Posts by Janie Cheaney
Tough Times: Two Middle-Grade Historical Novels for Boys
River Rats, by Leslie J. Wyatt. Royal Fireworks Press, 2013, 212 pages. Age/interest level: 10-14. Kenny Barton would be the first to admit he doesn’t have it too bad. A Missouri farm boy’s life in 1940 doesn’t lack for hard work and long days, but when the work is done adventure calls: fields and woods…
Read MoreNewbery Buzz: The Center of Everything
Betsy and I are back to dialogue about childrens’ books that the American Library Association may delight to honor. This year’s ALA Youth Media Awards will be announced on Jan. 27 (and in connection with that, we have our own exciting announcement to make–stay tuned!) For today, a middle-grade realistic novel with a dash of…
Read MoreThe Case for Christ for Kids: 90-Day Devotional
The Case for Christ for Kids 90-Day Devotional, by Lee Strobel and Jesse Florea. Zonderkidz, 2013, 199 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grade, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Bottom Line: This devotional guide based on Lee Strobel’s books may be a good way to introduce middle-graders to regular Bible-study time. Lee Strobel’s books have sold…
Read MoreThe Doctrines of Grace by Shane Lems
The Doctrines of Grace, Student Edition, by Shane Lems. P&R Publishing, 2013, 143 pages, included appendices. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12-up. Bottom Line: This introductory guide to Reformed doctrine for teens can be an effective tool for family or Sunday school discussions. This slim volume is written for a teen…
Read MoreWho Do Men Say That I Am?
Christmas brings into focus the mystery of the incarnation, when God, in the person of Jesus Christ, took on human flesh in order to meet the most pressing human need. I’ve been reading through Job again this December, and I’m impressed with how often the cry for an intercessor comes up. Job, who did not…
Read MoreRounding Up Some Good YA Reads
As Hayley noted earlier this week, the much-heralded final volume of Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy was a disappointment. Much-heralded final volumes often disappoint, but what’s worse, they draw attention away from less-heralded novels that deserve notice. These three titles range wide in content and theme, but all are worthy additions to the literary, mystery, and…
Read MoreFar as the Curse is Found: Two Novels Dealing with Death
This seems like an odd time of year to talk about death, but the joy of the Christmas season wouldn’t be joyful at all if that baby did not represent God’s solution to our biggest problem. Isaac Watts recognized that, in one of my most favorite Christmas hymns: No more let sin and sorrow reign,…
Read MorePilgrim’s Progress adapted by Anna Trimiew
Pilgrim’s Progress: John Bunyan’s Classic Story Adapted for Children, by Anna Trimiew, illustrated by Drew Rose. Great Commissions Press, 2013, 109 pages, including glossary and index. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: This adaptation of Pilgrim’s Progress from Great Commissions Press can serve as a readable introduction to Bunyan’s…
Read More*Pilgrim’s Progress: a Retelling by Gary Schmidt
Pilgrim’s Progress: a Retelling, by Gary Schmidt, illustrated by Barry Moser. Eerdmans, 1994, 96 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, Ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12 and up Bottom Line: Gary Schmidt brings to this retelling a novelist’s sense of plot and character development, ably abetted by Barry Moser’s watercolor illustrations. A “retelling” usually involves taking…
Read MoreNewbery Buzz: The Real Boy
If you have any interest in youth literature at all, you know that the Newbery Award, announced in January by the American Library Association, is the oldest and most prestigious prize given to a children’s book. The buzz among teachers and librarians for next year’s award begins almost as soon as this year’s is announced,…
Read More*Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed
Twelve Kinds of Ice, by Ellen Bryan Obed, illustrated by Barbara McClintock. Houghton Mifflin, 2012, 64 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, Ages 10-12 Maturity Level: All Bottom line: This unusual memoir for middle grades celebrates winter in Maine through the progression of 12 stages of ice formation from the thin skim on a pond to…
Read MoreCall of the Klondike: a True Gold Rush Adventure by David Meissner
This middle grade history uses original letters and contemporary news accounts to recreate the drama of the Alaska Gold Rush.
