Raising Readers

Our Favorite Science Book Picks (and a Printable List!)

By Betsy Farquhar | Sep 30, 2013

We've thrown a lot of titles at you during our Science September for science-related informational texts. Because we know many of you, like us, love ...

Taking a Look at “Blink”–with Our Own YA Readers

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 13, 2013

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 ...

By emily | Aug 20, 2013

CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON OUR 2014 SUMMER READING CHALLENGE! Introduction From June 1 through July 31 of 2013, we hosted a Summer Reading Challenge ...

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 20, 2013

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 ...

Sea of Monsters: Movie Review

By The Redeemed Shall Read | Aug 9, 2013

Today, we welcome our former intern and current Executive Assistant, Hayley Schoeppler, back to the site. She's is the one who covered Percy Jackson this ...

By emily | Jul 26, 2013

THANK YOU It's been a fun couple of months during our Summer Reading Challenge, and my family has enjoyed reading along with you all. We're ...

Summer Reading Challenge: One Family’s Experience

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 25, 2013

As we end our Summer Reading Challenge, I thought it would be fun for you--our readers--to hear a personal reflection from me on how our ...

Summer Reading Challenge, Week 7: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 23, 2013

Don't forget to fill out the Redeemed Reader 2013 Survey if you haven't done so! (There's a giveaway involved!) Still hangin' in there with us? ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 22, 2013

We will be wrapping up our Summer Reading Challenge this week and taking next week OFF to regroup and tweak our plans for this fall. ...

It’s Greek to Me!

By Hayley Morell | Jul 18, 2013

This week in our Summer Reading Challenge, we're visiting Greece. So, thanks to our newest addition to the Redeemedreader family, Hayley Schoeppler, for leading us today ...

Lemonade and Lit, Week 4: Debate on Sexuality in Booked

By emily | Jul 6, 2013

Other Lemonade and Lit posts: Introduction, Week One: Booked, Week Two: Booked Discussion, Week Three: Beauty, Week Four: Sexuality in Booked, Week Five: Beauty Discussion, ...

Summer Reading Challenge, Wk 3: Nate Saint: Operation Auca

By emily | Jun 25, 2013

Have you seen our new tab for the Summer Reading Challenge? In it, you'll find all the links to our Summer Reading Challenge--both the main ...

Two Ways to See the World

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 24, 2013

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 ...

Eat, Pray, Read…and Eat Again! Around the World Food Facts with Nive Burris

By emily | Jun 20, 2013

In our trip around the world (see our Summer Reading Challenge), what could be more fun than using food to explore different cultures? Today, Nive ...

Book News, Freebies & Cheapies

By emily | Jun 17, 2013

News Happy Monday! It's a busy week here at RR, find with Mr. Popper's Penguins up next in our Summer Reading Challenge for kids. (Here ...

What’s In the Handbag, Nelly Bly? 6 Items For Your Trip Around the World

By emily | Jun 8, 2013

I ran out of time in last week's post to include my travel tips for your Summer Reading adventure. So, taking inspiration from the humorous ...

Summer Reading Challenge, Week 1: Around the World by Matt Phelan

By emily | Jun 4, 2013

***To find out more about this challenge, see our Summer Reading Challenge introduction. Other posts related to Matt Phelan's books include our Interview with John ...

100 Great Adventure Books for Kids: Summer Read Along Book Lists are Here!

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 3, 2013

***To read the next post in this series, see our Summer Reading Challenge, Week 1: Around the World by Matt Phelan.*** Summer Reading Challenge June ...

By Janie Cheaney | May 17, 2013

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 ...

Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt and Cory Godbey

By Betsy Farquhar | May 6, 2013

Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt and Cory Godbey. Reformation Trust, 2008. 56 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 0-8 Geared for slightly younger children ...

Hail and Farewell, Part 2: Russell Hoban

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 30, 2013

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 ...

Web Newberys, News, and Freebies (April 29)

By emily | Apr 29, 2013

News Is it possible we're heading into May already?! That means we've got lots of great plans in the works for our Summer Reading Challenge ...

Inspiring (very) young artists

By Megan Saben | Apr 24, 2013

God is a God of words and pictures. He has revealed Himself to us through words in Scripture and visually in creation, and made us in ...

Loving Your Library

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 16, 2013

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 ...

Library Week, News and Freebies

By emily | Apr 15, 2013

Library Week It's finally here: Library Week! Because my family homeschools, we depend on our local library quite a lot, so I'm looking forward to ...

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 3, 2013

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 ...

Sorting Out the Children’s Bible Market

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 3, 2013

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 ...

*My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza

By Megan Saben | Apr 1, 2013

My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza. Puffin, 2005. 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 4-8 When a fat pig shows up at a hungry ...

