The Easter Storybook from David C Cook Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. 

My family had the privilege of reading The Easter Storybook from David C Cook for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

David C Cook is a ministry that publishes and distributes discipleship and worship materials for local churches to help bring the word of Christ around the world, globally. These products include: music, books, curriculum, Bible studies, and resources for adults and children alike. Proceeds from purchases also help with their global outreach efforts.

The Easter Storybook contents.

The Easter Storybook is one of David C Cook's books for children. This book is written by Laura Richie and illustrated by Ian Dale. It contains 40 full-color, beautifully illustrated stories that are about how Jesus' life, starting from His time as a boy in the Temple to His resurrection. Each story includes a Bible passage and a conversational question to engage the readers and get them thinking and discussing as a family about the true meaning of the Easter season. This is recommended for children ages 4-8.

Zari reading The Easter Storybook.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

My daughter Zari and I read this book together. She is 9 years old.

We love the full-color illustrations. They are wonderfully done and the people in the illustrations have a more authentic Middle Eastern feel to them, which I like. I also like all the detail in them.

Each story has the same layout. The length of each story is about a page which is perfect and not too long. The chapter(s) that the story comes from in the bible is listed at the top under the story title. It has a bible verse from the English Standard Version (ESV) at the top of each story that goes with the story. At the bottom of each story there are open ended questions to ask and answer. The opposite page of every story has a whole page illustration.

Format of the stories.

If you follow the 40 days of Lent these stories would be good for that because this book has 40 stories and they are each labeled Day 1 - Day 40. You can read one each day of the Lenten Calendar, although this would also be fine to read at other times in the Easter season as well. 

The stories generally go along with the bible and what it teaches. It does take on some liberties though. There is a recurring theme in the stories that basically says that after the garden of Eden people could not love and that people were broken until Jesus came. To quote one of the instances in the book (page 12), "John told everyone that people are broken and can't love, but the Messiah was coming to help people love." I am not sure what to think of this statement. If they had left this out I think that it would have made the book better and that it would then follow the bibles teachings more. Because of this I feel that this is more of the authors interpretation more than what is actually written in the bible.

I am going to just leave my review there and you can make the decision yourself from it whether or not this storybook might be for you and your kids. Take it or leave it, I guess it is up to you.

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The Easter Story Egg: Colorful Nesting Toy with Resurrection Book Review

I received this free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Star Kids Company was created by momprenuer, Natalie Ard, in 2014. She is a wife and mom to 3 kids. The first product she created was Star from Afar, a wooden game counting down to Christmas, then other products were born...including The Easter Story Egg. These children's toys and gifts help bring meaning to play. These also build good character and values.

The Easter Story Egg is a great tradition that is done with family around Easter time. It consists of 7 wooden eggs that nest within each other and a hardcover book. The Story Egg book begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. Each egg has a coinciding story that rhymes in the book and pertains to one of each of the seven days of Holy Week. This shares the story of Jesus' final days on Earth in a thoughtful and meaningful way to children as they open each egg and read the corresponding story. This can be done daily throughout Holy Week or all at once. You can choose.

The Story Egg Nesting Eggs include:

• Palm Sunday (largest egg with a palm leaf painted on it)
• House of Prayer Monday (next largest egg with a temple painted on it)
• Teacher of Love Tuesday (next largest egg with a heart painted on it)
• Give and Take Wednesday (next largest egg with a jar filled with perfume painted on it)
• Last Supper Thursday (next largest egg with the Last Supper painted on it)
• Good Friday (next to smallest egg with a cross painted on it, Jesus died on the cross for all our sins)
• Holy Saturday (smallest egg that is painted grey like the stone rolled away of the tomb)
• Easter Sunday (open the smallest egg to reveal emptiness, much like the tomb of Jesus because He is Risen!)

Zari with The Easter Story Egg Kit.

What We Thought:

The Story Egg is a ostrich size egg that opens up like a Russian nesting matryoshka doll. Each egg is panted with a different picture to help tell the true meaning of Easter throughout Holy Week. It comes with a lovely hardcover book with rhyming words and colorful pictures.

