A Few Favorite Books

Way back sometime when I thought I had lots of time to blog hahaha I took these pictures with the intent to summarize each book. Almost two years later, and I'm tired of these px in my files so here they are with titles and authors but no summaries. You'll just have to trust me that they're good books. They really are.

I stumbled across Joan Hiatt Harlow when I found Thunder From The Sea at a garage sale years ago. We enjoyed Thunder so much that we promptly got a whole bunch of JHH books from the library. Since then, I've collected these few and am always keeping an eye out for more. Highly recommend for boys especially - most of them are historical fiction, based on actual events that aren't well known.

Random and all excellent.

Happy reading!

Favorite Books

Inspired by my friend Jenny's recent blog post on books she's read in 2021, I've decided to resume the book reports I started several years ago (*gulp* that would be 8)(how in the world can this be? It seems like it's been awhile, like a few months, or a year or two, or ... certainly not 8 years😳).  

Anyway. These book reports will be labeled  Book Report (ha yes I know that's original) and will be archived under the page Home Library Picks which I recently re-added to this blog's Pages gadget. This will be helpful for me and hopefully others. I appreciate Jenny's recommendations and have already ordered a few of them from our library. 

For this post, I'm going to list a few of my favorite children's authors.  Choose your favorites with discernment; some of these authors have books which I prefer not to have in my library, bc some are just plain dumb, imho, and I don't like reading dumb books so why would I put them in my library, huh? 

Picture Books

Mo Willems - Piggie & Elephant, Knuffle Bunny

James Stevenson - goofy and fun

Steven Kellogg - Pinkerton, tall tales, other random stories; excellent pictures

Alexandra Day - wordless; excellent pictures about a dog named Carl who babysits

Henry & Wende Devlin -Cranberry series: Cranberry is a quaint seaside village in Maine

Cynthia Rylant - Henry & Mudge, Mr. Putter 

Liesel Moak Skorpen - probably my favorite children's author as her characters have phenomenal imaginations, and I see my kids - and me - so clearly in her characters. We Were Tired Of Living In A House, Christina Katherina and the Box, Andrew Henry's Meadow. She has a few more books but, regretfully, not many.

Chapter Books

Joan Hiatt Harlow - historical fiction

Jean Craighead George - My Side of The Mountain series of three - nature, wilderness adventures (also picture books)

Will Hobbs - wilderness survival adventures

Gary Paulsen - Hatchet, other wilderness survival adventures

Walt Morey - Gentle Ben (one of my favorites), other nature/wilderness adventures

Wilson Rawls - Where the Red Fern Grows, Summer of the Monkeys

Sam Campbell - Living Forest series - non-fiction accounts of Sam's wild animal pets in a wilderness sanctuary 

Ralph Moody - Little Britches series - Ralph's autobiography of growing up in CO

Sterling North - Rascal - true story of Sterling's pet raccoon 

Marie McSwigan - Snow Treasure - based on a true event of children who sneaked gold bouillon on sleds past Nazi sentries during WW2

John D. Fitzgerald - The Great Brain series - fiction, funny, and fun

Patricia St. John - probably my favorite kids' author - Treasures of the Snow, Rainbow Garden, Where the River Begins, and more

Walter Farley - The Black Stallion series. A lot of horse!

Marguerite Henry - all horse stories

Robert Peck - Soup & Rob series - pretty wild, unrealistic adventures of two 9/10 yo boys but also very funny which got Josh reading so they made the list.

Although I met some of these authors in college, I discovered most of my (and my kids') favorite books/authors by accident, meaning I found them second-hand and was completely smitten (case in point: Liesel Moak Skorpen, Patricia St. John, Joan Hiatt Harlow). 

I've also stumbled on great books at the library and they've become family favorites, ie: James Stevenson, Harry & Wende Devlin, Steven Kellogg, Alexandra Day.

And then other people have recommended books which have become favorites, ie pretty sure A. Joyce introduced us to Mo Willems back when she used to come out and read to the kids.

