Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge

If you remember, this past December I read through the entire Chronicles of Narnia series before Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire series - even though it was done in one week (which was, quite frankly, exhausting and overwhelming). At the end of the week I was happy to say that I had revisited the books and had refreshed my memory as the stories. However, I also knew that I hadn't spent enough time with each individual title, and purposed to spend more quality time with each portion of Aslan's story at a future moment. I also decided (privately) that I'd like to create a Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge and invite others to read about Narnia along with me. (This idea is similar to my L.M. Montgomery Challenge which I hosted for the first time this past January and will host again in January 2010.) I was planning to host the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge in December but figured summer was just as good a time as the Christmas holidays! Perhaps it's even better timing.

So here is what I invite you to do:

In keeping with the spirit of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Challenge, I leave the Narnia Challenge rules fairly wide open.

In short, spend as much or as little time in Narnia as you would like!

There are seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. (I'm listing them in the order that Lewis numbered them and the links lead to my reviews of December 2008.)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Horse and His Boy

The Magician's Nephew

The Last Battle

You are perfectly welcome to read one book or the whole series! Perhaps you'd just like to make family nights movie nights for a month and watch various adaptations of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which have been translated to film. That's your call. I merely extend the invitation into Narnia to you and you may explore it to whatever your heart's content. The only thing I ask is that you write up a blog post sharing what you have learned while in Narnia to share with the group at large.

DATES FOR THE CHALLENGE:

Sign up will be Friday, June 19th. Come back here to Reading to Know and I'll have a Mr. Linky ready to go. Link up so that we'll know that you are participating in the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge and we'll be set!

The challenge will conclude on Tuesday, July 17th. At that point in time I will put another Mr. Linky up. You are invited to link up all the blog posts that you have written up over the course of the Reading Challenge (June 19th - July 17th). If you bloged about a particular character from the series, or a book, a movie, a song, or whatever! Come back and share your thoughts on July 17th. (I'll, of course, post reminders from time to time.)

In the meantime, what's to do? SPREAD THE WORD! Blog about it, Twitter it, Pass it Along!


Here is the code for the button (which currently leads to this post):


<a href="http://www.readingtoknow.com/2009/05/chronicles-of-narnia-reading-challenge.html"><img alt="Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge" src="http://www.bluecastlephoto.com/misc/chronicles-of-narnia.gif" border="0" /></a>


I hope you'll join in!

Further Up and Further In!

End of the Week Wrap-Up

My goodness. This has been a crazy and insane week.

For those of you who have been following my family blog, you'll have noted that my dad went home to be with the Lord last Saturday. It is hard but at the same time, it is greatly relieving to know this his battle with cancer is OVER and he is in Heaven. There is great joy in those things.

Here, btw, is a picture of my dad reading to me when I was about two years old. (The indoctrination began early. I don't remember a time when I didn't enjoy reading.)



I flew back home to Oregon yesterday and am playing a whole lot of catch up after being gone for almost a whole month! (That seems so hard to believe.) It's been a long road but things are calm and peaceful this morning and I'm sitting down to play catch up.

For starters, the Spring 2009 Book Swap sign up list is up over at A Library is a Hospital for the Mind! We're swapping non-fiction books this time around and we hope you'll be inclined to join in on the fun. I think I know which book I'm going to swap and I'll be reviewing it here shortly. Stick around. The swap is always fun. We'd just ask that you only agree to participate if you are going to follow through with all the rules (i.e., stay in contact with your swap partner and agree to the time frame)!

Secondly, the winners (selected by random.org) for the Family Guide to the Bible giveaway which I featured earlier in the month are:

#1 - Bekahcubed

#2 - Jen N

#8 - Amy

#15 - Ronnica

#20 - Jennifer

Congratulations, ladies! You should be seeing an e-mail from me in your inboxes shortly. (I purpose to get to that next!)

Spring Book Swap

While I'm not writing many original posts these days, run over to my friend and cohort, Sarah's blog, A Library is a Hospital for the Mind to sign up for our next book swap! Rules are posted at her place and below for your convenience. This time we're swapping NON-FICTION BOOKS.

Go here for more information.

