In Mesi’s Season of Change: A Friendship Story, Pam Davis’ continues the story she began with Mesi: A Girl ‘n Grace in Africa. The latest title builds onto the timeline begun in the first installment, though enough background information is woven into the text to make the second a stand-alone title or a place where new readers can jump into the Girls ‘n Grace series.

After receiving the saving gift of God’s grace in the first book in Mesi’s story, Mesi finds herself longing for the things of the Lord. She dreams of a church established in her poor village, of a place where she can share God’s gift of grace with others – even those who mock her new faith.

When a man of Mesi’s tribe, the Ashanti, accuses the neighbouring Kienese of stealing his boat, tensions run high. When Mesi and her best friend Kwasi discover a badly injured Kinese boy named Numu, she must draw upon the lessons of kindness and mercy that are newly learned through her fledgling relationship with God in order to overcome generations of intertribal conflict and prejudice. When Kwasi urges Mesi to turn Numu over to the village leaders, Mesi fears for his life, resists, and dedicates herself to his recovery and survival.

Drawing upon the informal discipleship received from her spiritual mentor Miss Ama, Mesi secretly extends mercy to this ‘enemy’ of her tribe. As her love for others grows, she risks even her own personal safety in her efforts to see Numu reunited with his family. Through Mesi’s attempts to deal with mocking family members, unbelieving friends, and looming conflict wherever she turns, her spiritual growth is front and center.

Watching her work through her troubles from the perspective of her new faith, and seeing her Christian character blossom have marked this title as my favourite in the series to date. In addition to being the richest Girls ‘n Grace story in terms of clear-cut character development, Davis has also spun the most suspenseful tale yet in the series. My six-year-old was on tenterhooks waiting to discover Mesi and Numu’s fate.

Engagingly designed, the text is interposed with graphics, colourful design elements and full-page illustrations that appear at the beginning of each short chapter. Written for children ages six and older, it’s easy to see how the vibrant appearance and engaging text will encourage young girls to enter into Mesi’s world. In addition to the intrinsic, culture-sketching story that provides details of African tribal life, an “In Step With Africa” section at the back of the book adds demographic, geographic, and other information about Africa. A series of devotional questions is also included to help young readers reflect on the story.

The opportunity to walk along side Mesi as she grows in God’s grace, and develops a more Christ-like character through the challenging circumstances she’s faced with is a valuable one. Young girls being conformed into His likeness will benefit greatly from Mesi’s accessible, positive example while thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process.

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT CHRISTIANBOOK, AMAZON.COM, OR AMAZON.CA!

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children

Harvest House Publishers (July 1, 2009)

Stormie Omartian is the bestselling author of The Power of a Praying® series (more than 11 million copies sold worldwide), which includes The Power of a Praying® Wife and The Power of a Praying® Husband. Her many other books include Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On, The Prayer That Changes Everything®, and The Power of a Praying® Woman. Stormie and her husband, Michael, have been married more than 35 years and have three grown children.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (July 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736920862
ISBN-13: 978-0736920865

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT CHRISTIANBOOK, AMAZON.COM, OR AMAZON.CA!

When Dei Fratelli asked me if I’d like to try some of their gluten-free tomato products I said – yes!  I cook a lot with tomatoes – after all, what can’t you make with some ground beef and tomatoes?  More importantly, there’s is a fourth generation family owned company that includes only fresh and natural, vine-riped ingredients in their tasty sauces, canned tomatoes, salsas, and more.

The Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce (both gluten and corn free) was so delicious that I was, ahem, eating it out of the pot while I was preparing it for my family.  A light, tasty blend of flavours with basil (yummy!), by the time it made it onto the pasta it thinned down in intensity and needed a bit more salt, but it was still quite savory (try it out of the pot!!)  Quite a few pasta sauces include corn syrup, which my oldest child is allergic to, so this was a convenient way to have a quick pasta meal for us without needing to make sauce from scratch.

