Tag: Children’s

Short Story Sunday: Mommy, Where Are You?

Author: C.G. Adler
Published: March 21, 2018
26 Pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: May 11, 2019
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

MOMMY, WHERE ARE YOU? is the touching story of a turtle hatchling who gets lost from her mother and siblings. Tiny Aubree searches to find her mother. She meets several endangered sea turtles on her journey. They tell her who they are. They share information about the species of endangered sea turtle they belong to. They encourage Aubree on her journey to find her mother. Information about several endangered species of sea turtles is presented so children can learn details to help save the sea turtles.

This is not just a book for children ages 2 to 8. It’s an inspiring family book that puts a smile on children’s faces while teaching us how to help the endangered sea turtles. Kids books are often inspiring, but this one will stay quite long in your memory due to:
– An enchanting children’s story
– Beautiful illustrations
– Amazing character artwork
– information about turtles

Jessica’s Review:

I thought this review would be perfect to share today as it is Mother’s Day:

This was a fun and short children’s book about Aubree the hatchling.  She gets left behind by her brothers and sisters.  Then she decides to try to find her mommy. Aubree goes on an adventure meeting other turtles and creatures.  She finds out the differences between her and the other turtles in a fun way that educates children.  There are also some fun facts at the back of the book that tells us about turtles.  I really liked the photo of the ‘real’ hatchlings, this way children can see how small they really are! 

The illustrations are very colorful and enhance the story. This is a good introduction to turtle for kids. If you child is a little older and likes turtles, they will enjoy this story as well!

 I would say this would be good for ages three and up as two may still be a little young. Even though this is not a realistic story as turtles lay the eggs then leave the nest, but it helps children to realize that their parents will never leave them.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US  
Amazon UK

Devotion Review: God Right Here by Lisa North

God Right Here: Seeing God’s Big Story in My Everyday Life
Author:  Lisa North
Published: April 21, 2019
418 pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Jessica’s Rating: 4 Stars

Devotion Description:

This 180 day devotional takes elementary children step by step through the Bible’s big story of God’s redeeming love. Each day’s reading includes a Bible passage, discussion questions, a biblical lesson, a personal story, a guide and space for the reader to insert his or her own personal story if desired, and a suggested topic of prayer. The book was designed to…

Introduce children to all of the foundational elements, or building blocks, of the gospel in one school year. This book is designed to bring all children, including those who have never heard about God or the Bible and those who have heard various Bible stories “a million times”, to an understanding of how the Bible flows together as one big story with God’s love and pursuit of people at the center. It takes children, step by step, through all of the foundational concepts of the gospel. Each concept, or topic, builds on the previous ones. Within each topic, there are roughly ten devotions. The goal is to get children thoroughly familiar with each topic before moving to the next. This devotional is ideal for teachers, since it is designed to fit in one school year.

Help children see the Bible stories and God himself as actively connected with their everyday lives.  In each devotion, a personal current-day story or description is included. However, personal stories from an adult they know and love can have a greater impact on children. A story prompt and guide is therefore provided to enable parents, teachers, and children’s ministry leaders to insert their own stories if they wish.  Older elementary children may also enjoy inserting their own stories and sharing them with friends.

Engage children’s attention and encourage them to evaluate and apply the information they learn. Each devotion begins and ends with a discussion question that reviews or extends concepts from the devotions. In order to encourage children to evaluate and apply what they have learned, most of the questions require children to use critical thinking skills rather than just recall facts. For classes or groups, the questions give children a chance to connect with one another on a spiritual level as they hear each other’s thoughts. They also provide a way for parents, teachers, and children’s ministry leaders to identify and correct any misconceptions and encourage or extend any good ideas the children express.

Help children develop a desire to read the Bible for themselves. For this to happen, they must see it as intricately connected to God, the life of the person leading the devotion, and their own lives. A Bible passage is therefore woven into each devotion in a way that connects to both the biblical lesson and the personal story.

