Reading Guides

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 ...
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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, ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 45

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. ...
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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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 44

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 ...
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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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 43

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 ...
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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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 42

THE CHURCH: Resurrection and Pentecost Study Guides: pdf. download, Sorry guys...this will return next week! pdf. download, Ages 9-13, Week 42 Make-Your-Own-Story-Bible Resources: .pdf download: ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 41

MESSIAH:  The Lamb of God ?By the end of the week, the worst thing that they could ever imagine had happened.  And they were right: ...
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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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 40

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 39

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 38

MESSIAH:  Signs and Wonders When Jesus brought the Kingdom of Heaven near, he did more than teach.  He healed the sick and raised the dead.  ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 37

MESSIAH:  The Kingdom of Heaven ?What is the kingdom of heaven?  And what did Christ teach us about it during His earthly ministry?  We'll learn ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 36

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 ...
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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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 35

THE PROPHETS:  Messiah–Jesus' Birth and Childhood The Messiah is here! Study Guides: pdf. download, use the older version this week for Ages 4-8 (I'm out ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 34

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 33

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 32

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 31

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 ...
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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 ...
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Evan Hughes Art: Bible Reading Challenge, Week 30

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge Announcement

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 29

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 28

THE PROPHETS:  Jonah, Amos, Hosea Anybody for minor prophets?  When naming the books of the Old Testament, that's the category where we often stall out, ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 27

THE PROPHETS:  Elijah ?The great days of the kings are over.  God promised to divide the kingdom after Solomon's time, doctor and (surprise!) that's just ...
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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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 26

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 25

THE KINGS:  Wisdom Solomon was the wisest earthly king ever before or ever since.  Where did he get that wisdom?  And how can we get ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 24

THE KINGS:  Solomon and the Temple This week we come to the apex of Israel's earthly glory: Solomon's reign as symbolized by the construction of ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 23

THE KINGS:  David's Fall David sees something he wants.  Something he really, really wants.  And now we see writ large why, though he is called ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 22

THE KINGS:  David We've already seen King Saul and what happens when he follows his own heart instead of God.  This week we'll see how ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 21

THE NATION:  Failure Thanks to Janie for covering for me this week!  I've been on a very blessed reprieve this week, but Janie and Carl ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 20

THE NATION:  Saul The people wanted a king, so God let them have their way.  Saul is crowned, and everything is coming up roses for ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 19

THE NATION:  Samuel First and Second Samuel represent a transition period from the time of the judges to the first earthly king of Israel.  Before ...
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Bible Reading Challenge – Week 18

THE NATION: RUTH Happy Mother's Day!  This week's Bible Reading Challenge is actually appropriate for the Mother's Day--as long as we include mothers-in-law. How do ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 17

THE NATION: FAILURE! Remember that promise the people made to Joshua after his farewell speech: "We will serve the Lord"?  Well, they did, sort of.  ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 16

  WEEK 16: THE NATION--HOME AT LAST Joshua is installed as leader of the Israelites, and it's time for them all to enter the Promised ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 15

  WEEK 15: BLESSINGS AND CURSES This week we're reading through Deuteronomy, in which the Israelites are almost ready to enter the Promised Land.  Moses ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 14

THE NATION: Sacrifice How can an unholy people approach a holy God?  Leviticus helped God's people answer that question many years ago, and even though ...
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Bible Reading Challenge: Happy Easter!

No new material this week.  We're celebrating the risen Lord--in my case by worshiping and then taking a Sunday nap!  If you don't want to ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 13

    THE NATION: TABERNACLE It's clear God's people can't keep the law.  They aren't worthy to be His people.  So, is God going to ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 12

          THE PEOPLE: FAILURE! After receiving the law from God on Sinai, this week we learn about how the Israelites experience ...
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A Children’s Guide to Pilgrim’s Progress

Last October, Janie and I celebrated Reformation Day with a read-along of Pilgrim's Progress for families.  Janie covered the original book for older kids, while ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 11

