Revolve 2010, The Complete New Testament

Mom-approved Biblezine!

Do you remember being a teenager and thinking you knew everything? "No Parental Advice Needed" was my attitude and no matter what advice my parents tried to give me, I pretty much took it with a grain of salt. This Biblezine however, gives advice without being too parental. The "experts" in here are generally young adults in touch with todays lifestyles and problems.

The New Testament presented in Revolve 2010 Biblezine has frequent subtitles highlighting the lesson or story being presented. I found that especially useful to call attention to what the story is about. In between reading the New Testament teens will pick up conservative beauty advice, learn about recycling and donating, and be motivated to eat right and exercise. There was a little too much "beauty and boys" talk, but nothing was offensive to me as a parent of a teen and a tween.

Some of the advice was very useful and some not-so-much so. For example, there was a little article recommending using double sided tape to keep your bra attached to your clothes so it doesn't slip down. How did the contributors come up with that one? Yet, I found about half of the articles to be helpful to teens, bearing the advice that parents would love to give if their teens would just listen.

Overall, this is a great way to keep teens reading and the magazine-styel will fit nicely into a backpack alongside their binders and notebooks. I highly recommend this to teen girls 14-17.

A complimentary copy was provided to me by Thomas Nelson and their Booksneeze program.

The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible NKJV

I love audio bibles and have been using them for the past few years to get my mind more engaged with the scripture. I have found that I tend to absorb the words differently when hearing them rather than reading them. It's not that one form is better than the other, I just get different mental reactions to the two and interpret things differently.

The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible, NKJV has helped me to visualize and feel the interactions, whereas when reading I turn more inward and become reflective on how I can apply or understand the message better.

My daughter and son both LOVE this audio bible. In fact, both of the kids have been known to go to bed with one of the CD's in their CD player at night. Their exposure and understanding of the scripture is so much more than when I was their age when I basically read along once a week while in church.

Although I'm not going to recommend this one over the other options out there, I would recommend that you visit the publishers web sites to sample the dramatization and see which one feels right for you.

The link for this one is:

http://thewordofpromise.thomasnelson.com/about/

There are several options ranging from New Testament, Old Testament, to full Bible. My daughter especially enjoys the Next Generation Version which features teen celebrities doing the reading (more like acting!). They also come in MP3 version which is great if you are just going to rip MP3's to your ipod, computer, or other music device. Otherwise, if you are primarily listening on your home stereo or on a car CD player, they have the CD version which takes many more discs.

I really recommend this as a gift for time pressed people or older people whose eyesight is starting to fail them.

New Hermie DVD: Antonio Meets His Match

There is a new Hermie DVD that Hermie lovers like myself are going to be enjoying very soon. It's called Antonio Meets His Match.

I first learned about Hermie at church. Last year our group activities were all based on Hermie, so even though I'm 8, I still like watching Hermie DVD's. The lesson of this DVD was to love your neighbors and that you don't always get what you want. My favorite part was when everyone's wish came true because they realized they already had everything they wanted.

I recommend this DVD for church lessons. It's one hour long and the DVD has some coloring pages that you can print on your computer. There is a also a fun trivia game, sing-along, and read-along (really a pray-along) that you can play on your computer.

I give it five stars. Kids who like caterpillars and insects will like this DVD too. I recommend this for ages 2-10, but kids 4-8 will probably enjoy it the most.

I received this DVD from BookSneeze.com, and you can receive things for review too if you have a blog.

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