Reflections

Reading K. M. Shea’s Clean Urban Fantasy

Snarky heroines, quick banter, action, adventure, and a dash of romance are all components to K. M. Shea’s urban fantasy novels, but are they suitable ...
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Hope in the Valley book cover

2024 Newbery Buzz #5: Hope in the Valley by Mitali Perkins

It’s no secret to long-time RR readers that we love Mitali Perkins (*and* her books). We’ve reviewed nearly all of them to date, from picture ...
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2024 Newbery Buzz #4: Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

Simon Sort of Says was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Could it win the Newbery? We're continuing our long-running Newbery ...
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2024 Newbery Buzz #3: The Puppets of Spelhorst

Kate DiCamillo's very first book won a Newbery honor, and she has won two Newbery medals on top of that. Is The Puppets of Spelhorst ...
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2024 Newbery Buzz #2: Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus

Traditionally, the Newbery Medal has been awarded to many historical fiction novels. That trend has shifted a bit in recent years. Today, we're looking at ...
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2024 Newbery Buzz #1: A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

A First Time For Everything has already won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Could it also win the Newbery? We're kicking off ...
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Janie’s Favorite Books, Old and New

We are excited to be partnering with Story Glory Kids for our Winter Book Fair this year! In the past, we linked to amazon for ...
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Hayley’s Favorite Books, Old and New

We are excited to be partnering with Story Glory Kids for our Winter Book Fair this year! In the past, we linked to amazon for ...
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Megan’s Favorite Books, Old and New

We are excited to be partnering with Story Glory Kids for our Winter Book Fair this year! In the past, we linked to amazon for ...
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Betsy’s Favorite Books, Old and New

We are excited to be partnering with Storyglory Kids for our Winter Book Fair this year! In the past, we linked to amazon for all ...
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diary of anne frank

Which Version of The Diary of Anne Frank Is Best?

A lengthy post in which Betsy seeks to answer some of the many questions she and the RR team have received over the past several ...
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ancient literature

Reading Ancient Literature with High School Students

Some of us love ancient literature, especially the great Homeric epics. Others shudder at the thought. I'm in the former camp, but I haven't always ...
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Books and Schoolhouse Battles

Those of us who homeschool admire the one-room schoolhouse model of previous centuries. With simple resources, a wide-range of ages, and a school year that ...
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cover of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Gladys Hunt on Re-issues: Good, Bad, and Ugly

A story betrayed Originally published on the Tumblon website January 29, 2010 It’s sometimes like wandering into unknown territory if you’ve had favorite books in ...
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Gladys Hunt on Starred Reviews

Editor's Note: "Starred reviews" are a guideline for librarians figuring how to spend the budget for the children's section. (We take particular notice of them ...
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5 Souvenirs from Narnia

(Originally published on Redeemed Reader September 21, 2015) Some places we visit once as tourists. Once we have a souvenir, have checked off the "must ...
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Gladys Hunt on Personal Libraries

Editor's Note: As we head into the last month of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along, we share the late Gladys Hunt's further thoughts ...
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Gladys Hunt on Stellar Historical Fiction

Editor's Note: We're wrapping up our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along with Chapter 19, on historical novels. Sarah, Plain and Tall Series Originally published ...
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Gladys Hunt on Pop-up Books

Editor's Note: Pop-up books could be one of those "Fresh Ways to Read" we're considering in our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along this month. ...
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Gladys Hunt on the Magical Tool of Language

The Power of Words Originally published on the Tumblon website, April 14, 2009 “If you know how to use words, you don’t have to be ...
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Gladys Hunt on an Exaggerated Demise

Editor's Note: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," wrote Mark Twain, in response to a mistaken obituary. Likewise the reports of the death ...
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Gladys Hunt on Diversity

“Teacher, do you have any books with pictures of kids that look like me?” Originally published on the Tumblon website, October 10, 2009 Probably more ...
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Gladys Hunt on Disappearing Mothers

Where are the Mothers? Originally published on the Tumbln website, April 8, 2009 Sometime when you are with people who like children’s books, try out ...
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Gladys Hunt: In Praise of Mothers

Mothering Day Originally published on the Tumblon website, May 10, 2009 The British call it “Mothering Day”—the day they honor mothers. Adding that ing gives ...
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Gladys Hunt on “Improving” the Classics

Editor's Note: Our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-Along this month takes us to Chapters 8 ("Who Influences Your Children?") and Chapter 21 ("Young Adult ...
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Gladys Hunt on Taking Notice

Editor's Note: The Honey for a Child's Heart Read-Along is focusing this month on Chapter 7 ("Honey from the Rock") and Chapter 23 ("Nourishing Your ...
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How to lead a book discussion without really trying, part 2: The book club