We received The Easter Story Egg and proceeded to try to open the egg to see all the littler eggs inside. I had major trouble getting the first egg open. I looked at their website and they have an instructional video on how to do this. They say not to twist, but to pull the egg apart. They made it look pretty simple. Zari and I had much difficulty with this and I had to get my husband to pry it open. The egg was very hard to grip and it was slippery. He tried to pull it apart like it said and he couldn't even do it...then he used a razor blade and went around the seam with it, then tried again. He rocked it slowly back and forth until it finally popped open. Some of the eggs inside were just as difficult to get open. I feel like if some wax was applied to each lip inside the seams then they would come apart much easier, but I do not think that with as much trouble we had, a small child could do this on their own. It says on their website that because the eggs are brand new, hand carved, and made of natural wood that still has some moisture they might be hard to open at first. We let them set out to dry for a few days while they were closed like they said to and after a few more times opening and shutting the eggs, they started loosening up.

The Easter Story Egg apart.

The book is a wonderful addition to The Story Egg. Zari loves reading the rhyming pages and looking at the pictures. It starts out with a poem about why we celebrate Easter and what the egg is for. Then it goes through and tells the story of Jesus' final days on Earth. At the end of every story it has a scripture from the Bible associated with it written in New International Version, NIV. The book is multicultural as well as it shows multiple skin tones throughout the book. It ends with the resurrection of Christ.

Resurrection book, showing how it is multicultural.

I love the idea of this product. I hope that the eggs loosen up after using more so that they can be enjoyed. I would love for this to become a tradition in my home for Holy Week. We like the idea of it counting down to Easter Sunday, much like an advent calendar does for Christmas. It seems like a wonderful way to help teach the true meaning of Easter in the home or at Sunday School. This would be a great addition to an Easter basket or as an Easter gift.

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

The Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible Review and Giveaway

I received this bible free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

The Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible is a children's bible with glossy pages created by author Joanna Rivard and Tim Penner. This bible will engage young readers with fun, unique, and whimsical illustrations, featuring important stories from diversely represented characters like Noah, Moses, King David, and Jesus!



What We Thought:
I love that this bible features great stories of people from the bible for younger children to be able to read themselves. It has colorful and whimsical illustrations to keep little ones entertained and wonderful engaging storytelling. The illustrations show darker skinned representations of the characters we all know from the bible. This I feel puts them in better perspective than the Anglo-Saxon versions. The stories are paraphrased so that little ones can understand and includes both Old and New Testament.

This bible is chronological, for the most part. The Old Testament (first half) has creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, Daniel, and Jonah. The New Testament (second half) has Jesus' birth, John the Baptist, Jesus' ministry and miracles, some parables, the crucifixion, resurrection, Pentecost, and Paul.

Zari reading The Tiny Truths Bible.

Since the stories from the bible were retold so that children can understand them they do have things left out and are heavily paraphrased and oversimplified. It would be nice to have the actual scripture reference listed along with the stories so that children could have the option of looking up the entire account and know where the stories originated from. My kids are fairly well versed in the bible, so thankfully we didn't run into this issue of not knowing where these stories came from, but a child just learning might. 

I recommend this bible for preschoolers through third graders most of all. My youngest daughter, Zari, who is in second grade loves this book! She is learning to read and this book has the perfect amount of words on each page for her. She also loves looking at the adorable illustrations by Tim Penner as well.

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Where to Enter: Go to this link https://www.blessedfreebies.com/tiny-truths-bible.html and fill out the form to enter.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Paul, Apostle of Christ Movie Review #PaulMovie

I received this DVD free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Paul, Apostle of Christ is a movie about Paul (Faulkner) who was originally Saul of Tarsus a ruthless persecutor of Christians then is converted as Paul, Christ's most influential apostle. In this film he is spending his last days in a dark prison cell awaiting execution by Emperor Nero. Luke (Caviezel), his friend and physician, risks his life when he ventures into Rome to visit him. Paul is under the watchful eye of Mauritius (Martinez), the prison's prefect, who seeks to understand how this broken old man can pose such a threat. But before Paul's death sentence can be enacted, Luke resolves to write another book, one that details the beginnings of "The Way" and the birth of what will come to be known as the church. Their faith challenged an empire. But their words changed the world.

