The Breath of Peace by Penelope Wilcock (Book Review)

The Breath of Peace

The Hawk and Dove Series, Book 7

By Penelope Wilcock

(received in exchange for an honest review)

 

Genre- Fiction / Christian / Historical

Published by- Lion Hudson

Copyrighted- 2016

Number of pages- 204

Age Group- Adult

Description of book- paperback, listed price- $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-78264-173-5

Abbot John needs his new brother-in-law, William de Bulmer, to come back to the abbey to help with cellarer duties. 
William is a former monk and abbot.  He loves his new wife, but each conversation has now become a fight.  He is very capable with finances, administration, and used to authority figures.  He is having more problems being a husband.

Will William be able to adjust to his married life?  Will he be able to help Abbot John with the duties at St. Alcuin's Abbey?

About the Author-

Penelope Wilcock currently lives in England with her family.  She is a writer and is a former Methodist minister.  Her blog is Kindred of the Quiet Way.

My Thoughts-

I have enjoyed this book and the others in the series.  Penelope Wilcock is a wonderful writer.  I have been drawn into each of the books, so I've come to remember the characters and enjoy watching them grow in God.

In this book there are several things I especially appreciated:

• don't judge others.
• learn their story (what makes them tick), so you know why they act the way they do.
• be patient and kind.
• don't assume you know eveyrthing about them.
• take time for them.

I appreciated these lessons, because I have recently been in the situation where I need to do all of these things to make my life and theirs more pleasant. 

I would recommend this book to others.  There are life lessons and good information about 14th century abbeys.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received The Breath of Peace, by Penelope Wilcock, for free from the Kregel Publications’ Blog Tour.  All links were current when posted.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

My Toddler Bible by Juliet David and illustrated by Chris Embleton-Hall

My Toddler Bible

By Juliet David

Illustrated by Chris Embleton-Hall

(received in exchange for an honest review)

Genre- Christian / Juvenile / Bible

Published by- Candle Books

Copyrighted- 2016

Number of pages- 224

Age Group- Young children (young readers)

Description of book- hardback, listed price- $12.99, ISBN 978-1-78128-241-0

This book contains twenty Biblical stories.  Nine are from the Old Testament, and eleven are from the New Testament.  Young children will learn about Noah, Moses, Jonah, Jesus, and more!

The language is easy enough for toddlers to understand and simple enough for young readers.  The illustrations are bright, realistic, and come off the page.

About the Author-

Juliet David lives in London with her family. She has written Bible activity books and children’s stories. She enjoys traveling to Israel and other Bible lands.

About the Illustrator-

Chris Embleton-Hall is an English-based artist.  He uses different digital styles for children’s illustrations.  He has a degree in illustration.  When he was a young child, he spent time with his granddad drawing.

My thoughts-

This book would be perfect for any toddler, since there are so many stories and illustrations to look at.  I thought it was great.  I have some young nephews who I think would really enjoy looking at the illustrations and reading the text.

Many times Bible storybooks that are written for young children are short and don’t contain very many stories.  I thought it was great that this book had 224 pages and twenty different stories.  I think it would have been nice to have some different stories, not ones that are told all the time. 

I really liked the illustrations.  They seemed to pop off of the page.  I thought it was neat how they were done digitally.  They were realistic and not strange as they sometimes are.

I really enjoyed reading the text and looking at the illustrations in this book.  I think the young children in your life would like it too.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received My Toddler Bible, by Juliet David and illustrated by Chris Embleton-Hall, for free from the Kregel Publications’ Blog Tour. All links were current when posted. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The End of Law by Therese Down (Book Review!)

The End Law

(A Novel of Hitler’s Germany)

By Therese Down

(received in exchange for an honest review)

 

Genre- Fiction

Published by- Lion Hudson

Copyrighted- 2016

Number of pages- 320

Age Group- Adult

Description of book- paperback, listed price- $14.99, ISBN 978-1-78264-190-2

This book is a novel about the beginning of World War II and Hitler’s rise to power.  SS Officer Walter Gunther and SS Officer Karl Muller are involved in the T4 euthanasia programme.  This program has been developed to kill those who are considered “unworthy.”  Those people are Jews, crippled children, the mentally ill, and homosexuals.

Their families don’t know what they are doing.  Officer Muller decides to be brave and share what he knows about the program.  Who will he share his burden with?  Will it be Officer Gunther’s wife?  

About the Author-

Therese Down is a teacher of the English language and literature.  She lives in Worcestershire.  Her other novel is Only With Blood: A Novel of Ireland.