The Rules:
1. You should only sign up to participate in the book swap if you are actually willing to follow the rules. This means you are willing and able to respond within the set time-limits for the swap.
2. Once you sign up you will be matched with another participant. You initiate or respond to communications from your match concerning the books you will swap.
3. You must contact/respond to your match within one week of the sign-up ending and your match being made. You must have your book shipped to your match before the end of June.
4. You will select your favorite non-fiction book and mail it to your match and they will do likewise. Books can be mailed directly from an online source (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc.) or purchased at a store and then mailed personally by the participant.
5. Books should be in Excellent, Like New, or New condition unless you and your match agree to another condition. **Please note** We are not expecting you to give away your only copy, but to pick your book to swap and then go get a new copy (or if out of print, a copy in good or like new condition) and send that to your match.
6. Book swaps are permanent unless you and your match agree to another arrangement.
7. Only the first 50 participants will be included in the swap. If this swap is successful we may increase the number for future swaps.

Hope you'll join in!

A Little Quiet Around Here

Hey,

Quick note to ask you to stay tuned. I'm still in Texas with my family as my dad is probably in the last few days of life here on earth. So I'm a little quiet and will be for a little bit but I'll be around again. Just "being still and knowing that God is God."

Kids' Pick

You know how I said I was going back to Oregon from Texas? Well, that didn't quite happen. Instead my boys came to Texas to be with me and the family! So here we all are, camping out and spending time with my dad, and reading whatever books we find on Nana's bookshelves. We've scoured the place and one of our favorite finds this week is a book that has particular meaning to me. Because I grew up with it? No. Because I like the message? (Well, I do, but . . .) No. It has particular meaning to me because I know the illustrator, Paula Becker.

What I Like About You is the story of a kangaroo who is being assured that he is loved and cared for by his creator. It is a message to the young reader, affirming that they have great worth and value.

"God knows all about you, and He smiled when you came.
He delights in your laugh and the sound of your name."

(As you can see, the story/statement is made in rhyme.)

It is a beautiful message for young children to hear, know, understand and believe.
I'm quite fond of this book.

And the illustrations!? AWESOME! Paula Becker has a unique style. I'd say it's whimsical, cartoonish (yet cuddly) and HAPPY. I have never seen anything that she has drawn that hasn't left a smile on my face. I can't say that I make a general habit out of following illustrator blogs, but I do
follow Paula's. I do that because I know her, yes, and because I like her work. Honest and truly. I'm excited to revisit this book that she played a part in creating
and I encourage people to check it out!

This book has a message that is worth sharing and hearing. Perhaps, just perhaps, this book is not just for kids after all!

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family, by Rebecca Hagelin

** Reviewed by Jonathan & Carrie

Jonathan's take:

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family. Because everybody's family needs a little saving every once in a while!

Honestly, it's hard to review books on parenting. (I think this is why Carrie pawned the job off on me this time.) You can't get away with shallow, surface-level commentary, like you can with fiction: "Loved the plot! But not enough semicolons."

It also feels a bit presumptuous for me to give a hard, squinty-eyed look at parenting advice, voicing my opinions as though I'm the expert on the subject. Ha! Well, of course, I have every right to be -- all our kids so far excel academically, are developing a strong faith, respect us as parents, and we genuinely enjoy being together...

But, when he turns 3 years old this fall, all bets are off.

Really, my most lucid thought this week on the subject of parenting was, "Man, potty-training is going to be a lot harder than I expected."

But, anyway, back to my squinty-eyed critique. (I'll wander off-topic like this pretty regularly, because Carrie's been setting hefty word count quotas for my reviews lately. Just kidding! I'm actually just a naturally distracted kind of individual.)

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family doesn't do much beating around the bush. It's down-to-earth, practical advice on a diverse enough set of topics to be useful to parents at almost any stage of child-rearing.

The biggest theme throughout the book is encouraging us as parents to take responsibility and authority over our homes, and not allowing the influences of today's culture to make decisions for us. And so, love for our children should motivate us to invest the time and attention to make our homes into fruitful environments where kids will thrive.

Easier said than done!

I think the problem we most battle as parents is ourselves. And our own, well, laziness. It's so easy compromise our parenting style by giving a higher priority to other projects or work, and not putting the attention into parenting that we need to. Because, truly, it's a thankless task. (At least, for the first 20 years!)

So, what we need is daily encouragement and motivation. Which this book provides, in spades. Although I was a bit skeptical with the way it's broken into individual sections to take you through "30 Days", I actually appreciate it now. Rather than digest it in a couple sittings and put it back on the shelf, treat it as more than just "information" -- our role of parents is of paramount importance, and we need that to be reinforced early and often.

This is the role we signed up for, as parents. And we all consciously recognize the importance of it, but the author does an eloquent job of putting that into words in a practical -- and often humorous -- way. It's not heavy reading, but it is important reading. (Although, I was disappointed by the lack of attention given to the subject of potty-training...)

