Thank You God for Loving Me review

God loves all of His creatures. Little Hermie explores all of the ways God loves him and his friends in this sweet board book with glitter on the cover.

My Review:

Little Hermie kneels to pray and begins by thanking God for loving him and continues with many of the ways that God shows his love for us from simply being with us, to helping us chose between right and wrong.  Hermie's prayer reminds us that God is everywhere and that He will always love us.

The rhyming pattern will draw your child into the prayer and the beautiful illustrations will capture their attention.  This book also opens the doors to discuss all of the many ways that God does show us He loves us.  A wonderful book to introduce or remind you child of God's never ending love! You can purchase Thank You, God, For Loving Me (Max Lucado's Little Hermie) on Amazon by clicking the link here.

Thank You God for Blessing Me review

Meet Little Hermie—the cutest baby caterpillar in the garden! Little Hermie’s thankful heart shows toddlers how to be thankful for God’s blessings.

Little Hermie is thankful for everything God has given him. He goes through his day thanking God for his many blessings in this adorable board book with flocking on the cover!


My Review:

This is an adorable book for children (and adults).  Little Hermie reminds us that we all have so much to be the thankful for in this world from our friends, to our food, from the stars to helping us to do what is right.  As usual with Hermie books, the illustrations are colorful and engaging.  This is a wonderful book to introduce the concept of God's blessings to young children and can be a prayer starter for preschoolers.  (What blessings has God given to you today?)

If you are interested in purchasing Thank You, God, For Blessing Me (Max Lucado's Little Hermie), please click here to see the current price on Amazon.

Read and Sing Devotions review

Kids can read, sing, and learn while they spend time with God!

In 100 Devotions, 100 Bible Songs children can read a devotion, sing a beloved song, and say a prayer all while learning and spending time with God. Perfect for before school, bedtime, or anytime, these short devotions will be fun for kids and help parents grow their children’s faith.

With bright illustrations, great music, and powerful messages, kids will have fun while they learn to walk with God and apply the message of the Bible to their everyday lives.

My Review

Princess A loves to sing, and she loves to read, and I love for her to sing and read about Jesus.  This set combines it all so that both momma and the princess are happy!  Being a Tommy Nelson book I knew that the illustrations would be cute and that we would probably enjoy it so when I was offered the chance to review it I accepted, and wasn't disappointed.

Each of the 100 Devotions is connected to a song on the 2 CD's included with the book.  They even made it easy for us by not only telling us which CD goes with which devotion, but which song number as well.  Each song is sung sweetly by children which helped Princess A connect with them.  While I would have preferred more contemporary versions of some of the songs, Princess A seemed to love them all.  (As a matter of fact the first CD has become a permanent part of my van radio and when she is in the van, she wants to hear it!)

Each devotion is kept on two pages, which means when we read them we don't see the beginning of another which often leads Princess A to be more concerned with what is next rather than what is now.  I love that!  I also love that each one includes a Bible verse that is relevant and yet short enough that she can memorize it.  The book calls them "Word Watch".  They also include prayer starters.  Many of the devotions include questions in them ("Whose hands are we talking about?" when learning that He's Got the whole world in his hands) to help get your child thinking and working on comprehension skills as well as giving the answers ("God's hands") because lets be honest, sometimes mommy is tired and misses the point too!

The CD's store in plastic sleeves located on the inside of the front and back cover which makes it easy to keep everything together.  I imagine that the sleeves can be removed if you desire (they are attached with some double sided tape).  This would be a great resource for a preschool or early elementary class as well as for parents or even a gift book. 

Big Book of Bible Stories review

If your kids love Dr. Seuss, they’re sure to enjoy My BIG Book of Bible Stories—17 favorite stories, featuring hilarious rhymes and bright, fun illustrations, for preschoolers through early readers. Brand-new from award-winning author and illustrator Phil A. Smouse, My BIG Book of Bible Stories includes clever retellings of key scriptures, from Creation, Adam and Eve, and Jonah through the New Testament stories of the Good Samaritan, Jesus and Nicodemus, and Peter. My BIG Book of Bible Stories is perfect for reading to younger children, while early readers will enjoy working through the brightly-colored pages all by themselves.

My Review

I really like the rhyme scheme of this book.  I mean really, how can you go wrong with, "In the beginning, way back at its birth, God created the heavens and cooked up the earth.  Without a big-bang or a pop or a fizz-out of nothing at all-He made all that there is!"

With a little one I read a LOT of rhyming books and let me tell you, I get to the point that if I hear another rhyme I want to scream.  This one, however is fun to read.  I can't read it without taking on voices, softening mo voice in some places and bellowing in others.  I really get into it!  Because I really get into it, Princess A really gets into it, too.  That's the point isn't it?  When your little one sees that learning what the Bible says is fun, and good, and interesting then you plant a seed that will grow into true understanding and learning as they get older.  This book really helps with that!

