Reading Guides

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 ...

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

By emily | Nov 26, 2012

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, ...

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. ...

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 ...

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 42

By emily | Nov 4, 2012

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: ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 41

By emily | Oct 28, 2012

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: ...

Hobbits, Hot Chocolate, & The Bookshelf Giveaway

By emily | Oct 22, 2012

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 ...

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 38

By emily | Oct 7, 2012

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. ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 37

By emily | Sep 30, 2012

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 ...

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 35

By emily | Sep 16, 2012

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 ...

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 ...

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 13, 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 12, 2012

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 ...

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 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 Janie Cheaney | Jul 22, 2012

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, ...

By emily | Jul 16, 2012

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 ...

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 ...

By emily | Jul 2, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 24

By emily | Jun 25, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 23

By emily | Jun 17, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 22

By emily | Jun 11, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 21

By emily | Jun 3, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 20

By emily | May 27, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 19

By emily | May 20, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge – Week 18

By Janie Cheaney | May 13, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 17

By Janie Cheaney | May 6, 2012

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. ...

By emily | Apr 29, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 15

By emily | Apr 23, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 14

By emily | Apr 15, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Apr 8, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 13

By emily | Apr 1, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 12

By emily | Mar 25, 2012

THE PEOPLE: FAILURE! After receiving the law from God on Sinai, this week we learn about how the Israelites experience ...

A Children’s Guide to Pilgrim’s Progress

By emily | Mar 20, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 11

By emily | Mar 18, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 10

By emily | Mar 11, 2012

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 9

By emily | Mar 4, 2012

THE PEOPLE: Moses Today we look at how God grew Israel's family into a new "people", and how God worked deliverance for them ...

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 ...

Bible Reading Challenge, Week 8

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 26, 2012

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 12, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Feb 5, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Jan 30, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Jan 29, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Jan 22, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Jan 15, 2012

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 ...

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 2, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Dec 27, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Nov 5, 2011

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 ...

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 Janie Cheaney | Nov 1, 2011

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 ...

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 25, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Oct 24, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Oct 21, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 19, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Oct 17, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Oct 15, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 13, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Oct 12, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 10, 2011

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) ...

By emily | Oct 6, 2011

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

Ted Tripp’s Worship Principle

By emily | Aug 25, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 23, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 21, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 16, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 13, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Aug 11, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 9, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 6, 2011

(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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 3, 2011

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. ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 2, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Jul 7, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Jun 8, 2011

"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 ...

By emily | Jun 2, 2011

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, ...

By emily | May 30, 2011

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the ...

Interview with Dr. Gene Edward Veith

By Janie Cheaney | May 25, 2011

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 ...

By emily | May 16, 2011

“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 ...

By emily | Apr 18, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Mar 30, 2011

“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 ...

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

By emily | Mar 28, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 25, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 25, 2011

(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 ...

Dystopia: Dead Ahead

By Janie Cheaney | Dec 23, 2010

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 ...