Friday Favorite Five

Time for a Friday's Fave Five hosted by Living to Tell the Story.

Cutting right to the chase here....

#1 - Last week I mentioned that it was Bookworm1's 4th Birthday. He requested a hippo cake and several of you asked to see it. So here it is:



We had a lovely weekend of celebration. Some friends came over and we had a hippo party (which he got a kick out of) and then we took a little day trip on Saturday. He had a great day and we had fun together. I love birthdays. I think I've mentioned that a time or two! It was wonderful to celebrate his with him.

#2 - Our copy of Tumtum & Nutmeg: The Rose Cottage Tales arrived in the mail and we've started reading it. There are three stories in this new addition. Bookworm1 and I blazed through the first story and we're in the middle of the second. I'm trying to pace us a bit more so that we can linger with our mouse-y friends. I love it when I find a book that my kids like to read. It's fun to cuddle up and read with them! (Bookworm2's book of late is Inside Outside Upside Down because at the end of the book he gets to yell out, "MA-MA! MA-MA!" . . . "I went to town! Inside a box and upside down!")



#3 - We had a really fun family night out on the town earlier this week. We took the kids to a local Indian food restaurant which is kinda risky for a 1 and 4 year old but they gobbled it right up -- and gulped water down like nobody's business! ("Mommy, did you know that when you drink water it makes the spicy disappear?") It was just a fun, relaxing night out of the house. Of course, we ended the evening at the local bookstore so who am I to complain?

#4 - Marriage. Some friends of ours celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary this week. We just love this couple and are so thankful that they are in our lives. They encourage us, celebrate with us, "get" us and just live life right beside us! We've a long way to go before we reach 47 years but we have an excellent example to watch in the meantime!

#5 - The prayer support of faithful friends. Sometimes things just pop up in your life and you want to know that you can turn to a set of friends and ask for prayer and believe that they will honor your request. That's a huge and tremendous blessing! I'm so grateful to know that when the chips are down, I can make a quick phone call or shoot of a quick e-mail and my needs are being acknowledged and prayed over. I'm not alone. There is something beautiful in that and I find myself closing the week out on a peaceful and blessed note.

Hope you all enjoy a great weekend!

Carrie

Thanksgiving Books for Kids (with a giveaway)

I've come to really appreciate Ideals Books when it comes to celebrating the holidays with small children. They are kind of my automatic go-to source when I'm looking for a way to explain a holiday to my toddler. Their books are always simple and straightforward making concepts easy to grasp.

So, naturally I was delighted to be given the opportunity to check out some of their board books on the topic of Thanksgiving.

Today Is Thanksgiving! is one of their board book and the story is told in rhyme. The book opens with two smiling children who are looking out their window, safe inside from the icicle breeze which is whipping the leaves around.

The children troop down to the kitchen to find their parents deep in the thick of things when it comes to preparing the family's meal for the day. The children are remembering the Pilgrims and Indians, parades on tv, friends in the neighborhood who come over to play football (well, ok, we don't do that exactly), family and full bellies. This book is a fun look at Thanksgiving and just hits on the various traditions that families have in celebrating the day.

What Is Thanksgiving? asks the question of the meaning behind the day. Is it all of the activities mentioned in the aforementioned book? Is it the food? The friends? The family? Ultimately this book lets the young reader know that no, it isn't about the things or the particulars of the day. It's about remembering to be thankful to God for the blessings that He has poured out over our lives. Yes, Thanksgiving day itself is fun and full of treasured traditions, etc. But this book reminds the reader that we need to look to the source of these individual gifts. Obviously I have no complaints about the conclusion that this particular title has drawn. Very strong and definite Christian message if you are looking for something along those lines.

Lastly, Ideals Books has just released a new edition of An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving, by Louisa May Alcott. This new title is illustrated by Jody Wheeler and is more kid-friendly than the version I reviewed last year. I really like the feel Wheeler has given Alcott's story and I'm excited to see this new presentation of the book. (By the way, I also reviewed An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving movie last year at 5 Minutes for Books. My advice is to read the short story and skip the movie if you have to take your pick. Or watch the movie but don't think of it as having anything to do with the original book!)



