Book Club: Book Review of Tiny Truths Little Lights Devotional

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Tiny Truths Little Lights Devotional: Shining God's Light in the World by Joanna Rivard and Tim Penner is a very cute hardcover book for children! I was very happy to receive this book from Zonderkidz™ to review on my blog. 

The hardcover book is 155 pages long and printed on shiny paper. When I first opened the book, it had that wonderful new book smell! Each devotion is split between two pages and includes expository text, a Bible quote, and very cute illustrations of children engaging in the light shining described. 

The main focus of Tiny Truths Little Lights Devotional is that God gives us his unending love, and we can pass that along to others. Thus, our children can shine their own light and demonstrate God's love in simple ways. They can help share God's message without having to worry about how to do it. 

Some of the examples of how to shine their light include: 

• Being joyful 
• Following the example of Jesus 
• Including those who have been left out 
• Sharing God's love 
• Helping others 

The book also shares many examples of how we see God's love all around us. From the wonder of nature to small acts of love like sharing gentle words, Tiny Truths Little Lights Devotional provides concrete and simple examples for our children. 

My Thoughts 

This would make a great gift for a 5 to 9-year-old child. They could read it with their parent or on their own and start to dig into God's Word. There is even a place in the front of the book to inscribe it to the child with the date it was gifted. 

I really like that you can read two pages a day and focus on the love of God with your children. I started out reading the book by myself so I could review it, but my daughter spotted it and wanted it read aloud. We read several devotions a day because they are short and easy to read. After finishing the book, I have no concerns about giving the book to my children to read on their own.

I would recommend this book to families and churches, as it is a cute book that focuses on the light of God.  

Interested in More Books Published by Zondervan? Check out these reviews! 

• Book Club: Book Review of The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find
• Spending Time with the Bible: A Review of Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women from Zondervan
• Book Club: Review of the NIV Beautiful Word Coloring Bible for Girls
• Book Club: Book Review of Sunny Days Ahead

Book Club: Book Review of Sunny Days Ahead

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Devotionals are a great way to incorporate more Bible reading into your life and the lives of your children. Sunny Days Ahead: 150 Devotions for Health and Happiness by Lindsay A. Franklin is just the devotional to add to your teen or college-aged child's bookshelf. 

"This world we live in is dark, difficult, and painful," starts the introduction (1). This is such a sad and honest truth. Our children, especially our older ones who are on social media and out in the world, face the sin-fallen world. How do we help them when they feel helpless or hopeless? Sunny Days Ahead provides 150 days of Bible quotes, reflections, and questions to help our children get started. 

About the Book 

The 154-page paperback book features one devotion per page. The Bible quotes are NIV, ESV, or NKJV. Through quotes from both the Old and New Testaments, we see how "God breathes hope into his Word" (1). 

The ten-minute devotions focus on some of the following topics: 

• Goals and dreams
• Money
• Talents and skills
• Serving others
• Role models from the Bible
• The different characteristics of God 

Each devotion begins with a Bible quote, moves into two or three paragraphs expounding upon the quote and relating to the reader, and then a reflection section with space for the reader to write down their thoughts and answers.

My Thoughts 

I really enjoyed Sunny Days Ahead. Even though the book is written for our teens or college-aged children, I felt that so much could be applied to my own life. There are parts that focus on things important to our youth. For example, new life skills they are learning and school/college interactions. But I think parents and children could read this together as part of a normal prayer routine.

I really liked that Franklin told the reader to speak with parents first about troubles and then listed others – pastors, trusted adults, etc. So often our children are told to go to a teacher when their parents should be the first ones to hear about troubles and problems. However, Franklin does write that if there are problems at home or elsewhere, the reader should seek appropriate help.

The only thing I had trouble with was the white text on the yellow background for the devotion headings and reflection text. The yellow did not make it easy on the eyes. 

The book points to being positive but finding that hope in Scripture and the Lord. There is no new age happy advice such as "do what makes you happy." Insights point to biblical and scientific truths. What a refreshing devotional for our families. 

Interested in More Books Published by Zondervan? Check out these reviews! 

• Book Club: Book Review of The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find
• Spending Time with the Bible: A Review of Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women from Zondervan
• Book Club: Review of the NIV Beautiful Word Coloring Bible for Girls

Learning Year Round: Wintertime Homeschool Fun

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For those who live in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter season can bring drastic changes to their homeschool routine. If you are a homeschool family that spends a lot of time outdoors nature schooling, going on hikes and nature walks, or doing other outdoor activities, the winter may have you change up those routines. But learning year-round can continue to happen in fun and inventive ways. Wintertime homeschool fun can still happen outdoors. Or if your children prefer the indoors, there are new activities you can include. 

Learning Year-Round Outdoors 

Cold weather and snow do not need to keep you indoors. The wintertime opens up a new world of nature schooling. While many animals migrate or hibernate for the winter, there are quite a few that stay around for several reasons. If you or your neighbors have bird feeders out year-round, then you'll be sure to see birds and rodents around them, no matter the weather.  

