Web Newberys and RR News (Plus Giveaway!)

It feels wrong to merely skip over Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, especially with President Obama’s inauguration today, and yet with Black History month coming up in less that two weeks, we’ve opted to save our coverage of the topic for then.  We’re looking forward to talking about the movie Lincoln and other related books…

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Gabrielle Douglas: Grace, Gold, and (God’s) Glory

Into the Spotlight Sixteen-year-old Gabrielle Douglas’s jaw-dropping performance in the women’s all-around gymnastics competition, just edging out her closest Russian competitor to win gold, was certainly one of the most memorable moments in the 2012 Olympics.  Perhaps even more noteworthy for Christian fans of the games was her response on her Twitter account, “I give…

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Web Newberys and News

Technically it’s mid-January, I know.  But we’re finally running again on all cylinders after the holidays–or at least I am!  After traveling and dealing with tech issues, I’m ready to launch into this new year.  As you may recall, last year we developed a segment called Web Newberys, where we linked to some of the…

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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 49 (THE END!)

THE CHURCH: On to Glory! This is our last part of the yearly study!  For those of you who make it this far, congratulations, and we hope it’s been a good experience for you.  It’s certainly been a labor of love on our part.  What better way to end than to savor the promise of…

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2012 Writing Contest Winner is….

With four great finalists to choose from, I hope you guys got a lot of entertainment value out of this contest.  It was very close, and I hope no one tried to vote and gave up because of our site problems.  (We’re working on them…again!)   Of those of you who voted both in the poll…

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2012 Writing Contest: Vote for a Winner!

I’m so excited to share our 2012 Writing Contest Short Story finalists with you all today!  First, though, I’d like to say thanks to our intern, Autumn, who was kind enough to help us choose our finalists.  We do have three finalists out of quite a few fantastic entries, and we’d like you to help…

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2012 Writing Contest: Book Review Winner

Last fall, we invited students of any age to submit original works in two categories: 1) book reviews and 2) short stories.  The deadline for entry was December 15th, and believe it or not, we got some great entries!   Tomorrow we’ll announce our short story finalists and let you guys vote for a winner. Today,…

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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 48

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RR’s Top Ten Posts of 2012

In our last post, we looked at our Top Ten Interviews for the year.  Today, it’s the top ten all-around posts, aside from the interviews.  I doubt they’ll win any Pulitzer Prizes, but some might be worth a few minutes of your time. 1.  Janie’s Hunger Games Review 2. Behind the Bookcase: A Clockwork Orange…

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2012’s Best Author/Illus Interviews

While we’re finishing off the Christmas cookies and figgy pudding (does anyone really eat figgy pudding? what is it anyway?!), Janie and I thought we’d celebrate the closing of the year with a few retrospective posts.  If you’re new to the site, or if you just happened to miss a few, here are our ten…

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Les Misérables: A Movie Review

Merry Christmas!  Les Miz opens todays in theaters, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts from the screening I attended a while back…. When Tom Hooper, award-winning director of The King’s Speech, chose Christmas day as the release date for his version of Les Miserables, it was no doubt a nod to the “reason…

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Our Best Christmas Posts

Hey guys!  How’s that shopping and cooking and cleaning going?  I’m pretty far behind, but I did get most of my grocery shopping done yesterday.  Yum! With less than a week until Christmas, Janie and I thought we’d make a list of some of our best Christmas posts for you to peruse in your free…

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A Very LOGOS and Parnassus Christmas, Part Two

If you missed it, Part One of this series detailed my trip to a fantastic Nashville bookstore, Logos Bookstore.  Today, I follow up that Christian bookstore with a secular bookstore, Parnassus Books.  Owned by Ann Patchett, an award-winning author herself, Parnassus opened in 2011 to great fanfare.  As an independent bookstore bucking the trend toward…

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Audiobooks and Caricatures (Hobbit Read Along Finale, pt. 2)

Today is the release date of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit!  But you probably already know that if you’ve been on our Hobbit journey.  It’s been a wild trip, as you can read in our previous posts: 1) Introduction, 2) Week One, 2) Week Two, 3) Week  Three, 4) Week Four, 5) Week Five, and 6)…

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Charlotte Mason’s Christmas List: 5 Living Books Library Picks

What is a living book library?  Check out our interview with Emily and Liz Cottrill of Livingbookslibrary.com from November if you haven’t already.  The upshot is, though, these women are aficionados when it comes to books from the classic age of kids’ books.  And if you’re wondering what Charlotte Mason would recommend as some of…

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A Very LOGOS & Parnassus Christmas, Part One