Often the best way to do discuss books effectively is to not plan it all out ahead of time. Megan's family started with a motif ...
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Gladys Hunt on Library Blessings

Editor's Note: The American Library Association may be a perpetrator of much mischief in children's publishing, but we can be grateful for libraries! In praise ...
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How to lead a book discussion without really trying, part 1: The motif journal

Often the best way to do discuss books effectively is to not plan it all out ahead of time. Megan's family started a motif journal ...
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Gladys Hunt on Pigs and Possibilities

Editor's Note: Are there any animal lovers in the family? Gladys Hunt can recommend nine--count 'em, nine--recommendations for a classic story involving not one, but ...
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Honey for a Child’s Heart Read Along: Month 7

Welcome to month 7 of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read Along! Not sure what we're talking about? Find out more here. Each month, ...
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Gladys Hunt on Shared Adventures

Editor's Note: This month's Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along chapters are "The Pleasure of a Shared Adventure" and "Animal Lovers." Here's Gladys Hunt with ...
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Why Your Church Nursery Needs a Library

The Lord has been challenging my reading skills and assumptions lately, both humbling and teaching me in the process. I had offered to teach a ...
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Gladys Hunt on Raising Readers

Editor's Note: "Literacy" begins long before a child can read for herself. Here, Gladys Hunt muses about how to take those first steps. How do ...
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Gladys Hunt on Enjoying Poetry with Children

Editor's Note: This month we're reading the two chapters in Honey for a Child's Heart that address poetry. Do you enjoy poetry? Would you like ...
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Gladys Hunt on Choosing Mother Goose

Editor's Note: It's a new month--meaning a new chapter in our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along. Or actually, two chapters: #5: "Poetry" and #22: ...
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Honey for a Child’s Heart Read Along: Month 6

Welcome to month 6 of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read Along! Not sure what we're talking about? Find out more here. Each month, ...
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2023 Newbery Buzz #5: I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

I Must Betray You is one of those novels that straddles the line between Newbery age ranges and Printz age ranges. Will it get some ...
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2023 Newbery Buzz #4: Jack Zulu

Does an independently published novel like Jack Zulu have what it takes to win the Newbery? We're back with Newbery Buzz Discussion #4 for 2023. ...
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Poetry on Earwigs (and Also Goats With Beaks)

My husband still teases me about my first poem, which has hitherto never been published. There once was a goatWho lived in a boatHe went ...
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2023 Newbery Buzz #2: The Door of No Return

Back for our second buzz, Janie and Betsy talk over a troubling but moving verse novel. Out of Africa Janie: Kwame Alexander scored a gold ...
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Gladys Hunt on Little Golden Books

Editor's Note: You may have to be of a certain age for Little Golden Books to tweak your memory, but there was a lot of ...
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2022 In the Books

2022 In Brief Readers, 2022 has been a very long year. I realize that every year technically has the same number of days. But "felt ...
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Honey for a Child’s Heart Read Along: Month 5

Welcome to month 5 of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read Along! Not sure what we're talking about? Find out more here. Each month, ...
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Gladys Hunt on Reading Together

Editor's Note: Most of us don't need persuading, but how do you find the time to read together as a family? Glady Hunt has some ...
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Gladys Hunt on Book-Gifting

Editor’s Note: We assume that most Redeemed Reader readers love books, and love to give them. But you may wonder, how can I choose for ...
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Christmas Book Flood: A Reflection

This will be my family's 7th year of enjoying one of our favorite bookish Christmas traditions: the Icelandic Christmas Book Flood, or Jólabókaflóðið ("Jolabokaflod"). We ...
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Gladys Hunt on Enjoying Picture Books–at Any Age

Editor's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving with family and good food. Everybody knows what happens next: Christmas! And, as it's still Picture ...
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Gladys Hunt on The Scent of Thanksgiving

Editor's Note: Are the smells of sage and pumpkin spice already wafting through the house? In this post, Gladys Hunt finds wonderful smells in the ...
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Gladys Hunt on the Art of the Picture Book

Editor's Note: November is National Picture Book Month! Participants in our "Honey for a Child's Heart Read-Along" are considering that topic in chapters 13 and ...
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Honey for a Child’s Heart Read Along: Month 3

Welcome to month 3 of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read Along! Not sure what we're talking about? Find out more here. Each month, ...
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Gladys Hunt on Literary Excellence

Editor's Note: This month, our "Honey for a Child's Heart Read-Along" partners are thinking about Chapters 3, 13, and 14. The latter two chapters are ...
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Are Cozy Animal Stories Cozying up to Gay Ideology?