Animals who stay active during the winter will provide your family with the opportunity to study how they adapt and change to the seasons. You can easily see their footprints in freshly fallen snow. Rabbits, squirrels, and other animals provide a great chance to observe animals from the inside comfort of your home. 

Outdoor physical activities can continue and change, too! Invite your children to help shovel snow and clean the walkways. Build snowmen, igloos, forts, and have snowball fights with your children. Ask your children to help take care of the outdoor animals. Teach them how to protect your home during the winter. These physical activities can bring together fun and education for your homeschool family.  

Indoor Wintertime Homeschool Fun 

In addition to sticking to your normal routine, you can add in new lessons, curriculum, resources, games, art projects, and more into your day. The new year is the perfect time to introduce these new activities. For example, we started a new social studies curriculum (courtesy of Timberdoodle) with our fifth-grader. It was a fun way to shack things up this winter.

To help with those fidgety moments, I also added some additional fidget toys. We introduced the Tangle™ to our children. This toy allows the user to twist and tangle it. They can keep their hands active while listening to read-alouds or thinking about math problems. 

Complementary Product Received

After visiting a table-top gaming convention, we also added in one new card game. There are two ways to play the game. The most basic way resembles the card game, War. Simply put: War of Beasts is a "twist on the classic card game war with magical beasts and enhancements." If you are playing the advanced version of the game, you want to collect enough gems to win the game. The cards are colorful and range from such mystical creatures as electric fire dragons and ethereal rats to phenomena modifiers like tornadoes, blizzards, and giant potions. 

What resources and activities do you add to your homeschool during the wintertime for fun? 

Using Your Brain: A Review of The Human Brain Anatomy Puzzle

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this puzzle from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Puzzles! Puzzles! And more puzzles! We've shared a lot of puzzles recently, and I have a few more to share with you. This week, I would like to share Dr. Livingston's Human Brain Anatomy Puzzle from Genius Games with you. We have shared previously about the Human Brain Floor Puzzle, but this weekend, we tried our hands at the version geared towards teens and adults. Boy, was it difficult! 

This puzzle provides a cross-section of the human brain in 662 pieces. It is part of the newer series of puzzles which includes:

• The Heart
• The Brain
• The Eye
• The Hands
• The Feet
• The Head
• The Abdomen
• The Thorax
• The Arms
• The Legs 

All of these puzzles are designed by a certified medical illustrator. In this particular puzzle, you'll see a detailed interview view from the corpus callosum to the spinal cord. The puzzle is 28 inches by 25 inches, so it takes up quite a bit of room on the table. 

Just like all of the other puzzles, this one comes in a sturdy box that resembles a book that you can display beautifully on your shelves. The lid has magnets, which means it shuts closed firmly. No losing pieces! 

Our Thoughts 

This was the most difficult of the puzzles we have completed so far from Genius Games. We have completed the below puzzles, and while they were challenging, I never thought before this one: "What if we can't finish it?" 

• Puzzles in Our Homeschool: Dr. Livingston's Anatomy Jigsaw Puzzle: The Human Thorax
• Anatomy Puzzle for Kids: A Review of the Dr. Livingston JR Human Body Floor Puzzle
• Puzzles are Great Fun! A Review of the Human Heart Floor Puzzle
• Puzzles as Science Resources: Doctor Livingston JR. Human Brain floor
• Teaching Homeschool Science: A Review of Owl Anatomy Floor Puzzle
• Homeschooling with a Dinosaur Puzzle
• Studying Anatomy with Puzzles: Pregnant Mother Anatomy Jigsaw Puzzle Review
• Piecing Your Heart Together: A Review of Dr. Livingston's Anatomy Jigsaw Puzzle: The Human Heart

I'm not sure why this one was difficult. The other puzzles all had sections where the pieces were very similar in color, which added a level of difficulty. In this one, the many arteries and the depiction of the grey and white matter were the most complex parts. I felt like we easily completed the outside edge and then the eyes and spinal cord sections. But the rest? I ended up looking for specific shapes and colors to complete it one by one. 

I only have one complaint. Some of the pieces seemed to have the back peeling off of them. And while taking the puzzle apart for storage, one of the pieces had a corner that tore. All the other puzzles we've done from Genius Games have been very high quality, so I was saddened that some of these didn't fare as well during the production phase. 

Would I recommend this puzzle? Yes! Even though it was very challenging, I think many families would enjoy completing it. If your children are studying anatomy, it is the perfect puzzle to add to their homeschool or schooling lessons. It also makes for a great gift for puzzle lovers. 

 

Book Club: Book Review of The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

There are many storybook-style Bibles available to purchase for your younger children. With all these resources comes debate, too. Should we provide a watered-down version of the Bible for our children? The Bible is not a fictional story, so why create a "storybook" Bible? If you are a family planning to include storybook bibles on your bookshelves, or if you already have one or two, I have a recommendation for a new book to add to your collection. 

From the beloved Berenstain Bears of my own childhood, there is a new book for my own children. The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find is a relatively new publication from Zonderkidz. This hardcover, colorful book presents several stories from the Bible with short text and graphics featuring bears in place of the humans. 

