Resources

Bird Boy Project: Discussion Forum 2 (and another great giveaway!)

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 15, 2017

By chapters 8-13, we’re well into the development part of the novel, which (you may recall) I mentioned is the often the most difficult part ...

The Bird Boy Project: Discussion Forum 1 (and book giveaway!)

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 8, 2017

At last count, thirty families and individuals (and a few classes) have signed up to receive daily chapters of my latest in-progress novel. (If you ...

Project Bird Boy: Launch! (with one free download)

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 1, 2017

To be fair, doubts about Roy Ray Rappaport were perfectly understandable. Except for bats, winged mammals are so rare they're assumed to be myths. Even ...

10 True Stories for Teens

By Betsy Farquhar | Aug 28, 2017

10 True Stories for Teens It's hard to beat a good, true story. Something about the it really happened aspect just makes it better, don't you ...

Back-to-School Booklist, 2017 edition (+ Giveaway!)

By Betsy Farquhar | Aug 21, 2017

Have your kids already started school? Or perhaps that's still to come in the next couple of weeks. No matter what stage of back-to-school season you're ...

Are Your Kids Reading-Ready for College?

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 19, 2017

Do you have a high school senior who plans on heading out to college But wait! Do you or your kids know what it takes ...

Get Ready for the Eclipse! Space and Sci-Fi Booklist

By Betsy Farquhar | Aug 16, 2017

Ready for the Eclipse? Have you tested out your eclipse glasses? Do you know where you're going to be on August 21 when the eclipse ...

How to Read Aloud Hard Books: 5 Steps

By Betsy Farquhar | Aug 7, 2017

Love to read aloud, but stumble over the hard books? You're not alone. Hard books are hard to read aloud. They just are. Even for ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 6: Generosity and Love in Literature

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 26, 2017

Betsy: It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of our Wisdom & Wonder Summer Reading Challenge! On a personal level, this has been a ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 6 Booklist

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 24, 2017

Our last Wisdom & Wonder Booklist to help you wrap up your summer! You'll see a couple of repeats from earlier in the summer as ...

Week 6 : God So Loved, He Gave

By Hayley Morell | Jul 24, 2017

Introduction This summer reading challenge has flown by! Can you believe it’s Week 6 already? (Granted, we did take a week off for the Fourth ...

Let’s Talk It over: Honesty and Diligence in Literature

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 22, 2017

Janie: This week we’re taking up two major themes in Proverbs: honest work and honest words. At first glance they may not seem to be that closely ...

Sherri Dusky Rinker Interview

By Megan Saben | Jul 21, 2017

If you are already fans of Sherri Dusky Rinker's delightful bestselling picture book Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, you will certainly enjoy the sequel, Mighty, Mighty ...

Teach Literary Elements With … Movies!

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 21, 2017

All stories share the same literary elements, be they written or acted, books or movies. Summer Blockbusters For the Win And movies are a terrific ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 5 Booklist

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 18, 2017

Our Proverbs emphasis for week 5 is "Work and Words," (or honesty and diligence, which means basically the same thing without the alliteration). Our booklist ...

Wisdom & Wonder, Week 5: Work and Words

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 17, 2017

Introduction: Our two Wise Up chapters for this week are “Looking to the Ants” (Week 8, p. 87) and “Honesty is the Best Policy” (Week ...

Which Path & Which Friend Discussion

By Hayley Morell | Jul 13, 2017

This week, the Redeemed Reader team discusses what it looks like to take the right path and our favorite friendships in literature. Pilgrim's Progress ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 4 Booklist

By Hayley Morell | Jul 11, 2017

Week 4 Theme: Which Path and With Whom Additional Proverbs to Read and Think About 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 4: Which Path and With Whom?

By Hayley Morell | Jul 10, 2017

Welcome to Week 4 of Wisdom and Wonder! We hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July. Now, back to the reading challenge! For a ...

Responding to Correction: What does it look like in books?

By Megan Saben | Jun 28, 2017

This week the team discusses how characters respond to correction not only in our anchor books, but also in other literary or popular titles. In Wise ...