The Lord leads His people to the same mountain where he spoke with Moses from the burning bush--Mt. Horeb, also called Sinai.   Israel is in ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 10

THE PEOPLE: Deliverance This week we go deeper into Moses' story, and how God used him to bring His people out of slavery and on ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 9

    THE PEOPLE: Moses Today we look at how God grew Israel's family into a new "people", and how God worked deliverance for them ...
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Parents’ Guide to Environmentalism in Kids’ Literature

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 ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 8

This week we look at that boy with the amazing technicolor dreamcoat!  But what's really important about Joseph is not his fancy coat.  God has ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 6

Last week as you recall, we made a switch from "Problem" mode to "Promise" mode--we made the problem, God will fix it.  Abraham was the ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 5

Thanks again to picture book illustrator, Kevin Luthardt, for creating our Story Bible art today!  To read more about him and his advice for your ...
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Japanese Literary Adventure: Study Notes

I hope you guys have enjoyed learning a little more about Japanese literature with our guests Roger Lowther and Dr. Mike Sugimoto this month.  As ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 4

Study Guides: .pdf Download: Ages 4-8, Week Four .pdf Download: Ages 9-13, Week Four Make Your Own Story Bible Resources: .pdf Download 1: Story Bible ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week 3 (Jan. 22)

Wow, week 3!  This week we'll be studying Noah, so put on your rainboots! Study Guides: .pdf Download: Ages 4-8, Week Three .pdf Download: Ages ...
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Bible Reading Challenge, Week Two (Jan. 15)

Can't believe week two is already here! Study guides: .pdf Download: Ages 4-8, Week Two .pdf Download: Ages 9-12, Week Two FYI: The Make-Your-Own-Story-Bible directions ...
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Our 2012 Bible Reading Challenge: an Introduction

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 ...
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2012 Reading Challenge and Bible Adventure

ONE STORY, ONE BIG ADVENTURE Judging by the success of Sally Lloyd Jones' The Jesus Storybook Bible and R. C. Sproul's new book, What's in ...
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Dystopian Download

Yesterday on our site, we offered a review of both book and movie, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  But of course, it's not the ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 8

Today's Theme: Finishing Well From the clutches of Giant Despair, Christian and Hopeful escape into pleasant places of the Delectable Mountains.  We see them refreshing ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 7

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 ...
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The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part 4: Home At Last

If you're just joining us, here's the Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. For the Project Gutenberg online version, go here. The worst ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 6

  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 ...
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The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part 3: Dangerous Detours

Introduction Part One Part Two (The online text we're using is located at Project Gutenberg, here.) Vanity Fair After leaving Talkative behind, Christian and Faithful ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 5

  CHAPTER FIVE: The Valley of the Shadow Today's Theme: God With Us Today, following on the heels of his fight with Apollyon and his ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 4

This post is part of our Pilgrim's Progress read along during our Reformation Month celebration.  You can find an introduction and sign up for an ...
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The Pilgrim’s Progress 2: Salvation Highway

Introduction Part One Slackers and Interlopers Right away, Christian learns that salvation is not for sissies!  The sleeping men have for various reasons failed to ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 3

  Chapter 3: The Hill of Difficulty Today's Theme: Lions on Chains Salvation is the beginning of the battle.  In Chapter 3, Christian is now ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 2

  Chapter Two: The Interpreter's House Today's Theme: A Burden Lost, Heaven Gained In this section, Christian comes into the Wicket Gate, is taught by ...
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Pilgrim’s Progress: From the City of Destruction to the Cross

This is Part One of our read along of The Prilgrim's Progress for high school age and up.  Here's the Introduction. The City of Destruction ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 1

Welcome to our Pilgrim's Progress Read Along, part Redeemedreader.com's Reformation Month celebration!  We'll be pursuing two tracks over the month of October, 2011--this one for ...
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The Pilgrim’s Progress: Introduction

John Bunyan was a dissenting pastor of the mid-17th century: “dissenting” meaning that some of his biblical interpretations differed from those of the established (state-supported) ...
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Pilgrim’s Progress: Mission Adventure