If your children are already familiar with the Berenstain Bears, this will provide a fun way to bring the Bible into your reading time. In a typical search and find, children will be on the lookout for a number of images within the larger picture. As this is a hardcover, the idea is not to circle the pictures when found but merely to point them out to the parent or grandparent reading the book. 

Stories include: 

• The Creation 
• Noah's Ark
• Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt
• David as a shepherd
• Daniel in the lion's den
• The Birth of Jesus 
• The Storm at Sea
• The Last Supper (Passover supper) 

Ways to Use The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find

In addition to reading the text aloud with your child(ren) and searching for the objects listed, there are several ways in which you could use this particular storybook Bible. For example, find the story depicted in The Berenstain Bears' book with the one in your copy of the Bible. Look for passages or quotes from the Bible itself to share with your child. 

For the first set of pages depicting the Creation, create a mini-book with your child to depict the first seven days based on the Bible. Add the pictures from the Search and Find book to the mini-book on the appropriate days. Encourage your children to copy the pictures from the Search and Find book in their own mini-book to create a strong connection. 

On the pages that ask children to find certain numbers of objects, such as the ones showing David as a young shepherd, you could expand on the math lesson. Bring physical representation of the objects to the table. Do you have six mini apples or four toy ducks? You can collect the objects and work on addition and subtraction with them. Ask your child to add all the birds or all the plant objects (apples and flowers). 

Can you think of any other ways you could use this fun book in your home? Please share in the comments!

My Thoughts 

I really appreciate that the Search and Find included stories from both the Old and New Testaments. My only recommendation would be to add a few more. For example, maybe something from Proverbs and the Psalms from the Old Testament. And I would be very happy to see the Crucifixion and Resurrection depicted from the New Testament. Or maybe something from Acts or one of the letters. I understand that the Crucifixion is a heavy topic for 3 to 6-year-olds (the recommended age), but it is a very important part of the "story." 

For the pages illustrating Noah's Ark, I would have preferred the rainbow to have all the colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). This is something we personally emphasize in our household to distinguish God's rainbow from other depictions. And some may have problems with the fact that the book illustrates it in a typical storybook fashion and not based upon Biblical research. 

Our eight-year-old daughter was very happy to see this book arrive. She still reads the copies of The Berenstain Bears' books we have collected over the years. So even though this book is recommended for ages 3 to 6 years old, those who enjoy the Bears will also enjoy this Search and Find book. 

I would recommend this book to families with young children who wish to introduce the Bible to their children in a fun way. It is also a great supplement to the Bible readings you may already be doing with your children. 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Dragon's Breath

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Who doesn't love sparkling gems? In Dragon's Breath, children will collect gems that are released from the ice ring to add to their dragon hoard. 

Dragon's Breath from Haba® is for 2 to 4 players aged 5+. The game only takes about 15 minutes to play and set up, which means you can play over and over again in one gaming session. Since each game is so short, Dragon's Breath is also excellent for large families because you can swap out players. 

What Do You Get? 

The game comes in a sturdy box and contains the following: 

• 4 Dragon Children 
• 9 Ice Rings 
• 1 Ice Floe Tile 
• 90 Sparkling Stones (18 in each of 5 colors) 
• 1 Dragon Dad 
• 1 Box Base with 4 Dividers 
• 1 Game Board 
• 5 Sparkling Stone Tiles 

How Do You Play Dragon's Breath? 

Place the game board on the box base with the four dividers set up. Place the ice floe tile in the middle. 

Depending on how many players there are, you stack either 8 ice rings (2 or 4 players) or 9 ice rings (3 players) on the ice floe tile. This creates a column of ice that the dragon dad will "melt." 

Each player selects their dragon child and puts the marker in one of the four corners. 

All the sparkling stones are placed in the ice column. Any that fall, go into the holes in the base. The Dragon Dad and the sparkling stone tiles are set to the side for gameplay. 

Once play begins, each round is the same: 

1. Select a sparkling stone tile so you know which color you will collect. 
2. Lift an ice ring. The sparkling gems will fall (if they fall in a hole, they belong to Dragon Dad). 
3. Divide up the gems based on the stone tiles. Any left after you divide them go into Dragon Dad's hoard. 

There are variations of the game listed in the instruction manual. 

Our Thoughts 

This is a high-quality game made for repeated play by small children. It is playable by four-year-olds and up (supervision of littler ones is necessary). It teaches patience, colors, and counting, as well as good sportsmanship. 

How Can You Use This Game Elsewhere in Your Homeschool? 

• Use the game for sorting colors. 
• Spelling words: Use the ice round ice rings and gently toss them onto an alphabet board. Then, spell out a word that starts with that letter. 
• Trading and finances. Make each color represent a different amount and practice basic trading and bartering with the gems. 
• Work on learning Roman Numerals. Make the colors represent different numbers and then count out with math problems. 

Red = 1 = I 

Blue = 5 = V

Orange = 10 = X

Purple = 20 = XX 

Green = 50 = L 

Can you think of any other ways to use the game in your homeschool?