The Story of Your Life Review

the When Grammy-nominated recording artist Matthew West started writing his top-selling new album, The Story of Your Life (Sparrow, 2010) he asked fans to submit personal experiences. More than 10,000 tales of hope, perseverance, and redemption poured in. With friend and author Angela Thomas, West presents some of these powerful stories paired with meaningful devotions they inspired.


Wendy gave birth to her daughter in jail. When all seemed hopeless, she found God and her life transformed into something beautiful.

• Cory, a married youth pastor, had an affair and his life fell apart. With God’s mercy, he and his wife gathered the broken pieces and started again.
• Sheila always struggled with severe insecurity. Now she lives confidently in the purpose God has for her.

This unforgettable devotional journey inspires readers to discover God as the author of their unique lives and to share the power of their story.

My Review:

This is a touching compilation of just what the title indicates, the story of our lives.  Matthew West is a christian musician who decided to create an album based upon the stories of his listeners.  Over 10,000 fans submitted their stories and Matthew used them to create the album titled Story of Your Life.  From that project grew this book.  Matthew invited author and speaker Angela Thomas to join him on this book.

Together they selected stories to create a years worth of reading on topics such as Chosen, a Mother's Love, the family of God, and so much more.  Each of the 52 topics includes the letter(s) submitted, Bible verses that relate to it, and a response from either Angela or Matthew.  Many of these stories will touch your heart, whether you see yourself in them or someone you know.  You will find your heart breaking when Kristin tells you how close she came to taking her life and how she reached out for help from God, or find yourself in Melissa's letter that simply states "I don't have a very dramatic story.  I just love God".  (Matthew shows us how God can use that to do big things in the world.)  Or maybe you will find yourself in Kelli's letter.  A single mom raising two children who watched her son join the military and fight not only in the Gulf war, but be deployed six years later to defend our country again in Afghanistan. 

The stories are beautiful, the responses are inspired and this book is well worth the money to purchase it!

Kid's Bible Handbook review

Help your kids understand scripture’s big picture with Kids’ Bible Handbook. This fully-illustrated guide for 8-to-12-year-olds provides age-appropriate, faith-building details on the greatest Book of all! Featuring a Genesis through Revelation tour, Kids’ Bible Handbook breaks the 66 books down into memorable segments: “In the Beginning” (Genesis through Deuteronomy), “His Story and Their Story” (Joshua through Esther), “Wise Words to Live By” (Job through Song of Solomon), and so on. “How Did We Get This Book, Anyway?” describes the Bible’s history, while kid-friendly sidebars feature important verses, places, and applications. Intriguing trivia adds to the fun, and it’s all wrapped up in a bright, colorful package that kids will love.
My Review:

Think of this as a children's Cliff Notes version of the Bible.  With simple descriptions of main events and ideas in the Bible, illustrations, Did you Know sections, fun facts etc this is a great way to get your child interested in what the Good Book is all about.  While this is by no means a Bible substitute (which the author or publisher NEVER suggested), it is a wonderful companion.  It includes scripture references and even tells the reader where in the Bible they can find each story that is mentioned.  It also does a good job of connecting OT and NT stories.  (While Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac in the OT, Hebrews in the NT suggests what his thoughts were at the time and this book directs you there!)

I like that this includes "what you'll find in..." headings which give an overview of the story or events in a particular book.  This would be great to use as part of family Bible study, reading it either before studying the chapter(s) to get children excited about what is going to happen, or after as a review tool.  I also like that the important characters are listed as well as who the author of the book is. 

The language is simple enough that a young reader can easily read on their own (2nd or 3rd grader) and yet the writing is interesting enough that preteens won't get bored or think it is a "baby" book.  The pictures and illustrations included spice up the text and help the reader to visualize the topic. 

A good companion book for young Bible readers.   If you are interested in puchasing Kids' Bible Handbook: Who, What, When, Where, Why-and What It All Means to You (Kids' Guide to the Bible) you can click here.

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!