Winter Book Fair: Gift Books to Support Redeemedreader

Dear Redeemedreaders,

We appreciate you!  If you have appreciated Redeemedreader this year, we’d love to have your support during the holiday season.  We have narrowed down some of our best gift book recommendations for this time of year below. 

Plus, to make things a little more fun, we’ve recorded the Redeemedreader team talking about some of our favorite choices.  We’ll also tell you what we plan to do next year to make the site more enjoyable and helpful to you, the reader! 

Sincerely,

Emily and The Redeemedreader Team

THE PODCAST

Podcast 39: Winter Gift Books with the Redeemedreader Team

[powerpress]

(P.S.  I left in some chatter from our five minute break…hope you guys find it as funny as I did!)

THE BOOKS

Board Books

1.  Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer

2. A Christmas Carol: A BabyLit Colors Primer

3. Baby’s Hug-a-Bible

4. Counting Kisses: A Kiss & Read Book

5. Big Red Barn

6. Goodnight Moon

7. The Story of Christmas

 

Picture Books

1. Steam Train, Dream Train  (Our review)

2. Thomas the Tank Engine Story Collection (Thomas & Friends) (The Railway Series)

3. The Nutcracker Ballet: A Book, Theater, and Paper Doll Fold-out Play Set (Foldout Play Set) (Christmas, Activity Book)

4. Nutcracker

5. Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

6. The Story of Christmas  (Our review)

7. Corduroy

8. The Polar Express

9. The Twelve Days of Christmas   (Our review)

 

Early to Middle Readers

1. Chronicles of Narnia Box Set

2. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey with CD: Gift Edition

3. Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing  (Our review)

4. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

5. Duncan’s War (Crown and Covenant #1)  (Our review)

6. Cardboard  (Our review)

7. The Dangerous Book for Boys  (Our review)

8. Quentin Blake’s A Christmas Carol

9. The Happy Hollisters at Snowflake Camp

10. Freddy Goes to the North Pole

 

Teens

(Please note that some of these books will not be appropriate for younger teens.  You can listen to our podcast to hear about the problematic ones.)

1. NKJV Ignite: The Bible for Teens (Signature)

2. ESV Student Study Bible  (Our review)

3. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas

4. Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander

5. The Last Thing I Remember (The Homelanders)  (Our review)

6. Empire of Bones (Ashtown Burials #3)  (Our review)

7. Little Black Sheep: A Memoir (Definitely for older teens)

8. Clear Winter Nights: A Journey into Truth, Doubt, and What Comes After

9. Entwined  (Our review)

10. Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ

 

Family Read Alongs

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: Never Has the Magic Been So Real (Radio Theatre) [Full Cast Drama]

2. Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk  (Our review)

3. The Screwtape Letters: First Ever Full-cast Dramatization of the Diabolical Classic (Radio Theatre)

4. Hank the Cowdog CD Pack #1  (Our podcast with author John Erickson)

5. Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Our summer reading challenge)

6. The Polar Express Read by Liam Neeson

 

Podcast Recommendations (1)

1. Cardboard

2. Hank Finds an Egg

3. Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs

4. Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ

5. Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

6. God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible

7. God’s Mighty Warrior Devotional Bible

8. Read Aloud Bible Stories: Volume 1

9. Empire of Bones (Ashtown Burials #3)

10. ESV Seek and Find Bible

 

Podcast Recommendations (2)

1. NKJV Ignite: The Bible for Teens (Signature)

2. Just So Stories, Volume 1

3. Tea Rex

4. The Other Colors: An ABC Book

5. Magyk (Septimus Heap, Book 1)

6. The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog

7. Freddy Goes to the North Pole

8. Little House On The Prairie

9. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas

10. Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander

 

 

Finally, a couple of recommendations for grownups:

The Gospel of John, Photographed (Four Line Media, 2013), illustrated by David Kevin Weaver, is an interesting take on the Good News.  Using the complete text of the King James Version, the photographer illustrates each short passage with a photograph taken in modern-day Israel.  Some of the juxtapositions are startling; others are natural features, such as views of the Jordan River, as Jesus might actually have seen them; others observe the nooks and crannies of life in Israel as it is lived now.   At 341 thick pages, it’s a chunk, best left on a coffee table or book stand for browsing.  Verses are not numbered, only chapters, encouraging slow, meditative reading.   The softcover volume is sturdily bound, with a ribbon bookmark.  A good gift choice for Israel watchers, Jewish believers, and Holy Land travelers.

Country Faith: 56 Reflections from Today’s Leading Country Music Stars, compiled by Deborah Evans Price (Zondervan, 2013).  At first glance, this looks like one of those slightly cheesy, thrown-together compilations.   Paging though, however, many of the testimonies are heartfelt and touching.  Fifty-six recording and concert artists (most recognizable only to fans) were asked what their favorite Bible verse is, and why.  John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11 show up more than once, but other passages are lesser known and lovely to encounter in this unexpected context.  The glossy, full-color pages are  attractively designed with two pages given to each individual (plus a few bands).   The complete text of the Gospel of Mark, NIV version, is included at the back.  You won’t find deep theology here, but it could be a nice gift for C&W fans who aren’t that knowledgeable about the Bible, or Christians who love the word (and the music) wherever encountered.