Dei Fratelli also makes canned tomatoes – diced, whole, seasoned, stewed, salt-free – you name it!  Their top-selling diced tomato is the Seasoned Diced Tomato, and oh it is good!  It does have corn starch included in the ingredients, but the fresh blend of tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic and celery was superb!  It is incredibly good, subtly spicy and can easily be added to many meat dishes, soups, omlettes – many applications!

The large can of all-purpose Italian Sauce also includes corn starch as an ingredient, and is a great base for any Italian-style.  This would be delicious on manicotti, tomato soup, a base for pasta sauce, and ahem – on toast.  The thing that continously impresses me about Dei Fratelli is the fresh, never tinny flavour of their products.  Because there are no preservatives they taste as good as homemade – never any funny flavours to impinge upon the olive oil, onion, basil and garlic that mingle together in this sauce.

My favourite though, is the Original Medium Salsa.  I love salsa, and Dei Fratelli’s is so good!  It’schunky, zesty, and filled with vine-ripened tomatoes, zesty peppers, onions, and garlic, yet is mild enough for anyone in the family to enjoy – even children.  I found that the heat ratings are fairly low – the medium was quite mild, so if you like a hot salsa, go up one notch from what you usually buy.  It’s good enough to eat on it’s own – and is corn free!

So, there you have it, I’ve openly admitted that I eat yummy tomato sauces with nothing else to go along with  them – ahem.  If you want to  get a bit of something more filling with your Dei Fratelli (the brothers), you can check out their frugal recipe suggestions at their website.  Their claim to fame is without a doubt the fresh, clean taste of each product and the careful blending of subtle flavours.  Look for their cans and jars in your local grocery store, you won’t be disappointed!

Maybe you’re blessed to live in a community where everyone looks out for each other. Where you can trust your neighbours faithful observers to keep an eye open for you.

Sadly, many of us are either far from the nearest neighbour, or our neighbours are rather apathetic. We’re pretty tight here in the country, but in the city apathy is ever-present.  In my family’s condo complex some youngsters ‘borrowed’ a ladder from a neighbour, crawled through a second floor window and proceeded to rob the home – in the light of day.

I can see why some people have chosen to install wireless security system and house alarms. After all, even neighbours who mean well can’t keep watch all day long!

“Former Playboy Playmate Does Good”: a subtitle that would accurately encapsulate the thrust of Susie Scott Krabacher’s autobiography Angels of a Lower Flight. What this subtitle wouldn’t capture are the nuances of pain – that of Krabacher’s abusive childhood and perhaps more importantly, that of the thousands of Haitian children that she now feeds and cares for through her charitable foundation Mercy and Sharing.

Angels of a Lower Flight chronicles Krabacher’s first-person recollections of the abuse and strictly religious home she grew up in. Not a happy, feel-good read by any stretch of the imagination, she doesn’t skirt away from her grandfather’s predatory sexual abuse nor her mother’s mental disorders and violent tendencies. Seeking to escape her childhood home, she dropped out of grade ten, took an office job, and before long found herself sinking into the moral depravity and boundary-free world of a Playboy playmate. Sinking into drug addiction and a doomed marriage to a criminal, she eventually finds herself homeless and working as an unskilled domestic.

After her remarriage to a successful attorney, Krabacher eventually feels led to aid children in poverty-stricken countries. Without training or the support of any official organization, she strikes out to see what can be done for the children of Haiti. Krabacher’s fortitude and persistence in setting up orphanages, feeding programs, and schools in this spiritually dark country are amazing to read, considering her complete lack of what many would consider to be the requisite formal qualifications.

Her descriptions of the pain, fear, hunger, and death that she encounters in her journey are heartbreaking. Reading her memoirs, one can’t help but be captured by the pleas of these Haitian little ones as they are cast away, mistreated, and purposefully disposed of. Haiti is now indelibly imprinted on the hearts of my family, and our home has been filled with prayers, conversation, further research and much heart-searching.

Not a read for the timid, Krabacher doesn’t shy away from describing her drug binges, recollections of sexual abuse, tales of wild parties, and life in the Playboy mansion. Neither does she gloss over the realities of life in Haiti for abandoned children: little ones with heads grown into crib bars, extraordinary degrees of starvation and malnutrition, children abandoned on the streets with broken bones, and the list goes on.

