By Quiet Waters

Embracing the Full, Hard and Good Life, While Pausing Often by Quiet Waters

Search Results for: Children's Book

Only God Can Make a Kitten

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Only God Can Make a Kitten

Only God Can Make A Kitten

It is a joy to have the opportunity to receive new books in exchange for my review.  Only God Can Make a Kitten is one such book.  This is a delightful story, with gentle rhyming and soft, whimsical illustrations.  The story goes rollicking around in a conversational style, as a mother cheerfully answers the many questions of her young one.  And at the end of the story, a wonderful, firm affirmation of the child’s person hood and purpose is spoken.  Love that!

On another note, my 15 year old is always quick to grab any book that comes into the house.  After I opened the package she sat right down to look Only God Can Make a Kitten over.  While she says she truly enjoyed the illustrations and the story, she absolutely did not enjoy the rhyming.  We conversed about that for a bit.  We have seen a number of new children’s books and many of them are written in rhyme, something that is beginning to feel overdone.  Stories without rhyme would be good to see more often!

Only God Can Make a Kitten is a good book to add to a family’s library.  If you are interested in receiving new books in exchange for your personal opinion, check out BookLookBloggers!

Now, all this talk about rhyming reminded me of maybe the best rhyme scene ever.  Anyone want a peanut?

 

Book Description

Bestselling author Rhonda Gowler Greene follows a conversation between a mother and child as she explains that God made everything.

Only God Can Make A Kitten, written by award-winning author Rhonda Gowler Greene and illustrated by bestselling artist Laura J. Bryant, follows a conversation between a mother and child as the child asks “Mama, who made . . . ?”

Told in delightful rhyme, this jacketed picture book shows young ones that God is behind all the beautiful blessings of creation-including kittens!

About the Author

Rhonda Gowler Greene is the author of over twenty picture books. Her books have received honors such as School Library Journal Best Book, Children’s Book Council Showcase Book, Bank Street College Best Book, and starred reviews. A former elementary school teacher, with a master’s in educational media, Rhonda is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and conferences. She lives with her husband, Gary, in a house overflowing with books in West Bloomfield, Michigan. They have four grown children. For more information, visit her on the web.

If you click a link or a button, I may receive a small monetary amount from your purchase, although your purchase price will not change.  The compensation is entirely from the company through which you visit from this blog.

The Legend of St Nicholas

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by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Legend of St. Nicholas

Just in time for early Christmas season planning the book “The Legend of St. Nicholas, A Story of Christmas Giving” arrived on my doorstep.  For many years we have added a book or two to our family library for the holiday season and I am delighted to have this beautiful addition to the collection.

This retelling of the St Nicholas legend is modernized, but told in a lovely gentle tone.  My first impression of the book was from the dust jacket.  The dust jacket is colorful and has wonderful texture.  A finger brushed across the title finds smooth raised letters and then glittery snow.

While I find it important to stick to a more historical retelling of St Nicholas, this book’s modern spin may help children associate better with the story, and be an additional encouragement.  It is challenging to help children think outside of themselves and sweet stories are often a great way to draw attention to the beauty of generosity.

Book Description

In The Legend of St. Nicholas, the new artwork, created by Marley and Me illustrator, Richard Cowdrey, captivates audiences and tells the story of a young man named Nicholas, who was moved by the plight of the poor and needy. Nicholas spent his life secretly helping the poor all over the world, giving gifts on Christmas Eve to remind people of the greatest Gift of all, Jesus Christ. This gentle Christmas book introduces the original St. Nicholas and offers inspiration for readers to become cheerful givers themselves. The final pages in the book include fun Father Christmas traditions in other lands.

About the Author

Dandi Daley Mackall is the author of over 400 books and still can’t believe she gets to write for a living, helping children of all ages grow spiritually. She and her husband, Joe, both write from rural Ohio, where they’re blessed with three children and a variety of horses, dogs, and cats.

About the Illustrator

Richard Cowdrey’s favorite things to draw and paint are the things that reflect the awesomeness of God and His creation. From vast landscapes to the littlest bug on a leaf, Richard marvels at the beauty in the details. Richard’s bestselling children’s books include Bad Dog, Marley and A Very Marley Christmas.

Thank you to BookLookBlogger network for the opportunity to receive and review this book.

 

Reading Update ~ A Worthwhile Endeavor

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Any Worthwhile Endeavor

As with any worthwhile endeavor, one must be purposeful to make time to read good books.  Several years ago I began to realize this and have tried to make sure time to read is built into my days.  This month I am excited to reflect on the books that have passed time with me the first half of 2013.