Building a Shakespeare Home Library Collection

By Megan Saben | Jun 27, 2017

When you want to enjoy Shakespeare with your children, you can either focus on one play at a time or spread a Shakespeare feast so ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 3 Booklist

By Megan Saben | Jun 24, 2017

Wisdom & Wonder Week 3 Booklist Weekly Theme: Responding to Correction (Wise-Up #6, 7) Additional Proverbs to Read and Think About 14:12 There is a ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 3: Responding to Correction

By Megan Saben | Jun 24, 2017

Welcome to week 3 of our Wisdom & Wonder Summer Reading Challenge! In Week 1, we learned about turning to God and away from sin. ...

The Source of Wisdom: What does it look like in books?

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 22, 2017

The Redeemed Reader Team is discussing books this week in light of our Wisdom & Wonder Week 2 Theme: God’s Word! In particular, we’re looking ...

Wisdom & Wonder: All About God’s Word (Links!)

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 20, 2017

God's Word is a Treasure Did you know that there are a wealth of Bible-related resources here at Redeemed Reader? Children's literature is not our ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 2 Booklist

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 19, 2017

Wisdom & Wonder Week 2 Booklist Weekly Theme: God’s Word is a Treasure Additional Proverbs to Read and Think About 4:23 Keep your heart with ...

Wisdom & Wonder Week 2: God’s Word is a Treasure

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 19, 2017

Welcome to week 2 of our Wisdom & Wonder Summer Reading Challenge! Last week, we learned about turning to God and away from sin. Jesus ...

Wisdom and Wonder: Linked Reads – Week 1

By Alysha | Jun 13, 2017

This week's theme: Turning to God and Away From Sin To further engage with the theme, here is a list of archived posts that we feel ...

Wisdom and Wonder: Week 1 – Turning Towards God and Away from Sin

By Alysha | Jun 12, 2017

Welcome to week 1 of our Wisdom & Wonder Summer Reading Challenge! Wisdom and Wonder Week 1: Turning to God and Away from Sin! This ...

Wisdom and Wonder Booklist – Week 1

By Alysha | Jun 12, 2017

Wisdom & Wonder Week [1] Booklist: Weekly Theme: Turning towards God and Away from Sin Wise-Up #1 (Real Wise Man) and #2 (Heart of the ...

Ask-a-Librarian: Professional Development for Nonprofessional Readers

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 7, 2017

Ask-a-Librarian is an occasional feature in which we answer a reader's question. Feel free to send us questions you think would be good for this space! (Use ...

Wisdom & Wonder Activities and Giveaway!

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 5, 2017

Wisdom & Wonder is Just Around the Corner! Are you excited about joining us for our Wisdom & Wonder summer reading challenge? Don't forget to get ...

Wisdom & Wonder Summer Reading “Anchor” Books

By Betsy Farquhar | May 24, 2017

Join us for Wisdom & Wonder: our 2017 Summer Reading Challenge focused on Proverbs! Wisdom & Wonder We are going to be diving into the ...

2017 Summer Reading Challenge is Coming…

By Betsy Farquhar | May 17, 2017

Join us for our 2017 Summer Reading Challenge: Wisdom & Wonder Get ready to dive into the book of Proverbs, read great literature, examine it from ...

Easter List Round-Up, 2017 Edition

By Betsy Farquhar | Apr 10, 2017

Need a last minute gift idea for Easter morning? Want to have some books around that remind your children of the real reason for Easter? ...

Musical Mondays and Theology Thursdays: How to Use Christian Resources with Kids

By Betsy Farquhar | Apr 10, 2017

We love to track down solid biblical resources for you to use with your families, Sunday School classrooms, and Christian school classrooms. Not only do ...

To See or Not To See: The RR Team Reflects on the New Beauty and the Beast

By Betsy Farquhar | Mar 22, 2017

This discussion is part of our Beauty and the Beast Adventure this month. The text below reflects several ongoing discussions the Redeemed Reader team has had via ...

The Queen of Attolia: A Beauty and the Beast Discussion

By Hayley Morell | Mar 21, 2017

As part of our Beauty and the Beast Adventure, Megan, Betsy, and Hayley are discussing The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. Redeemed Reader's ...

