Category Archives: Christian

100 Prayers God Loves to Hear, 100 Praise Songs – Stephen Elkins

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100 Prayers God Loves to Hear, 100 Praise Songs provides 100 short lessons centered around prayers for any and all occasions.  I really like how this book provides a place to begin to share and discuss Biblical truths with small children that is meaningful yet completely age appropriate for a preschooler.  The illustrations throughout the book are colorful and help to communicate the message in each section.

Two CDs come with the book.  There are 100 songs in all and each song is specifically linked to one of the prayers.  Some of the songs are old favorites and some were new to us, but they were all enjoyable and a nice addition to our CD collection.

100 Prayers God Loves to Hear, 100 Praise Songs is a great addition to a young child’s collection!

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

God’s Promises for Girls – Jack Countryman and Amy Parker

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God’s Promises for Girls is a lovely little book that is perfect for gift giving.  The book is divided up into sections which allows the reader to use the book as a reference in seeking support/reassurance about a specific situation (feeling lonely, angry, guilty,etc.), or it could be used as a devotional guide that is read from beginning to end.

Each section includes a darling, colorful picture, a short poem,  and  Biblical truths.  The International Children’s Bible was selected for the scripture used.  All verses are easy to read and understand.  This book is an outstanding tool to help share God’s love with a special little girl in your life.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

Bible Jumble for Kids – Christopher Hudson

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Bible Jumble for Kids is a cute little game book.  It is filled with jumble puzzles that reinforce the names and key concepts of  Old and New Testament Bible stories.   Most of the jumble puzzles within the book are five or six words that are scrambled and need to be placed in proper order.  The slot for each unscrambled word includes one circled spot.  The letters that fall into the circles ultimately spell out another word that is linked to the Bible story.

This book would make a great little gift for a child between the ages of 8 to 12.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Tyndale House Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

Love Your Heart – Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas

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Love Your Heart is the second collaboration by country singer Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas, and it is a true delight.  Spunky and sweet Katie cannot decide which talent to use in the School Talent Show.  She explores a number of different options and finally decides on a one of a kind extravaganza-like performance with her beloved dog Palio.

As Katie waits to perform at the Talent Show with Palio, she finds her friend Sophie crying backstage.  Without missing a beat, Katie sacrifices her own plans to help her friend.  The resulting conversation with her father is touching and provides a wonderful beginning for further discussion.

This book is outstanding in many ways.  I loved the illustrations.  Abigail Marble’s work is lovely and truly enhances the story.  I also really appreciated being presented with a story in which the special relationship between father and daughter is featured.

Love Your Heart would be a marvelous Valentine’s gift for a little girl from her Daddy!

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

The Story of Christmas – Gwen Ellis

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The Story of Christmas retold by Gwen Ellis is a colorfully illustrated version of the Christmas story beginning with the birth of John the Baptist and then introducing the reader to Mary. The book is broken into six two page spreads that are highly illustrated.  Biblical verse reference is included at the beginning of each section and thought questions are placed a the end.  Some of the thought questions were stronger than others, but overall they enhance the book.   The text of the book is very simplistic and at times distracting due to the “watering down” of language choice.  For example “feeding box” is used rather than the term manger.   One of the highlights of the book was the final two pages in which pictures from the text are shown as aides for your child to retell the story.  This is a great way to continue discussion of the Christmas story with your child.

A DVD is also included with this book.  It contains six short stories about Jesus which are very engaging for little ones.  The DVD has the same “look” as the characters in the book which our daughter seems to really appreciate.

Overall, this book and DVD is a good introduction to the true meaning of Christmas for the toddler/preschool child.

While this complimentary book and DVD were provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

The Tallest of the Smalls – Max Lucado

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The Tallest of the Smalls is a children’s parable from Max Lucado.   It is a companion text for children which pulls themes from chapter two of Lucado’s newest adult book – Fearless.   I have read Fearless and loved it so I was very excited to get this book and share it with our daughter.  The illustrations by Maria Monescillo are delightful.  They are very colorful and engaging.  They also provide  a lot to look at for young eyes as well as eyes with more life experience.   Of particular note are the pictures of the main character Ollie with Jesus.  They are very skillfully done.

The basic theme of the book is that you matter no matter what.  A terrific message that I felt was presented in a bit of a heavy handed manner.   The use of the power and influence of the peer group was well done, but the development of the story could have been stronger.  Lucado actually wrote a book that I found to be better developed a number of years back – You are Special.

The Tallest of the Smalls is enjoyable to read and presents  a powerful message, but it did not live up to the standard of  Fearless.

While this complimentary book was provided for review, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

Read and Share Toddler Bible – Gwen Ellis

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The Read and Share Toddler Bible includes Old Testament and New Testament Bible stories.  The pictures within the book are colorful and are highly engaging to toddlers.  Of special note is the degree of detail within each picture.  There is much to be seen and young eyes enjoy studying and finding things within them.  This is especially the case with the pictures in the Creation Story, Adam and Eve, and Noah’s Ark.

Each Bible story is limited to three to four pages of text coupled with illustrations.  The stories are told in a toddler-friendly manner always reinforcing the message that God will always love them.  One of the highlights of this particular book is the parent notes which come at the end of each story.  Points for further discussion, craft ideas, as well as additional resources are provided to help reinforce the important message of each Bible story.  Additionally, I really like the fact that the scripture reference for each story is included.

An additional bonus to The Read and Share Toddler Bible is the inclusion of a Bible story DVD.  The DVD includes highlights from The Read and Share Toddler Bible and includes animation that resembles the art work in The Read and Share Toddler Bible.  Stories can be selected from main menu of the DVD which allows parents control of how many stories will be viewed at a time.  Each story runs appropriately three to four minutes in length.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible is a great beginner Bible .

While this complimentary book and DVD were provided for review, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.