I'm not familiar with Rebecca Hagelin's earlier book on child-rearing in today's culture, but after reading this, I may be following up on it!

******

Carrie's take:

Jonathan beat me to the book this time and he read it first. He gave it a positive review so I picked it up and quickly devoured it. (Neither of us like to spread our reading out over a period of 30 days so we both read it in "one" sitting.)

The thing I appreciated about this book the most is Hagelin's unapologetic approach to parenting. She claims the God-given right to parent and guide her own children and encourages other parents to do the same. Regardless of whether you are at the doctor's office, in a parent-teacher conference with your child's teacher or wherever - YOU bear the responsibility of raising your own children and passing along your values to them. In a day and age where everyone is clamoring to raise your children for you, I found this book refreshing.

Hagelin does offer practical advice at how you can be involved in your children's lives. I most appreciated the description of how they built their home so that their children's friends felt welcome to be among them. By creating an atmosphere of love and fun, the Hagelins have a better idea of who their children are hanging out with and spending time with. She motivated me to build a home that is attractive not only to our own children, but to others also.

This was indeed a great book and I'd heartily recommend it to any parent or soon-to-be parent. It's a much needed kick in the pants.

4

Today is Jonathan's and my fourth anniversary. I've set this to post. I'm on my way home from Texas today after having been with my parents for the past week. We've never been apart this long and no doubt (as I'm setting this to post a week in advance) it'll have been a horrifically long week apart.

As I'm coming home, I just want to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the man I love most in this whole world. You know, I can work up words for the deep emotions I feel about books or movies but no words are coming that would adequately express how much I care for Jonathan. So we'll do it with music (because he loves music).

Happy anniversary to my ballroom dancing partner. (Yup. We ballroom dance. Our favorite dance is the waltz and although this particular song makes for a fast waltz, it's always been my favorite song to dance with Jonathan because the running phrase is true.) It IS you, Jonathan . . .



(The following is a picture of us doing a tango on the beach when we were engaged.)


I'm not a classical music fan (which I've stated before) and he is. This is as far as I go -- Andrea Bocelli. Basically what he's saying here is even when his love isn't with him, she really is. And wherever his love is and is going is where he wants to be. Yeah, same here.



If I were picking a musical to express my feelings, I'd have to go with Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan (which is a big hit in this house). Tiger Lily says to Peter Pan: "Peter Pan is the sun, the moon and the stars!" to which Peter replies, "Yes, I know."

Jonathan . . . you are my sun and my moon and my stars. Well, you come right after God which is pretty good in the pecking order. ;)

And speaking of musicals (of which we both typically tend to be a fan) - here's one from one of the first YOU introduced me to - Dr. Jekyle & Mr. Hyde.



(I think someone like you + someone like me makes a pretty dynamic duo. And nothing WILL ever be the same.)

And then here's the song we had sung at our wedding.

Not unto us, o Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory
Psalm 115:1.

And I know we both still mean that.

Shout Out to the House of Hope!

Today is Read Aloud Thursday over at Hope is in the Word.

Amy faithfully hosts this reading carnival every week and every week (up to two weeks ago!) I've participated. And I miss participating. And, Amy, I'll be BACK to participate! In the meantime, happy carnival day to you.

Any of you who are looking for a fun carnival to participate in that also encourages you to read aloud to your kids on a weekly basis should check this out -- and spread the word! This carnival has been immensily influential in encouraging me to find new and different books to read aloud to my son. We've stretched both of our reading comfort zones, in part, thanks to Amy. So thanks for your continued work and inspiration, Amy!

Happy Read-Aloud Thursday!

See you soon.

(Oh hey, and check it out. Did you notice I got the button on my side bar? ;)

Get Outta My Face!, by Rick Horne

Guest Post from Carrie's younger brother, Christopher, who is Texas born and bred. And likes it that way.

Get Outta My Face! by Rick Horne is about getting conversations started with perhaps the most ornery and stubborn people on this Earth (right after Texans) – teenagers. Mr. Horne has written an immanently readable, practical, engaging, and rewarding book, the primary focus of which is building conversational bridges to teens who’ve ‘had it up to here’ with adults attempting to govern and judge them. The ultimate goal of the book is, as the author says, equipping adults to aid young people in coming, “into a deep and life-changing relationship with Christ.” I believe Mr. Horne accomplishes that goal.