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Andrew Hyatt

PRODUCED BY: T.J. Berden and David Zelon

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Eric Groth, Rick Jackson, Harrison Powell and Jim Caviezel

STARRING: Jim Caviezel, James Faulkner, Olivier Martinez, Joanne Whalley and John Lynch

My Thoughts:
This film is visually spectacular. It transports you into the movie and makes you feel like you have stepped straight into biblical times when Christ's apostles were living. The acting is so convincing. I felt the intensity of the emotions being conveyed and got sucked into the world of Paul. This was a little dark and depressing, but a very realistic representation of life under Roman rule and the persecutions of the followers of Christ. There was no unnecessary or excessive blood or gore, but there are scenes of graphic brutality and Christian persecution. It is properly rated at PG 13. This film is so moving and shows how hard life was like for believers of Christ. I highly recommend it.

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Barbour Publishing Imagine. . .The Great Flood by Matt Koceich Book Review

My family had the privilege of reading the Imagine. . .The Great Flood by Matt Koceich from Barbour Publishing for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Barbour Publishing is a Christian publisher that has more than 150 new titles per year and nearly one thousand stock titles. They have shipped over one hundred million books since they started in 1981. In one fiscal year they reached fourteen million books sold that shared the message of Christ!

Imagine. . .The Great Flood is a juvenile, middle grade fiction chapter book by Matt Koceich. It is the first book in an epic adventure series for kids ages 8-12 year old. The Imagine series brings the Bible to life for today's children so they can imagine what it would be like to have lived through a massive biblical event. The Great Flood is about a kid that travels back to the time of Noah's Ark to experience the adventure himself and learn an important lesson.

Teela reading the Imagine. . .The Great Flood by Matt Koceich.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
Teela, my nine year old daughter, and I read this book separately. It has 112 pages and 15 chapters. This was a quick, fast paced read for the both of us. We both thought the book held our attention well. It had a lot of action and adventure throughout the whole thing.

Since this is fictitious it does have elements that are not in the Bible. In this story of Noah's Ark the author has taken some of his own liberties with the biblical text to make it more interesting. The main character, Corey, goes back in time and helps Noah and his sons to get the animals on the ark, so of course he was never in the biblical account. Also, there are giants called Nephilim and an evil sorcerer named Elizar that try to thwart Noah's plans to get the animals aboard the ark in the book. The Nephilim are mentioned in the bible, first in Genesis 6:1-4, but after some research of my own I found the Nephilim to be a more complex concept. Some say these are watchers or giants or fallen angels. Some interpret the bible to mean they are descendants of Adam and Eve were "Sons of God" (Seth's line) had children with "Daughters of Man" (Cain's line). The Nephilim are definitely up to interpretation and not entirely explained well in the bible. Elizar isn't even a character in the bible at all as far as I can tell. Even though these added elements make this bible adventure more interesting I had to make sure that my daughter knew they were not in the biblical account. I also thought it silly that in this story Noah and his sons had no clue what a cloud was. I am pretty sure he saw rain and clouds before. I suggest that one reads the actual story of Noah's Ark in the bible to their children before they read Imagine. . .The Great Flood.

There are many things that make this book exciting. From the adventure of Corey going back in time, the Nephilim Giants, the wild animals, to the Great Flood itself...this story grabs you from the beginning all the way to the end. If your kids like adventure books they probably will like this book.

Corey learns an important lesson in this story as well. He learns to put his trust in the Lord. This book has a great parallel of this from his life in the present to him being thrust back into time. The main character grows to understand the importance of trusting God throughout the story.

Teela and I enjoyed reading this book from the Imagine Series. Even though parts of this Christian kids book was fictitious it did have a great lesson. We liked the action and adventure as well. It was a fun book to read.