I'm so glad that Ideals Books is bringing this story back! It is a perfect read aloud for the Thanksgiving season and so I'm extremely delighted to inform you that Ideals Books has offered a copy of An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving to one of you!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER, selected by Random.org, is #7 - Serena!

Congratulations!

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving to you and yours!

American Girls?

Recently, when desiring a quick and easy read, I thought I'd pull my Molly Story Collection off the shelf and give it a re-read.

It's been a looong time since I've read any books in the American Girl series, but Molly was always a favorite of mine so I had picked up the collection some years back. (My favorite girl, for the record, is Kirsten who has since been discontinued.) I was a fan of the American Girls when there were only three of them. Total. Samantha, Kirsten and Molly. Felicity was the new girl on the scene when I started moving past them.

I liked Molly because it was set during World War II and I liked her camping story in Molly Saves the Day. I liked her clothes and patriotic spirit. These were the things I thought of when I was of the age to really appreciate the books.

Just in case I'm having a girl, I wanted to re-read all my favorite books that I've saved or collected since I was younger to make sure I still "approve" of them. =) ("Just in case." You know.) So I cuddled up with Molly and dove back in to my childhood.

I've got to say that these books aren't half as interesting when you are in your thirties as they were when you are in your tweens.

I didn't realize then how much Molly bickered with her brothers. They really put each other down and made each other's lives miserable! I remembered the family comradeship in missing Molly's dad, who is off fighting the war in England, but I had failed to make note of the sibling angst. That part of the book (really rather) bothered me. But otherwise, it's still Molly and it's still a time period I love and I still liked her canoeing adventures.

Honestly, I'm undecided on American Girls. I know that there are more conservative readers that dislike American Girls. Certainly I'm not overly fond of what they have become in recent years. However, I have really fond thoughts of the original girls and I don't have any strenuous objections to handing them over to a daughter of mine. (I would definitely make mention of the way Molly and her siblings treat one another, but I don't know if I would feel the need to remove these books from our home library.)

Then to be honest, I'm really out of the American Girl loop. I went in their booth at the Book Expo and found a bunch of characters I was unfamiliar with and discovered that they have a girl of the year or something like that. I got the feeling that the latest editions have more of a girl power message to present, while I still feel like the older and original American Girls really sought to share a slice of history with the modern reader and give them something to connect with as they explored the past. I never remember feeling anything but a desire to try growing a victory garden or wishing that my family had a covered wagon. If there was a deeper message in the books, I never caught it.

Therefore I have a question to pose to you all - what is your opinion of American Girls? Does your opinion differ between the older dolls and the new characters? Any strenuous objections to them that you'd like to share with all of us? I'm really curious to hear from those who are more "in the know" with the latest lineup as to what their experience with the new Girls have been.

Go ahead, bloggers...I'm listening.

Pioneer Girl, by Maryanne Caswell

Pioneer Girl, by Maryanne Caswell is one of those quick, cozy fall time reads. Published by Tundra Books, this is an 82 page story told through the letters which young Maryanne Caswell wrote to her grandmother as her family traveled across the prairie. It is an insider's look, if you will, at life on the Canadian prairie. Oh yes, my friends, it's also quite a fun and different book because it tells of pioneer life in the Canadian frontier!

When young Maryanne Caswell leaves her home in Palmerston, Ontario, she is fourteen years old and has a heart for family and adventure. Maryanne is the oldest of six children and she promises her grandmother regular updates in the form of letters, which she faithfully provides. Any reader of this book learns about caring for livestock, the beauty of the landscape around the, excitements and disappointments as some things about homestead life aren't what they were originally believed to be. The reader also learns of the value of family and the hard work that many people endured as they moved society westward. (They might also learn how to pen a better "snail mail" letter - something I truly do miss in the e-mail age!)

I absolutely loved this "simple" little book and heartily recommend it for a quick read or a delightful read aloud. Certainly even young children can get caught up in the excitement of traveling west, surrounded by unknowns!