Read More*Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. Harpers, 2013, 34 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Maturity Level: All Bottom line: The Bagram Ibatoulline illustrations make this version of Anderson’s The Snow Queen a family read-aloud treasure. Frozen, one of the most popular Disney features of all time, is supposed to…
Read MoreClassics in Comics
We round out Picture-book month at Redeemed Reader with a look at some recent comic-book adaptations of enduring literary works–even though graphic novels, technically speaking, are not picture books, because the text in a graphic novel is as important as the pictures. In any case they’ve come a long way from their underground, cult-status days,…
Read MoreNovember 22, 1963
Fifty years ago a president was violently assassinated. John F. Kennedy’s place in history is mostly emblematic: baby-boomers remember his ease and charm and clever repartee with the White House press corps; they remember the breath of fresh air that blew through the White House as Jackie embarked on her restoration project. Most of all,…
Read More*Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt
Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt and Isobelle Arsenault (translated from the original French). Groundwood, 2014, 101 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 11-12) and up One-line Summary: Jane, the Fox, and Me is a graphic novel that shows, through clever use of shading and space, how…
Read MoreFlood by Alvaro F. Villa
Flood, by Alvaro F. Villa. Capstone, 2013, 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture books, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 8-10 It’s hard to imagine rain doing flood-level damage, especially in Midwestern settings where farmers generally struggle more often with drought. This book will give kids who have never experienced a flood a good idea of the…
Read MoreMr. Wuffles! by David Weisner
Mr. Wuffles! by David Weisner. Clarion, 2013, 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture books, Ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-8 and up Bottom Line: Mr. Wuffles, a spoiled housecat, gets his comeuppance from tiny space aliens in this amusing wordless picture book. David Weisner carved out a secure corner in the wordless-book scene with the flying…
Read MoreBluebird by Bob Staake
Bluebird, by Bob Staake. Schwartz & Wade, 2013, 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-8 and up Bottom Line: This wordless picture book could be used to introduce the subject of self-sacrifice, death, and resurrection to young children, though it may be too upsetting for some. A very friendly bluebird…
Read MoreJourney by Aaron Becker. Candlewick, 2013. 26 pages
Journey, by Aaron Becker. Candlewick, 2013, 26 pages. Reading Level: Picture books, 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-8 and up Bottom Line: Journey uses luminous illustrations–and no words–to express the joy of creativity in a way reminiscent of Harold and the Purple Crayon. As the story opens, a young girl tries to engage her family, but…
Read More*Hank Finds an Egg by Rebecca Dudley
*Hank Finds an Egg, by Rebecca Dudley. Peter Pauper, 2013, 36 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 0-4 Recommended for: ages 0-4 and up Bottom Line: This lovely wordless book uses highly-detailed dioramas to tell a simple story of caring for strangers. This book is a nice addition to Easter, but makes a lovely…
Read More*Unspoken by Henry Cole
*Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad, by Henry Cole. Scholastic, 2012, 40 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, Ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-10 and up Bottom Line: Unspoken provides a wordless sequence of illustrations about a shelter for refugee slaves, inviting readers to fill in the story with their own imaginations. Henry Cole grew…
Read MoreLooking Forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas
Every holiday season brings forth a crop of shiny new picture books, and we’re on the beat. Today, two for Thanksgiving and two for Christmas–the more secular side of Christmas, but we plan to tell you about more Christ-centered ones as the season approaches. Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving, by Katherine…
Read MoreVeterans Day: The Warrior’s Heart
The Warrior’s heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage, by Eric Greitens. Houghton Mifflin, 2012, 263 pages. Age/interest level: 15-up. You stand in freezing water up to your chest. Every muscle in your body throbs with pain. You are exhausted beyond anything you could ever imagine, and all around you the night air carries…
Read MoreThe Power of a Picture
It’s picture book month! And boy, do we have a lot of picture books to talk about. I keep hearing that the pb market is declining, and that may be, but new titles keep flowing through book stores, swirling around the bedrock classics like Good Night Moon and Where the Wild Things Are. We have…
Read MoreMiddle-Grade Losers, or, What Hath Greg Heffley Wrought?