One Hip Town. Two Bookstores. And Lots of Great Books for Kids! Here in Nashville, we have at least two exceptional bookstores: Logos Bookstore and Parnassus Books.  I say that partly because they are nestled among other shops, little book nooks among the dry cleaners and donut shops and schools and tall-spired churches that make…

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Hobbit Read Along, Week 5: The One True Myth

Other Hobbit Read Along posts: 1) Introduction, 2) Week One, 2) Week Two, 3) Week  Three, 4) Week Four, 6) Finale, pt 1: Andrew Peterson’s Joyous Turn, and 7) Finale, pt. 2. One Last Giveaway Can you believe it?!  It’s the last week of our read along, and less than two weeks until The Hobbit…

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Hobbit Radio Theater Finalists

The entries are in!  As you probably know, we’re running a contest in which kids were invited to record themselves reading a few pages of The Hobbit.  On the first week of our Hobbit Read Along, we heard from John Erickson, author of the Hank the Cowdog books, and I asked you all to help…

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Sparking Spiritual Imagination: Christmas Books at Desiring Virtue

We’ve been a little preoccupied with our Hobbit Read Along recently, so I was thrilled when Jessalyn Hutto of Desiring Virtue agreed to help us get in the Christmas spirit this week.  (As I’ve been singing all morning, “We need a little Christmas, right this very minute!”)  Thank you for this fantastic idea, Jessalyn!  And…

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Hobbit Read Along, Week 4: How to Make Hobbit Feet and More!

Now that the turkey feathers have settled, it’s time to get back to The Hobbit!  In case you’re running behind, here’s a recap: 1) Introduction, 2) Week One, 3) Week Two, and 4) Week Three.  It’s been a little heady around here lately, so I thought today we might roll our sleeves up and get…

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Black Friday Gifts

We’ve reviewed a lot of books over the year.  Here are some of our favorites to give to the little ones on your list.  And remember that if you do shop Amazon.com this year, clicking through our site to Amazon costs you nothing and earns us a small commission.  So thanks in advance for your…

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Are You Turkey Worthy?

I was sick this week, so I gave myself permission to veg on the couch watching TV, even before the kids went to bed.  Surprisingly, I found something interesting to watch: Alaska, the Last Frontier.  Have you seen it on the Discovery Channel?  I grew up camping and spending long weeks on the farm with…

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Hobbit Read Along, Week 3: Finding God in Tolkien’s Heroes

Welcome to Week 3 of our Hobbit Read Along! If you’re just joining us (and it’s not too late!), you should probably check out the Introduction, Week 1 and Week 2 of the read along. You can find the full reading schedule in the download at the bottom of this page, but just fyi, we’re…

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The Twilight Effect: RR Podcast 25 with Megan Basham and Thomas Purifoy

Has the sun finally set on Twilight?  When Stephanie Meyer published The Twilight Saga in 2005, I expect most people were taken aback at the warm welcome it received.  Sure, the Harry Potter franchise had shown there was plenty of teenage interest in traditionally dark/occult topics, albeit in a kinder, gentler, moral package.  But $2.5…

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Hobbit Read Along, Week 2: Finding God in Tolkien’s Villains

Welcome to Week 2 of our Hobbit Read Along!  (If you missed it, here’s Week One.) How’s the reading going at your house (or school or church)?  If you’re having trouble finding time to read, you might enjoy this post I did a while back on the Book Whisperer’s list of funny places/times to read. …

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Bookshelf Giveaway Winners

Question #1 Winner (Annie and Snowball and the Thankful Friends): Maggie Dolch Question #2 Winner (Simonetta Carr’s The Weight of a Flame and Lady Jane Grey): Travis Lowe Question #3 Winner (Call the Midwife): Nathan Huffstutler Question #4 Winner (Hand of Vengeance): Robert Tarullo Question #5 (Carine MacKenzie books and more!): Jessalyn Hutto Question #6…

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5 Bookshelf Giveaway Books You’ll Want

Sometimes, I get great books in the mail from relatively unknown authors.  Sometimes I get more copies of well-known authors’ books than I can give away in a timely manner.  And that’s largely how I got the rather large stack of books I have here to give away tonight at our Bookshelf Giveaway. I thought…

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Hobbit Read Along, Week 1: How to Read For an Audience

Are you interested in joining our Hobbit Read Along?  Sign up to receive weekly emails during the event either below or in the comments of our introduction: Hobbits, Hot Chocolate, and The Bookshelf Giveaway.  Or see Hobbit Read Along, Week Two for the next installment. A Good Beginning Welcome, trolls, elves, and burglars alike, to…