Along the same theme, you might also want to check out A Pioneer ABC, by Mary Alice Downie. This particular title is not strictly related to Canada but can be used when talking about pioneering in general. This alphabetic picture book takes you around a family farm. We meet siblings, learn about dyes that color clothes, kettles used to cook, log cabins, oxen, quilts and many other things. This book is a beautiful and fun way to learn how life was "way back when" to get a feel for the hardships people endured as they made new homes for themselves in unfamiliar places. I so enjoy books like this and particularly enjoyed the beautiful illustrations in this one by Mary Jane Gerber.

A Pioneer ABC is also available in paperback if you'd prefer it in that format. The cover art is different between the hardback and paperback editions, but the illustrations are all by Gerber, regardless.

If you enjoy discussing the life of the pioneers, I'd heartily recommend adding these particular books to your reading list.

My thanks goes to Tundra Books who provided copies for me to read through. Wonderful resources, both! Thanks, Tundra!

What's On My Nightstand

Nightstand time over at 5 Minutes for Books!

Checking in with both my Fall Into Reading Challenge AND last month's Nightstand post, I'm actually pretty pleased with my progress. I've made inroads on review copies (which is my huge project to tackle before the end of the year!) and I've also read some books from my own home book shelves which I'm pretty pleased with.

I read and reviewed the following (all linked to my reviews):

* When Molly Was a Harvey Girl
* The Faithful Parent
* The Knights of Arrethtrae

I also finished reading:
* Great Lives: Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance, by Charles Swindoll
(thoughts on that coming soon to a blog near you)
* In Search of the Castaways: The Children of Captain Grant, by Jules Verne (which I'm excited to talk about shortly)

My nightstand still has some review copies on it, and I'll keep plugging away there. But in the meantime, for this single month's goal, here's what I have in mind to read. All of these books I've purchased or received from friends and I'm looking forward to diving in:





1. Still planning to read An Experiment in Criticism, by C.S. Lewis. Not taking it off my Nightstand mention until I. GET. TO. IT! (In Search of the Castaways took me a bit longer to read than I had originally anticipated. That's my excuse, yes.)

2. Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, by John Piper. (You can't see me, but I am literally hopping up and down over this title.) I was offered a review copy of this one and took a pass. WHY!? Because I anticipate awesomeness and I wanted to buy it for myself. SO....unless something shocking is unearthed, I anticipate being wild with glee over this title. (At least, I'm already wild with glee over the title itself.)

3. Tumtum & Nutmeg: The Rose Cottage Tales!!!!!!!!!!!! My copy is on the way and once it gets here, Bookworm1 and I are going to settle down with our mouse friends and ENJOY! (In case you missed my rather frequent mentions of Tumtum and Nutmeg, pleasepleaseplease go read my earlier review. You have Stephanie and Amy to thank for my rabid and incessant pleas about this book. It's all their fault. Too true!)

That's all I'll list for good measure here today. Gives me attainable goals. Plus, I know we're headed into the holiday season and it is my secret wish to cram through so many books in November that it will make my brain spin. That way I'm free to read Christmas tales all through the month of December. I was glancing through my bookshelves the other day and I had set aside some books last Christmas that I meant to read this year. I hope to just have a blast during the month of December totally marinating myself in Christmas cheer. (Don't roll your eyes. This is a good thing. Or, at least, it can be!)

Hope you all have a lovely month of reading and I'm looking forward to running around and checking out your Nightstand posts as well!

Loving the Church

The church, as a local body of believers, has become something that many Christians have decided, for whatever variety of reasons, to reject, despise and leave. You hear more and more these days about how people are dissatisfied with their church fellowship, the leadership or something gone wrong. We can always find a "good" reason not to like something.

Honestly, sometimes it's harder to find reasons TO like the church. But here's the issue - no matter what any one individual's experience with the church has been - there is an inescapable Biblical truth involved here that we simply cannot ignore. No matter your feelings, the truth is this:

The church is the bride and body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 5:15-32; Col. 1:18; Heb. 10:24-25)

The church is the bride of Christ; it is the body of which He is the head. Therefore it is not to be ignored or dismissed. We are called, created and made to be a part of it and to fellowship within it.