The Wimpy Kid phenomenon keeps on going, and so far has outlasted the dystopia phenomenon, the vampire phenomenon, and the zombie phenomenon. Volume 8 in the series, Hard Luck, is set to release on Nov. 5 with a 5.5 million print run. I reviewed The Third Wheel, Wimpy Kid #7, with observations on the genre…
Read MoreGhost Stories
Do you believe in ghosts? I discount many of the ghost stories I hear, but can’t quit discount the whole phenomenon. That is, there is a spiritual world outside our comprehension (see Ephesians 6:12), and while I think it unlikely that spirits of the dead are capable of haunting, other spirits (i.e., demons) might be. …
Read MoreHear That Lonesome Whistle: Locomotive and Train
Every year children’s publishing offers at least one major picture book related to trains, but this year we’ve been blessed with three. One of them, Sherri Rinker’s Steam Train, Dream Train, we’ve already reviewed. The other two, Brian Floca’s Locomotive and Elisha Cooper’s Train, were released within weeks of each other, and both to glowing…
Read MoreThe Dogs of History
Duke, by Kirby Larson. Scholastic, 2013, 229 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Boy loves dog; boy loses dog. That’s what happens to Hobart (Hobey) Hanson, and it seems like a raw deal. There’s been a big war going on for the last three years, and he and other “young citizens”…
Read MoreLara’s Gift by Annemarie O’Brien
Lara’s Gift, by Annemarie O’Brien. Knopf, 2013, 193pages, including appendix Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12, Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 10-15 Bottom Line: Lara’s Gift enters the world of a peasant girl in czarist Russia, with country estates, borzois, wolf hunts, and spiritual overtones. Compared to most Russian peasants in the early…
Read MoreEarly America: Friendship and War
Friends of Liberty, by Beatrice Gormley. Eermans, 2013, 184 pages. Age/interest level: 8-14. Sally Gifford, as the daughter of an honest craftsman in 18th-century Boston, doesn’t have such a bad life, but it suffers by comparison with that of her new friend Kitty Lawson. Except for one key fact the girls share: both have lost…
Read MoreChurch History for Everybody
This 12-volume set documents the church from its earliest days to 2001, with lavish illustration, original source material, and literate commentary. The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years, edited and published by Ted Byfield. Twelve Volumes, 2002-2012. I’ve been in church all my life. I’ve been around Christians all my life. I’ve read the Bible…
Read MoreLittle Histories
One thing we’ve lost, in our modern fragmented world, is a sense of the story of history. Between the rock of political correctness on one side and the hard place of scientific data analysis on the other, the narrative flow gets ground up and spit out in unconnected pieces. Narrative history has its faults, the…
Read MoreFun But Not Fantastic: Mr. Lemoncello and the Family Whipple
The American tradition of the “tall tale,” which you may think died with Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill, is alive and well in a genre of children’s literature that might be called “whimsical realism,” wherein quirky characters and outlandish situations are narrated with a perfectly straight face and the humor comes mostly from that juxtaposition.…
Read MoreGod in Dystopia: Captives and Aquifer
Two weeks ago Hayley, Joseph, and Abby discussed two inaugural titles from Blink, Zondervan’s new YA title. Today they’re back with two more. Both these novels could be classified as “Dystopian” fiction but they vary widely in setting and style. Let’s get the conversation going: Hayley, could you give us a three-sentence summary of Captives,…
Read MoreThe Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer
The Reluctant Assassin (W.A.R.P., #1), by Eoin Colfer. Hyperion, 2013, 352 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Appropriate for: ages 15-up Bottom Line: This new time-travel series from the author of Artemis Fowl offers plenty of pulse-pounding action but distasteful situations and characters. London is a harsh place in 1899, especially for an…
Read MoreThe Enemy Stone: An Interview with Robert Treskillard
Last Friday we had a fascinating discussion with our interns about some of the first titles of a brand new YA imprint from Zondervan. One of those titles, you may recall, was Merlin’s Blade, the first volume in a very promising trilogy called the Merlin Spiral, by a debut author. We expect to see more…
Read MoreThe Secret Lives of Scientists
On a Beam of Light: a Story of Albert Einstein, by Jennifer Berre, illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky. Chronicle, 2013, 50 pages. Age/interest level: 6-9 Despite the title, this is not a story of Einstein; it’s the story, from birth and toddlerhood and unremarkable school career to revolutionizing the study of physics. Though a late talker,…
Read MoreTaking a Look at “Blink”–with Our Own YA Readers
This fall, Zondervan Publishers is introducing a new imprint called “Blink.” According to Zondervan marketing v-p Chrisynethia Floyd, “They are for anyone, regardless of faith . . . These will be hopeful books. We won’t go as dark [as some other YA novels], but we will touch on very real issues” while representing “morals and…
Read MoreNew Worlds, Spirit Animals, and Frog Warriors: New Middle-Grade Fantasy
Betsy and Janie, the middle-grade readers, are joining forces today to tell you about three brand-new fantasy series for middle-graders. Betsy reviews the first two, Janie the last: Jinx by Sage Blackwood. HarperCollins, 2013. 368 pages. Age/interest level: 4th-8th grades. Jinx is a delightful new fantasy series for middle grade readers with an older magician,…
Read MoreThe Rithmatist, Bubble World, and A Corner of White: Science Fiction or Fantasy?