Every Falling Star: A Beauty and the Beast Discussion!

By Betsy Farquhar | Mar 15, 2017

Like our Newbery Buzz discussions, Janie and Betsy discuss Every Falling Star "virtually" in light of our Beauty and the Beast Adventure this month. We hope these discussions help ...

Beauty and the Beast – Devotional #2: the Beast

By Betsy Farquhar | Mar 10, 2017

See our first Beauty and the Beast Devotional if you missed it! This is part of our Beauty and the Beast Adventure which is focusing ...

Beauty and the Beast Adventure

By Betsy Farquhar | Mar 1, 2017

Join us as we dive into the themes and stories behind Beauty and the Beast during the month of March! And don't worry, it's not just for girls--we ...

Valentine’s Day 2017 – We’ve Been Here Before!

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 14, 2017

All of us here at RedeemedReader.com love a good romance, and over the years we've written about some of our favorites. Not all romance is ...

Rapid Fire: 10 Recent Award-Winning Picture Books

By Betsy Farquhar | Feb 13, 2017

Rapid Fire: a quick, "rapid fire" list of mini-book reviews. Janie and I love to prognosticate the Newbery Award, discuss possible contenders, and dialogue during the announcement ...

Straight Talk About the Birds and the Bees

By Betsy Farquhar | Feb 5, 2017

This is a review specifically for parents; librarians and teachers may benefit as well, but children should ask their parents first before reading further. This is also ...

Go 3D This Year: a Dewey Decimal Dare

By Betsy Farquhar | Jan 3, 2017

Remember when you were in elementary school and dutifully learned the Dewey Decimal system? If you're like me, you got to college and promptly forgot ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Dec 31, 2016

The Grown-Ups' 2017 Reading Challenge Perhaps you have seen Tim Challies's 2017 Reading Challenge. Inspired in part by an original PopSugar reading challenge, Challies has broken his challenge down ...

Road Trip! 10 Audio Book Suggestions for the Whole Family

By Betsy Farquhar | Dec 26, 2016

a popular post from our archives! Christmas is coming! And with it, lots of potential travel time...in the car...all together now.... If you're a screen-free-whilst-driving ...

40 Books for Dads to Read to Their Kids

By Betsy Farquhar | Dec 26, 2016

Strong father figures, adventures, humor, and general fun await! 40 books for DADS to read to their kids: fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction. Humor, adventure, ...

Twelfth Night: Shakespeare’s Christmas Play

By Betsy Farquhar | Dec 12, 2016

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is not exactly a Christmas play, I'll admit. But "Twelfth Night" does refer to the 12th night of the ...

Pearl Harbor Child: an Interview with Dorinda Nicholson

By Janie Cheaney | Dec 7, 2016

Her father was from Kansas City; her mother was native Hawaiian, and Dorinda Makanaonalani Stagner grew up on Pearl City Peninsula, just around the bend ...

2016 Winter Book Fair: Books For Everyone!

By Betsy Farquhar | Nov 18, 2016

2016 Winter Book Fair Books for Everyone On Your Christmas List! We have chosen the best of the best, our personal favorites, and plenty of great ...

Vote for . . . Whoever (A Re-post from 2012)

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 8, 2016

In a campaign season, especially a big general election like this one, parents and teachers want to give the kids a clue what’s going on. ...

Pastor, Blogger, Author, Editor: More Church History Recommendations for the Whole Family!

By Betsy Farquhar | Oct 31, 2016

We've spent all month reading and learning about church history. It's been such a rich study with interviews and book reviews, but we are not ...

Church History with Tim Challies

By Hayley Morell | Oct 28, 2016

Today we are happy to bring you a virtual interview with pastor, author, and blogger extraordinaire —Tim Challies. Tim serves as a pastor at Grace ...

*The Radical Book for Kids by Champ Thornton

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 27, 2016

This fun and friendly compendium of Bible facts, everyday knowledge, history, how-to, wise counsel, apologetics, and doctrine is a terrific resource for every Christian kid. ...

Learning from John Wycliffe: an Interview with Douglas Bond

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 14, 2016

Yesterday we reviewed The Revolt: a Novel in Wycliffe’s England. Today we’re happy to have the author of that book answer a few questions for ...