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RR Podcast 21: Douglas Bond and William Boekestein

My readers are broken people…children are sinners in need of grace….If I take some other posture to my writing, I’m not going to be authentically leading other sinners to the cross and the gospel. –Douglas Bond Our Guests My guests today are two authors keenly interested in bringing history alive for kids.  But not just…

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Hobbits, Hot Chocolate, & The Bookshelf Giveaway

The Hobbit Read Along Two weeks from today on Monday, November 5th, our Great Hobbit Read Along Adventure begins!  We’ll cover two or three chapters of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien each week for five weeks, ending the first week of December, just before the release of the movie version by Peter Jackson.  We hope…

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Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing: Savoring Sally Lloyd Jones’ New Book

This October, the team that brought you The Jesus Storybook Bible released a unique new book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing.  At 224 pages, it’s surprisingly small and compact, but author Sally Lloyd Jones and illustrator Jago have packed quite a punch inside.  Each spread contains a meditation complemented by one of Jago’s brilliant…

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Podcast 20: Sally Lloyd Jones on Kids’ Devotionals

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones is a staple among Christian parents these days who want to help introduce kids to the Bible in a way that focuses on Christ.  Not only is it theologically rich, but the illustrations by Jago are enticing for both children and adults, combining reverence, tenderness and even…

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Web Newberys (Oct. 15)

Such an exciting week ahead!  Tomorrow we’ll post our interview with Sally Lloyd Jones, and she’ll tell us her thoughts on kids’ devotionals as well as her new book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing.  Until then, here are a few interesting kids’ book-related posts from the blogosphere lately: PW Kids Cast: If you enjoy…

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The Librarian Trilogy: Interview with Jennifer Ball

This week, we heard from two librarians, including Betsy of Literaritea and Emily Cottrill of Livingbookslibrary.com.  I thought we would round out the week with one last librarian, Jennifer Ball of The Covenant School in Nashville, TN.  You can see her library page here, and find out about their online library for use by Covenant…

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Charlotte Mason and Living Libraries: An Invitation

On Monday, we posted a list of book and library resources from Christian librarians Betsy and Megan at .  Today, however, I’d like you to meet a mother (Liz) and daughter (Emily Cottrill) combo who have started a new kind of library with a unique objective.  They are gathering up books from the “golden years”…

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Web Newberys & Tea (Literaritea, that is!)

Today, instead of writing our Web Newberys, I’ve decided to drink green tea and memorize Greek vocabulary words with my kids.  Well, I’m going to drink green tea, anyway.  Lucky for you guys, Betsy from Literaritea blog joins us to take up the slack!  Hope you enjoy her writing as much as I have over…

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What’s in Your Library?

Last year around this time, we spent a week discussing libraries.  In fact, we ended that week with a slue of recommendations by Christian leaders as to the one or two books they would like to see in every American library.  (It’s a great list, so I hope you’ll check out the recommendation list here.)…

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Flannery O’Connor & The Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Book Review

Our book reviewer today is Autumn, one of our current interns here at Redeemedreader.com.  She is a sophomore at a small liberal arts college here in Tennessee, making her way through a Southern, patient Christ-haunted literary landscape much like Flannery O’Connor encountered.  Among her many interests are reading, writing, violin, guitar, songwriting and drinking fermented…

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Interview with Jonathan Rogers: Flannery O’Connor, Violence, and Mercy

MEET THE AUTHORS Jonathan Rogers is not only one of the most talented Christian writers for kids’ today (see our review of The Charlatan’s Boy), he’s also kept his own faith while passing through the highest echelons of academia.  He holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Vanderbilt University, and just recently published a biography…

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Flannery O’Connor Week & Web Newberys

It’s Flannery O’Connor Week here at RR!  We’re very excited to be talking about Jonathan Rogers’ new biography of her, The Terrible Speed of Mercy.  We’ll have an interview with Jonathan later in the week, as well as a review of the book and maybe a giveaway.  So check back soon to find out how…

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Hobbit Read Along!