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Zonderkidz The Beginner's Bible Review

My family had the privilege of trying the The Beginner's Bible from Zonderkidz for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum and bible study. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Zondervan is a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. They are a world leader in Bible publishing and provider of Christian communications. For more than 80 years they have provided its bestselling Christian Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. Their products are sold in multiple formats, worldwide in more than 60 countries, and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan is the North American publisher and licensee of the NIV (New International Version) Bible translation. Zonderkidz is the children's division of Zondervan. They provide Christian products for kids under 16. Zonderkidz is also the publisher of the NIrV (New International Reader's Version) Bible translation, the 3rd-grade reading level edition of the NIV.

Since its release in 1989 The Beginner’s Bible has been a favorite with young children and their parents. It has been the best-selling Bible storybook of all time, with over 25 million products sold. Now it has been redesigned with fresh new art that will thrill children for many more years to come. This 512 page Bible brings the scripture to life with fun pictures of scenes from the Bible stories. More than 90 beloved Bible stories are paired with brand new vibrant three-dimensional like illustrations. The full-color illustrations that are on each page will help hold your little one's attention. This hardcover Bible encompasses both the Old and New Testaments with stories from the beginning of creation to Jesus' promise to return to Earth again. Each nonfiction story has illustrations, a title, scripture reference, and a short description of the passages for children to understand.

Teela reading The Beginner's Bible.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We usually work through the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible at our home Bible studies because we feel it to be the most correct translation, but I do love that The Beginner's Bible is so easily readable for younger kids. My daughter Teela who is eight years old and in third grade was able to read it without difficulty and the pictures in it kept both my daughters occupied. Teela especially loves reading this Bible to her younger sister, Zari, who is six. In The Beginner's Bible the great Bible stories are made in more simple terms for my younger children to read and understand, but stick to the originals very well. Though some of the stories are more well known to my children there are still quite a few that they have not heard yet in this book. The pictures, though a little comical looking, are perfect to keep my kids' attention spans in check. I am glad this Bible has thicker glossy pages because most Bibles pages are too delicate for most children. I am also glad that the stories have a reference to turn to in the original scriptures so that we can also read the text in the KJV as well.

We have been using this along with our KJV Bible studies and I believe it has helped my younger children understand the words and what is happening better. We enjoyed reading about Christ's birth during the Christmas holiday in the New Testament and have read other stories as well from this Bible.

I recommend The Beginner's Bible to anyone with younger kids. This is a great children's Bible for ages 4-8 years old! The Beginner's Bible is wonderful for use during church services where children get fidgety to occupy them with something while they try to sit reverently.

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Christmas Love Letters from God: Bible Stories Book Review

I received this book free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Christmas Love Letters from God, written by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Rachel Clowes, is a lovely collection of seven beloved Bible stories that focus on the birth of Jesus, beginning with Isaiah’s prophecy and ending with the visit of the wise men. Following each story, the child will find his or her own letter from God. Just lift-the-flap of a small envelope attached to the page to read. Each letter begins with a space in which to write the child’s name, so each one can be specially addressed to the child. This book is written especially for children ages 4-8.

Each story cleverly combines both prose and poetry. The stories start with a title and a scripture. The story is then written in a way children can understand and then a poem follows. The lift-the-flap letter is also accompanied by a special Bible verse, entitled God’s Perfect Promise, on the same page.

The pages remind me of a whimsical scrapbook. The illustrations are adorable and show pictures of Isaiah, Mary, Joseph, Bethlehem, angels, baby Jesus, the Nativity, shepherds, and Wise Men. They show how strong the love of God is towards us in bringing his Son to the Earth.

The personalized messages are a perfect reminder of God's love, promise, and hope for us as we move ever closer to the Christmas holiday season. These letters are a fun way to encourage a young one to discover or rediscover the birth of Jesus through story, scripture verse, notes, poetry, and sweet illustrations. I love this delightful book and all its contents. It is perfect to share with little ones during Christmas to remind us that Jesus is the true reason for the Season!

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You can also purchase the Zonderkidz Christmas Love Letters from God at Zondervan for $16.99.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Love Letters From God Holy Bible Review

I received this book free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

What if a child could read his or her own personal mail from God? The NIrV Love Letters from God Holy Bible will invite kids to do just that! The Love Letters from God Bible, with letters written by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Sophie Allsopp, is a perfect way to introduce children to the Bible and God’s great love for them. This Bible includes 80 love letters inspired from God's words written especially for the reader, as well as the full text of the New International Reader’s Version (NIrV).