Turning to God as her support through the many trials and difficulties that she encounters in her work, the pages of her work are scattered with meaningful scripture passages – particularly the psalms, and occasionally references to her faith. She also clearly draws into view the spiritual roots of the darkness, poverty, crime, and so on that are rife in Haitian society. However, this is not primarily a spiritually focused title; rather, the thrust of her work is humanitarian in nature. No clear-cut conversion experience is shared, and readers may be left uncertain in regards to Krabacher’s spiritual standing, as she continues to model nude sometime after returning to church. There’s no clear delineation line where she passes from darkness to light. I can only hope that certain portions of her spiritual journey remain untold here.

While sharing the many challenges faced during the establishment and growth of Mercy and Sharing, Krabacher continually amazed me with her seemingly contradictory traits of tender mercy and iron-will. With such a heart for children, she continues to soldier on, though her heart’s been broken countless times. She presses on through each struggle, refusing to surrender. Amazingly devoted to the cause, she’s worked since 1995 without drawing any wages, and all the profits from her book are going directly back into her ongoing work in Haiti.

Learn more about the work Mercy and Sharing is undertaking in Haiti at their website.

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT AMAZON.COM, OR AMAZON.CA!

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

Valley of the Shadow

Tyndale House Publishers (May 13, 2009)

Tom Pawlik, winner of the 2006 Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild’s Operation First Novel contest has drawn praise from critics with his first novel, Vanish. Novel Journey has declared, “Tom Pawlik writes a scary, fascinating, suspenseful story; one you won’t want to miss” and Faithful Reader said Vanish “…delivers a Christian message and certainly succeeds in stirring the imagination and the spirit.”

Tom Pawlik has a BA in communication and works in the marketing field. He has been active in Christian teaching, youth work, and music for over twenty years. In addition to writing fiction, Tom is an accomplished songwriter and musician who writes and records at his home studio. He and his wife, Colette, live in Ohio with their four children and a dog.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (May 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414326793
ISBN-13: 978-1414326795

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT CHRISTIANBOOK, AMAZON.COM OR AMAZON.CA!

A DVD sporting the simple title Letter Sounds may sound unimpressive. Teaching letter sounds, how hard can that be? Well, if you’ve ever taught children to read you’ll know that structured, consistent, repetitive practice is required in order to teach young ones the basic building blocks of the written English language.

Rock ‘N Learn’s Letter Sounds DVD both meets those requirements and tackles much more than simple letter sounds: introducing the alphabet, learning the short sounds of the vowels and consonants, fun ‘interactive’ tests, guiding children into blending, an introduction to consonant blends, sight words, and reading full sentences. It does all that in a fun-filled, bright, musical DVD that has drawn both my three-year-old and six-year-old into repeating letter names, sounds and has my older child reading along.

Recommended for children from four- to seven-years-old who are just beginning their phonics education, I recommend that parents interested in teaching the alphabet, sounds, and early reading skills to pick up the disc before teaching their child the alphabet song. Letter Sounds opens with a lively performance of “The New Alphabet Song”, a jazzy, rocky tune that allows for clear enunciation of each letter. It’s about time parents had a new version to work with, young children often believe that “lmnop” is one letter due to the slur in the traditional tune. Rock ‘N Learn’s version features clear spaces between each letter name, and is followed by a spoken chant so that children won’t rely upon the tune alone. Flashing letters that flip from upper to lower case along with the song effectively combine audio and visual learning strategies to reach children.

After the alphabet is introduced, the short sounds for each letter are presented from A to Z. The upper-case and lower-case letter appear in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. A talking mouth that speaks and clearly demonstrates how to form each letter sound with the mouth, teeth, and tongue appears in the upper right hand corner. A visual illustrating the word spoken appears in the lower half of the screen. For the letter D the mouth says, “Dee, d, d, dog”, after which the word ‘dog’ appears beneath the capital and lower case “d”s on screen. The mouth then repeats the information, allowing for children to join him on the second repetition. Not only is this an effective way to convey the sound information for each letter, it is also useful for children learning to clearly pronounce each sound in their daily speech. Children in speech therapy, or those still working on a few problem sounds can benefit greatly from this portion of the disc.