As Emily informed us yesterday, September is science and science-fiction month, featuring our read-along of Orson Scott Card’s classic novel, Ender’s Game. To celebrate, we’re focusing on youth science fiction this month, starting off with three new YA novels that raise an interesting literary question: what’s the difference between science fiction and fantasy? Most readers…
Read MoreBoy Overcoming
Paperboy, by Vince Vawter. Delacorte, 2013m 224 pages. Age/interest level: 10-14 “I’m typing about the stabbing for a good reason. I can’t talk.” Life is challenging when you stutter so badly you can only communicate in spurts. Our hero–whom we know at first only as Little Man, the fond name the family housekeeper gave him–realizes…
Read MoreGetting Rich Quick: Two Novels about Sudden Fortunes
A Whole Lot of Lucky, by Danette Haworth. Walker Books, 2013, 288 pages. Age/interest level: 9-13 Hailee Richardson has plenty to complain about—her screechy old boys’ bike, her baby sister who gobbles up attention, getting snubbed by the cool kids at school—but when her parents win $3 million from a lottery ticket, all that changes. …
Read MoreMortal Instruments: City of Bones
There’s a big movie release this week, based on a best-selling series of young-adult fantasy novels. Young-adult fantasy novels have proved enormously profitable for the movie industry (certain flops excepted), and I suspect City of Bones will do very well for itself. Should teens read the book, see the movie, or skip both? I’m sure…
Read MoreKids at War
If we were picking favorite periods of history, World War II would be near the top of the list. Though it’s fast fading from living memory, it still seems close enough to be relevant to our world today, with plenty of drama and grit, as Betsy’s review of Rose Under Fire demonstrates. Rose is geared…
Read MoreCreative Math
When I was in elementary school it was called “arithmetic,” and one of the most terrifying aspects of that class was timed drills—the teacher would give everyone a single page of simple addition, subtraction, multiplication or division problems and we had to fill out as many answers as possible in five minutes. This always caused…
Read More*The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins
*The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, 40 pages Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-8 and up (especially boys) Bottom Line: Gorgeous illustrations and tons of “fun facts” make this the ultimate beetle book. Beetles rule. They dominate the insect world with over 350,000 species named (and many…
Read More*Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette Cate
*Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard, by Annette le Blank Cate. Candlewick, 2013, 54 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8 and up Bottom Line: Look Up! is a clever and information-packed introduction to the joys of bird-watching–and bird-drawing. Yes, I know—bird-watchers are eccentric English librarians with elastic stockings…
Read MoreAmerican Lives
“There is properly no history, only biography,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson—an exaggeration with a lot of truth in it. When I was growing up, I devoured the Childhood of Famous Americans Series, which fictionalized the formative years of over 200 noteworthy individuals, many of whom I’d never heard of. I liked biography at least as…
Read MoreThree Days in July
One hundred and fifty years ago, two great armies collided in a small Pennsylvania town. The actual site of the battle was not planned, but the overall strategy had been in the southern commander’s mind for at least a month, and by it he hoped to deal one last blow to the Army of the…
Read MoreTwo Ways to See the World
Geography, like Grammar (and God), is a neglected subject in today’s public school system. Too bad—I well recall my sixth grade teacher Mrs. Nelson, a world traveler whose students generally caught her enthusiasm for foreign places and people. Though I did no serious traveling until my children were grown, I’ve always liked maps—not the kind…
Read MoreLet’s Take a Road Trip: Our Final Destination
Before I started writing The Middle of Somewhere, I did some research. Every novelist has to do some research, especially if she’s writing historical fiction (three of my published novels are historical fiction). An author has to have a sense of the lay of the land before she can determine which direction to go. And…
Read MoreLet’s Take a Road Trip (and the Second Key to Great Writing)
How’s the road trip going? Have we arrived in Dodge City or stalled out in Pittsburg? I’ll let you in on a secret: when I’m writing a novel, I almost always stall out around the third or fourth chapter. Beginnings are easy—in fact, the beginning of this one was especially easy because I was struck…
Read MoreLet’s Take a Road Trip–and Write a Story!