One of our readers alerted us to Katherine Applegate’s latest book, as it seemed to her to feature a lesbian relationship. Odder, picturing a beyond-cute ...
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Gladys Hunt on Nursery Rhymes

Editor's Note: Our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along readers are thinking about Chapter 15: "First Books for Readers." Beginning readers should be primed with ...
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truth and story

Truth and Story

(Note: Betsy and I are indebted to Ethan Pettit, librarian and Children's Literature professor from Covenant College, who enlightened us so much in seeing Christ ...
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Gladys Hunt on Recognizing the Good

Editor's Note: In our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-Along this month, we're considering Chapter 15: "First Books for Readers." Settle in for some good ...
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Gladys Hunt on Your Family’s “Honey Ratio”

Editor's Note: During this month's Honey for a Child's Heart Read-Along, we'll consider Chapter 2: "Milk and Honey," and Chapter 15: "First Books for Readers." ...
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HLM curating and storing

Home Library Management: Curating and Storing the Collection

A solution for managing your books before investing in more bookshelves. When the books overflow the shelves into piles on the floor, on every surface, ...
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honey for a child's heart month 2

Honey for a Child’s Heart Read Along: Month 2

Welcome to month 2 of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read Along! Not sure what we're talking about? Find out more here. Each month, ...
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Gladys Hunt on the Very Earliest Readers

Editor's Note: In our Honey for a Child's Heart Read-along this month, we're looking at four chapters, including Chapter 12: "A Child's First Books." What ...
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Gladys Hunt on Longing for Home

Editor's Note: Four years ago, Redeemed Reader obtained the rights to republish several original blogs by the late Gladys Hunt, author of the classic children's ...
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honey for a child's heart

Honey for a Child’s Heart Read Along: Introductions

Welcome to month 1 of our Honey for a Child's Heart Read Along! Not sure what we're talking about? Find out more here. Normally, these ...
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To Read or Not to Read? How to Choose Books

We read ahead for you. We're passionate about kids' books, culture, and Christ (although not necessarily in that order), and we value our (small) role ...
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books: burdens or blessings

Are Your Books Burdens or Blessings? (How to purge your home library collection to benefit others)

"How many bookshelf feet do you need?" This was my husband's question after I requested some more bookshelves. My response: "I can fill whatever you ...
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Bestselling YA: A Look at the 2022 Market

Aside from one graphic-novel romance series, novels about death and murder dominate the current YA scene. Where's hope? What are kids reading these days? As ...
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Ukraine: Lessons in Liberty and Compassion, Part 1

This post was originally published in 2014, shortly after Ukraine's Maidan Revolution. Emily's reflections and application are still timely today. From Emily: As my kids ...
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Getting to Know Shirley Hughes (1927 —2022)

Quintessentially English, Shirley Hughes delighted generations with her charming stories and beautiful illustrations. Arthur Rackam Growing up near Liverpool, England in the 1930s -40s, Hughes ...
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RR Retreat

Retreat Reflections (2022)

In which the Redeemed Reader team has a retreat after eight years, talks about books, eats wonderful food, talks about books, plans strategically, and talks ...
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2022 Schneider Family Picture-Book Roundup: My City Speaks, A Walk in the Words, and A Sky-Blue Bench

The Schneider Family Book Awards are given annually by the American Library Association, for "books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience." Here's ...
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ling and ting cover

Lifetime Achievement Awards: Nikki Grimes and Grace Lin

Unlike the Newbery or Caldecott, given for an author's or illustrator's work on a particular book, lifetime awards look at the author's or illustrator's work ...
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2022 Newbery Buzz #5: Cuba in My Pocket

Cuba in My Pocket (see our review) appears on many Newbery favorites lists right alongside Fallout, the book Megan and Betsy mulled over yesterday. In ...
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cover of fallout

2022 Newbery Buzz #4: Fallout

Our annual Newbery Buzz Series is a series we run each January in which we discuss books with "Newbery Buzz." That is, books we've heard ...
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cover of bud not buddy

What’s the Big Deal With the Newbery Medal?

If you've been around Redeemed Reader very long, you'll know that we look at possible Newbery winners every January. Why is the Newbery Medal so ...
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2022 Newbery Buzz #3: Gone to the Woods

Today Betsy and Janie will take a closer look at Gone to the Woods, a memoir by prolific author Gary Paulsen. Paulsen has been a ...
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cover of one thing you'd save

2022 Newbery Buzz #2: The One Thing You’d Save

We've begun our annual Newbery Buzz Series: a series we run each January in which we discuss books with "Newbery Buzz." No one knows which ...
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2022 Newbery Buzz #1: The Beatryce Prophecy

It's time for our annual Newbery Buzz Series: a series we run each January in which we discuss books with "Newbery Buzz." That is, books ...
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A Year in Books: Reflecting on Reading in 2021

A Year in Books: Reflecting on Reading in 2021 Do you track your reading? I'm good at tracking title + author and filling in my ...
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What about the Tuttle Twins?