Inspire children to love God and interact with him. Prayer is one way to do this. While scripted prayers can be helpful at times, a topic of prayer, rather than the prayer itself, is given. This allows children to express their own hearts and thoughts to God while still taking into account the things they have learned in the devotion.

Engage children at varying levels of development. Each devotion has a simple concept and can be read in 2-3 minutes. The discussion questions then take the concept to the next level in terms of the depth of thought and understanding required. With the discussion questions and prayer time included, the devotion times can take up to 15 or 20 minutes. This flexibility allows teachers, parents, and children’s ministry leaders to use the devotional in ways that fit their unique schedules, the children’s varying attention spans, and the children’s levels of cognitive development.

 

Jessica’s Review:

God Right Here is a devotion written by my friend Lisa North.  It is written for elementary age children and aimed to help them learn about the Bible and to create a desire for the child to want to read the Bible. There are 180 devotions, which is the number of days in a school year. Over the course of the school year, they children will learn at school and they will also learn about God! Each devotion includes a Bible verse/passage, questions for the children, a lesson, and a personal story shared by North.  The adult leading the devotion could share their own story instead of North’s if desired.  There is space for the child to write their own story if they want (but don’t feel they have to!).

The individual devotions are grouped into sections and build on each other over the course of the whole devotion as a whole. A few of the groups include: What is the Bible, Who is God, Why does God Care About my Choices, and What is Sin and why does it Ruin Things?.

If read daily with each school day, the last devotion will end on the last day of school.  Over the course of the school year the child will have learned things and hopefully grew spiritually through this devotion.  This devotion could be read as parent and child,  in small groups, or in the classroom in Christian schools.   

Each devotion North mentions the specific Bible verse used.  She talks to the children with her personal story in a way that they will understand. North mainly uses the New International Version of the Bible, and she also uses English Standard Version.

I would recommend this devotion for upcoming first and second graders to start. Not Kindergarten, as they are already experiencing enough changes with going to ‘big school’ for the first time. If you want your child to get a good foundation of the Bible, pick up North’s devotion.  As an adult, I enjoyed it myself and felt I learned a few things as well.

Purchase Links:
Lisa’s Website  (If you place an order of 5 or more you get a discount!)
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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The Worst Class Trip Ever


Author: Dave Barry
Narrator: Todd Haberkorn
Published: May 5, 2015
Audible

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 20-21, 2018
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars

Book Description:
In this hilarious novel, written in the voice of eighth-grader Wyatt Palmer, Dave Barry takes us on a class trip to Washington, DC. Wyatt, his best friend, Matt, and a few kids from Culver Middle School find themselves in a heap of trouble-not just with their teachers, who have long lost patience with them-but from several mysterious men they first meet on their flight to the nation’s capital. In a fast-paced adventure with the monuments as a backdrop, the kids try to stay out of danger and out of the doghouse while trying to save the president from attack-or maybe not.

Jessica’s Review:
The Worst Class Trip Ever was 100% an unexpected and pleasant surprise for me. I chose this one due to its short length (my longer commute and there were just two days until the long four day Christmas weekend) and it really delivered! This one would be a fun read for both adults and the kids!

The Worst Class Trip Ever is about an eighth grade class trip to Washington DC. Our narrator is Wyatt and he tells us all about the adventure he and a few others from his class go on. The kids convince themselves that there are some terrorists that are going to attack the White House. You don’t know what’s going to happen next in this fun read that takes you all over DC.

I was really drawn into the story and had no clue how it was going to end. You think the adventure can’t get any crazier than it already has then Barry has something else happen! This is a great short read and I highly recommend the audio version. The narrator Todd Haberkorn performed very well.

I really liked that the narrator was a boy. It seems like there are not many books written for boys or feature boys, but there is no way a girl could have been the narrator: boys just seem to get themselves into trouble easier.

There was only one negative for me and it is not the book: I hate that we live in a world where children’s books have the subject of terrorists and bombings in them. But this is the world we live in and terrorists and TSA rules is our life now.

I would say this book would be fine for middle schoolers.

The Worst Class Trip Ever is very highly recommended!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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