"Revenge of the Red Knight" Awesome Kids Historical Fiction from Adventures in Odyssey

This 4th book in the Imagination Station series, Revenge of the Red Knight, takes place during medieval England. Two kids, Beth and Patrick, end up on an adventure where they meet a good knight, a bad knight, and Lord Darkthorn, whose treasures have been stolen.  This book is written at a 2nd grade reading level, but even I was captured with the story!  Definitely a page turner with a surprise ending. 

My children and I have read all of the Imagination Station books in order up to Revenge of the Red Knight.  You could read them alone, but the story is a continuing one and I highly recommend starting with the 1st in the series, Voyage With the Vikings. 

As a homeschooling mom, I use these as part of my history curriculum.  Yes, historical fiction may be a bit unorthodox, but it grabs my children's interest, real-life characters are featured in these books, and the authors stick as close to possible to real life events as can be expected with 2nd graders historical fiction.  This is my favorite series for this age level and I couldn't recommend it more highly!

You can get any of these books at Amazon.com for $4.99 new or do what we did and...

Get Imagination Station books for free by participating in Tyndale's Summer Reading Program!

Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson: A Must-read for any Parent of Girls!

Years ago, Dr. James Dobson wrote Bringing Up Boys, a book from Focus on the Family that I highly recommend for any mom or dad with a son.  I've been the mama to 3 beautiful little girls for the last 7 years.  All that time, Bringing Up Boys sat on our bookshelf and I often wished there were a version focusing on girls. When I found out there was one (it was just released earlier this year) I was totally excited! And when I found out I'd have the opportunity to review it for Tyndale House, I was even moreso!

Practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of women.

Dr. James Dobson is a very well-reknown, experienced psychologist with a Christian worldview.  That being said, even those who aren't Christians have benefited from his wisdom.  He's definitely been blessed with great insight into a great many things, especially family life.

If you've read Bringing Up Boys (and if you haven't and have a son, you should!) then this book is just what you'd expect.  It focuses on every important issue a parent of a young woman will come across.  It's written by a very conservative man who obviously loves God and believes that it's our purpose as parents to shape our daughters into women who will love Him and will stand with Him in a world that's quickly changing.

"Girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, but boys are made out of snakes and snails and puppy dog tails."  A joke, of course, but everyone knew there was some truth to it.

The following are just a few of the subjects Bringing Up Girls dives into:

• Teaching girls to be ladies.
• The obsession with beauty.
• Girls and their mothers.
• Why daddies matter.
• The river of culture.
• Proteching your daughter from invasive technology.
• And lots more.... but you can check it out by reading an excerpt here!

Special thanks to the wonderful people at Tyndale for providing me with this book to review!

Through Rushing Water: An Amazing Story!

I loved this book!

Through Rushing Water is based very loosely on the story of the Ponca Indian Reservation of Dakota Territory, which was forced to relocate in the middle of the winter.  It's the story of Sophia Makinoff, a college education major, who has great political aspirations which include marrying a politician.  She is jilted when he married her roomate and, in an attempt to run away from her problems, she volunteers as a missionary who will journey to Dakota Territory to teach the Ponca children there.

Sophia begins as a lukewarm Christian but ends with great faith.  She makes wonderful friends, her life changes dramatically, and the story takes many interesting twists and turns.  I had a very hard time putting this book down!  The fact that it was based on real life events made me want to learn more about the Russian French woman Sophia's character was drawn from, as well as more about the Ponka Indians.

I couldn't recommend this book more highly!  It's a wonderful read.  Read the first chapter here and I'm certain you'll agree.

Special thanks to the people at Booksneeze for providing me with this book to review.

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms... Sweet Amish Fiction

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms is sweet Amish fiction that makes nice, light reading.  This is the first book I've read by Cindy Woodsmall; the characters and their stories quite captivated me.  I read it quickly.  If you're interested in the Amish people, of the way they live, believe, and in the differences between Amish and Mennonites (it's all very interesting, I think!) then you'll like this story.  

Annie Martin is Old Order Mennonite and is falling in love with her childhood friend, Aden Zook.  Their love is forbidden because he is not Mennonite, but Amish.  Besides dealing with their confusing feelings, Annie also has turmoil with her mother and siblings.  Since their Dad left them years ago, Annie has grown closer to God while the rest of her family has grown farther from him.

A Romance from the Heart of Amish Country

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms is written by an author I've read and reviewed before.   My introduction to Miss Cindy Woodsmall came with the book When the Soul Mends, which was a wonderful story that deal with hard, real things.  This author deals with problems Amish and Mennonites face that we aren't familiar with, but that we can read of to better understand God's grace... and the kind of life that is very different from our own. 

Can Annie and Aden find a place for their love to bloom in the midst of a brewing storm?

 If you like light, inspirational reading, I wholeheartedly recommend The Scent of Cherry Blossoms.

Special thanks to the wonderful people at Waterbrook Multnomah for providing me with this book!