I think it is important to highlight, as the author himself does, that this book is not a complete guide to counseling. If you have been struggling with a teen or young person – your own, a member of your Church’s youth, a student, etc. – this book is not going to solve all of your problems. You will still need to read further, pray harder, fast longer. That said, I would highly recommend this book for Christian adults who find themselves stumbling out of the starting block in their attempts to communicate with troubled youth. If you feel like you’re hitting a stone wall in your conversations with your young person, and the frustration is building, then read this book.

The heart of Get Outta My Face! is the LCLP process.

Listen Big

Clarify Narrow

Look Wide

Plan Small


I’m usually not a big one for acronyms, but this one has stuck in my head (just don’t ask me if I’ve applied the principles consistently).

Listen Big is not simply about being an active listener, though it includes that. Rather, it is about specifically listening for what the teenager does not want – whether that’s not being taken seriously, being yelled at, or what have you. The point is to identify as best you can what it is that’s bugging them about a particular situation, without judgment on your part.

Clarify Narrow is what you might call the “trick” of this system. The value of Clarify Narrow is that it acknowledges the truth that somewhere in your youth’s complaints and frustrations is a valid concern, a “wise want”, as Mr. Horne calls it. Say for example, your teenage is upset because they feel that the adults around them are placing too many rules and restrictions on what they can and can’t do. Well, in that angst rests a desire to grow into their own person – to be a responsible, self-governing individual – and that is absolutely what they should want. It’s certainly what the parent should want for their teen. The challenge is to identify the wise want your teenager has so that you can build from there.

For each point in the LCLP process, Mr. Horne provides at least one memorable case study, which helps keep the principles firmly planted in your head. Taking them from your head to your heart will be between you and God, and will require a measure of humility on your part as you work to tear down whatever bitterness may reside in you. Indeed, the more I’ve thought about this book, the more applications I see in my relationships, not so much with young people as with adults. There are important principles you can take out of this book no matter where you are in your life and parenting experience.

Modoc: The True Story of the World's Greatest Elephant, by Ralph Helfer

Seriously, what am I doing reading this book? Elephants aren't exactly my thing. Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived. I mean doesn't the title just make you wonder?

I read this book because a fabulous lady from our church recommended it for our church book club. We haven't gotten together yet to discuss the book but I really wanted to hear what she had to say about it because this is a lady who is so on fire for God she can draw a message out of A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. I imagine that she got a lot out of talking about something as large as an elephant and I am looking forward to it!

Modoc was an interesting elephant. Again, I can't really say that I love elephants all that much but my son likes the concept of them and so the cover art on this book gets a round of applause out of this household.


The author of this book, Ralph Helfer is a "well-known Hollywood animal trainer" who appears to have been fascinated by the story of Modoc and his best friend, a young German by the name of Bram. Bram and Modoc were born on the same day. In a way, they shared the same father. (That sounds weird, doesn't it?) Bram's father was an elephant trainer in a small German circus town and even Bram's mother knew that elephants came first. Bram was born and his father, Josef, was proud. Modoc was born and Josef was still prouder, knowing that Modoc was a very special elephant from the get-go. Bram and Modoc grew up together. Josef grew ill and died. The circus was sold to an American. Modoc was to shipped to America -- without Bram. Bram stowed away on the ship and started a lifetime journey with his elephant friend. You couldn't find a better Ruth & Naomi wherever-thou-goest story apart from R&N themselves! Not being a tremendous animal lover (I think they are cute but avoid the responsibility, choosing human babies and toddlers in their place!) I find the love between Bram and Modoc very curious and admittedly a little odd. But I'm told that true animal lovers think this type of story is amazing so I'll chalk it up to something I just don't understand.

Bram and Modoc traveled through India together. They joined part of a village, Bram married, things changed, they ultimately do end up in America and the story has a rather surprising ending so I won't tell you what it is. Oh no I won't. If you want to know you TOO have to read Modoc!

It IS an interesting read. I'm still wondering exactly what to make of this book. I thought Helfer was overly dramatic in spots. He gave too much information about Bram's sexual desires at times. Thankfully those times were few and fleeting and were easy to skip past. At the same time, it is a story with some hope and perseverance running amok. It's a really different story and intriguing to me.

If I HAD to pick an elephant story to read, I'd go with Modoc, sure! It's a bit wild and unbelievable in spots and I'm not sure if that's Helfer's Hollywood talking or what. In the beginning of the book he admits he filled in some parts and took a bit of dramatic license which leaves question marks in my head in some places but on the whole I am . . . intrigued.

****
Ok . . . I can't help it. I'm trying to attach a label this post and it really does fall into a "biography" and I'm looking at the backside of an elphant and having a hard time. Laughing anyway.