Are the much-hyped Tuttle Twins books (and curriculum) profitable for Christian families? An education in economic freedom They’re talked up by talk-show hosts and Facebook ...
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Reading Less

Reading Less … In Different Seasons of Life

Is someone at Redeemed Reader telling you to read LESS? Well, perhaps. In our small niche of websites-that-promote-reading, we love to celebrate all things reading, ...
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Banned Books 2021

What gets "banned" in today's overwrought culture conflicts? When Emily Whitten and I launched Redeemed Reader in 2011, one of our first projects was to ...
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a blue hobbit door

Looking Behind in The Hobbit

This essay was originally written by Hayley for the Redeemed Reader 2012 Writing Contest. We hope you'll enjoy it as we revisit The Hobbit this ...
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A Visit to the Printers

Last Monday, I set off for a visit to our local printers. While I've written about going to the printer's before, this time I wasn't ...
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Reading Afghanistan

For a country many of us can't even point to on a map, Afghanistan has held a consequential place in world history. This mountainous district ...
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A Bible Reading Pilgrimage in Three Parts

Bible Pilgrimage, Part 1: Reading the Bible with Young Children Almost 10 years ago (in January, 2012), before Megan and I joined the official Redeemed ...
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John Klassen and Proverbs: A Guest Post from Sarah Hartman*

John Klassen's Hat trilogy beautifully illustrates timeless truths from the book of Proverbs. I Want My Hat Back (2011), This is Not My Hat (2012), ...
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Are You Reading Under Law or Under Grace?

I have a fat file of booklists, recommended reading by people I respect who have read certain books I haven't read yet, and I struggle ...
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Christian sexuality, broken Greek statue

*Reading and Talking about Sexuality

*Note, this post engages with sexuality and includes conversation and books that are suitable for teens and adults. I was hiking in Europe. A French ...
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Ordinary Homeschooling: Reflections on just serving dinner

Resources we actually used Last summer in a post titled Just Serve Dinner, I shared some of the best resources we have enjoyed over the ...
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The Great Gatsby in Graphic Novel Form

Hayley and Betsy discuss the excellent, new graphic novel adaptation of The Great Gatsby adapted by K. Woodman-Maynard (Candlewick, 2021). First Impressions of The Great ...
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find good books, bookshelf picture

Learning to Find Good Books

How do we find good books? We get this question often at Redeemed Reader. Many of you are on the hunt for books: to satisfy a voracious ...
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the golden age, Agatha Christie photo

The Golden Age Detective Stories

This is an abridged version of the article Reading the Golden Age that originally appeared in our Fall 2020 Quarterly. Who murdered ____?  Is it ...
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What Is “Body Positivity”?

"Body Positivity," as a whole, tries to correct a false narrative by substituting an unreal narrative. About 15 years ago, a disturbing trend was popping ...
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The 2021 ALA Youth Media Awards–How Did We Do?

After an hour of listening and scribbling madly as announcements were read, I can now pass on what we learned from this year's ALA Youth ...
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2021 Newbery Buzz #2: Chirp and The List of Things That Will Not Change

We're continuing our annual "Newbery Buzz" series today with round #2 for 2021. (We discussed King and the Dragonflies earlier this month.) As a reminder, ...
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Read the Bible in 2021

As we head into 2021 after a tempestuous 2020, one thing remains certain: The Word of the Lord stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). Reading God's Word ...
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2020 … In (the) Books

It's always interesting to look back over the year and reflect. 2020 was an especially eventful year, and we thought it might be fun to ...
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Thank You, C. S. Lewis

This morning, doing devotions, I was reflecting on the resurrection. The phrase Deeper magic, before the dawn of time drifted unbidden into my reflections. I ...
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The Golden Key and the Christian Imagination

Meeting George MacDonald I first met George MacDonald through the pages of his poetry and then, later, in his novels (the versions edited by Michael ...
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Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson: A Discussion

Sometimes, we just have to "discuss" a book instead of merely write a review of it. Come eavesdrop as Betsy and Megan discuss Adorning the ...
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Not All Stories Are Created Equal

The "Power of Story" is an article of faith among authors, librarians, and other bookish people. But beware its limitations. The “power of story” consistent ...
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