Our Around the World reading challenge book this week is The Middle of Somewhere, and it’s written by . . . um . . . me. If I were not me, I might be objecting right now that assigning one’s own book for a readers’ challenge is incredibly self-seeking (and actually, a small corner of…
Read MoreThrowing Strikes with R. A. Dickey
Throwing Strikes: My Quest for Truth and the Perfect Knuckleball, by R. A. Dickey. Dial, 2013, 296 pages. Age/interest level: 12-16. Last year Dickey’s autobiography, Wherever I Wind Up, won fulsome praise across the reviewing spectrum, from Publishers Weekly to ESPN to WORLD Magazine. The particular qualities praised were the author’s literary style, humility, and…
Read MoreThe Great American Novel: Is There Any Such Thing?
In 1868, after a grueling Civil War that defined America (by almost destroying it), novelist and critic John DeForest wrote a piece for The Nation magazine titled, “The Great American Novel.” Surveying the literary field of the time, he could find no likely candidate for such a title. Washington Irving was too cautious, James Fenimore…
Read MoreSteaming into Sunset: an Interview with Sherri Rinker
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (see our review here) hurled Sherri Rinker’s star into the picture-book firmament. Accepted by the first publisher she submitted it to, the cheerful tale of five construction vehicles settling down for the night went on to become one of the top-selling picture books of 2011. Now the same talented team (Sherri…
Read MoreGifts for Grads: Our Picks
For a parent, there’s nothing scarier than sending a high school graduate out into the world—and in fact, the world looks pretty scary these days. Not to mention confusing, even in matters that used to be taken for granted. Up until about ten years ago, for instance, it was a given that high-school grads eyeing…
Read MoreWords for Life: Bibles for Teens and Graduates
In an earlier post I wrote about beginners “Bibles” and Bible storybooks. That was followed up by a post on the methods and merits of the most popular English translations, then Bibles for elementary-age readers. Today, as we’re thinking about high-school graduations and college-bound sons and daughters, I’d like to look at Bibles aimed at…
Read MoreNo Battlefield Like Home
Chasing Jupiter, by Rachel Coker. Zondervan, 2012, 221 pages. Age/interest level: 12-up. Our story begins in small-town Georgia, 1969—but 16-year-old Scarlett’s world seems even smaller than the town. Since her rebellious older sister Juli is sneaking out at all hours, so much responsibility falls on Scarlett that there’s no time for friends or extra-curricular activities.…
Read MoreHail and Farewell, Part 2: Russell Hoban
As noted in last Tuesday’s post,I encountered Maurice Sendak when I was myself a child. My acquaintance with Russell Hoban had to wait until I had children of my own, and we met over that classic childhood dilemma: going to bed and staying there. Bedtime for Frances, published in 1960, introduced a self-willed, imaginative, and…
Read MoreBible Review: NIV Rock Solid Faith Study Bible for Teens
Rock Solid Faith introduces teens to the principles and characters of the Bible in a generally helpful way. Rock Solid Faith Study Bible for Teens. Zondervan, 2012, 1650 pages. Recommended for: ages 12-15 Rock Solid Faith is Zondervan’s “non-gendered” teen Bible, with standard study helps meant to help readers strengthen their faith. The book introductions…
Read MoreA Novel in Verse and Verse in a Novel
We’re rounding out our Poetry Month coverage with three books for middle-graders: Gone Fishing: a Novel in Verse, by Tamera Will Wissinger, illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Houghton Mifflin, 2013, 120 pages. Age/interest level: 6-up. The night before, Sam and his dad hunted night crawlers: Grass slick/ Worms thick/ tiptoe near and grab them quick. (This…
Read MoreHail and Farewell: Maurice Sendak
I first encountered the Latin phrase Ave Atque Vale in a historical novel whose appeal (the novel’s, that is) was almost entirely nostalgic. It means “hail and farewell,” a way of saluting the past while at the same time leaving it behind. A valedictory is a farewell address, and right about now high schools and…
Read MoreGood Old Fashioned Adventure