Now, I'm going to be frank and say the church has caused me and my family to suffer greatly at times but not a single thing done to us has given me an excuse to walk away. The bottom line is, I look at scriptures and they seem so very plain that Christ designed the church, established it, and has called it the body of which He is the head. (Acts 4:8;-12 1 Corn. 11:2; Eph. 1:15-23; Eph. 4:7-16; Eph. 5:22-24; Col. 1:18; Col. 2:6-12; Col. 2:18-19; 1 Peter 2:5-8) Given these references, it seems prideful and, yes, even sinful, to flee from His established plan.

That all established, I received a copy of Loving the Church: God's People Flourishing in God's Family in the mail for review (courtesy of Shepherd Press) several months back. It was unexpected, but I was glad to see it, as it came as a breath of fresh air. It is discouraging to look around us and see people leaving the body left and right. It saddens us to think of it. This particular book is set up as if it is a series of conversations between people in a coffee house Bible study who have come together to express their complaints against the church and to determine what scriptures say about it and what our involvement is supposed to be.

Each fictional character in this book has been wounded by the church in some way, or have felt that their family needed something "different" than what the local congregation was offering. As this coffee house group meets, the author unfolds his argument through use of scriptures and conversations with the characters to express the following: the church IS the body of Christ, we ARE called to be joined to it and we are in error when we decide (for whatever reason) to walk away from it.

Now, this will come across as harsh to some, I know. Our culture applauds individuality and selfishness and so it's easy to allow ourselves to think things like, "Well, I'm doing what is right for me at this time." Society makes it easy for us to walk away. It's much harder to stick with that which we are called to love. Being a part of a church is kind of like being married (well, just take a peek at Eph. 5 if you don't think that's the case!) and it takes commitment and fortitude to stick with it! (I am not referring to leaving a bad church. I'm referring to the decision to choose not to participate in the visible church of God here on earth.)

Ever since this book arrived it feels like I've been inundated with messages about the body of Christ and the importance of belonging to it and so I feel particularly passionate about this issue at present. (But truthfully, I owe a debt of gratitude to my earthly father, in particular, who met with horrible dissension in the church and taught his children to love it anyway. I've always felt passionate about this subject.)

Our pastor recently preached an excellent sermon on the topic of why it is important to be a member of a local church, of why you need the church and why the church needs you. Hearing his message on the heels of reading Loving the Church brought many of the points this book is trying to make home. (I took copious notes during this sermon and I'm desperately trying to overcome the urge to type them all up here for you to read. I'm gonna refrain...for now.)

I think what Loving the Church would most like to communicate is that the body of Christ suffers as a whole when we remove ourselves from it. When we segregate ourselves away from the whole - when the hands say that they don't need the arms and the legs say that they don't need the neck - the church loses. And by the way, the Corinthian church to whom Paul was speaking and giving the analogy of the body was not a perfect church, so you can't argue that they were any different than we are today. There were divisions among them and feelings of superiority floating about. Paul was reminding them that in order to function well - and as God intended - that they needed to stick together and work together. God set up a system whereby He intended His people be cared for, through which He intended them to be productive and victorious.

How wonderful is it for the enemy that we would segregate ourselves away from one another and remove our gifts and talents from one another? How great is it when I refuse to operate through a spiritual gift to benefit the whole? How cool is it for the enemy, and how profitable for the other side when we say we can make it on our own? And when we know more than our pastor about some situation? How nice is it when we question leadership and the roles that God has designed for His people to be ministered to? Every doubt and every question we raise, every excuse we take to "simply" walk away or detach, is not good! It is not good for the body! It is not good for us as individuals! It leaves us exposed to temptations and weaknesses.

I cannot sway you back to the body of Christ if you have left it. But, I would offer this book and some encouragement to explore what scriptures have to say and see what God established and meant for good. Yes, bad and painful things happen within the church. People sin. But that does not give us an excuse to walk away. Rather, when bad things happen, it should drive us each to repentance. When we repent and cry for God's help, He will step into the situation. How could He not want to rescue His bride? If we loved His bride as He called us to, how much more eager would we be to stick with her when the going gets rough? How much more willing would be to extend forgiveness, and to say to the "hand, finger, toe and elbow" that we need them? In fact, we do. Paul said so. The church in America needs the reminder just like the church in Corinth did. The question is - will we listen?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For another perspective, Randy Alcorn also recently authored a blog post entitled The Church: Don't Give Up on God's Plan that you might be interested to check out.

