Mighty Reader Workbook: Grade 1 by Heidi Cooley

In the Mighty Reader Workbook for Grade 1 by Heidi Cooley, students can practice their reading skills while learning about popular Bible stories. There are thirteen stories and six work pages for each story. The work pages focus on different skills such as: comprehension, context clues, problem/solution, visualization, writing, and more. The repetition of just one story per week allows the child practice and explore the story from different angles.

I am homeschooling my daughter for first grade and using the Mighty Reader Workbook to supplement our curriculum as my daughter loves to read and we're a bit ahead of the curriculum. My daughter enjoys reading the stories, but I expected the stories to be longer than three-fourths of one page. The words are suited to a first grade level. Some harder words are included in the text and these are addressed in a helpful vocabulary section that proceeds the main reading page for each story.

I liked that each day's workpage calls for a different reading strategy (echo read, choral read, partner read, independent read, etc.) and my daughter enjoys it. Most of the workpages involve the child writing out some sort of answer. I wish all of the pages had lines to help with neater writing. Many pages have big boxes to write in. Even though I am there to guide, her sentences tend to get a bit messy.

The Mighty Reader Workbook is designed for parent and child to do together. My mommy heart loves that we are smiling over reading and Bible stories. I recommend this book to parents of first graders who are looking for extra reading and comprehension practice. This book is not limited to homeschool use. I think it would be good practice for any child in first grade.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of the Mighty Reader Workbook by Heidi Cooley from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

The 365-Day Storybook Bible

The 365-Day Storybook Bible from B&H Publishing is a padded hardcover Bible story book of substantial length. It does not adhere to any particular version of the Bible (KJV, NIV, etc...) Rather, it is written to summarize the Bible story in words easily understood by children. Many Bible stories are covered in this book, including much of the book of Acts. However, Revelation is not included.

So, as soon as I opened the package containing The 365-Day Storybook Bible, my five year old grabbed it and proceeded to look through it for an extended time. She was able to identify certain Bible stories simply by the illustrations and asked about others. Over the past week, she's picked it up almost every day to look at the pictures. She likes it a lot, probably more than I do.

And speaking of the illustrations, The 365-Day Storybook Bible is good at engaging through colorful, mostly well-done illustrations. However, some of the illustrations are unpleasant – particularily page 206 where it shows Saul committing suicide by stabbing himself with his sword.... I kinda wish they had left that particular story out. Granted, I know it is part of the Bible, but not necessarily appropriate for young children... Also, I never pictured King David with blonde hair...

My daughter and I have enjoyed reading these stories so far. The story and illustrations are interesting to her. If you want the storytime to last the five minutes that the cover advertises, you'll have to come up with some questions and discussion topics on your own because the narrative provided takes two minutes or less to read. The “parent connection” is one page in the back of the book, not something integrated with each story.

I recommend The 365-Day Storybook Bible to parents of children between 5-9 years of age. Its' a sturdy, colorful book that teaches stories from the Bible. However, I don't think it's appropriate for younger children. The illustrations can be bit graphic and some of the more gritty Bible stories are included: Joseph & Potiphar's Wife, David & Bathsheba, Saul's suicide, (Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael are noticeable absent.) My two year would listen and not ask questions about how Bathsheba had David's baby, but my five year old is inquisitive and these stories have enough detail to prompt further questions. If you aren't comfortable with that, you'd have to somehow skip the pages.

Overall, this is not the best book of Bible stories I've seen, nor is it the worst. Seems to fall somewhere in the middle, but my five year old does really like it and that counts for something.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

My Sing-Along Bible by Stephen Elkins

My Sing-Along Bible by Stephen Elkins features 50 Bible stories and a music cd with a coordinating song for each story. Each page spread contains a section of a Bible story with illustrations complementing the story. Below that is a Scripture verse and the chorus to the corresponding song. Finally, a “Little Lesson” section offers a single-sentence synopsis of the story.

I'm not sure what the recommended age group for My Sing-Along Bible is, but my three year old enjoys it. We received this book a week or two ago which is typically long enough for her to have lost interest in a book. However, she still likes to look through this one and occasionally asks me to read it to her. What she really loves is the cd of Bible songs. We listen to it multiple times a day. After the opening song on the cd, I thought it was going to drive me crazy b/c the chorus to that one was extremely repetitive. But, it turned out that I liked many of the remaining songs and she loves them all. Repetition does not bother my three year old.