Each love letter also contains a very special Bible verse, entitled "God’s Wonderful Words to You" which are located on a illustrated tag under the letter. These are carefully chosen promises of God’s very own personal words of love, encouragement, and hope, and are also highlighted in light blue in the text of the scripture. Beside each letter there is a "Write Back" prompts section with lines where the child is invited to write their own RSVP to God. In the back of the bible there is a brief dictionary and a list of Great Bible Stories with their main scripture referenced. There are also some blank pages to write notes and very nice colored maps as well to study located after those pages.

Features include:

• Hardcover Bible 
• Presentation page for gift giving
• 80 personal love letters from God
• Highlighted Wonderful Words—special verses to remember and cherish
• 80 journaling prompts encouraging children to write their own love letters to God
• 8 full-color tip-in pages with additional content
• Ribbon bookmark to save your place
• The complete text of the New International Version (NIrV)

I had some dislikes that I thought could be made better. The pages (except for the ones with pictures), like most bibles, are a little delicate, so we encourage our children to turn the pages with care. The highlighted scripture verses were highlighted in light blue and were very hard to see that they had been highlighted at all. I was a little disappointed that these Love Letters From God were not lift-the-flap and more colorful like the ones in the Bible Stories series of books.

We usually work through the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible at our home Bible studies because we feel it to be the most correct translation, but I do love that the Love Letters from God Holy Bible is so easily readable for younger kids. My daughter Teela who is eight years old and in third grade was able to read it without difficulty. Teela especially loves reading this Bible to her younger sister, Zari, who is five because it is very easy to read and understand. I believe this has helped my younger children understand the words and what is happening better than a KJV Bible.

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You can also purchase the Zonderkidz Love Letters From God Holy Bible at Zondervan for $27.99.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden DVD and CD Review & Giveaway #TheBiggestStory #FlyBy

The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden DVD and CD.

I received this DVD and CD free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

I got the opportunity to review The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden Book last year. Now the award-winning artist, Don Clark, and the best-selling author, Kevin DeYoung, have come back with an animated and narrated version of the story from the book. The story is brought to us with greater imagery and voice and now music too! The music in the background is an original score by composer John Poon. The story comes right out of the Bible from the Garden of Eden to Christ's resurrection. It paints us a picture of God's glorious plan to redeem his rebellious people.

Sneak peek inside and extra goodies.

The Animated Short film on DVD has animated illustrations adapted from the book. The story is read along with the animations. These like the book are strikingly vivid with a lot of geometric shapes and bright colors for the palette and made by Don Clark. The illustrations come to life in this 26 minute film. Each of the 10 chapters are 2-3 minutes long and narrated by the author himself. The music helps give the right feel to the story. This DVD includes a free digital copy of the film and a 2-sided poster featuring artwork adapted from the book.



The Audio Book on CD is just the narration put to music of the story read from the book by the author and like the DVD is 26 minutes long with 10 chapters that are about 2-3 minutes each. This is great to take in the car on trips or to follow along with the hardcover book. Also includes a free 2-sided poster featuring artwork adapted from the book.

Even though we have heard the stories before in one way or another, this retelling was a little different. This retelling focuses on the Biblical truth that no matter how many times God's people sin, God still finds a way to redeem the world he made and keep his promises. It does leave out a lot of the story along the way, but tries to touch on the most important parts. The book is made up of lots of smaller stories within 10 chapters that are woven together to show how everything sort of fits together and why. At the end it has A Note To Parents, a guide for parents to help the discussion of what was read.

I did like that The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden has a good message behind it. It reminds us that God always remembers and fulfills his promises. It also shows that we need redemption, forgiveness, and salvation from Christ, The Snake Crusher, to lead us back to our promised home.

I recommend this DVD and CD to parents, teachers, and caretakers everywhere that want to teach children about the amazing grace of God.

