Dinosaurs: Marvels of God's Design: Review

  

As a homeschool mom (or even a Christian parent), it is a struggle to teach dinosaurs from a Creationist worldview.  Our boys, especially, devour any thing dinos and you just can’t find enough of a variety of resources with that slant. So eventually their little brains end up playing a game of dino ping pong going from God created the Earth in six days to “millions of years ago”…  So to be able to try out a new Creationist paleontology book was exciting!  Dinosaurs: Marvels of God’s Design by Dr. Tim Clarey arrived in our mail box to review and I was excited!

  One of my pet peeves is people not being able to explain why they believe what they believe.  I know that I don’t have as firm of a grasp on that as I need to as far as Creationism goes, and I want to make sure the kiddos don’t have that problem (and I won’t from here on out for that matter). We are an “old rocks” type of family.  Hubby is an archaeologist and gets asked about digging up fossils all the time.  Even though fossils are paleontology and archaeology is the study of ancient peoples and their artifacts the two disciplines run nicely together because both professionals are bound to come across artifacts from the other profession since it all is found in the dirt.  Hubby has brought home many interesting fossils over the years while he was out doing archaeology survey.  So our lives not only revolve around things found in the dirt, we are constantly confronted with the old earth theory.

A fossil and a piece of coal Hubby found on survey

   This book was not just about Creationism, but a good introduction into dinosaurs in general.  Dr. Clarey dissects all parts of paleontology laying the groundwork for the reader.  So along the way the student learns about classifications, plate tectonics, fossilization, etc… He also addresses many common topics with mainstream paleontology and how they can be explained, and not just with simple explanations either, nice detailed ones that give you and your family the foundation you need to reinforce your stance on Creation.

  An added bonus for us was a nice sized section on Barnum Brown and Charles Sternberg.  Barnum Brown was born just 12 miles from us and Charles Sternberg is also a Kansan.  It was wonderful to see these familiar names pop up in our reading!  It was also fascinating to learn of the bone wars and how that affected how some of the dinosaurs were presented to the world. 

  The thing I loved about this book is not just the glut of information (and it is filled to the brim with that!) but the pictures! Tons and tons of pictures!  Some from digs the author has been a part of.  This book is great for not just older readers, but younger ones as well.  Dr. Clarey uses easy to read language, but technical enough for those know-it-all readers (like someone I live with). 

  One thing I wish this book had was a good ol’ suggested reading list beyond the books that are put out by Master Books.  Books with good sourcing for the young earth viewpoints are hard to come by and it would have been a valuable addition for young (and old researchers).   Some of the ones on our bookshelf include: What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs by John Morris and Ken Ham; Chronicles of Dinosauria: The History & Mystery of Dinosaurs and Man by Dave Woetzel; Dragons or Dinosaurs: Creation or Evolution by Darek Isaacs; and Dragons: Legends and Lore of Dinosaurs by Master Books.
   Overall this is a book I would highly recommend for including in your home library.  It is a resource that would be excellent to refer to time and time again.
  Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for giving me a chance to review this.  All opinions in this blog are my own. 

Marie Durand: A book review

from Christian Biographies for Young Readers

   I was excited to try the newest Christian Biography for Young Readers on Marie Durand by Simonetta Carr.  I'd previously reviewed the biography on Jonathan Edwards in the same series and fell in love with the style and detail.
   My book arrived in the mail and I set it aside until evening when it would have more of my attention.  That plan got derailed when when my daughter Mookie (age 10) couldn't sleep.  I gave it to her joking that either it would be so boring it would put her to sleep or it would help keep her up ;) The next morning I checked in and she had read the whole thing!  This is the kid who doesn't really like non-fiction.  If it is about a strong girl figure she'll give it a chance, but it needs to be really striking to get her attention. 
  Anxious to see who this Marie Durand was I delved in.  Marie was jailed for her Protestant faith in a time where the rule of the land was to be Roman Catholic or you were an enemy of the state.  The subject is timely since we are seeing an increase in persecution of the Christian faith throughout the world. I could personally identify with Marie because my grandfather's ancestors were French Huguenots who fled France prior to Marie's time and finally took sanctuary in the United States. 
 

