Book Review: The Founders' Key: The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk by Losing It , by Larry Arnn

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Larry Arnn's "The Founders' Key." I was pleased that he included the "foundational readings" in the back of the book, as without those texts, the book itself would not make sense to the average reader. Reading this book has sparked my interest in early American (United States) history and the founding of the nation.

I agree with Arnn that the government today is a totally different government than what the founding fathers had envisioned for their infant nation. The documents studied in this book, The Constitution and The Declaration of Independence, are tied together so tightly that it seems surprising that anyone could claim that as a pair they have become obsolete. The arguments of those making such a claim seem weak and steered toward their own ambitions or benefit. I believe Arnn did a fantastic job proving the marriage of The Constitution and The Declaration.

My interest in this subject has also been piqued by an observation made in the late 1800’s by Eliza R. Snow quoting religious leader Joseph Smith, Jr. He recalled that Smith said, “… the time would come when this nation would so far depart from its original purity, its glory, and its love for freedom and its protection of civil rights and religious rights, that the Constitution of our country would hang as it were by a thread.”

I find that many of Arnn’s discussion points prove that that day is imminent if not already upon us. I appreciate his call to action on what the people of our country can do to help save our government and return America to the vision of what the founding fathers’ had for the most powerful nation in the world.

I encourage anyone who believes our nation is on the wrong track, and who sees our government as it should be in jeopardy, to read this book and study the enclosed texts, and take a stand against the falsehood surrounding the disconnect between the two documents discussed.

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

Thoughts on: The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

We just finished reading "The Call of the Wild," by Jack London out loud together.

I think I enjoyed this book better than some of the other ones we've read lately. I again liked how it was from the animal's perspective. It was full of action and adventure, and there were some emotional parts, too, where I got a little choked up.

My 6-year-old was totally caught up in the story. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open when we'd read an exciting part. She liked the end how the dog became a legend and lived in the wild. She loves animals and this was a great one for her.

I think we'll try "Little House on the Prairie" next. I hope we like it! :)

Thoughts on: Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne

This was a fun book to read to the kids. The copy we checked out from the library had a map in the back that showed the route the characters took on their journey. When they passed through Utah, my 6-year-old became very excited since her favorite cousin lives in Utah. It was cute to see her reaction.

When they were traveling in other parts of the world it was nice to talk about different cultures and help them understand that the world is so big and people do things so differently all over the world.

I enjoyed reading this book to the kids as much as they enjoyed listening, often reading longer than I intended because I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.

Thoughts on: Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

This was another book about animals from an animals point of view. My kids seem to like these ones!

In Black Beauty (which my 6-year-old has named her new black kitten), we read about Black Beauty's experiences throughout his lifetime. A lot of the people were really mean, which led to some good discussions about the proper way to care for and treat animals. And some of the book was quite sad when he was taken away, treated badly, or another horse died.

I'm not sure if any of us really enjoyed this book a whole lot, but I guess I'm glad we read it.

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.