A Christmas Prayer by Amy Parker

What a great book! A Christmas Prayer by Amy Parker and illustrated by Marijan Ranljak does a nice job of trying to get the real meaning of Christmas across to children. All too often we get mixed up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that we forget to reflect on what Christmas really means. This book offers young readers a wonderful perspective on Christmas and what the celebration is truly about. The book is told through the eyes of a young child at Christmas. First a child is thankful for a loving family and then recounts those involved in the Nativity, Gabriel to Baby Jesus. The book ends with the young child acknowledging that Christmas is more than toys and such – which was a huge area of interest for my 4 year old. The last page really opened the door to some great conversation about the importance of Jesus in the Christmas season. The illustrations are great; the child acts out the various parts of the story in an easy to understand way for children. This would be a great pre-Christmas present to your child. The way the book is written will spark some great conversation that allows families to reflect on Christmas.

Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw

Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas is a heartwarming story about Katie and her Dad. Katie has an upcoming talent show at her school she needs to prepare for. She has a variety of talents that she shows her Dad. Many of her talents need work though. As she decides on a talent and is ready for the talent show her friend is unable to perform. Her friend has hurt her hand and cannot beat the school jump rope record. At the last minute Katie decides to help her friend instead of showcasing her own talent. Katie is concerned about her Dad’s reaction, but of course he is happy with her choice to help a friend. Katie’s friend wins the talent show and everyone is happy. At the end of the book the friend gives Katie the crown she won and, of course, dad is proud. Great book about character and helping others while reinforcing a parent’s love. Would recommend to kids going into school or for those little ones with potential friend issues. My 4 year old loved it and understood that helping others is a good thing and you do not always have to “win”.

Hermie - Antonio meets his match DVD

In the DVD Hermie: Antonio meets his match I was surprised by the great animation of the video. Nice colors and the pleasant characters made this a great DVD to watch, the story made it a great DVD as well. Hermie, who is a leader among the animals, has his power position challenged by a traveling group of Scottish Ants. Hermie is not pleased when his new neighbor proves to be bothersome. Hermie hears God’s message about loving thy neighbor. The video does a great job showing how difficult it can be to accomplish love thy neighbor. Hermie and his friends try to follow God’s word.
My 3 year old asked some questions after the video about what it means to Love thy neighbor and she did pick up on the fact that God was speaking directly to Hermie. In too many videos today there are underlying themes or messages and I found none in this DVD. Overall, a great video about a message from God - as well as Hermie’s struggle with trying to keep his promise with God. Hermie proves to be a great influence on his friends, as they too try to love thy neighbor.

The Jesus Book by Stephen Elkins

The Jesus Book by Stephen Elkins is a great basic break down of all things Jesus. The book is broken down into the sections covering Who Jesus is, What Jesus did, What Jesus taught, When it happened, Where is happened, Why it happened and How it happened. Each section does a wonderful job of breaking down the fundamental aspects of Jesus and his life. It lends itself very nicely to use as a teaching tool for younger children. This would be a great addition to any religion class. I will admit some terminology was a little too difficult for my 3 year old to understand, but this book is something that I can use over time to support her understanding of Jesus and his life. The illustrations by Claudine Gevry are wonderfully done. Each page has a basic illustration that does not clutter the page, but assists in the understanding of information in the book. The maps, timelines, and scripture in the book are wonderful additions! The 30 song CD that accompanied to book is great. The songs are targeted towards younger children. My 3 year old was singing and dancing to them as soon as I turned it on. A great CD for the car to sing to!

Read and Share Toddler Bible

The Read and Share Toddler Bible was, overall, a decent book. The book is targeted towards toddlers and so I had a few issues with the book. Some of the stories were not written in a way that a Toddler could grasp. For example, Adam and Eve – after they admitted that they ate the fruit God said “out you go … you can’t live in the garden anymore” this sends the wrong message that children may be asked to leave if they sin. I also wondered why some stories were selected to tell over other stories that may have been more appealing to a toddler. The illustrations were great and I enjoyed the way each story had the original bible selection listed. From an educator stand point – I found the learning suggestions for parents (found after each story) were a good quality. Some were a tad too farfetched. As for the DVD, well…. I think that they had nice intentions; however I think some stories were too straightforward for a toddler. For example when the Kings wife temps Joseph, the acting out is a bit suggestive. The story of Balaam and the Donkey showed him beating the donkey and threatening to kill him. Overall I feel that some stories and word choices were a little too extreme for toddlers. Would I buy this for a gift? Probably not. With the selected Bible stories in this book targeted towards little children, I felt that some stories needed to be handled with a more delicate nature.

The I Believe Bunny

The I Believe Bunny has wonderful illustrations (Frank Endersby) , an excellent story (Tish Rabe), and most importantly a heartfelt message about strength through prayer. What can I say; it is not too often that my entire household enjoys a book. The message this book sends about the power of prayer and helping others is well delivered and easy for a child to comprehend. The author, Tish Rabe, does a brilliant job teaching the verse Philippians 4:13 : `I can do everything through him who gives me strength' . When faced with a complicated task Bunny puts aside his own apprehension and places his trust in God. Bunny gets some help from his friends and is able to save Mouse. Though this book may be classified as a Christian book, it has strong character lessons, such as teamwork and friendship that will reach various age groups. This book is positive throughout and easily lends itself to conversation about faith and trust in God. My three year old has enjoyed reading this book as well as my eight year old cousin. This would make an excellent “new baby” gift or christening/baptism gift. I would recommend this book for children ages 2 and above.

starting