Thoughts on: The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss

This book was suggested by my husband. He loves the old Disney movie version of this story, and thought the kids would really enjoy the book. The one we checked out was an illustrated version, and I'm not sure it was really the entire story. I need to check out a non-illustrated version and read it to myself to see if it's any different!

Nonethelss, it was still a fun book to read outloud. My 6-year-old's imagination went wild with thought of being shipwrecked on an island and encountering all the fun animals the Robinson's saw on their island! My 3-year-old had nightmares about some of the animal encounter's, though. And my 6-year-old was a little confused why they killed so many animals that they saw, too. It led to some good discussions and was overall a fun story, despite all the animal killing!

Thoughts on: Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard Atwater

I know I must have read this book when I was a kid, I was an avid reader! But I really didn't remember anything abou it.

We had fun learning about Mr. Popper, and "watching" (with our imaginations) his penguins dance on stage.

Let's just point it out now that the book is nothing like the new Mr. Popper's Penguins movie (which I still liked, anyway).

It was a shorter book that we read rather quickly, as we all couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

We all enjoyed this book and the kids like pretending to be penguins now, too!

Thoughts on: Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie

The next book I read aloud to my children was Peter Pan. There are several different versions of this story out there, including the Disney version, but I wanted to read this one.

It was, um, different than what I was expecting. I don't think my kids understood everything that was going on, and some of the words/content were way over their head (and more adult...) but they followed the overall story. They've never watched the Disney movie of Peter Pan before, so they were not familiar with the storyline. They did, however, become very excited at the mention of Tinkerbell. Her character, however, is quite mischevious and often unkind in this story. I just told them that she has learned how to be nice since then. :)

My kids loved all the action and adventure, and really liked the ticking crocodile! You can often find them playing crocodile around the house, although they don't tick. :)

My 6-year-old asked lots of questions during this book, and it was fun to come up with answers to try to explain all the sword fighting and killing being done in the story while keeping it kid-friendly! Whew, that was a mommy-workout for sure!

In the end, we all did enjoy reading this book together.

Thoughts on: Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White

I don't really need to review Charlotte's Web, as almost everyone has read it in their lifetime.  But I thought it would be fun just to share some of my thoughts about it.

I have started reading out loud to my kids (6 & 3) at bedtime each night from a "long" book. We still spend time during the day reading picture books and easy readers that my 6-year-old reads to me, but for bedtime, they get tucked in and I read one or a few chapters from whatever book we're on.

We started with Charlotte's Web. I thought that since we are starting a little farm at our 1.5 acre rural homestead, it would be fun to read about farm animals. My kids thought it was great that the animals could talk to each other, and I'm sure will spend time trying to get our animals to talk to them!

My 3-year-old often falls asleep while I'm reading, but my 6-year-old is always captivated by the story. She loved this story about Wilbur and had fun trying to guess what would happen next, or share her feelings about things the people would do or say to or about the animals. It was great for her imagination and also good for real information about taking care of animals.

We all loved it!

Book Review: Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice, by David Teems

I loved the book Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice, by David Teems. It was fascinating to learn how the Bible we know and love today began. I personally read the King James Version of the Bible, so this book was especially interesting because so much of that version is what Tyndale translated. I love how he emphasized in his teachings that the scriptures and Gospel are about love. It was also eye opening to learn more about the Catholic Church in that time period and how against Tyndale and others of his contemporaries the church was.

My favorite quote of Tyndale’s, which I have heard before and didn’t really realize it came from him, was, “…if God spare my life ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow, shall know more of the scripture than thou dost,” speaking to a defender of the Pope and the belief that the everyday person should not have the scriptures readily available to them.

How different our world would be if the general Christian population did not have access to the scriptures. The scriptures teach us how to love our neighbors, how to serve those that need serving, and how to be like Christ. It is full of symbolism and stories that are relatable to all different kinds of people. Tyndale was a truly inspired man of God and was ahead of his time with his understanding of the true meaning of the Word of God. I find it fascinating that so much of the vocabulary we have in the English language came from a man trying to do the will of God. If more people knew and understood this, then maybe they would be more accepting of God and his teachings and apply them to their everyday lives. What a different world we would live in if that were the case!

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

Book Review: The Grace Effect, by Larry Alex Taunton

The Grace Effect, by Larry Alex Taunton, is a fantastic journey through the author’s  family’s adoption experience, meanwhile sharing how the Christian belief of grace can affect society as a whole.

As an adoptive parent, I thoroughly enjoyed his account of their roller-coaster journey to adopt their daughter, Sasha. The corruption and trials they faced along the way was heart wrenching. It is amazing that corruption like that still exists so long after socialism officially ended in Ukraine.

At first I wasn’t sure how Taunton was going to tie their adoption experience in with his theme of the “power of one life can reverse the corruption of unbelief.” It was clear that Sasha was going to have a life changing experience, but it was unclear how that would have any effect in “reverse(ing) the corruption of unbelief.” The final chapter and epilogue neatly tied the theme in with the observations and opinions stated throughout the rest of the book.

I also enjoyed the timeliness of this book with the events happening around the nation known as “Occupy Wall Street.” Many of the “occupiers” hope for a more socialist government in the United States, distributing the wealth of “the one ” percent  to the masses while eliminating Christian values, somehow hoping it will solve the nation’s economic difficulties. This book gives proof that socialism would not make America a better place, but would induce poverty and suffering as seen in the post-Soviet countries of Eastern Europe.

My favorite quote of the book: Fascists think society’s problems are a question of race… Communists think it a question of economics, a class war. Seize private property and redistribute it equally and-voila!- utopia. Atheists think the problem is religion. Environmentalists blame industrialization. Democrats blame Republicans. Republicans blame Democrats. Everyone agrees that there is a problem, but efforts to identify the source of it are incomplete, misguided, or evil.” (pages 214-215)

This perfectly sums up the problems of our nation and the world. Our society would indeed collapse with the removal of “the grace effect” passed around by the vast number of Christians. I hope and pray that the results of the former Soviet Union never show up here in America, or it would cease to be the nation that it was intended to be.

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

Book Review: Lonestar Angel, by Colleen Coble

I fully enjoyed “Lonestar Angel,” by Colleen Coble. This book is a romantic mystery, an unusual combination that really works. I loved the character development and the mystery was truly difficult to figure out. The story of lost love and a lost child was believable and really kept the plot moving forward as you watch the two main characters, Eden and Clay, struggle with their emotions and realize their continued love for each other. The other characters all seem to have their own secrets, some of which you don’t discover until the very end. The story was not at all predictable, which is refreshing from most other novels that I’ve recently read. The end of the book is a surprise and the twists and turns the plot takes you on is quite an emotional roller coaster. I love the connections between the different characters that go back into the past but somehow drew everyone together again. The writing by Colleen was strong and the book was a pleasure to read. She obviously did her homework on legal issues as well as the location of the story. I love an author who pays attention to detail. I also enjoyed the subtle Christian undertone. Although the characters think and talk about God occasionally, I didn’t feel like the religious aspect of it overpowered the rest of the story. I also enjoyed how clean the language and relationships were in the book. Overall, a must read for anyone who enjoys a nice romance with a little mystery and adventure thrown in!

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.