The False Prince (2012) and The Runaway King (2013), by Jennifer A. Nielson. Scholastic, about 350 pages each. Age/interest level: 10-up. When we first encounter the orphan known as Sage, he’s running full-tilt with a cleaver-waving butcher at his back and a stolen beef roast clutched in his arms. It seemed like a good idea…
Read MoreLoving Your Library
I’ll bet most of us have warm memories of the local library. I grew up in Dallas, where one of the many benefits of the big city was the library system. The local branch was great, but we also took advantage, on many Saturday mornings, of the main library downtown, easily reachable by bus. I…
Read MoreDestiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Destiny, Rewritten, by Kathryn Fitzmaurice. HarperCollins, 2013, 335 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 (especially girls) Bottom Line: Destiny, Rewritten offers middle-grade readers some intriguing questions about free will and predestination, with literary references thrown in. Emily Elizabeth Davis knows the destiny her mother has in mind for her—to be…
Read MoreA Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff. Philomel, 2013, 233 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 and up Bottom Line: A Tangle of Knots light-heartedly takes up for middle-schoolers the serious question of whether fate or free will control our lives. A little of both, maybe? The air was thick…
Read MoreThe Real Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle published the first Sherlock Holmes story in a British periodical in 1887, to moderate interest. Three novels and fifty-odd short stories later, the great detective’s creator killed him off in order to devote more time to other writing projects. But by then Holmes had become beloved of high and low alike, and…
Read MoreFinal Four (Plus One)
This post should have gone up during March Madness, but even if the NCAA tournament is over this weekend, the NBA has few months to run. And we have new basketball books, from the history of the game to the joy of playing! H.O.R.S.E.: A Game of Basketball and Imagination, by Christopher Meyer. Edgemont, 2012,…
Read MoreBible Review: The Deep Blue Kids Bible
The Deep Blue Kids Bible (CEB), 2012, Abingdon Press, 1526 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: no one Bottom Line: The Deep Blue Kids Bible uses a questionable translation and supplements the text with too many features, some of them unhelpful. If you go Bible shopping at a Christian bookstore there’s a…
Read More*Bible Review: ESV Grow! Bible
*ESV Grow! Bible. Crossway, 2011, 1600 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 and up Bottom Line: The ESV Grow! Bible takes particular care to link the Old and New Testaments with its “Cross Connection” feature. This edition of the English Standard Version is available in a choice of colors and…
Read MoreBible Review: NLT Hands-on Bible
NLT Hands-on Bible, Tyndale for Kids, 2010, 1440 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-10 Bottom Line: Though it leads off with some useful informational features, the text of the Hands-on Bible includes too much clutter and cartoon illustrations. Busy, busy, busy! It’s like a never-ending Vacation Bible School between two…
Read More*Bible Review: NKJV Early Readers Bible
*NKJV Early Readers Bible. Thomas Nelson, 2006, 1664 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-14 and up Bottom Line: This New King James Version for young readers contains excellent, age-appropriate study helps in a sound translation. It’s attractive but not flashy: red-letter with 9-10 point font, two columns. There are no…
Read MoreBible Review: The One-Year Bible For Children
The One-Year Bible for Children by Gilbert Beers. Tyndale, 2001, 432 pages. Reading Level: Chapter Books, ages 6-8 Recommended for: ages 6-8 Bottom Line: Though not a complete Bible, and not a translation, the NLV One-Year Bible introduces beginning readers to the inductive method of Bible study by questions at the end of each reading.…
Read MoreBible Review: NIV Faithgirlz! Bible
NIV Faithgirlz! Bible. Zonderkidz, 2012, 1504 page. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 (especially girls!) Bottom Line: The Faithgirlz! Bible, geared to tween girls, includes some thoughtful devotional features, but takes an almost exclusively subjective approach to scripture. If the boys have one, the girls gotta have one, too. Faithgirlz! is…