  A REFORMATION CELEBRATION Reformation Day has been celebrated in Germany, Slovenia, and in many Protestant and Lutheran churches around the world for centuries.  Though ...
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Ted Tripp’s Worship Principle

The basic premise of Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp is this: “Behavior is heart-driven, therefore, correction, discipline, and training—all parenting—must be addressed to ...
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That Hideous Strength 4: Denouement

For earlier posts, start with the Introduction. Denouement is not a common word in everyday conversation, so for a long time I didn’t know how ...
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The Abolition of Man, Part Three

Part One. Part Two. In the second essay of The  Abolition of Man, “The Way,” Lewis showed that humanity seemed to have only  one code ...
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That Hideous Strength 3: Climax

Previous posts: Introduction, Part One: Setup, Part Two: Development. Climax?  Isn’t it a little early for that?  Most of us have the idea that the ...
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The Abolition of Man, Part Two

This week, widespread rioting in Britain has blanketed the news, along with commentators asking the eternal question, “Why?”  Shaking my head over the pictures of ...
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Christ in Literature: Symbolism (pt. 4)

In my last post of this series, I looked at two ways that the Lord wrote Christ in the Old Testament: historically and symbolically.  As ...
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That Hideous Strength 2: Development

Previous Posts: Introduction Part One: Setup Almost all the main characters have been introduced and the potential conflicts are in place.  Now development: that phase ...
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The Abolition of Man, Part One

(Beginning a three-part study intended to accompany our reading of  That Hideous Strength this month.) In February of 1943 Lewis delivered three evening lectures at ...
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That Hideous Strength 1: the Setup

Beginning our first-ever Readalong: here's the Introduction. The action takes place at three fictional locations: Edgetow, a university town similar to Cambridge, but smaller; St. ...
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That Hideous Strength: An Introduction

In the summer of 1945, George Orwell wrote a review for the Manchester Evening News, beginning, "On the whole, novels are better when there are ...
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Christ in Literature: History (pt. 3)

In my previous post, I tried to show that Sally Lloyd Jones uses two broad ways of finding Christ in the Old Testament: 1) historical ...
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Earthly Fathers, Our Heavenly Father & A Contest

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him ...
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Christ in Literature: Old Testament Lessons (pt. 2)

I have recommended The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones in numerous posts on this blog. That doesn't mean I think it is perfect, ...
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10 Vacation Audiobooks for the Whole Family

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the ...
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Interview with Dr. Gene Edward Veith

Gene Edward Veith: Parent + Educator + Writer Many--if not all--of our readers are praying earnestly for their children to lead God-centered, successful lives.  Of ...
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Christ in Literature: Worlds Without God? (pt.1)

“They know bits and pieces of the Old Testament—how God created the heavens and the earth, what rules he wants us to follow, how he ...
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Easter Gifts 101: Last Minute Warning!

Easter is almost here, and while you could just pick a board book up at Walmart while you're getting the Paas dye, you've still got ...
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Easter Gifts 101: Bible stories and The Story of the Bible

“I just ordered Happy and Honey, Bob Books set 1, and the Starfall readers—books you recommended—for Lois's and my African-American great-grandson. Could you recommend an ...
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The Prince's Poison Cup cover image

Easter Gifts 101: ‘The Prince’s Poison Cup’ by R. C. Sproul

The Prince's Poison Cup is perfect for young boys ages 4-8, but I think it will also appeal to many girls. It's that time of ...
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Dystopia, Part Three

Part One. Part Two. What's the problem with a glut of grim, futurist fiction on the YA bookshelves? Maybe nothing. Youth is resilient, and most ...
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Dystopia, Part Two

(Find Part One here) Besides being uniformly grim, there are other traits the current crop of dystopian novels share: A post-apocalyptic future--the story opens after ...
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Dystopia: Dead Ahead

Part One How's this for a scenario: In the future, the USA has been divided into thirteen districts, and the most prosperous oppresses all the ...
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