Sign up and find out more HERE. This is just a quick note to say, we’re doing lots of behind the scenes work these days to prepare for a November read along of The Hobbit.  If you’re thinking of reading it, maybe with the kids (?), before the December release of Peter Jackson’s big screen…

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Pilgrim’s Progress: Shepherding a Child’s Imagination, pt. 3

Today’s post is the third part in a series based on my recent talk on shepherding children through their life-long literary journey.  You can read part one here (which includes instructions for how to host a Pilgrim’s Progress party), part two here, and below is the final installment.  You can also check out our Pilgrim’s…

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Pilgrim’s Progress: Shepherding a Child’s Imagination, pt.2

Last week, I introduced our new series based on Pilgrim’s Progress.  (Here’s the original post.) In it, I mentioned our free family devotional guide to accompany the children’s picture book, Dangerous Journey by Oliver Hunkin.  And I also pointed out that I have been asked to help host a Pilgrim’s Progress party at a church…

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Web Newberys (Sept. 10)

Fun, surprising, and brilliant web posts about books in the last few weeks, particularly those for kids: Notes from the Horn Book:  If you love kids’ books and want to keep up with the secular world’s best books, the Horn Book emails are a great place to start.  Here is a link to what is…

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Dangerous Journey: Shepherding A Child’s Imagination

Pilgrim’s Progress Party? Next week, I’ve been asked to lead a Pilgrim’s Progress event at a church in South Carolina.  One of our devoted readers thought it would be fun to invite parents and kids to their church for a night of games, treats, and crafts organized around Pilgrim’s Progress.  Some of you may remember…

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Running for My Life & Other Hopeful Sports Books

A Few Recommendations Last year Janie and I put together a post on football books for kids and young adults, Tim Tebow to Justin Tuck: Football Books for Kids and YAs.  It’s been a while since we revisited the sports theme, so with the Olympics fresh on our minds and football season upon us, I…

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How to (teach your kids to) Read Like an Editor

The Intro When I graduated from Ole Miss back in 2000 with my B.A. in English Literature, I was shocked to actually find a job working at a publishing house.  I spent the first few months packing books and counting inventory and making collections calls.  But eventually, I got my first crack at editing a…

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Web Newberys (August 20)

More noteworthy posts on kids’ books and culture: 1.  Soccer Star Signs Middle-Grade Contract: If you’re daughter loves soccer, especially Olympic soccer star Alex Morgan, keep an eye out for her upcoming soccer series, the Kicks. 2.  Libraries Doubling as Post Offices?  Strength in numbers?  Or piling cultural artifacts on the same sinking ship? 3. …

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7 Myths About 50 Shades Among Christians

We’ve already covered a lot of ground on the Fifty Shades trilogy by E. L. James.  We interviewed Tim Challies on the theology of pornography, held a roundtable discussion with Megan Basham, and Janie and I have recommended resources in her review and my post, Sexual Integrity Resources for Teens.  I promised you a review…

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Make Your Mark: 2012 Student Writing Contest

As a former editor, believe it or not, I like critiquing manuscripts.  While I’m no C.S. Lewis, I have learned a few things about analyzing and coaching writers over the years.  I also remember what it was like to be a writer with no substantive Christian input as to how I might accomplish my goals. …

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Sexual Integrity Resources for Teens

Janie and I have spent a lot of time preparing for our Fifty Shades trilogy coverage here on the site.  In case you missed it, we interviewed Tim Challies on how to think Biblically about pornography, and we hosted a roundtable discussion with Megan Basham.  Janie also reviewed two Christian books about sexuality and our…

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Bible Reading Challenge–Coming Soon!

Hey guys, this is just a quick note to say that we’re not quite finished with the Bible Challenge this week.  Since we’re working with a new songwriter and a new illustrator for the next couple of weeks, we’re still working out the timing.  BUT, we should have a really great post for you by…

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‘Rooted’ Resources on Tolerance

The Conference We don’t promote a lot of conferences at Redeemedreader, mostly because there aren’t that many that touch on kids’ literature from a Christian perspective.   (If you’d like to change that, Janie or I would be happy to work something out at your event… just leave us a comment below.)  But the Rooted…

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A Death Observed, Part Four

This is a short series on my mother’s death.  It’s meant for folks who may be facing the death of their own loved one, with symptoms they may face, my suggestions to caregivers, and a brief sketch of what I felt and experienced. Part One. Part Two. Part Three.   Hours to Minutes Before Death,…

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Insurgent: A Summer Review

Hayley Schoeppler is a 20 year old college student, the oldest in a family of seven kids, and an astute Christian book reviewer at her blog, Cats in Boxes.  She’s been a camp counselor this summer, but now that she’s getting back to real life, she took some time to review one of the summer’s…

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Kids’ Books On My Wishlist

It’ll be a few more weeks before we join in the Back to School rompus, but if you’re like me, you’ve been out browsing for neat school stuff already.  I thought I’d share a few books that have caught my eye or bear mentioning again. Before I do, though,  if you appreciate our blog and…

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Web Newberys (July 23)