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The Adventures of Rooney Cruz Bible Belles Esther: The Belle of Patience Book Review and Giveaway #BibleBelles #FlyBy

I received Bible Belles Esther: The Belle of Patience free to facilitate this review.

Bible Belles The Adventures of Rooney Cruz by Erin Weidemann is an original children's series that presents the female heroes from the Bible like never before. The brand new series highlights five women of the Bible: Hannah, Esther, Abigail, Ruth and Deborah and each of their strongest virtues. These five were picked because of the bible verse, The sound of the Bell[e]s will be H.E.A.R.D… – Exodus 28:35. The acronym H.E.A.R.D. is the first letter of each of the biblical heroine's names.

These story books set out to empower and inspire little girls to be a beacon of what is right instead of what the world tells them they should be. In each book the main character, Rooney Cruz, goes through a modern day problem that needs to be solved. Her guardian angel, Mari, helps her solve these problems by showing her blasts from the past from biblical times. Each "Bible Belle" Mari shows Rooney has character traits that Rooney then incorporates into her own life to solve the problem that she has been having. These stories show the girls who read them how to apply these core Christian character traits, values, and virtues to real world problems that a girl might face in today's world and that beauty within is more important.

My girls love the story of Esther and how she was so very patient, trusting in the Lord to show her when the right time to approach the King was and following the promptings of the Spirit. They have heard it many times in our bible studies, but I believe that this storybook connected better with them. The story of Rooney is very relatable and although we might not have a guardian angel we can actually see, we do have the Holy Spirit that helps us and shows us the way. I am glad when I read this story to my girls it gave me an opportunity to share my testimony to them and let them know that having patience is very important. I know that my girls will remember Esther and her story better because we read this book.

I recommend this book and the others in the series to anyone who wants to help their daughter discover God's love and their divine purpose. These biblical heroines are wonderful role models for all young ladies. These have great age appropriate lessons and morals and should be included in every little girl's bible study.

Book Trailer:
Bible Belle's Esther: The Belle of Patience from Bible Belles on Vimeo.


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You can purchase Esther: The Belle of Patience book for $14.99. It is also available in Spanish in the fall of 2016.

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I run giveaways with Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER:  (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this blog review and giveaway.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Zonderkidz Under the Sea Holy Bible Review and Giveaway #UnderTheSea #FlyBy

I received Zonderkidz Under the Sea Holy Bible free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.


Zondervan is a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. They are a world leader in Bible publishing and provider of Christian communications. For more than 80 years they have provided its bestselling Christian Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. Their products are sold in multiple formats, worldwide in more than 60 countries, and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan is the North American publisher and licensee of the NIV (New International Version) Bible translation. Zonderkidz is the children's division of Zondervan. They provide Christian products for kids under 16. Zonderkidz is also the publisher of the NIrV (New International Reader's Version) Bible translation, the 3rd-grade reading level edition of the NIV.

The Under the Sea Holy Bible is a hardcover bible for children. The cover is shiny blue foil with sparkly accents. It is written in the NIrV bible translation at an easy to read 3rd grade reading level and 9 point font. This hardcover Bible combines the popularity of the ocean with the Word of God to make learning more fun and engaging. Includes 8 full-color pages (one being a name page to put who it is to and from) of illustrations that coincide with the scriptures and is the complete NIrV of the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation). These illustrations are animated like something out of Disney's Finding Nemo. These pages are glossy unlike the rest so you can locate them easier throughout the book. There is also a small dictionary in the back and a list of great Bible stories with their scriptures that correlate.

Zari with the Under the Sea Holy Bible.

We usually work through the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible at our home Bible studies because we feel it to be the most correct translation, but I do love that the Under the Sea Holy Bible is so easily readable for younger kids. My daughter Teela who is seven years old and in second grade was able to read it without difficulty. The pictures in it kept both my daughters occupied, although there are not a lot of them and the words on the pages with the illustrations really don't have anything to do with the ocean, underwater, or sea. I was expecting more correlation to the bible and the sea brought out in these. Teela especially loves reading this Bible to her younger sister, Zari, who is five because it is very easy to read and understand. The pages (except for the ones with pictures), like most Bibles, are a little delicate, so we encourage her to turn the pages with care. While I do not really think that this bible is as good or as exciting as a devotional or journal bible, I believe it has helped my younger children understand the words and what is happening better than a KJV Bible.