Friday Favorites

Time for a Friday's Fave Five hosted by Living to Tell the Story.

A little late to the party this morning but still makin' it. (Stay tuned for a little blog announcement at the end here (if you are a regular reader.)

Here are my favorite things that I've realized throughout this week, in no particular order:

#1 - Bookworm1. We have a birthday boy in our midst this weekend and some fun times planned. Definitely looking forward to celebrating the number FOUR here! We simply cannot believe he is turning four. He asked for a hippo cake. I was hoping he would change his mind about that but he held steady and so guess what mommy made last night? I can't wait to see his face because I found this amazing hippo cake topper that I think will delight him.

#2 - Our church. Last year was a rough year in the church department, with the church that we had been a part of for years kinda crumbling apart. Fast forward many long months and we are part of a church fellowship that we absolutely love. Every week we walk out the doors of church totally jazzed because of the teaching we've received. Now, I haven't taken notes during church in more years than I can count. There honestly hasn't been a very good reason to do so. But I'm back to note taking which thrills me to no end! There is so much meat that I can't write fast enough. There is always more given that we can wrap our minds around and think through and it's just......fabulous! Furthermore, there have been clear statements made that they are out to present the Word of God and teach doctrine. Without it, it has been said that we cannot know God. The faithful teaching of the Word of God really challenges, feeds and motivates! We just love it.

#3 - Morning sickness abated. A few weeks back I talked about how being sick and pregnant is totally worth it. And it is! But that doesn't necessarily make it fun. I finally got to the point where I couldn't keep liquids down and there was some concern that I'd be leaning towards a hospital stay/IV if things didn't improve. The good doctor prescribed some anti-nausea medication and WOWEE! Life was restored. I'm still on these miracle pills but I'm hoping the end is in sight. In the meantime, I'm grateful, because did I mention that someone is turning 4 this weekend? And I really didn't want to spend the weekend in bed!

#4 - Jan Karon came out with a new book. I have a copy to giveaway, if you've missed that, and would like to enter. Click here to see my review/enter the giveaway for In the Company of Others (shameless self promotion, yes?). I LOVE Jan Karon. She's the perfect fall/winter/cozy read. Just a delight. Nothing stressful. All entertainment. Characters to love. It was just the kind of read I needed!



#5 - Lastly, I'm grateful for my Texas-lovin' SIL who is also pregnant and sympathizes very, very well. ;) I like her sweet spirit, her fun attitude, her love of kids, her support of my brother, her passionate faith, her "keeping-going-when-the-going-gets-tough" attitude and her general likability. All this even though she can't get over her home state in a way that I disagree with. It's our biggest disagreement and I can live with it. IF I must. (And I do believe I must!) I was going to post a picture of the two of us in our pre-married/pre-baby days but I didn't ask her permission first so we'll just have to wait on that.

VS


;)

In the meantime, I hope you all have a perfectly lovely fall weekend!

Carrie

BLOG ANNOUNCEMENT: I've had several giveaways running the past month or so and I have not created new posts to announce winners. Instead, I've e-mailed winners on the side and have closed old posts and contests and posted the winners on the original contest post. I've decided to do this because I dislike flooding your readers with extra posts for one sentence announcements. I DID want to reassure you that I'm keeping up with the contests and if you didn't hear that you won it's because, well, someone else did. But they have been made aware of that fact and books are headed out! If you all do not mind seeing extra posts with announced winners, let me know. For my part, I just assume it's another post to scroll past and so I've opted to spare the masses.

Books for Babies

I've recently been sent a few books geared more for babies and after having given them a ride with Bookworm2 (age 1 1/2) I thought I would share a little bit about a few of our favorites.

The first two come courtesy of Tiger Tales and are a part of their new fall line-up. (By the way, Tiger Tales recently redid their website and I have to say it is a remarkable improvement! It's easy to find titles you are looking for now, so if you want to check out all that they have to offer, take a peek!)