Web Newberys, News, and Freebies (Mar 25)

By emily | Mar 25, 2013

News It's the last week of March, and RR is gearing up for some spring-a-licious posts this week. With Easter only a few days away, ...

The Announcement

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 22, 2013

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 ...

Meet Our New Redeemedreaders!

By emily | Mar 19, 2013

As Janie announced yesterday in this post, we've got some big changes afoot here at Redeemedreader. We have the honor of welcoming Megan Saben and ...

Spring Break, Big Changes, and One Huge Book Giveaway!

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 18, 2013

****THIS BOOK GIVEAWAY IS OVER. BUT THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED! **** As Emily promised a couple of weeks ago, we have some exciting news ...

Oz the Great and Powerful: Discussion Questions

By emily | Mar 14, 2013

Introduction Last week I had the happy opportunity of watching Disney's new Oz the Great and Powerful. I had to turn around a review that ...

Classics for Kids: The Greek and Romans

By emily | Mar 7, 2013

Introduction With the popularity of Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series , kids' books containing themes and allusions to Greek and Roman mythology and culture ...

Coffee and Controversy (with a cup of kindness!): Should Christians Read/Watch Stories Involving Witches and Wizards?

By emily | Feb 28, 2013

Next week, Lord willing, I'm headed to a screening of OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, a new Disney movie set to hit theaters March 8. ...

Home Mission: Letter to the Helpless Mom

By emily | Feb 22, 2013

Today some of my dear friends in the blogging world stop to honor and encourage a beautiful and brave woman of God. Our sweet sister-in-Christ, ...

Web Newberys (Feb 11)

By emily | Feb 11, 2013

Alas, it is Monday and I have a cold (again). On the upside, though, it's Valentine's Day week! And that means I get to talk ...

Web Newberys and News (Feb. 4, 2013)

By emily | Feb 4, 2013

Hope you guys survived the Super Bowl! It's a new month, and we're looking forward to some great new books at Redeemedreader. Leading up to ...

By emily | Jan 28, 2013

CONTEST WINNERS Last week, we put three books up for grabs. After giving it some prayer and assigning each entrant a number, I pulled three ...

Web Newberys and News

By emily | Jan 14, 2013

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 ...

By emily | Jan 14, 2013

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 ...

By emily | Jan 7, 2013

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, ...

By emily | Dec 28, 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. ...

Les Misérables: A Movie Review

By emily | Dec 25, 2012

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 ...

A Very LOGOS and Parnassus Christmas, Part Two

By emily | Dec 17, 2012

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 ...

Hobbit Radio Theater Finalists

By emily | Nov 29, 2012

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 ...

Sparking Spiritual Imagination: Christmas Books at Desiring Virtue

By emily | Nov 28, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 45

By emily | Nov 26, 2012

THE CHURCH: To the uttermost ends of the earth Again, the gospel finds fertile ground as it spread through all the earth! Study Guides: pdf. ...

By emily | Nov 23, 2012

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 ...

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

By emily | Nov 19, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 44

By emily | Nov 19, 2012

THE CHURCH: To the Gentiles The gospel, now spreading out of Jerusalem and into Samaria, is now extended even further--from Jews to Gentiles. Great news ...

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

By emily | Nov 12, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Nov 12, 2012

THE CHURCH: From Jerusalem to Samaria Now that the Holy Spirit is directing their hearts and minds, early Christians spread the gospel from Jerusalem and ...

5 Bookshelf Giveaway Books You’ll Want

By emily | Nov 5, 2012

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 ...

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

By emily | Nov 5, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 40

By emily | Oct 21, 2012

MESSIAH: The Last Week ?During Jesus's last week, His enemies finally get the upper hand. It's a week of sorrow and suffering for Jesus--a week ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 39

By emily | Oct 14, 2012

MESSIAH: The Road to Jerusalem ?Life is good for the disciples and the people following Jesus this week. Christ is healing the sick, online raising ...

Charlotte Mason and Living Libraries: An Invitation

By emily | Oct 11, 2012

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 ...

Web Newberys & Tea (Literaritea, that is!)

By emily | Oct 8, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Oct 1, 2012

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 ...

Flannery O’Connor Week & Web Newberys

By emily | Sep 24, 2012

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. ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 36

By emily | Sep 23, 2012

THE PROPHETS: Messiah–Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation ?Why was Jesus baptized if he didn't need to be born again? And why did the Devil bother tempting ...

By emily | Sep 22, 2012

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 ...

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

By emily | Sep 12, 2012

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 ...

Web Newberys (Sept. 10)

By emily | Sep 10, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Sep 8, 2012

THE PROPHETS: Messiah--The Forerunner In Malachi's book of prophecy, God has fulfilled another promise. He's brought His people back out of Babylonian captivity and into ...