The content is in line with Scripture as far as I can tell. I recommend My Sing-Along Bible by Stephen Elkins to parents of children ages 2-5 – again, I'm not sure what the publisher's recommended age group is. It's a good to book to just sit and read to your child during the day. It's also versatile enough that it could serve a bedtime story book with you choosing how many stories to read based on how long story time is.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Magnificent Tales Treasury of Bible Stories: Rhythmical Rhymes of Biblical Times by Kelly Pulley

The Magnificent Tales Treasury of Bible Stories: Rhythmical Rhymes of Biblical Times features twenty well-known Bible story poems illustrated by Kelly Pulley. The narrative lines up with the Biblical accounts except for a few minor discrepancies. Example: Guards at the tomb pretending to be asleep rather than fainting. As is common for this type of book, some of the less pleasant details of stories are omitted. Example: Jonah getting angry that the people of Nineveh repented. I liked that the story of Jesus' baptism was included as not many Bible story books recount that one. Each separate story has a title page which makes it perfect for reading just one or two at a time.

This collection of Bible story poems is recommended for children from four to eight years of age. I didn't realize that at the time I signed up to review it. However, my two year old loved it! We've had it around the house for at least a week now and she still looks though it every day. That's a lot more use than some of her books get...

Like most Bible story books, the narrative is a rhyming poem. The poetic meter changes between stories and sometimes even during the stories, but the lyrical quality makes it engaging for children. Unfortunately, during the story of Joseph, the only word that is used to rhyme with “dreaming” is “seeming.” Since “dreaming” is used often, so is “seeming.” It's very repetitive and probably my least favorite story in the book. However, the repetition didn't bother my daughter in the slightest and since the book is for her, it isn't a big deal.

My daughter, my husband and I liked the illustrations. This book is 352 pages long and well over half of those pages are fully illustrated. The colorful illustrations brought the stories to life for my daughter. Although the characters have strangely large knobs on their elbows and knees, it gave us something extra to giggle at as we went through the book and I consider it very well-illustrated.

Don't forget to visit the blog tour hosted by Litfuse Publicity to read more opinions on Magnificent Tales Treasury of Bible Stories: Rhythmical Rhymes of Biblical Times by Kelly Pulley. There's also a Kindle giveaway that you can enter!



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Designed for Devotion: A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation

Biblical study is a lifelong apprenticeship for the dedicated Christian. Although no book can replace studying the Bible itself, Designed for Devotion: A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation offers a companion-of-sorts to the reader who desires to increase his or her knowledge of the Bible and dedication to God. In Designed for Devotion, Bible teacher Dianne Neal Matthews comprehensively explains the main stories, people and teachings of the Bible. Additionally, she provides relevant historical background, Old and New Testament Scripture correlations and practical applications for the reader to implement.

I used Designed for Devotion: A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation by Dianne Neal Matthews as a supplement to my regular Bible reading. I think new believers will find the book especially helpful as it hits all the major Biblical events, people and lessons. I liked that Bible references were given along with each devotion. There were a few stories that I was not familiar with and it was good to be able to go to the Scripture and see exactly what it said. Believers with more knowledge of the Bible can also benefit from reading Designed for Devotion. Like most devotional books, to receive the greatest benefit and impact, the lessons must be read slowly and seriously. Each entry is less than a page long, so there were times it was almost too easy to breeze though. However, serious, thoughtful reflection on these lessons and the corresponding Scriptures will certainly lead any believer to new discoveries and lessons.

Read an excerpt from Designed for Devotion: A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation by Dianne Neal Matthews here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Bible Stories that End with a Hug

Bible Stories that End with a Hug, created by Stephen Elkins and illustrated by Simon Taylor-Kielty, teaches Biblical truths and practical spiritual lessons in simple terms for young children. Each page spread is devoted to one spiritual teaching or Bible story. The spread includes a Bible verse, an example story from the Bible, a small section about what can be learned from the story and the final “hug time” sidebar that says something like: “Give the one who shows kindness.... a great big hug!” (Kindness begins with me would be the theme addressed here.) Content-wise, there are 75 Bible stories and the book covers the major stories as well as many minor ones. There is not actually a page devoted to Jesus' death, although it is mentioned on other pages. I can understand why that would be hard to illustrate in a way appropriate for young readers, but I do think that perhaps more importance should have been placed on it.

I enjoyed reading Bible Stories that End with a Hug to my daughter. Although she's still too young to understand the words being said, she did like to look at the drawings. She also enjoyed the hug parts as evidenced by her smiles and laughter. We'd read a page and then end the story with a hug. She'd giggle and smile and my heart would melt. Those memories are so precious and I'm happy to recommend a product that contributes to happy memories.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."