5 Questions for Brian Cosby, author of God’s Story

By Betsy Farquhar | Oct 7, 2016

We are delighted to bring you a virtual interview with Brian Cosby, author of one of our featured church history resources for teens: God's Story: A ...

Church History October

By Betsy Farquhar | Oct 1, 2016

See below for our list of church history resources! Next year marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s well known act of defiance against the church of ...

Take the Survey, Enter the Giveaway!

By Betsy Farquhar | Sep 30, 2016

Survey is now closed. Thanks to those who participated! We want to offer a big CONGRATULATIONS! to our prize winners. The winners will each receive ...

The Virtual Nightstand

By Betsy Farquhar | Sep 16, 2016

In lieu of our former "Book Bits" and "Web Newbery" posts, we're going to share a bit more of our personal reading lives with you, ...

Our 9/11 Book List

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 9, 2016

If you've been with us for the last few months you doubtless saw Betsy's reviews of two recent, highly-regarded middle-grade novels about the worst foreign attack ...

Back-to-School Backpack List (2016)

By The Redeemed Shall Read | Aug 17, 2016

Just in time for the start of a new school year with new pencils, new protractors, new textbooks: our Back-to-School Backpack Booklist! As is our ...

Talking about Books That Talk about Race

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 23, 2016

Not a "Newbery Buzz" post because these titles were published before 2016 and are already award winners! But, for similar posts in which Janie and Betsy ...

Cooking Up Fun: ‘Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes’

By emily | Jul 7, 2016

Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. Puffin, 1997. 32 pages. Reading Level: Ages 8-10 Recommended For: all ages ...

Ask a Librarian: Peter Pan

By Megan Saben | Jun 27, 2016

We love hearing from our readers! Ask-a-Librarian is an occasional feature in which we answer a reader’s email query. There are plenty of books we ...

Shakespeare Summer: Some General Principles (applied to a difficult play)

By Megan Saben | Jun 13, 2016

Last year we covered A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is readily available in numerous retellings, picture books, and even coloring pages. We chose this play ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 3, 2016

Read on for interesting book-related news from around the web.... Boston Globe-Hornbook Award Announced Yesterday! We've reviewed a few of them here and for World Magazine: Goodbye, ...

The Summer of Great Family Reads

By Betsy Farquhar | May 27, 2016

For Everything, There is a Season There are patterns in Scripture of both the Lord and his people resting from their labors. Summer is such ...

Ask-a-Librarian: 30 Great “New” Books

By Betsy Farquhar | May 9, 2016

Ask-a-Librarian is an occasional feature in which we answer a reader's email query. Here at Redeemed Reader, we love children's books from all eras and all ...

By Betsy Farquhar | May 6, 2016

Read on for interesting book-related news from around the web.... Adult Coloring Books? Adult coloring books are all the rage, but some Christians have ...

By Megan Saben | May 2, 2016

What do you do when spring is shining and the kids are squirming? If you have a child who is enthusiastic about Legos, enrich their time ...

Help! My Kid is Developing Brain Cavities!

By Betsy Farquhar | Mar 21, 2016

Maybe your kids, like mine, have recently read classic novels. Maybe your family, like mine, has been reading a biography of a famous scientist ...

3 Irresistible Picture Books for Boys

By Megan Saben | Mar 14, 2016

Pop quiz: What’s the funniest word in the English language? What competition is the fiercest? Do machines that are massive and gloriously noisy EVER have ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Mar 7, 2016

Book Bits: a random collection of interesting, book-related news from around the web. Enjoy! Easter is just around the corner! Check out this Easter devotional ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Feb 15, 2016

Our regular readers have no doubt noticed a dearth of book reviews recently covering new releases. We're still offering up great lists, commentary, reviews of older ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 10, 2016

Last week I set forth some reasons why older children (ages 12-18) have not outgrown the benefits of reading aloud. If you’re convinced about the ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Feb 5, 2016

It's high time we revived Book Bits: a random collection of interesting book-related links and information found around the web. Enjoy! Beatrix Potter has a ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 3, 2016

The last time I talked to my daughter on the phone, she said, “Guess what Adriel is doing now.” That’s my nine-year-old granddaughter, and of ...