Dangerous Journey: Shepherding A Child’s Imagination

By emily | Sep 6, 2012

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 28, 2012

We have something to look forward to this fall: a new publishing house called Month9Books which will specialize in fantasy fiction. First title, due in ...

By emily | Aug 26, 2012

THE PROPHETS: Daniel Daniel is the prophet among kings. Rather than speaking to God's people primarily, God sends Daniel to witness to the pagan kings ...

By emily | Aug 22, 2012

Once again, this week Janie and I have the honor of hosting Evan Hughes as our artist-in-residence. We’ve been covering the scope of the entire ...

By emily | Aug 20, 2012

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, ...

By emily | Aug 13, 2012

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, ...

By emily | Aug 8, 2012

This week Janie and I have the honor of hosting Evan Hughes as our artist-in-residence. We've been covering the scope of the entire Bible in ...

By emily | Aug 6, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Aug 5, 2012

Big news about our Bible reading challenge! 1) While Carl is away, we have enlisted Evan Hughes, illustrator of William Boekestein's books among others, to ...

By emily | Jul 30, 2012

Guys, I want to apologize. This week has been extra busy as we've prepared for 50 Shades and dealt with technical woes. We also still ...

By emily | Jul 25, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Jul 23, 2012

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: ...

The Hero’s Journey: A Teaching Tool

By emily | Jul 12, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 26

By emily | Jul 9, 2012

THE KINGS: Solomon's Fall ?It's clear this week that although Solomon was the pinnacle of earthly kings, he wasn't the King the Israelites were waiting ...

More Picture Books on Death: 5 Recommendations

By emily | Jun 4, 2012

(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 ...

Welcome to College: Caity Interviews Jonathan Morrow

By emily | May 30, 2012

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 ...

Picture Books on Death (You’ll Never See)

By emily | Apr 9, 2012

I thought with a subject that is so dour today, I thought I could do a little inside-out reporting and tell you all about the ...

Dealing with Death: Bridge to Terabithia

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 5, 2012

The first time I ever heard my father cry was when my uncle, the brother closest to him in age and disposition, was dying of ...

R.C. Sproul’s New Picture Book: A Review by Desiring Virtue

By emily | Apr 2, 2012

Today's post is by Jessalyn Hutto, a book reviewer and blogger at her lovely website, Desiring Virtue. Be sure to click on over to her ...

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 27, 2012

We’re wrapping up our conversation (begun here) with Morgan Lee and Caity Kullen on the effect of The Hunger Games on the audience it was ...

A Parent’s Guide to Environmentalism in Children’s Literature, Part Two

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 10, 2012

Wrapping up our two weeks of Lorax-inspired environmental emphasis, how do children’s books specifically reflect growing concern about our care of the earth? Because of ...

Parents’ Guide to Environmentalism in Kids’ Literature

By emily | Mar 1, 2012

What is Environmentalism? With the movie version of The Lorax hitting theaters this weekend, man's role in shaping and caring for the environment is back ...

Christ in Literature: The Anansi Stories

By emily | Feb 27, 2012

We started our February series on African folktales with an interview with a Christian from the Congo and a stack of books. We followed that ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 3, 2012

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, which makes this coming Tuesday his bicentennial. They’ve been making a big deal of it for some ...

By emily | Jan 26, 2012

In case you missed it, here is the Introduction post to our Japanese Literary Adventure. And here's a link to our interview with Roger Lowther, ...

By emily | Jan 16, 2012

For a long time now, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been more than just mere mortal in our culture. His courageous work against oppression ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 6, 2012

I was raised in a denomination that took the Bible very seriously: “We speak where the Bible speaks, and are silent where the Bible is ...

By emily | Jan 5, 2012

I'll be honest, Janie and I didn't really know what to expect when we decided to advertise for an intern. We hoped to rangle up ...

By emily | Dec 29, 2011

It's been an exciting year. We launched Redeemedreader back in February of 2011, and since then we've been sprinting to keep up. So most of ...

By emily | Dec 15, 2011

I had been praying about how to use my creative gifts and last Christmas instead of pulling our decorations out of storage I would try ...

By emily | Dec 13, 2011

Janie and I have reviewed a lot of books this year. Thanks to the ingenuity of folks at Amazon.com, we can now offer them to ...

By emily | Nov 7, 2011

This week, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will entertain a panel discussion on the historicity of Adam. I came across this tidbit of news recently ...

By emily | Nov 3, 2011

Today's Theme: The Key of Promise After surviving Vanity Fair and the hill of Lucre, Christian and Hopeful "espied a stile which led into a ...

By emily | Oct 27, 2011

Chapter 6: Vanity Fair Today's Theme: Faithful to the End As our narrator says, "Most fairs are merry places. But not this one--not for ...