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I run giveaways with Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER:  (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this blog app and giveaway. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Zonderkidz Faith Builders Bible Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Zonderkidz Faith Builders Bible for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Zondervan is a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. They are a world leader in Bible publishing and provider of Christian communications. For more than 80 years they have provided its bestselling Christian Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. Their products are sold in multiple formats, worldwide in more than 60 countries, and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan is the North American publisher and licensee of the NIV (New International Version) Bible translation. Zonderkidz is the children's division of Zondervan. They provide Christian products for kids under 16. Zonderkidz is also the publisher of the NIrV (New International Reader's Version) Bible translation, the 3rd-grade reading level edition of the NIV.

The Faith Builders Bible is a bible for children. It is written in the NIrV bible translation at an easy to read 3rd grade reading level and 9 point font. This hardcover Bible combines the popularity of brick-building with the Word of God to make learning more fun and engaging. Includes 24 full-color pages of illustrations that coincide with the scriptures and is the complete NIrV of the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation). There is also a nice dictionary in the back and a list of great Bible stories with their scriptures that correlate.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We usually work through the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible at our home Bible studies because we feel it to be the most correct translation, but I do love that the Faith Builders Bible is so easily readable for younger kids. My daughter Teela who is seven years old and in second grade was able to read it without difficulty and the pictures in it kept both my daughters occupied. Teela especially loves reading this Bible to her younger sister, Zari, who is five. The pages (except for the ones with pictures), like most Bibles, are a little delicate, so we encourage her to turn the pages with care. We now have been using this along with our KJV Bible studies and I believe it has helped my younger children understand the words and what is happening better.

My boys' collection of Lego pieces (Christmas 2013)

My family is a huge fan of building blocks of all sorts, especially Lego! The Faith Builders Bible brings the scripture to life with fun pictures of scenes from the Bible stories built with Lego like blocks. Scenes like Noah building the Ark, The Ten Commandments, Solomon's Temple, David defeating Goliath, the Birth of Jesus, the Last Supper, etc. Each illustration has a title, short description, and a "Building Block Verse" (a verse of scripture in the Bible to go along with the illustration that can be used as a memory verse). These pictures will get your little one's creative juices flowing.

My children love building all sorts of things with Lego, but they hadn't thought of creating scenes from the Bible before. This is a great way to teach Biblical concepts because it is even more hands on. It is wonderful family together time if you build with your kids. I love to use it with our Legos for Family Home Evenings at our family scripture study. It is really amazing that with as many Lego bricks and figures as we have we found that our set could use more pieces to be able to build different Biblical scenes. Still it was quite fun to see what we could do with what we had.

Zari built a cross out of Lego bricks.

We do wish there were more pictures with builds and more prompts with activities to do. There were no instructions on how to build the things in the pictures, either. The Faith Builders Bible really wasn't jam packed with activities or devotionals like some children's Bibles I have seen before. It had a few prompts for things to do, but it was a bit lack luster in this realm. Even though this was the case, I still would recommend this to anyone who: wants their younger children to understand the Word of God better and have kids that love building things.

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Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Zonderkidz Faith Builders Bible...

The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden Book Review & Giveaway #BIGGESTSTORY #FLYBY

I received this book free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden is a gorgeously illustrated children's book that tells stories of the Bible from the Garden of Eden to Christ's resurrection. This hardcover book with dust-jacket has 132 pages of brightly colored illustrations and stories from the Bible that small children can understand. It also has a handy attached ribbon bookmark to help you keep your place.

The author and illustrator has made this book a work of art. Kevin DeYoung makes this an easy to read book with his easy to understand text. He is an experienced father of six and best-selling author to other books as well as this one. The award-winning artist, Don Clark, paints strikingly vivid pictures with powerful illustrations. These remind me of traditional Scandinavian folk art a little bit. He uses a lot of geometric shapes and bright colors for his palette. His artwork pops out of the pages and will mesmerize anyone looking at it. This makes for a nice symbiosis that little kids will especially love.