My oldest already has a solid foundation in the short-letter sounds that are introduced on the disc, but doesn’t have a great understanding of connecting letter sounds and names, something the “Letter Sounds Quiz” is designed to remedy. Presented in a game show format, a sentence with a prevalent sound is read to the children (accompanied by cheerful pictures). After listening for the repeating sound the child is to give the letter’s name before the timer goes off.

The DVD then demonstrates how to sound out words by the standard television technique of lighting up letters individually, pronouncing them one by one, and then pushing them towards each other to eliminate the spaces between them, repeating, and finally reading the word. Blending is such a tricky skill for children, and seems to require a certain ‘click’ developmentally, any help visualizing the process is very helpful. An similar technique is used in the introduction to consonant blends, and for the sight words the letter names are read for each letter rather than their sounds.

The disc concludes with “Reading Sentences in a Story”, my favourite feature. Simple sentences using short words (most are three letters long) and short letter sounds are presented for children to read aloud before the narrator reads the sentence as it highlights each word. An accompanying animation enlivens brings the sentence to life visually, at times playing throughout the sentence, at other times playing only after the sentence has been read. What a neat and adorable way to encourage children to read.

While the total running time is 52 minutes, the DVD is best used with a mastery-based approach. Children should be introduced to one track at a time until the material is well understood before moving onto the next step, as each builds progressively upon previously established skills. The easy to use disc menu makes it easy to select the desired chapter. As much as it’s tempting to just sit our children down in front of the TV so they can learn, parental involvement and encouragement create much higher interest and comprehension levels in young learners. With parental commitment to the program, this DVD will create a solid first-step for your child to stand upon as they pursue further phonics studies in the future. Letter Sounds is a fabulous introduction to phonics that I wish I’d known of sooner.

A video sample can be viewed online at the Rock ‘n Learn website.

Lessons Included:

1. The New Alphabet Song
2. Learn the Sounds
3. Letter Sounds Quiz
4. Name That Letter!
5. Reading Words
6. Words With Consonant Combinations
7. Common Sight Words
8. Bonus: Reading Sentences in a Story

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT AMAZON.COM OR AMAZON.CA!

Within the church a family reformation is taking place. Parents are turning away from the norms of our Western culture and seeking God’s will in His word; turning away from cultural norms as standards for family structure and patterns and towards His ways. Voddie Baucham is amongst the leading teachers at the forefront of this revival. An excellent, literal exegete, he digs into scripture to uncover principles relating to the standards for Christian husbands and the methods we utilize to enter into the covenant of marriage in What He Must Be …If He Wants to Marry My Daughter.

With three daughters under the age of six, many would find our family’s passion for careful attention to the courtship process in our daughter’s lives bizarre. However, we’ve been given a passion for guarding the hearts of our children, and doing our utmost to ensure that they marry qualified Christian young men. With growing numbers of families like ours in the church, Baucham has heeded the call and put pen to page to create far more than a simple checklist of “what he must be”. Far more than a simplistic check-list that potential suitors must go through to achieve paternal approval, Baucham has written a mini-apologetic for marriage, biblical manhood, and yes – courtship, within one accessible volume.

The stage is set in the initial chapters that lay out the multi-generational vision for Christian families who serve the Lord, the vital importance of covenant marriages, and the necessity for fathers to become involved in the courtships of their daughters. In this foundation Baucham rightly rejects outright the current practices of serial monogamy (dating), in order to protect and maintain purity of body and heart in our children. It is only then that he begins to illustrate the bare bones requirements that he, and any father, should ensure are met before giving away their daughter’s hand in marriage.

While the standards he presents are rarely found in young men today, Baucham’s list is not pulled from personal preference or flights of fancy. Each of his listed qualifications is pulled directly from the pages of scripture, as the Word of God explains what husbands should, and must be if they are to follow the call of God on their lives. Readers who have not had the benefit of Godly counsel in the selection of a mate will most certainly wish they’d had these criteria and the sound biblical support available to them before marriage.