Noteworthy book-related articles and news: Olympic Christians:  Betsy at LiterariTea.blogspot.com reviews Zonderkidz kids’ books about Olympic athletes.  Get ’em while they’re hot! New Christian ereader:  Do Christian stores need their own ereaders?  Family Christian Stores think so.  It remains to be seen whether consumers do. The Dark Knight and Dickens:  Christopher Nolan and his brother…

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Christian Books for Burgeoning Readers

This summer I’ve been on a mission to find books with specifically Christian content for my kids.  We get plenty of great literature from the local library, as well as from family members.  Plus there are the junior readers at Target, an outstanding investment for just $1.  (We’re reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm right now. …

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Web Newberys, July 16

Noteworthy book posts I’m ruminating on these days: Big Truths for Little Kids:  a wise and thoughtful review of Susan Hunt’s classic book at The Hankins Family website. “Little Bear” Author Dies:  After losing Maurice Sendak and Jean Craighead George this year, recipe classic kids’ lit suffers another loss. Batman Readers: I haven’t checked out…

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The Hero’s Journey: A Teaching Tool

On Tuesday,> Janie talked about the Higgs boson, and the search for what’s under the surface in physics.  Today, I’ve invited Nathan Huffstutler, a writing and literature teacher at Maranatha Baptist Bible College, to lead us on a similar search in literature.  And I’m so excited to share his thoughts with you guys. The basic…

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Declare Your Independence!

Happy 4th everybody!  We’re wrapping up two very fun weeks at Redeemedreader, and I feel a little like a kid on Christmas morning.  Happy it’s finally here (so we can finally eat that watermelon!) but also sad all the fun is almost over.  Soon I’ll have to start seeing school supplies in lieu of swimming…

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Author Interview: Carol Swain on Religious Freedom

Dr. Carol Swain is a Vanderbilt law professor with numerous publications–books and articles–to her credit.  Before joining Vanderbilt in 1999, Dr. Swain was a tenured associate professor of politics and public policy at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.  She has gone on to publish articles in The New York Times,…

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Podcast 14: Susan Olasky on the Revolutionary War for Kids

Compared to the aristocracy in Europe, these were really modest people and they weren’t perfect people…[but] they really lived motivated by these ideas.   If you want to teach your kids that ideas have consequences, and big ideas and grand ideas can result in really wonderful things, I think the Revolutionary period displays that.–Susan Olasky I…

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A Death Observed, Part Three

In case you missed them, here are Part One and Part Two of this series on my mother’s death. One to Two Days Prior to Death, Symptoms: May be a surge of energy, followed by recurrence of symptoms. Breathing starts to be a big issue at this point.  As the body begins to shut down,…

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Dad-lit: Views and Interviews

Over the past 16 months since launching this website, Janie and I have the opportunity to interview a number of authors and cultural critics who also happen to be dads.  And as we eagerly await Andrew Klavan’s interview this Friday, June 15th, we thought we’d make a list of a few of our favorites: Douglas…

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More Picture Books on Death: 5 Recommendations

(Sorry to all of you who read this post earlier!  It wasn’t supposed to be posted until this afternoon…but I accidentally published it last night before it was finished.  And due to VBS and kids’ swimming lessons, etc., I’ve only just now been able to fix it.  Sorry!) A few weeks ago, I did a…

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Summer Vacation Audiobooks

Last year about this time, I did a vacation audiobook post. I’m actually on vacation myself right now, so I can’t do as thorough a list for you guys today. But here are a couple of audiobooks my kids and I have enjoyed recently. And if these aren’t enough to get you going, see the…

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Welcome to College: Caity Interviews Jonathan Morrow

This interview was conducted by one of our interns, Caity Kullen, an English Literature major at Oklahoma State University.  Thanks, Caity!   If you’d like to know more about the author she interviews, Jonathan Morrow, see his website www.thinkchristianly.com or his blog, which has some good resources on worldview challenges your kids will face in college.…

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Posts for Laid-Back Parent Wanna-bes

With summer approaching, I’m frantically trying to piece together a summer “curriculum” for my kids, as well as researching what we’ll study next fall.  Exciting times, but also a little stressful.  Janie’s post, Laid-Back Homeschooling, couldn’t have come at a better time, reminding me to enjoy my kids, and teach them through everyday life–not just…

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Thriving at College: An Interview with Alex Chediak

A handbook of practical wisdom for the would-be college student. Essential summer read for every incoming freshman.–Dr. Gene Veith, provost of Patrick Henry College About this time last year, we had the honor of hosting Dr. Gene Edward Veith on our website.  He talked us through some of the challenges of both secular and Christian…

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