Let's Review Now, Shall We?

I'll be boarding an airplane at about this time this post is set to post, off to Texas to be with my dad. I still have posts set to publish while I'm gone - of course. Through it all, I still read. It's still my vice. It's still my comfort.

I haven't really mentioned what all I've been reading over at 5 Minutes for Books lately so that I thought I'd highlight some of my recent favorites in case you happened to miss them. (We can't have THAT happening now, can we?) Parish the thought!!!

For starters, I recently read a (relatively new) mystery series - the Allie Fortune Mysteries - by Sara Mills which is published by Moody Press. These mysteries fall into the Christian fiction catagory but I didn't think faith was featured very heavily. I would rather refer to these as "clean reads" and that they are. I really enjoyed this series more than I thought I would. (I know, I know...I typically have such low expectations of Christian fiction for a myriad of reasons but I was extremely pleasantly surprised this time!) In fact, I liked the first book so much that I followed up with the publisher for a chance to read the second. That good. Really. Very entertaining and just plain fun. Furthermore, Moody is giving away two copies so if you'd like to win (provided the contest doesn't close by the time I post this), go leave a comment on my post over at 5 Minutes for Books.


Secondly, I read The Power of a Woman's Words which is a Harvest House publication. (By saying it's a Harvest House book I'm pretty much saying it's a great book right then and there.) This book was impacting, influential and, well, why don't you just go read my post in full to find out what I thought about that book. I get a lot of review books due to my stint at 5 Minutes for Books. Lots I pass on keeping for myself. This book landed on my shelf (close by the Allie Fortune mysteries, btw) because I think I'll probably need to reread it at some point.


Lastly, I read Shame Lifter which is offered by Tyndale House. This was another good book although it's impact on my personal life somewhat surprised me. I'm a rather confident individual and I didn't expect to *need* this book. Mostly I was just curious about what author Marilyn Hontz had to say on the subject matter of shame filled women (more or less). It's a very good book, solidly based on scripture and I found myself feeling extremely enthusiastic about Hontz's message. It's one to keep in mind, for sure.

As always, I have a lot of fun reading and reviewing at 5 Minutes for Books. But the benefits and blessings are always made abundantly clear to me when I hit on just the right book which delights me. I love it when I LOVE the books that I'm sent to read and these three rank high on my Books to Love list.

I heartily recommend them.

Contest Winners

FYI:

The winner of Face to Face is Kipi.

The winner of the Bug contest is my fellow 5M4B partner-in-crime, morninglight mama.

Thanks, ladies, and congratulations!

(If you don't see an e-mail from me shortly, it's because I got distracted making dinner. Drop me an e-mail with your mailing address and we'll move things right along!)

Don't forget I have another contest running (because the fun sometimes shouldn't end) with Crossway's latest book A Family Guide to the Bible. I have FIVE copies of that title to give away so leave a comment!

To the High Places

Last week (or so) I shared with you of my brother-in-law's sudden death in a car accident. As many of you are also aware, my dad is battling cancer and the prognosis isn't good. I will be going to Texas again next week to be with my family, but will be leaving my boys behind. It's going to be a long week. I trust it'll be a good week, but I'm certain it'll be a long week in many respects.

I also mentioned that I would be spending some time reading Hinds' Feet On High Places and I have read it over the course of the past two weeks. The book is so deeply personal that I can't seem to review it just yet. To review it is to peel scabs. It can't be done at present. But I will reread it again many times over in the next few weeks, I am certain.

I can't review it in total but I can share a little.

If you haven't read the book, this is the journey of Much-Afraid who chooses to follow The Shepherd to the High Places. It is an allegory and a good one at that. At the present moment, it is speaking to every part of me and where I am at on my own personal life journey. At the beginning of the book Much-Afraid is faced with the basic choice of whether or not to follow the Shepherd. Her family at home taunts her and harasses her, making it difficult for her to move past the fear and follow after the Shepherd. She knows she must make a choice to ignore her own fears in order to start the journey. We find her paused at her own front doorway, afraid of her cousin, Craven Fear in the following passage:

"Opening the door, she went out into the darkness. A hundred Craven Fears lurking in the lonely street could not have deterred her at that moment, for the pain her in heart swallowed up fear and everything else and drove her forth. So in the dark hours, just before the dawn, Much-Afraid started off to look for the Shepherd.