Hello, Animals! and Hello, Bugs! are "black and white sparkler" books. Written by Smriti Prasadam and illustrated by Emily Bolam, these two board books are full of simple but eye catching illustrations. As they are both a part of the "black and white sparkler" books you can guess at the colors that you'll find here. Yes, that's right! Primarily you'll see a lot of black and white which gives the books a very bold feel. However, each page also has a hint of color which, yes, you've guessed it again, sparkles.

For example, in Hello, Bugs! we open the book to find a page spread that contains a lady bug and a caterpillar. Both are white highlighted illustrations. The ladybug's back is red and the stripes on the caterpillar are green. The words on each page are simple, making this a quick read-aloud for the newest readers among us.

"Hello, Ladybug! scurry, scurry
Hello, Caterpillar! munch, munch"

Simple, bold and basic. The board books are sturdy and up to Tiger Tales solid standards for good reads. We recommend them to newbies.

Next up we have some titles from Roger Priddy. Now, we are long term Priddy fans around here. I credit the Roger Priddy Happy Baby series with a few huge accomplishments:

1. Teaching Bookworm1 the alphabet and basic vocabulary words; and
2. Teaching Bookworm2 basic vocabulary words.

We love the fact that Priddy books contain real photographs and not just cartoon drawings! This is so enormously helpful to both of my kids as they have begun to explore the world around them.

We have quite a collection of Priddy books in our house and we were happy to add these additional two titles, particularly because they appeal to the kinesthetic learner (which is Bookworm2!)

We have Priddy animal books but we hadn't seen Slide and Find - Animals. This book is fun as you have little sliders on each page to move around and reveal various animals. (Baby books are marketed rather clearly. "Slide and find" pretty much says it all!)

Each page spread in this book asks a different question from "Who am I?" to "Who's my baby?" Use the sliders to talk through the questions (or play hide-and-seek with the animals.) This is a cute and fun little book which Bookworm1 found to be very engaging.

Out of this particular stack of books though, we would have to say that Baby Touch and Feel Honk! Honk! is our favorite. You see, we've just discovered cars (and trains) and anything on wheels is a pretty big hit around these parts. Plus, did I mention the "touch and feel" part? Each page spread has something for the youngster to run their fingers over and explore.

If you want Bookworm2 to be really excited about a book, giving him something to touch and finger will make the read all the more interesting and this is a book he is content to sit down and spend some time with.

I, of course, love the Priddy photographs and 1-2 sentence descriptions of each vehicle for you to read and learn more about. This book is definitely a big hit around here and we heartily recommend it.

I appreciate the fact that publishers like Macmillan (home to Roger Priddy) and Tiger Tales are out to create books to engage and enlighten the youngest among us. It's fun to introduce children to the world of reading. I'm glad we have such books available to us to help make this possible.

Off My Bookshelf (giveaway)

I have a few "doubles" on my bookshelf and so I thought I'd host a giveaway and pass along my spare copies to someone else to enjoy. I also thought I'd better do this soon, to make sure you receive these two books in time to enjoy them during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday season!

I'm going to be really lazy today and if you want a detailed description of this book, click on the Amazon link and read their take on it. =) (I'll be less lazy later when I take these to the post office for you!)

I apparently picked up two copies of this book on two separate occasions and didn't realize it. I love the ". . . If you lived" series by Scholastic and snatch up titles whenever I run across them. I now have two copies of . . . If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 but only need one so if you'd like to add this to your bookshelves, leave a comment below!



Secondly, I was sent two copies of the same A Pioneer Alphabet for review from Tundra Books. (They sent a hardback copy and a paperback copy so that I could see both.) I thought I'd pass along one of these to one of you, so if you'd like to win the paperback edition, leave a comment below.


I'll have a review of A Pioneer Alphabet coming up next week so you can keep an eye out for that. I assure you that I have nothing but nice things to say about it and I'm sure that you'll enjoy it.

Would you like to win these two books? Simply leave a comment below. This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through Thursday, October 28th.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER, as selected by Random.org, IS #10 - Alison! Congrats! =)

Happy Early Thanksgiving!