My thoughts-

I thought this book was interesting.  I had never read much about this aspect of World War II.  I’m not even sure if I knoew about the T4 euthenasia program.  I knew that the Jews were killed, but I’m not sure I knew about the other groups.

Sometimes it was a hard book to read, because of all the detail about what the Third Reich was doing to the crippled children and mentally ill.  Therese Down painted such a strong vision for me.

One of the best parts of the book was the historical section at the end, because I was able to learn true story.  I do wish that this section had been at the beginning of the book, so I would have known more about what the novel was about.

If you like reading about World War II, this book is for you.  I do recommend it to everyone.  I think you will like it.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received The End of Law, by Therese Down+, for free from the Kregel Publications’ Blog Tour.  All links were current when posted.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Critical Conversations by Tom Gilson (Book Review!)

Critical Conversations: A Christian Parents’ Guide to Disussing Homesexuality with TEENS

by Tom Gilson

(received in exchange for an honest review)

Genre- Religion / Christian Life / Family

Published by- Kregel Publications

Copyrighted- 2016

Number of pages- 200

Age Group- Adult

Description of book- paperback, listed price- $15.99, ISBN 978-0-8254-4396-1

There are many hard subjects that you need talk about with your teens.  Homosexuality is one of them.

Tom Gilson has written this book to empower parents.  He has included:

• practical help.
• what marriage is from both a biblical worlview and a secular worldview.
• how to relate to others.

About the Author-

Tom Gilson blogs at Thinking Christian and The Point.  He is senior editor for apologetics with The Stream.

My thoughts-

I thought this was a well written book.  Gilson included everything I needed to know and how I should approach the subject when my children are teens.

I liked how he included how important marriage is between a man and a woman based on laws and customs.  He included many things in Part Three about challenges, truths your teen needs to know, more information, and tips on talking with your children. 

The most important thing he stressed though was loving others.  I highly recommend this book to parents.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Critical Conversations, by Tom Gilson, for free from Kregel Publications’ Blog Tour.  All links were current when posted.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Memoria Press’s Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set (Schoolhouse Review Crew Review!)

We received this for review purposes!

 Product Links: Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set

Vendor Information Link: Memoria Press

Age Appeal: 5th Grade

Format: Physical softcover Student Study Guide and Teacher’s Guide

Price: Please visit the website for current prices and options.

Are you looking for a solid literature curriculum for your children?  Memoria Press has developed a wonderful curriculum for second grade through seventh grade.

Each student literature guide contains questions for each chapter.  Each chapter contains Reading Notes, Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions, Quotations, Discussions Questions, and Enrichment.  Each Enrichment section has diferent activities like questions, drawing pictures, marking of maps, and recipes.

The teacher’s guide contains all of the answers along with the quizzes and final test.

Our Experience: 

My children love to read.  I was excited to learn about Memoria Press’s literature guides, because I wanted B and C to become more active readers.

B chose to read Lassie Come-Home, and C chose The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I had them look over the work for each chapter, read the chapter, and then work on questions.

They both enjoyed reading the books and answering the questions.

Mama’s Thoughts:

• I’m glad that my children enjoy classical books and that they enjoyed these literature guides. 
• I really enjoyed these guides.  I liked how they included Comprehension Questions, Discussion Questions, Vocabulary, and an Enrichment section.  I also liked how the guides were consistent between each other.  Consistent products always make it easier for children to work on them throughout the year.
• The teacher’s guides were awesome.  I liked having the answers at my finger tips if I didn’t know the answer. 
• C’s handwriting is currently rather large, so she had a hard time writing the answers.  B didn’t have a hard time, but I would still like to see the lines wide ruled instead of college ruled.
• The Enrichment section was my favorite, because the children were able to do more activities.  I feel that these activities helped B and C learn more about the book they were reading.
• These literature guides will help them learn to actively read other books.  They will also help them appreciate good classical books. 

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 12, officially in sixth grade):

I thought the Lassie Come-Home Student Study Guide was interesting.  The book was sad, because Lassie can’t live with them anymore. She was sold in the second chapter, which was sad.

I liked how involved the study guide was, with all the questions you had to fill in. I liked how you had to look up words in a dictionary.

I liked the maps in the back of my book.

I would recommend this product to kids my age. 

C’s Thoughts (girl, age 10, officially in fourth grade):

• I liked the fact that there were maps and recipes.
• I think this product would be good for kids my age and older and younger.
• I did The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
• I think that the lines could be farther apart, because my handwriting didn’t fit.
• We got The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lassie Come-Home, and Heidi.
• I got to draw pictures of Tumnus’s cave and the professor’s house.