With popular stories from both the old and new Testament such as David and Goliath, Jonah, The Good Samaritan and many others you and your child will enjoy reading, and re-reading for many days to come.  The best part is, even the illustrations are cute. 

You know how sometimes the story can be written well but the pictures just don't hold your little ones attention which leads to squirming and sometimes even early endings?  Not going to happen with this book.  From the cute little frog at the beginning to Adam and Eve hiding in the garden (Adam is upside down peeking out of a tree!) to the vineyard owner who looks vaguely French, your child is sure to be captivated while you read.

Definately a thumbs up from me ..... and Princess A!

Fall Mixed Up review

"Every Septober,
Every Octember,
Fall fills my senses
with scenes to remember."

"Bears gather nuts.
Geese hibernate.
Squirrels fly south
in big figure eights."
Fall is all mixed up in this silly book from Bob Raczka! Can you find his mistakes in the words and pictures?

My Review

Truly a silly, fun book to read with your children!  The illustrations are gorgeous, the rhymes are witty, and the nonsense abounds.  Princess A and I had a great time giggling over then silliness, discovering what just wasn't right, and talking about what would be right.  What a great way to encouage children to pay attention to detail! 

Bible Animal Stories review

For spiritual “quality time” with your five- to eight-year-old children, check out Bible Animal Stories for Bedtime—going a step beyond the traditional Bible story book! More than five-dozen Bible stories are included, in fun, easy-to-understand stories that your kids will love. From “God Created the Animals” in Genesis 1, through the accounts of the frogs that plagued Pharaoh, Balaam’s donkey, Solomon’s baboons and apes, and the lost sheep of Jesus’ parable, Bible Animal Stories for Bedtime unveils truth in ways that young hearts can easily grasp. Each chapter is accompanied by full-color illustration and design, making Bible Animal Stories for Bedtime an ideal book for learning and fun.


My Review

This is a really great short story book that would be perfect for bedtime, standing in line time, ride to school time, or just about any time.  I love that all of the stories include a Bible verse and a prayer starter.  I also like that many of them take the time to explain things to the reader (a lamb is a baby sheep, A raven will eat almost anything, sheep are cute but not very smart etc) that he or she probably does not already know.  In addition it opens some door for some real conversations between parent and child (Knowing what you know now, why do you think Noah chose a raven and a dove to send out?)

While this is recommended for children ages 5-8 I can honestly say that my 3 year old LOVED the stories and I even caught my 11 and 13 year old listening in from time to time.  This has been a great addition to our library and one we plan to use frequently!

Things kids need from Mom Review

Bestselling author and mother of four children Angela Thomas brings her trademark storytelling and biblical teaching to this book of encouragement for moms who, in the daily whir of busyness, long to connect with their kids in new ways.

With compassion and creativity, Angela presents 52 inspirations to help moms experience intentional mothering, intentional living, and intentional joy as they:

talk to their child as though he is fascinating

learn to play one video game
plan activities that set a child up for success
be the groovy mom once in a while
make memories and savor them

Moms at all phases of parenting can adopt one idea a week or try several at once. This is a fun, guilt-free resource to help every mom lead with God’s love and delight in the small moments that make up an abundant life.

My Review
First, I really enjoy Angela Thomas.  I heard her speak for the first time last year at a women's conference and I was really touched by her honesty, sincerety, and her love for God.  Then I read Do You Know Who I Am?: And Other Brave Questions Women Ask and I was hooked.  When I had the opportunity to review 52 Things Kids Need from a Mom: What Mothers Can Do to Make a Lifelong Difference I jumped at it, and I wasn't disappointed!

This book is written so that mom can read a chapter a week and then incorporate the theme into her daily life with the goal being that by the end of the year she is doing them all.  Some of the ideas seem pretty straight forward and I even caught myself thinking that I was already doing that consistently (such as let my yes mean yes and no mean no) only to discover that I wasn't doing as well as I thought when I started paying attention.  Others are a little more difficult such as teaching them not to be easily offended (okay, maybe that was difficult for me because I struggle with being easily offended). 

Angela approaches each topic with an open heart and life, admitting that she isn't the perfect mom, that she doesn't always do it right and that it is okay for us to mess up too.  She writes to encourage and to renew inspiration and to remind us that no matter what we do, the most important thing for us to do is to love our children "with all your heart, soul and might".  

I won't say this book will help you be a better mom, but it will show you how to show your love to your children in a different way, it will show you how to show them God's love in your life and actions as well as theirs.  What will help you to be a better mom is to first allow God to lead your life, then to seriously pray, and then to ACT on the concepts presented in this book.