It's hard to find appropriate stories for children that don't contain objectionable ingredients. Even in small doses, spices set the character for a whole dish. How impactful then for character to be infused by the holy ingredients of biblical truth, love, and hope. Each month, we recommend a story work of art that is both creative and faithful to the Creator and the lover of our souls. May God add to these authors and their works. April Pick - click to see moreBeneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn LeiloglouThis book is recommended with reservations described below in About the Book. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Carolyn is an author of children's books and middle grade books, as well as a writer of poetry. Her work has appeared in children’s magazines around the world including Highlight, Ladybug, Clubhouse Jr. and The School Magazines in Australia. Beneath the Swirling Sky is her debut novel and one in which she is able to draw from her heritage of being the granddaughter of art collectors, daughter of an art teacher, and homeschooling mom to four kids. ABOUT THE BOOK: This book is appropriate for the middle grade age range, 8 to 12 years old. The recommendation in this blog post is to read aloud as a family for the purpose of clarifying the character of Jesus in a crucial scene. God is mostly absent from this adventure novel for kids. However, near the end of the story, there is a dramatic moment when the children, Vincent and Georgia, are at risk of drowning in a painting of a storm on the Sea of Galilee and a man on a painted boat stills the storm. It is Jesus. And he gazes at the children lovingly and approvingly as they resume their quest. He wants us to do good things, proved by helping others - this is who Jesus is, right? The adventure itself hinges on the magic of being able to travel into paintings, but only masterful pieces of art, and from there accessing all other paintings by the same artist via a shadowy corridor. Once inside a painting, the traveler can also exit into the room the painting is in (if framed and not covered up). This makes for the exciting ability to travel across the world as the Van Gogh and Rembrandt paintings corridors allows Vincent and Georgia to move from their house in Texas to museums in Amsterdam and New York, and ultimately into the lair of the bad guys for an end-of-book rescue. The description of traveling within tremendously famous paintings of course becomes a fun research exercise. And the exercise is rewarding as the works of art are beautiful. The book is an easy, well paced, and well written read. The world of art introduced is a fun one. The children are likable. This being a middle grade story, there are no overlong internal brewings although Vincent is plagued by a humiliating school incident. The fast action keeps the focus outward. The only other objectionable element of the story is that almost everyone lies to everyone else, all the time, both the adults and the children. The story climax contains some remorse from the main character Vincent about lying, only to have him end the book withholding a vital discovery from his parents and the other adults. The secret makes them all extremely vulnerable and perhaps this is used to bring about the next adventure installment. However, reviewing the specific lies in this book and their alternatives would be a great family exercise. 8 to 12 years old is a good time to understand that manypeople really believe constant lying is an acceptable way to live life and normal for close relationships. Living in the freedom of truth can only be helped by intentional practice and exercise. This book definitely has weaknesses but, used carefully as a tool to instruct, might be both fun and growing. CHRISTIAN BOOK REVIEW SITES: If you wish to find more Christian children's fiction, the Christian sites below are great resources. Lorehaven Redeemed Reader Big Books Little Ears Reformed Perspective - Children's Fiction Reviews Bonus Oldie but Goodie (not necessarily Christian fiction) - Mr. Popper's PenguinsWhat is more fun than flooding your winter living room floor with an inch of water to make a play rink for kids and penguins? Moving them all down into the cellar, of course. And then digging them a pool, complete with occasional fresh fishes shipped directly to your house so the penguins can give them a good chase before dinner. But it takes a lot of money to ship fresh fish and run a freezing machine in the basement. It's a good thing the penguins are just as smart and delightful as the little family that cares for them. Mr. Popper's fascination with the South Pole pays big as the basement antics transfer readily to big stage acts. This sweet story has an even sweeter authorship. Richard Atwater suffered a debilitating stroke after he wrote the draft. His wonderful wife Florence took over the story submission, editing the story in the process and persevering through rejection. Four years after Richard's stroke, the novel was published and has remained in print ever since. Comments are closed.
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