My daughter, Teela, who is 7 enjoyed reading and looking at this book. She could even read its pages by herself. My daughter Zari who is 4 is a little bit young for this book as there are some harsh concepts in it (for example, murder) that I do not think appropriate for my daughter at her tender age to see or learn about. My daughters did pore over the pages and liked looking at the illustrations a lot. The brightly colored pictures definitely catch the attention and hold it.

Even though we have heard the stories before in one way or another, this retelling was a little different. This retelling focuses on the Biblical truth that no matter how many times God's people sin, God still finds a way to redeem the world he made and keep his promises. It does leave out a lot of the story along the way, but tries to touch on the most important parts. The book is made up of lots of smaller stories within 10 chapters that are woven together to show how everything sort of fits together and why. At the end it has A Note To Parents, a guide for parents to help the discussion of what was read.

I did like that The Biggest Story: How The Snake Crusher Brings Us Back To The Garden has a good message behind it. It reminds us that God always remembers and fulfills his promises. It also shows that we need redemption, forgiveness, and salvation from Christ, The Snake Crusher, to lead us back to our promised home.

I recommend this book to parents, teachers, and caretakers everywhere that want to teach children about the amazing grace of God.

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Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for Rafflecopter below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy Review & Giveaway

This review and giveaway is sponsored by Propeller Consulting, LLC. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy is an impressive illustrative retelling of the biblical story of Noah's Arc without words. Well technically it has the words, "Methuselah welcomes his grandson, Noah...", on the first page, but then there is pretty much silence. You can see so much expression in the peoples' faces on each page. The artist literally paints epic pictures of how he thinks Noah and the people around him acted, felt, and lived. It really does make Noah and his ark seem more tangible. Although this work is Mark Ludy's own interpretation of the biblical story, he goes about the retelling in pictures fairly accurately.

This amazing illustrated work was funded a while back by Kickstarter. Mark Ludy is a fabulous artist and illustrator! I commend him in getting this project successfully funded.

I have some mixed feelings about Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous. They remind me of a hardcover graphic novel/comic book with no words.  Some of them; however, are for the more mature audience. Ludy, himself, said that if he left the bad stuff out of the story it would be a disservice to all...I am not sure I agree, but everyone has their own opinions. There are pictures in this book that are of the darker more grim scenes of the flood (like people drowning, being swept away by the waters). This is certainly not a "Sunday school version" that smooths out all the bad stuff or completely ignores it in the retelling. Although the age range is 2-18 on Amazon for this book, I really feel that the younger set might not be ready for the graphic and intense nature of some of these pictures. Depending on your own standards, you might want to screen some of these. Also, I am not sure what to make of the dinosaurs on some pages. My church doesn't really take a stance on creationism or intelligent design verses evolution in relationship to dinosaurs and how old the Earth really is. All I do know is that we don't have all the answers...there really is no way of knowing everything, unless you are THE omnipotent God.

So, I would say it is probably best to use your own best judgement and wisdom with this book. If you do narrate the pictures for your children do not stray from the actual Bible version of the story, especially if you are rusty on the story, and be ready to answer questions that might come up. The new 2014 Noah movie is far from an accurate biblical account, so please don't base your narration off of it.

Also, as a fun little bonus, you can try to find Squeakers the mouse on every page of this book. It is harder than it looks and I am still looking for that illusive little rodent on some of the pages! My older kids were trying to help me to no avail.

This book would be great for the Creationist or possibly someone who loves biblical illustration or art. I recommend it for older kids. I think that it would also be great in some church circles.

About the author:

Mark Ludy has written or illustrated eight children’s books including The Farmer, The Flower Man, The Grump,When I Was a Boy I Dreamed, When I Was a Girl I Dreamed, and Jujo the Youngest Tribesman. When he’s not immersed in his sketchbooks, you’ll find him in schools promoting art and literacy. He lives in Colorado with his wife, daughter, and two sons.

Mark’s website: http://www.markludy.com  
Official NOAH website: http://www.plough.com/en/ebooks/n/noah
 
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I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!