Read MoreBible Review: NIV Boys Bible
NIV Boys’ Bible. Zonderkidz, 2012, 1504 pages. For ages 9-13. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 (obviously, boys) Bottom Line: The Boys Bible includes some good though standard features on the model of the NIV Adventure Bible, but tries a little too hard to pander to its audience. The Boys’ Bible…
Read More*Bible Review: ESV Children’s Bible
*ESV Children’s Bible. Crossway, 2008, 1648 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10. Recommended for: ages 6-10 Bottom Line: The ESV contains excellent study helps, including over 200 full-color illustrations of exceptional quality and relevance. Geared toward a slightly young age group than the ESV Grow!, this Bible has verse and chapter numbers in red…
Read More*Bible Review: HCSB Illustrated Study Bible for Kids
*The HCSB Illustrated Study Bible for Kids. Boardman and Holman, 2007, 1104 pages. Recommended for: ages 7-12. Available in a variety of covers to appeal to both boys and girls, this children’s version of the HCSB is a good all-around study Bible for a wide age group, from beginning readers to ‘tweeners. In spite of…
Read MoreBible Review: The Kids’ Devotional Bible NIrV
Kids’ Devotional Bible, NIrV. Zonderkidz, 2006, 1664 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 6-10 Bottom Line: The Kids’ Devotional Bible is one of the better Bibles available in the easy-reader NIrV translation, though it could be more visually appealing. The New International Readers’ Version (NIrV) is a scaled down NIV for…
Read MoreBible Review: Adventure Bible NIV
Adventure Bible, NIV. Zondervan, 2013 (latest edition), 1459 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 6-12 Bottom Line: The Adventure Bible set an early standard for children’s Bibles that has been surpassed by other versions and editions, but it’s still useful for beginners encountering scripture for the first time. This is the…
Read MoreSorting Out the Children’s Bible Market
Yesterday’s post addressed the general subject of children’s Bibles and how to evaluate them for the particular needs of each child and family. But all that is rather abstract unless we have actual Bibles to evaluate. Today’s list is by no means exhaustive, but I’ve tried to find worthy examples of the good, the popular,…
Read More*Bible Review: The HCSB Illustrated Study Bible
*The HCSB Illustrated Study Bible for Kids. Boardman and Holman, 2007, 1104 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: The HCSB Illustrated Study Bible for Kids offers a reliable translation and interesting study features appropriate to 4th-6th-graders. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) is one of the more recent…
Read MoreChoosing Your Child’s First REAL Bible: Some Considerations
Last Tuesday we looked at a range of new Bible storybooks and early reader “Bibles.” On Friday, we picked our way through the field of Bible translations and compared the most popular for accuracy and readability. Today we’re ready to get down to the meat and bones: just how to you choose a Bible for…
Read MoreAnd the Best Bible Translation Is . . . ?
Warning: Long post, no pictures. Deal! The word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Heb. 4:12 No book has ever outsold it, no avowed readership exceeds it, no text…
Read MoreToddling into the Word: First Bible Storybooks and Early-Reader Bibles
What could be more appropriate for Holy Week than a survey of children’s Bibles and Bible storybooks? That’s what I foolishly thought, treatment but this project became a version of The Blob the deeper I waded into it. Amazon.com has over 100 pages under the heading “Children’s Bibles, medical ” though many of those are…
Read MoreThe Announcement
Good morning! It’s a beautiful day in the Ozarks: Spring is officially here, and Easter is just around the corner! (No, the picture was not touched up or taken last month–this is actually what it looks like outside my window, today, March 22, 2013.) I know everybody is anxious to hear who won our HUGE…
Read MoreSpring Break, Big Changes, and One Huge Book Giveaway!