She could not go quickly because of her lameness, but limped along the village streets towards the open fields and the sheepfolds. As she went she whispered to herself, "O Shepherd, when you said that Love and pain go together, how truly you spoke."

~~~~

When she meets up with the Shepherd, he gives her two guides to help her along with her journey so that she will not have to face the treacherous mountain all alone. The name of her two guides? Suffering and sorrow.

"Poor Much-Afraid! Her cheeks blanched and she began to tremble from head to foot. She felt so like fainting that she clung to the Shepherd for support.

"I can't go with them," she gasped. "I can't! I can't! O my Lord Shepherd, why do you do this to me? How can I travel in their company? It is more than I can bear. You tell me that the mountain way itself is so steep and difficult that I cannot climb it alone. Then why, oh why, must you make Sorrow and Suffering my companions? Couldn't you have given me Joy and Peace to go with me and encourage me and help me on this difficult way? I never thought you would do this to me!" And she burst into tears.

"A strange look passed over the Shepherd's face as he listened to this outburst, then looking at the veiled figures as he spoke, he answered very gently, "Joy and Peace. Are those the companions you would choose for yourself? You remember your promise to accept the helpers that I would give, because you believed that I would choose the very best possible guides for you. Will you trust me, Much-Afraid?"

Will I trust my Shepherd even though my companions of late have seemed less than joyful?

As I was typing this up, a very dear friend of mine sent me the following clip on Youtube. It concludes everything I'm trying to say here very well.



And yes, Lord, I believe You now. For every time I wipe a tear or blow my nose, I do. I really, really do.

A Family Guide to the Bible (with giveaway)

I'm really happy to be promoting this particular book because I think it is a really helpful resource for families as they approach the Bible. One of the newer additions to the Crossway line of books, A Family Guide to the Bible is worth looking into. The book is due to be released in May 2009 so it's pretty much hot off the presses, folks.

This book is laid out in a simple and straight forward manner. It is made for lay people making it approachable and user friendly. Ditchfield begins the book by talking about the history of the Bible and where it came from. She talks about the time frame in which it was written and also briefly talks about the first church counsels who first met to establish the Biblical canon, explaining why some books were not included in the Bible. She moves on to talking about the authority which the Bible has and why we know we can trust it. Slowly but steadily she moves the reader along to the message of the Bible.

The second section of A Family Guide to the Bible takes a look at each individual book of the Bible, from the Old to New Testaments. There are probably an average of 3-4 pages devoted to each book of the Bible. Within those 3-4 pages, Ditchfield names the book, the author, the audience to whom it was initially written, the setting and gives you a basic overview of the story. She shares the key message being communicated, a key verse, and defines and addresses words which may be unfamiliar to the modern reader. She is both simple and complex in her method of making the Bible approachable for the modern family unit who want to grow in their knowledge and understanding of God's Word. I really think she's done a fantastic job putting this project together!

The book concludes by offering some tips from choosing a translation to study to how to approach family devotionals. There are maps included for easy sight reference as well as scripture references to memorize relating to various subjects from verses on how how to celebrate holidays to verses on Heaven. It's a comprehensive book that isn't scary or foreboding in the least. On the contrary, it's helpful, exact, and accommodating. Definitely worth owning!

Crossway Books has graciously and very generously offered to give away FIVE copies of this book to some Reading to Know readers. If you would like to win a copy of this book, leave me a comment below with a valid e-mail address so that I can contact you when the winners have been selected. U.S. Residents only please.

Regardless of whether or not you win this contest, I heartily recommend that you look into this great family resource. It's a good thing to have on hand!

Heaven Misplaced, by Douglas Wilson

from Jonathan

Having read plenty of works by Doug Wilson, I was expecting a fairly in-depth, academic study of eschatology (the "end times" debate) in Heaven Misplaced. I was surprised to discover his writing style in this book to be much more light-hearted and whimsical than usual! At less than 150 pages, it's not very intimidating.

Eschatology can be such a hotly debated subject, with lots of controversy around the interpretation of scripture, that I found his attitude refreshing. Rather than feeling like I was being dragged down the path, argument by argument, to an inevitably ponderous conclusion, it was like being invited to skip along hand-in-hand and see how incredibly simple the answers can be to some of the most frustrating passages of scripture:

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour." (1st John 2:18)

"Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:8-9)

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)

And then, a few verses later:

"Assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." (Matthew 24:34)

