Adventures in Odyssey – The Redcoats are Coming *Rhe’s Bookshelf*

The first of a three-book story arc about the American Revolution, The Redcoats Are Coming follows Patrick and Beth as they assist the revolutionaries by waking up the sleeping citizens of 1775 Concord before the Redcoats come. In this adventure, the cousins meet Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. They help smuggle musket balls, sound the alarm that the Redcoats are coming, and deliver a secret message to Paul Revere. Along the way they learn that most of the revolutionaries leaned on God’s direction and even pastors helped in the cause.

Christian parents and teachers will appreciate the historical facts as well as the biblical worldview training their kids and students will absorb. The kids will appreciate the excitement and tension of an America at war with England, and in some ways, with itself. A curriculum for Christian schools and homeschool families will be available for download at $3.99.

What I Thought:  You don’t even know how excited I was at the opportunity to review an Adventures in Odyssey book.  This is the stuff of my youth, sitting around the radio with my sister listening to Whit and the kid’s have adventures at Whit’s End.  It’s so cool.  This is my children’s first introduction to AIO, and having just purchased some of the CDs for them to listen to, and was excited to see how they responded to the book.  While it is probably a little bit old for my five year old, she still sat and listened and actively engaged when something caught her ear.  My seven year old was definitely engaged and asked when we could read the next chapter.  I love the idea of introducing real, historical adventures to kids, in a way they can plainly understand.  In fact, I even learned a few things that even I hadn’t known. This is a really exciting prospect – introducing history to my kids since both the hubby and I are huge fans.

What is even more awesome is that you can access curriculum that pairs well with the series.  And with a three book series that sounds like it could be something awesome.  I would love to explore the curriculum with my children and go further into the content with them, on a level they can understand.  Having some experience with Focus on the Family and the Adventures in Odyssey radio series and movies, there is no doubt in my mind that these books and accompanying curriculum would be awesome.

You and your children can access all the fun with Whit and the Gang on their website.

Five out of Five Stars

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Rhe’s Bookshelf – My Mama and Me *giveaway*

Time or another Rhe’s Bookshelf review.  This time, I am happy to give you all a chance to win a copy of the
book yourself.   Good luck.

take a look inside on Amazon!
Summary:
A companion book to My Grandma and Me, this book is specifically written for mother and child. My Mama and Me is designed around four questions: Can You Tell Me about God? Can You Tell Me about Jesus? What Does God Think about Me? How Can I Show God I Love Him?

Through 25 rhyming devotions and fun activities, Mom can answer these questions for the curious little one. It’s a great way to introduce kids to faith at an early age yet in an age-appropriate and understandable manner. Each devotion also includes a short Bible verse and a prayer that mother and child can recite together. Some of the activities include creating a card, making a heart wreath, and singing—all of the activities are directly related to the theme for the devotion. These devotions translate to hours of meaningful, faith-filled fun.

The book ends with a touching prayer every mother will want to pray for her children.

What I Thought:

 I have a couple different devotions that I’ve used with the kids.  I prefer ones that are interactive.  My kids seem to learn, engaged and remember better when there is an activity associated with whatever it is we are talking about.  Plus it usually gets a moving, or having a discussion for longer.  This particular devotion, beautifully illustrated by the way, is perfect for smaller children, probably about 3 I would say.  The devotions are short enough that your smaller children could sit and read and stay engaged as well.

The devotions are set up simply: Bible Verse, devotion (something that the children learn – God keeps us safe, God gives us what we need, God is your friend), prayer and an activity.  The activities range from simply going outside and looking for things, while some are more artsy.

4 out of 5 stars

This is a great devotional for very young children.  While I’m sure older children (my 5 and 7 year old included) wold enjoy this, I prefer a little more in-depth study, and one where they would sit for just a smidge longer.  The illustrations are sweet and this would make a great gift and/or heirloom.

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Rhe’s (Children’s) Bookshelf – The Last Bully

About the Hugo books:

Meet HUGO – a little starfish with a BIG HEART. His passion is to make others happy but he still has many things to learn.
Fortunately he has more than just a big heart, he also has a CURIOUS MIND.
Through his adventures, Hugo learns many valuable lessons of character, life skills, and ecological alertness — all against the colorful backdrop of a magical underwater world and mystical islands.
Join Hugo on his journey as he discovers that having the right attitude is the best way to be — and the only way to be truly happy.

The Hugo books are a series of books covering different topics for children, making them easier to understand even at a young age.  I was able to take a look at The Last Bully.  Hugo learns that just because someone is different then you doesn’t make them any less special.   Hugo decides to form his very own club with some of his fellow undersea friends, to share the importance of not being a bulky!  

What I Thought: 

I love the whole Hugo series!  These books are wonderful topical books, that would be easy for parents searching for something that would touch on a topic for their own unique situations.  With bullying being a hot-topic currently, this would be great to illustrate this subject with your younge children.  I personally would recommend this book for the younger, elementary school-age set.  The Hugo books also include several Spanish words and phrases.   There are also interactive pages at the end of the book, where children are asked to draw and express their feelings on the topic of bullying. You can also find games and worksheets on the Hugo website.


5 out 5 Stars

Hugo the Happy Starfish
Hugo’s Facebook
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Rhe’s Bookshelf – Zooey and Her Solider; a book for Military Kids

 

 

Zooey and Her Soldier, by Andrea Kelly

 Zooey’s best friend, Doug, is in The National Guard. Sometimes he has to go away for a little while. When he’s gone, Zooey misses him a lot. She can’t wait for him to get back! But Zooey’s about to discover something – something that will make the wait much, much easier!
Zooey and Her Soldier is a great book for children dealing with a parent or family member in the Armed Forces, (or even one who has to travel a lot!). As tough as those moments are for parents, they are often even harder on the children, especially those that are still too young to understand the entire concept. Zooey is a positive and relatable character for young kids, who has a helpful idea on how to feel closer to the ones you love, even while they are far away!

Ideal for bedtime stories and new readers – an enjoyable book for young and old alike!

What I thought:

An adorable book that you should add to the collection of a military child.  We have several books in our collection and this is one.  It is a sweet and simple book; and it would be really good for a child that is just beginning to read.  With darling illustrations and adorable kitty as the main character, I think most little children would really like this book.  Zooey and Her Soldier is perfect for ages 3 or 4 and below.  It is short and sweet, and could keep the attention of my daughter.  She responded to the story and thought Zooey was cute.  My son listened but was not quite as interested in my daughter.  They both were able to relate Zooey being sad and missing her soldier (Like Daddy) when he was gone and were very excited when he returned home to them.  I personally appreciated the sweet simplicity of this book.  It is really aimed directly at relating to children in the desire for them to completely be able to understand and relate.  It would have been a really good tool for me to use in talking with my children the first time my husband went away.

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I received a copy of this book in cooperation with the Author.  I was given a book to aid in my review but was not compensated for a positive review.  The reviews and opinions stated here are my own…and my kids’ of course.

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