translated "to resist" scrawled in the jail where Marie was held

    Marie remained in prison 38 years. Thirty-eight years where she ministered to those she was imprisoned with.  Thirty-eight years where she encouraged by correspondence those who were persecuted as she.  Thirty-eight years where she inspired those that visited her prison and wished to help her and her fellow prisoners in their plight.  What a woman!  Marie epitomizes all the strong characteristics that would appeal to my Mookie, a deep love of God, a love of writing, and a love of family - no wonder she couldn't put the book down. 
    These books are just fantastically set up: an intro to the subject matter, a body that is written like a story but just chalked full of excellent facts, pictures of the actual places and things that the main character was at or used.  The end of Marie's book contained a timeline, pronunciation key (for those tricky French words), a "did you know?" section, and a translated letter from Marie to her beloved niece Anne. 
    As a historian, I love these books for how they draw young people in to history and make it come alive!  As a homeschooling mom, I love using these because they point out the sources they come from and encourage the kids that are reading them to delve in more to the time by giving them a brief bit of information on either side of the time they feature.  As a reader myself, I enjoy being able to sit down for an hour or less and dig in myself and learn something new!
    I received this book free from the publisher and the thoughts and comments are my own and was not required to write a positive review. 

The One O'Clock Miracle (a review)

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   I LOVE a good read-aloud picture book.  My favorites are Dr. Seuss’ What Was I Scared Of? and Llama Llama Red Pajama, things you can really get into. Those books were what The One O’Clock Miracle by Alison Mitchell reminded me of.  The book is highly visual, and not just with the pictures, but with the strong descriptive words that are highlighted at times…

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With a pre-reader in my house who is very interested in words and what they say, this is a great way to draw attention to individual words.

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Of course, the most important thing about this book is its message.  The subtitle is “Trusting the Words of Jesus”.  How appropriate, that’s all we can do today, and it is such an important lesson to pass along to our kiddos.  We can’t see Jesus in the flesh, but we can see all of his promises in action!

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At the end of the book are Scripture references where you can find the original story of the One O’clock Miracle in the Bible, as well as the chapter and verse where the Bible tells us that we can believe in Him because of what we have heard.

  This is definitely a "keeper" of a book.  Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews for giving me a chance to review it.  The opinions in this blog are my own. :)

Samuel Rutherford

  I was given the opportunity to read a "Bitesized Biography" Samuel Rutherford by Richard Hannula. I enjoy these bite-sized biographies.  Packed full of great information, and just the right sized for both my kiddos and this busy mom to increase our knowledge.  I admit, when I heard it was Samuel Rutherford, I had no idea who he was.  I love learning new things, so I dove in.  Let me tell you, I was excited to learn he was a Presbyterian minister in Scotland during the 17th century.  My gg-grandfather Murray's great-grandfather was a Presbyterian minister in Scotland at or after that time period, so this book grabbed my full attention right away.
  The book starts you out with a timeline, which is great for giving you an idea of what you are getting yourself into.  The author took an interesting slant and let Samuel talk mostly through his own words.  While this got tiresome at times, boy you can't beat the original source! It covers Samuel's own personal conflicts to ones where he battled corruption in the church.  The faith and how he handled himself and others was wonderful to see.
  I am definitely going to have to do some more research on John Knox and the other circumstances that shaped the environment that Samuel lived in.  Simonetta Carr has one in her Christian Biographies for Kids series on Knox, that is going to be next on my list.
  The book ends with a listing of recommended reading, of which it is noted that many of the selections can be found for free on-line.
  These bite-size biographies don't disappoint.  They pack a whole bunch of information into a small package.  I am thankful for Cross Focused Reviews for the chance to read and review this book.  Any opinions given were my own.

Jonathan Edwards

  I don’t take much time for myself.  That’s the point I’m at in my life and I am contented with it.  So, when I go to pick out a history book, I’m kind of picky.  History is my thing.  Well, its kind of our family thing, with a mom as a historian and a dad as an archaeologist, there’s no escaping it.  So since I don’t have a lot of time to read all the stuff I want to and I’m always on the look out for things to make history alive to my kiddos, books in our household have to fit these two criteria: 1) teach me something new and challenging but in a short format 2) make it easy to understand and interesting for my kids too.  Bonus points for using a Christian perspective.

  That’s why I like Christian Biographies for Young Readers series.  Being a purchaser for our church library I have bought some before.  I hadn’t delved into them beyond general perusal, but knew they were chalked full of absolutely wonderful illustrations, historical pictures and manuscripts as well as side notes explaining some items in more detail. That is very important for me in non-fiction kid books, if you don’t have an interesting format, you’re losing them right off.