5 Fun Fairy Tale Reads for February

By Betsy Farquhar | Feb 1, 2016

Love is in the air! Or is it? Despite the myriad of hearts, chocolates, and flowers festooning every available merchandising spot, not everyone wants to ...

Five Family Read Alouds

By Hayley Morell | Jan 29, 2016

Long winter nights and the occasional snow day make for excellent read-aloud weather. Here are five favorites that can be enjoyed by the whole family. ...

By Megan Saben | Jan 25, 2016

Snowbound? Wishing you were? Here are some titles to enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate. Supertruck by Stephen Savage. Roaring Brook, 2015. 32 pages. ...

The Nutcracker: This is That Time of Year

By Betsy Farquhar | Dec 14, 2015

The Nutcracker ballet is part of many Americans' yearly cultural celebration of Christmas. The music plays everywhere, and even young children often recognize the strains ...

By Alysha | Dec 4, 2015

One of the high school classes I teach is devoted to helping students become discerning readers. Modern young adult fiction can be a minefield of ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Dec 2, 2015

I'm all for diversity in books--after all, God's creation is full of so many different kinds of people and they are all created in His image. We ...

Have an Awesome Thanksgiving

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 23, 2015

In honor of this week's holiday, a book review post from a few years back: *Sarah Gives Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday, by ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Nov 16, 2015

Prolific author Jean Fritz turns 100 today! During her long life, she has written numerous books--mostly biographies--for children. Before picture book biographies were so prevalent, ...

By Megan Saben | Nov 9, 2015

I'm delighted to introduce our readers to Jonathan Bean, author and illustrator of a recently published picture book about homeschooling based on his childhood experience: ...

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 29, 2015

Yesterday I made a distinction between “terror” stories and “horror” stories—the latter based squarely on our elemental fear of death, often with buckets of blood ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Oct 18, 2015

Janie's newest novel for young folks, I Don't Know How the Story Ends, hit store shelves this month, and she's been busy signing copies and ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Oct 5, 2015

Janie's sixth middle grades novel, I Don't Know How the Story Ends, is due to hit store shelves this Wednesday (October 6th)! We will be featuring ...

Four Ways to Enjoy Fall Reading

By Hayley Morell | Oct 2, 2015

While summer is a nice time to read —fall is here. A season of chilly nights and hot cups of tea, fall brings the perfect ...

Top 25 Ancient History Resources

By Betsy Farquhar | Sep 6, 2015

Top 25 Ancient History Resources “Ancient History” is primarily concerned with the world during biblical times and the early church. When the children of Israel ...

Story Tea: Picture Books of the Year (+printable)

By Betsy Farquhar | Sep 1, 2015

World magazine has just announced their Children's Books of the Year! Both the Children's Book of the Year and the Picture Book of the ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 31, 2015

World Magazine has chosen a "book of the year" for at least twenty years. In 2013, the magazine diversified a little and chose three books ...

Ask-a-Librarian: Lemony Snicket and Literary Worldview

By Megan Saben | Aug 18, 2015

Ask-a-Librarian is an occasional feature in which we answer a reader’s email query. "Dear RR: What are your thoughts on Lemony Snicket?" A reader recently ...

Back to School Backpack 2015

By Megan Saben | Aug 10, 2015

Back to School Backpack 2015 Here are some titles to inspire your students in the coming school year! We've collected a few of our favorite ...

By Megan Saben | Jun 24, 2015

During our break this summer, we are taking the opportunity to experience the richness of great literature in a multi-layered fashion. We don’t have all ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 22, 2015

If you recognize names such as Jack and Annie or Patrick and Beth, know that mysteries can be ordered A to Z, or believe in ...

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 8, 2015

*Unfortunately, it looks like this program is no longer available. Consider this review a source of inspiration! If you create something like this, be sure ...

By Megan Saben | May 30, 2015

Five ways to maximize your library this summer: {with printables} 1. Sign up for the summer reading program. Free. Prizes. ‘Nuff said. 2. Use the ...

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