Book Review: Samantha Sanderson, Off the Record

Samantha Sanderson Off the Record is another addition to the Faithgirlz series. This is the third book in the Samantha Sanderson books about a middle school girl who wants to be an investigative journalist. 

This is an entertaining mystery for young readers as Samantha tries to find out who installed a virus that changed grades in the school's system.  Along the way, she struggles with following the Bible's directive to love you neighbor, which she chose as a New Year's resolution at the encouragement of her youth leaders.  

It's great to have clean faith based books for my daughter to read without having to worry about what themes or values she's learning from them.  The main character Sam and her friend Macayla have lots of fun together and and strong and savvy girls, without all the typical middle school drama.  

I really enjoy reading kids' books and young adult books, however this is one that is aimed a little too young for adult readers to enjoy.  It is however great for younger kids, and I can definitely see my 7 year old advanced reading daughter enjoying this book and this series!  Recommended as a good, faith based, entertaining mystery for young girls. 

I recieved a copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for my honest review. 

Book Review: Case for Grace for Kids!

Case for Grace for Kids by Lee Strobel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an excellent book for all ages. Lee Strobel, author of the well known Case for Christ, etc books writes this book aimed at kids. The author explores different aspects of grace through interview with several different people. He first shares some of his own story, struggling with understanding Christ's grace. He then moves on to interviews with people he sought out because of their amazing faith in spite of their circumstances.  He begins with Stephanie, a Korean woman who shares how she was abandoned by her mother, moves on to Andrew Palau, son of the evangelist Luis Palau, and others.  I love that he included an interview with Craig, who is just "a nice person".  While the more intense stories definitely show the wonderful grace of God, his story was so relatable for me.  One of the more intense stories tells of Christopher, a young  Cambodian man who grew up in Phnom Penh and lived through the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. This was an amazing story, however, this would be the one reason I might wait a bit to share this book with my 7 year old, at least in its pure form. The book is not graphic, but I'm not sure I'm ready to share that kind of history with her. I would definitely read it while editing it down a bit for her.  Other than this, I though this was an excellent book for so many ages!  Even as a 30-something mother of four, I felt touched and inspired by this book.  It's not at all dumbed down for kids. It's an excellent presentation of God's grace in a very understandable way.  I loved that the author at the beginning of one chapter, went back through and reviewed what exactly each interviewee had taught us about grace. The book ends with the Gospel story shared including a prayer to accept Jesus and encouragement to share with someone if one prayed it.  This is an excellent book for elementary kids through adults, especially adults who don't love to read, or are very new to the faith and would like an introduction to the idea of grace. This book will be sticking on our shelf indefinitely, and I look forward to reading it with my kids!

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


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Book Review: Motivate Your Child

I recieved a review copy of Motivate Your Child by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. To be completely honest, I haven't had a chance to read the book yet.  But from flipping through it, this looks like one I'm going to read next! In one of the first chapters, the authors, who write the book from a Christian worldview, discuss how the aim of this book is to raise kids who do things because of internal motivation, or because of what is right, rather than an external motivation more along the lines of Pavlov's dog and its bell. The book's chapters present a discussion on the topics presented and then bring it to life and let us see it in action with a story of a family using the ideas. The authors talk about taking the time to develop your strategies as a parent, and taking the time to choose your tone of voice, words and actions carefully, thus setting the example for our kids to think before they speak and act. This one hits a little close to home for me!

This book to me, seems to be one more about seeing parenting as teaching your child, developing character and spiritual growth. I am so looking forward to reading how to shift away from the frustration, repitition and behavioral change.  I'd definitely recommend this book to christian parents.

I will try to update again as I really dive in, but just flipping through has already convicted me of some of my parenting practices and excited me to have a different atmosphere in our home!

I recieved a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: I Can Learn the Bible

I got to review this cute book from Thomas Nelson Publishers.  This is a great little hard backed book, an excellent devotional to work through with your kids!  Each devotional centers around a verse, explaining its meaning and encouraging memorization. It is intended for each devotional to be used over the course of a week, and in the introduction, the author gives suggestions for each day's activity.  The illustrations are darling, and the pages are thick and sturdy.  The verses chosen are excellent, encouraging our faith and walk with God.  I will definitely work through this with my children, these are excellent verses and devotions for children as well as adults! I would recommend this for families that want a devotional good for a range of ages, as it is simple enough for younger children, yet can spark discussion and conversation with older children.  It could easily be used for a child's personal devotions as well.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publishers in return for my honest review.

Book Review: The First Christmas Ever

You can never have too many books about the real reason of Christmas!

This book, The First Christmas Ever, written and illustrated by Dennis Jones, is an excellent addition to our library.  The illustrations are quirky and unique and inject a bit of humor into the story. The story is true to the Bible and well written, easy for young listeners to understand. We definitely enjoyed this little paperback and it will make a regular appearance in our Christmas reading!