Ouch!! I'm used to cringing inwardly when I come across verses like these, thinking, "So, here we are, two thousand years later, with our iPods and air travel and Internet, still trying to guess when 'the last hour' will actually be..." and assuming that it would require a seminary degree and a lot of carefully-worded excuses to convince anybody that these statements haven't been deeply compromised by now.

Wilson actually does answer all of the hard questions posed by scriptures like these. Actually, he explains them so simply that they cease to be questions at all, and I'm left scratching my head and wondering why, exactly, the evangelical church is so perennially confused on these topics.

Heaven Misplaced takes a fairly meandering path through a variety of Old Testament and New Testament prophecies and promises, showing how they fit together and actually match up with historical events. And, actually, they do! The conversational writing style usually works well in communicating these points, although occasionally it wanders into rabbit-trails that can be interesting, but requires some effort to relate everything together and maintain a sense of context.

Throughout the book, Wilson does not "take sides" with any particular camp of established eschatology, or argue his points using a very theological vocabulary. The writing is plain-spoken and unassuming. (Although, in the glossary at the end, he admits that the position he argues is that of preteristic postmillenialism.)

You can read the introduction and the first chapter to get a feeling for the book. If these are questions that you find yourself coming up against sometimes, I recommend spending some time with this book!

I Love Letters!

I Love Letters!: More Than 200 Quick & Easy Activities to Introduce Young Children to Letters and Literacy by Jean Feldman and Holly Karapetkova is my latest perusal when it comes to learning how to better introduce my son (age 2 1/2) to the world of reading. He recognizes there there are such things as letters. He consistently and regularly points to words and sentences and asks to be told what they say. However, letter recognition itself seems to be a bit beyond us. I thought I'd pick up this book and see what it had to offer as to directed intruction and exposure to the alphabet.

We intend to home school and this book is flat out written for the teacher in the classroom. As such, many of the ideas and activities in this book are geared towards group activities or things that might just work better if you had more than one kid that you were working with. That said, there is plenty to be gleaned from this book. You just have to know that you might need to adapt a few things to suit you and your one or two children.

This book is filled with ideas on how you can familiarize your young one(s) with the alphabet in preparation for reading. There are game ideas that can be created by the adults and used by the children, as well as ideas for the children to create themselves. I think my favorite idea was the Alphabet Journal where the children are encouraged to collect items that begin and/or represent any given letter.

There is a section in the book that deals specifically with oral language skills, encouraging adults to engage their children in routine speeches (i.e., rhymes, chants and affirmative words). They also encourage a strong use of pictures and images in promoting language skills.

From sign language to classroom and individualized games, I Love Letters! is full of good ideas which will promote and prompt a love of reading in children. Therefore this is a book that I cannot complain about.

A Proverbs Driven Life

A Proverbs Driven Life: Timeless Wisdom for Your Words, Work, Wealth, and Relationships is another publication by Shepherd Press (the publishers of books such as Instructing a Child's Heart). This particular book encourages the reader to live a life that is directed and motivated by the Proverbs.

The author makes a good and valid point straight away that Proverbs shouldn't be the book we gravitate towards when we're in the middle of a crisis and feel the need for a quick shot of wisdom. He also doesn't say that we should ignore Proverbs either. On the contrary, he says that it should be such a daily part of our lives, an established habit, that we don't NEED to dive in times of trial but can instead go about applying and living its principles all the time. Proverbs living should be a first thought, not a life preserver second thought. (Although, for the record, it's fine to go to Proverbs in the midst of a struggle. It's good at any and all times. It's just better to know it so that you can USE it in the trial, not struggle through trying to comprehend and apply.)

This book is subtitled well and describes how it is divided up. Author Anthony Selvaggio first talks about how to use wise words, to work wisely, to save and spend money wisely and talks about applying wisdom in relationships. I found myself gravitating towards the sections on words and relationships and found those to be the most useful. Then again I am female and I have a bad habit of running at the mouth. That, and I care about relationships, even if I'm accidentally destroying them. These were good sections for me to read and focus on. But really, the whole book provided a lot of practical application and fresh thoughts on how we should be utilizing this amazing book of the Bible. I'd encourage you to read it. I think you'll get a lot out of it!

Canon Press $1, $2, $3 Sale! (& a giveaway because I feel like it)

This contest is closed.



For one week only (May 1st - May 8th) Canon Press is offering over 50 of their titles — both old and new — for a mere $1, $2, or $3 a piece.

And you'd better believe I hopped right over and purchased not one, not two, but three copies of one of my favorite of their titles, Face to Face.