Dad’s Thoughts:

Dad was not available.

Mama recommends to your homeschooling family!

Social Media Links!

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/
Twitter (@MemoriaPress) - https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress
Instagram (@memoriapress) - https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/memoria-press?trk=nav_account_sub_nav_company_admin
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/
Google+ - https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/102017568472649365859/104379865092561103366/about?_ga=1.103684480.147808133.1453409903

   

Picture of the Week! (Week of March 27, 2016)- Nature

We were at our local nature preserve, and I saw this.  I thought it could be the inspiration for an interesting story.  Is it a place to hide?  Or is it a scary monster?

Logic of English: Essentials (Schoolhouse Review Crew Review!)

We received this for review purposes!

 Product Links: Essentials 2nd Edition

Vendor Information Link: Logic of English

Age Appeal: ages seven and up

Format: student workbook, hardback teacher’s book, flash cards

Price: Please visit the website for current prices and options.

Are you looking for a comprehensive language curriculum for your family?  Logic of English Essentials Second Edition, Volume 1, could be exactly what you’re looking for.  Essentials covers reading, spelling, phonics, fluency, grammar, and vocabulary.

In this volume there are 15 weekly lessons, which are divided into five lessons per week.  The set includes:

• Essentials Teacher’s Guide, Volume 1
• Consumable Student Workbook, Volume 1
• Consumable Spelling Journal
• Spelling Analysis Card
• Phonogram and Spelling Rule Quick Reference
• Morpheme Cards, Set 1
• Spelling Rule Flash Cards
• Grammar Flash Cards
• Basic and Advanced Phonogram Flash Cards
• Phonogram Game Cards: Bookface and Manuscript or Cursive
• Phonogram Game Tiles

Our Experience: 

B and C have some problems spelling, because we have yet to find the program that works best for them.  I was excited to try using the second edition of Essentials. 

It was a little overwhelming when the box came in the mail.  But after looking at the Teacher’s Guide, I understood everything and it was easy to teach the children.  The lessons were completely written out, so I couldn’t make a mistake teaching.

The weekly lessons were divided into five days of fun.

• Day One has “Essential Concepts” with new phonograms, exploring sounds, and new spelling rules.
• Day Two has “Building Words” with review, spelling analysis, and spelling journal.
• Day Three has “Words in Context” with review, grammar, and dictation.
• Day Four has “Words in Action” with review, vocabulary, dictation, reading, and composition.
• Day Five has “Check Your Understanding” with basic review and great review to make sure all concepts and words have been learned.

Each lesson has three different levels, so I had B and C each work on level two.  It was challenging for C and good review for B.  I wanted both of them to have a solid foundation.  Each day’s activities took a while, but I felt they were getting a solid spelling foundation. 

Mama’s Thoughts:

• This is a great program.  I really appreciated the all of the detail in the teacher’s book.  It told me everything I needed to do to teach the children.  We have a busy life, so it was nice having a program all done for me.
• B and C enjoyed the different games.  One of their favorite things to do was making words with the Phonogram Game Tiles.  They made their names, phrases, and spelling words.
• I thought each daily lesson took too long (around 45 minutes) for B and C.  They were used to lessons that took around 15 minutes.
• I know that the lessons took a long time, but I think that all of the concepts that are learned are really important.  It’s important to learn the spelling rules and the different phonograms.  If children learn these concepts when they are younger, they will be consistantly strong spellers when they are older.
• I like how each of the weekly lessons has three different levels.  This makes this program great for families who have children at different levels.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 12, officially in sixth grade):

Logic of English Essentials was not my favorite way to learn how to spell.  Each daily lesson took approximately 45 minutes, which was way too long for me.  I liked the games, like Phonogram Bingo.  I liked making words with the Phonogram Game Tiles.  I spelled my name and "I love reading."  I liked the "Plurals Practice."  For example, it was fun figuring out if the picture showed bag or bags.  

I wouldn't recommend it to people who learn better with short lessons.

 C’s Thoughts (girl, age 10, officially in fourth grade):

I liked the Phonogram Game Tiles.  The teacher's book has instructions for sections that the student book doesn't have.  l liked the Phonogram Bingo game and the other games.  I liked the compound words, they were fun to do!

I think this product would be good for kids my age and youger.

Dad’s Thoughts:

Dad was not available.

Mama recommends to your homeschooling family!

Social Media Links!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLogicOfEnglish/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LogicofEnglish
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/logicofenglish/