Working through the importance of marriage between believers, male leadership, sacrificial love, welcoming children, and a young man’s potential to serve as priest, prophet, and provider to his wife, Baucham carefully builds an image of what these latent traits may look like in a single young man, drawing from scripture, biographies of notable Christian men, and the words of church fathers. He both debunks false requirements for potential mates (most notably ethnicity and heritage) and encourages fathers to undertake disciplining potential suitors in the required skills new husbands will need if they are found lacking.

I can’t recommend What He Must Be more highly. Written primarily to fathers I can easily see families with children approaching marriageable age digging into this together and catching a collective vision for the future. Every parent with a daughter, those raising sons who will one day be husbands, every young woman approaching marriageable age, every father, every mother, every Christian family will find food for thought and sound encouragement and equipping to answer the call back to a biblical model of courtship.

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT CHRISTIANBOOK, AMAZON.COM, OR AMAZON.CA!

Stay tuned to Crossway’s Blog for more review links for this title!

Homeschooling families with daughters of all ages, take note! Amy Puetz has written the quintessential dress-up guide for girls – Costumes With Character - who want to add a multi-dimensional, living element to their study of history. Through the use of a simple dress as a base (pattern not included, suggested resources listed in appendix), Puetz has developed a huge selection of patterns for accessories, head-coverings, and removable clothing pieces to use along with the basic dress to recreate historical costumes from eleven time periods.

Covering Christian apparel from the Pilgrims through to the turn of the 20^th century, Puetz’s patterns are simple enough to encourage even a bumbling seamstress such as myself to turn my hand to them. The patterns as written are designed to fit sixteen-year-olds, but a mathematical formula and variances are provided to alter the patterns to fit girls from four on up. The patterns themselves must be enlarged before using them, as only reduced versions are included in the text. For me, this does seem a bit daunting (but I’m an extraordinarily inexperienced sewer), but the patterns are so simple, but look so impressive when assembled together in an ensemble that it’s impossible to resist their appeal. The patterns themselves are clearly organized and are easy to understand.

The outfits Puetz plans are always modest, historically accurate and fun. Many of the pieces are versatile and are called into use in multiple time periods as appropriate. Purses, hats, fans, and parasols are included in several costume arrangements for example, decreasing the number of pieces necessary to build an entire historical wardrobe. The use of a simple dress with add-ons is also an incredibly economical solution to acquiring historical costumes, eliminating the need to purchase or make several complete outfits.

To effectively convey what a gem Costumes With Character is, let me share a few examples of how Puetz’s plan works. In the Civil War time period, the basic dress is paired with the following accessories: collar, hoopskirt, handkerchief, parasol and bow that you will need to sew from the provided patterns. A bonnet, fan, and handbag from other time periods are also called into service once again. Complete instructions are given for wearing and assembling the costumes, just in case you’re not entirely sure what to do with that hoop skirt you’ve just made. Other periods are simpler, such as the Puritan, which includes only a: collar, apron, cuffs, and a lawn cap (head covering).

Puetz’s passion for history is evident throughout with history trivia quizzes, quotes from primary source documents, and scripture verses that loosely embody the period. Suggestions for planning a tea party are also included along with patterns for fabric invitations, snack ideas, etc. Colourful photographs are included throughout, both of young women displaying the assembled costumes, and of other bright, inspiring images. Some of the images are somewhat pixilated, but in general the layout and quality of the book are highly professional.

Costumes With Character can be used as an ideal, hands-on supplement to enliven existing history studies, pull together home-economics and history, or serve as an outline for a course of study. Puetz’s list of books and movies (with an emphasis on primary sources and living books) in the recommended resources section could easily serve as a jumping off point into a unit study covering the included time periods. However family’s choose to use this wonderful resource, it’s sure to inspire as history is brought to life.

Costumes With Character is available for download through Amy Puetz’s website, CurrClick, or The Old Schoolhouse Store.

—Please scroll down for new posts—

CONTEST CLOSED

Don’t forget to enter our current contest for a copy of SpellQuizzer’s spelling software. Contest closes July 12/09.