****THIS BOOK GIVEAWAY IS OVER. BUT THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED! **** As Emily promised a couple of weeks ago, we have some exciting news to share about Redeemed Reader. First and most significantly, we’re thrilled to welcome Megan Saben and Betsy Farquhar to our staff, or masthead, or whatever you call the contributors to…
Read MoreFood for the Soul–and for the Reader
My mother-in-law once observed how different life would be if we didn’t have to eat. She might have been having a bad day, because in the context she meant different for the better: no shopping, penny-pinching, scrounging; no cooking (cooking was not her forte), no fighting with the kids over eating their liver—most of all,…
Read MoreNew Nonfiction: Titanic, Moonbird, and Bodyguards
These three books have nothing in common except their general category and the fact that the first two won honors in the ALA Youth Media awards for nonfiction this year. The fact that both Titanic and Moonbird won in two age categories–middle-grade readers and young adults–makes me wonder if there’s not that much quality nonfiction…
Read MoreThe Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan
The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3), by Rick Riordan. Hyperion, 2012, 608 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 11-12) and up Bottom line: The Camp Half-Blood gang is back with the Heroes of Olympus series, but the Percy Jackson franchise may be getting a little tiresome. After an…
Read MoreZeus, King of the Gods by George O’Connor
Zeus, King of the Gods, (#1 in The Olympians graphic-novel series) by George O’Connor. First Second, 2012, 80 pages. Reading Level: Picture books (graphic novel), ages 9-12 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) and up Bottom line: This series by a popular children’s illustrator is a great way to introduce middle-grade comic-book fans to the Olympian…
Read MoreThe Adventures of Achilles by Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden
The Adventures of Achilles, by Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden, illustrated by Carole Henaff. Barefoot Books, 2012, 96 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages10-12 Maturity Level: 3 (10-12) and up Bottom line: This retelling of The Iliad, illustrated in the classic style. serves as an effective introduction to the story for middle graders, in spite…
Read MoreThe Hard Work of Growing Up
It’s what every child has to do, and they accomplish it with varying degrees of success. In a sense, “growing up” is the theme of every children’s book, either obviously or not so much. The best of them show the main character or characters changing in some significant way, usually through conflict. What the character…
Read MoreCake: Love, Chickens, and a Taste of Peculiar by Joyce Magnin
Cake: Love, Chickens and a Taste of Peculiar, by Joyce Magnin. Zonderkidz, 2013, 221 pages. Age/interest level: 8-14. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Bottom line: Wilma Sue, a foster child, learns the value of love through baking in this whimsical story with a Christian theme. When it’s time for Wilma…
Read MoreBible Review: KJV Kids’ Study Bible
KJV Kids’ Study Bible. Zonderkidz, 2001. 1600 pages Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 (for study features) Recommended for: ages 8-12 Bottom Line: Child-friendly activities and line drawings help make the Authorized Version accessible for 4th-5th graders. The colorful Noah’s Ark cover (in the edition I reviewed) will appeal to the lower ages of this…
Read MoreBliss by Katherine Littlewood
Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood. HarperCollins, 2012, 374 pages. Age/interest level: 10-14. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: Bliss mixes fantasy elements with a likeable family and the art of baking, with fun but somewhat predictable results. We know from chapter one that the Bliss family is a little different. …
Read MoreThree for Black History Month
I know—Black History month just ended. I’m not a fan of segregated “histories”: in case you haven’t noticed, this is the first day of Women’s History Month and we’ll have a chance to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month beginning in mid-September, which overlaps with LGTB History month in October, which is also Filipino American History Month.…
Read MoreALA Awards: Newberys and Caldecotts, Splendors and Glooms
One month ago was “Oscar night for Librarians,” when the American Library Association announced their “best of” picks for children’s literature. We’ve given some space to reporting on some of these awards, while waiting for the winners I reserved at my local library to trickle in. The oldest and most coveted award is the Newbery,…
Read MoreThe Real George Washington
When did history get so complicated? Not too long ago, “The father of his country” was a monumental figure deserving nothing but praise. Now, depending on who you talk to or read, he’s either the “Indispensable Man” or a wealthy slave-owner (of the 1%, no less) who used his influence to his own advantage. History…
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