This is one of the best books I've ever read on hospitality. Sadly, this is a subject that receives little attention these days. We're far more content, speaking as to the culture, to go about thinking about the Almighty Me than we are willing to sacrifice maybe a little time on creativity in order that we may bless someone else.

(Now, in the past week, following Landon's death, we have received an OVERWHELMING display of love, support, care and hospitality from our church family. I'm talking seriously overwhelming in their desire to love on us. We are blessed and amazed.)

This book encourages us to bless each other even when everything looks to be going good in our world. (Which, for the record, our church family also does a good job with!) It's about meeting each other face-to-face, investing in relationship and a myriad of other things that I think are worth reading about. ;) Hence, I bought three copies. I already have a copy so I thought I'd start by giving away one to one of you readers. Here's the request though: Only enter to win if you'll really read the book. (And I hope that you will!)

To win? Leave a comment below. Must be a U.S. Resident only and please leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you at.

In the meantime, don't wait for this contest to end but hightail it to The Canon Press website where I would encourage you to go, make haste, and make purchases. (I'm happy to make recommendations or you can just experiment with these prices!)

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

This contest is closed.

Ok, admittedly this is NOT my favorite subject. Like, at all. I have a healthy and overwhelming hatred of bugs. I'd just as soon they not exist. Yes, I am well aware that they have purpose. But why do they have to be so ugly and creepy? Can't they be pretty with purpose? And can't they know to stay away from me at the same time? That'd be nice.

My son isn't really sure what to do with bugs just yet. He knows "Mommy not like bugs." He knows "Daddy kill bugs." (I'm not sure if he's made the connection that Daddy kills bugs because mommy doesn't like them but that's pretty much the case. And no, mommy cannot kill the bugs for herself because that would involve eliminating my personal boundary zone and would put me in too close of a proximity to the bug. I cannot do that.)

Even though I do not like bugs, I do like Workman's books for kids. Everything I've seen is just really unique. (This is the same company that publishes the Sandra Boyton books that I think are oh so hilarious.) Their bug things (I say with fear and trepidation) are pretty cool. For being bug things.

First we have the Bugs Fandex. It's not a book but rather they are information cards, each focusing on a particular insect and filled with information about said bug. At the top of each card is a shape cut-out of the bug. We used this Fandex to get our son to eat his dinner. (He was convinced he didn't like dinner and needed a distraction.) We pulled out the cards and we would slide them down, one at a time, revealing new and disgusting bugs, per bite. Take a bite, turn down a card and see a new bug. (This is a method and mode of bribery that would never have worked on me.) I'm not sure how anyone can actually swallow a bite of food while staring at a dung beetle but apparently, if you are two, and if you are a boy, it's possible. Each "field card" contains information on both the front and the back. The cards tell you where each bug can be found in the world (so that I know which countries to avoid), what its scientific name is, what their life cycle is, along with other general information about each bug. This is certainly a unique look at bugs. My son liked it. We'll leave it at that.

Do note that if you are a creationist, these field cards take the opposing view. However, beyond the first card which introduces you to bugs and their origins, I didn't really note any other references within the cards themselves. (I checked.) It's easy to skip.

Next up we have The Bug Book and Bug Bottle which I imagine every mother will be thrilled about. (Ok, seriously. I'm poking a bit of fun because I truly have a fear of bugs. However, I also acknowledge the fact that it is not a good idea to pass along my very rational fear to my son so that he can also be very rationally afraid. This is a totally a daddy subject but mommy writes the blog so here you go!) THE BUG BOTTLE! I have to say this kit is cute. It comes with a bug book which tells you how to locate bugs (and where they've been), a bug journal because you know you want to keep notes about every bug you've ever seen, a classification chart to pin on your wall and stare at as you fall asleep at night and a magnifying glass so that you can take a look at the little crusty creatures cuties. BEST YET! It comes in a plastic container with holes at the top so your young ones can catch bugs, help them to continue breathing and living, and house them. I just love it, I do! But for $11.16 (on Amazon) - if I had a young boy (like I do) who likes bugs and can abide by the "we only catch lady bugs and fireflies" rules, then I would SO get this package before summer rolls around and bugs are out and about. This kit/set is really very well done, high quality, and the lid doesn't make me too nervous. It latches on tight.

Interested in bugs? These are two useful things. If I have to like them, I do, but I'll let my son speak on my behalf this time. His response? "OH WOW!"

Now you and YOUR children (maybe just your children?) can also have a chance at saying, "OH WOW!" Workman Publishing is generously giving away one Bugs Fandex and one Bug Bottle to one of you. To win? Leave a comment.

Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact the winner by! Contest open to U.S. Residents only. The contest will close on Friday, May 8th.

Dare I say "good luck"? Well then, good luck! ;)