  I didn’t know much about Jonathan Edwards beyond him being one of those fire and brimstone preachers of the Great Awakening, so I was looking forward to this review.  From a historian’s perspective, Ms. Carr did an excellent job drawing in many facets of colonial history: Plymouth, the Deerfield raid, Isaac Newton, the French and Indian War and other characters of the Great Awakening, George Whitefield & David Brainerd. 

  The book takes a very different turn than I was expecting.  It focuses on his upbringing and how it and his other life experiences contribute to his ministry, but it primarily focuses on how he incorporated God’s handiwork of his natural environment into his ministry.  How he used the wonder of God’s creation to over come such fears as those of thunderstorms, which were a menace during that time.

This was a wonderful segue into his eventual work with the Native Americans at Stockbridge.  

  Tidbits I loved about this book: how detailed it was down to the illustration of George Whitefield which showed him with his lazy eye (something that was not covered in the book, but it was cool to see it come out in the illustration).  The appendix at the back of the book with the timeline of Edwards’ life and a “Did you Know” section, things that I could see the author thinking really interesting and while they did not fit into the flow of the story, she wanted to share with us. 

  I’d definitely recommend this book on one of the great theological minds of early America!
  I received this book free from the publisher and the thoughts and comments are my own and was not required to write a positive review. 

Timothy: A Little Fish with a Big Purpose

   Recently I had the opportunity to review Timothy a Little Fish with a Big Purpose by Brad Riley for Cross Focused Reviews.  I started reading this to Shorty (age almost 2) and before I knew it Bubby (age 10) and Mookie (age 9) were there with us drawn in by the engaging story. 

    The story tells the tale of Timothy, a little fish who obediently followed his mother and grandmother’s instructions and therefore was a blessing to those he came in contact with.  What your kiddos might not pick up on is the background is actually the story of the miracle of the fish from Matthew 17.  In that way, the story is engaging to multiple levels of kiddos because it can draw them in on their level of Biblical understanding. 

   On Shorty’s level, the bright pictures and the brief text on each page was great.  He didn’t stir while we worked our way through.  On another level, you learn about obedience to your parents/spiritual teachers and how that is ultimately being obedient to God.   Further in, you can see how God orchestrates all things for his ultimate good, even using a fish.

   I liked the endnote where the author talks about adults modeling their faith for their kids, like Timothy’s Grandma did in the book.  We as parents and teachers need to be so careful that we are modeling Christ to our kids.  

  The only time where Mr. Riley lost me was where Timothy was supposed to call his mom when he got to his grandma’s house.  I understand that it was put in there to show responsibility to kids but the idea of fish and a telephone was stretching for me. 

   I loved this book and was glad to receive a free download of it from Cross Focused Reviews.  The opinions in this review are my own:)

Churches, Revolutions, and Empires

When I received Churches, Revolutions, and Empires 1789-1914 by Ian Shaw from Cross Focused Reviews I was excited.   Being a lover of history and recently interested in the roots of our Christian Faith, I eagerly dove in.  Shaw did not disappoint.  This book was chocked full of wonderful facts and background of this crucial part of our Church’s history.  I can’t wait to go back through and re-read and pick up tidbits I missed.  One of my favorite quotes in the book was: “The rich Puritan heritage of the New England colonies was rooted in the piety of the early British and European Protestant settlers, and included a deep-set fear of return to the religious oppression from which the founding fathers had escaped".  I think that this statement really emphasizes the importance of our religious foundation in America. It also makes me wonder if having a little of that fear isn't beneficial to protecting our religious freedom.

David Livingstone

  I was also especially interested in the section on missions and how each branch of the church handled missions and how that either furthered the Gospel or hindered their efforts.  It was neat to learn more about individuals that I had always heard about but not taken the time to look deeper at.  The one that especially caught my eye was David Livingstone since Bubby had taken a liking to his story when we came across a little blurb about him on a school worksheet.  This man sacrificed comforts, his family, and pretty much everything, all for the love of God and sharing that with the people of Africa. 

  This book did an excellent job of weaving the story of Christianity during this time period.  Mr. Shaw showed how crucial an era this was all over the world and how people from different walks of life all strived to spread the gospel despite conflicts and barriers they encountered.  Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews for providing me with a copy of this to review! :)