The Books

Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick

The Mine by Henry McIntosh

Freefall to Fly by Rebekah Lyons

Sweet Sanctuary by Kim Vogel Sawyer

In the Presence of My Enemies ~ by Gracia Burnham and Dean Merrill

Tales of the Defended Ones by Beth Guckenberger.

Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic

Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

Jessica’s First Prayer by Hesba

The Promise Box by

The Cat that God Sent by Jim Kraus

Cleaning House, A Mom’s 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma, my response here

The BARE NAKED TRUTH, Dating, Waiting, and God’s Purity Plan by Bekah Hamrick Martin, my review here

Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn ~ Melanie Shankle

Children’s books

Rock You Tonight by Emily Roussell ~ a sweet story that seems to be written more for the Momma than the little one she may be reading to.

The Three Little Rabbits and the Bake Sale Pie by Nancy Nuce ~ a story that had Mae and I laughing hard at bedtime.  Delightful

Only the Mountains do not Move by Jan Reynolds

Jessica’s First Prayer by Hesba Stretton

Audiobooks

Because He Loves Me (I listened while driving and reread the chapters on my kindle app)

Letters from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr

Remember Adventures in Odyssey? Young Whit

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Do you remember Adventures in Odyssey?  Or are you in the midst of raising kids who are currently listening to Adventures in Odyssey?

My own children are, well, no longer children!  The youngest is nearly 16 years old and my kids have left Adventures in Odyssey in the past.  Even so, it was pretty fun to find out about this book,

Young Whit

Young Whit and the Traitors Treasure by Phil Lollar and Dave Arnold is book #1 in the Young Whit series.

This book arrived in the mail during a period of time my family was dealing with some medical issues.  I packed it along to read during an appointment at Denver Children’s hospital, and left it on a table.  So I haven’t finished reading it.  That said, I have read quite a few reviews and think it is a good book, one to add to the family library.  If your children, or grandchildren enjoy listening to the Adventures in Odyssey radio show, check out this giveaway for a copy of Young Whit.

 

Thanks to FrontGate Media for this book and opportunity, in exchange for this blog post.

 

The Sheep and the Pig for Sponsorship Saturday

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Welcome Back!

It has been quite awhile since a Sponsorship Saturday has appeared here on the blog.  Every once in awhile I’ve been sending stories and public domain books in our letters to sponsor children.  The response has been fantastic.  The kids of all ages seem to like the stories.

Sponsorship Saturday

 

Earlier in the month I found another story for the children we sponsor through Compassion.  As I read the story and thought about it, a topic from Scripture came to mind.  So, I spent some time putting it all together and sent The Sheep and the Pig along with a letter to our sponsored children.

Continue Reading

Brave Beauty, Finding the Fearless You

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Brave Beauty

Brave Beauty:  Finding the Fearless You

Messages to girls and boys abound.  Positive, negative, helpful, most certainly damaging.  As parents, grandparents, teachers and mentors, one of the steady roles we have it is to help each other, and the young ones in our midst, sort out the harmful and untrue from all that is beautiful and true.

Having a rich supply of wholesome and beautiful resources on the book shelves is one way to nurture the minds and thoughts of those who live, or pass time, in our homes.  As the years have passed, I have held tightly to many books, old friends, from my children’s younger years.  And I am finding that it is a lot of fun to find new additions for those shelves, as well.

It is a joy and an honor to have the opportunity to share these treasures with grandchildren.  At this time, we have all daughters, and only grand daughters.  I do expect that to change over time, with the addition of more grands… and hopefully adding a few boys in the mix.  But for now, it is all girls and I’m having fun discovering books for them.

Brave Beauty is one such book.  I”ll be tucking it onto the shelves for a couple of years, but one day in the not too far off, I imagine we’ll pull it off the shelf and delve into this book of devotions written to encourage young ladies to build their confidence in the God who created them.

This book has 100 devotions, covering the topics of “who am I?”, “what about the tough stuff?” “Who is God?  And will He really help me?”

Delving into these topics will help a young lady to tell herself the truth about who Jesus says she is.  The temptation to indulge in damaging habits (comparison, eating issues, self abasement, etc) is overcome when we know who we are, and what is true in the world around us.

Growing up is exciting, and scary.  Taking the time to introduce a young lady to the truth, and to walk alongside her has a lasting impact toward strengthening and shaping her in beauty, truth and wholesomeness.

Journaling opportunities and enriching activity ideas are woven into these devotions.  These help the message to go deeper, and give the girl to time to flip the material over in her mind and process it.

Brave Beauty is another wonderful resource for mom and daughter, a small group of young ladies with an older mentor, or for Nana to share with precious ones in her care.

Thank you to HandleBar Publishing for adding another book to my shelves in exchange for this review.

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