A word of caution. I ran across We Were Tired Of Living In A House at our local library once; it was an updated version and it. was. awful. The original realistic pictures of the kids with their adorable facial expressions were replaced by these gawdy comic-book-look drawings that completely destroyed the beauty and appeal of the book. Make sure you get the 1969 version... or the newly re-released one (July 2021), with Doris Burns as the illustrator. 

I reserve the right to grow this list as I remember more authors/books, but that's all for now!

1-29-14 Caddie Woodlawn

In 1864 Caddie Woodlawn was eleven, and as wild a little tomboy as ever ran the woods of western Wisconsin. She was the despair of her mother and of her elder sister, Clara. But her father watched her with a little shine of pride in his eyes, and her brothers accepted her as one of themselves without a question.  Indeed, Tom, who was two years older, and Warren, who was two years younger than Caddie, needed Caddie to link them together into an inseparable trio.  Together they got in and out of more scrapes and adventures than any one of them could have imagined alone. And in those pioneer days, Wisconsin offered plenty of adventure to three wide-eyed, red-headed youngsters.

Thus begins Caddie Woodlawn.

Written by Caddie’s granddaughter Carol Ryrie Brink in 1935, this true story was a very worthwhile read for all of us. From prairie fires to Indian massacres to falling through the ice and narrowly escaping death, Caddie’s experiences made for anything but a dull childhood, and we enjoyed every page of this riveting book.

12-31-13 Trail Boss In Pigtails

Pa wasn’t going to get well! Watching him, Emma Jane was suddenly sure of it. The long trip to Texas from Illinois three years before and the hot dry Texas climate had not made Pa better. And soon Emma Jane knew that Pa knew it too.  He knew it and had made a plan. The Burke family was going back to Illinois, back to where they had relatives.  More than that, they were going to drive a herd of long-horn steer from Waco clear up to Chicago. The price the cattle would bring there would buy a farm for the family to live on.

So one early spring day the whole family set out with eighty-two head of cattle and Emma Jane as trail boss of the herd.  Pa and the whole family were counting on her to bring the animals through.  But even Pa, who didn’t live through the journey, hadn’t counted on all the problems they met. Emma Jane’s resourcefulness was tested again and again.

Emma Jane really lived back in the 1850’s and she really made this trip.  Yet her story is more than history. Emma Jane is every girl who has ever tackled a grown-up job.

 

So reads the inside flap of a recent read-aloud. Written by Marjorie Filley Stover, whose parents were friends of Emma Jane, and published by Atheneum New York in 1972, this true account kept us all clamoring for ‘just one more chapter’ from start to finish. Although it is not on our bookshelves yet, I can see this being a good addition to our home library someday.

11-5-13 Man of the Family

~a book review by Kaitlyn~

Man of the Family is written by Ralph Moody. Man of the Family is a sequel to Little Britches. Ralph Moody’s father died, so he is the man of the family. His mother makes him go to school even though he doesn’t like to. Ralph gets into all kinds of nicks and scraps. He makes money for his family by picking cherries, herding cows, planting cabbage, and doing other odd jobs around the town. His mother started a little bakery, so Ralph and his brothers and sisters have to deliver the food. They manage to keep themselves fed and clothed by making every penny count. He also makes money by help the ranchers herd their steers and cow through the town. Read this good book to find out more about Ralph.

6-28-13 An Ordinary Woman’s Extraordinary Faith

The Autobiography of Patricia St. John, published in 1993.

Since we spent a fair amount of time this winter reading books by Patricia St. John, I was naturally intrigued by her life and therefore chose for my next book (not a read-aloud) her autobiography. It is not a very long book and was very easy to read; but it took me nine weeks to read it because I don’t have a lot of time to read, and when I did read it, often I would go back and re-read parts to refresh my memory before I moved ahead.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will share a few highlights.

Patricia was born to two spiritual giants: Harold and Ella St. John. One chapter, entitled, “A Tribute To My Father” said this about Harold St. John:

He was equally in demand at large Bible study conferences in different parts of the world with his amazing knowledge of the Bible, the result of countless hours of patient study, self-tuition in Hebrew and Greek and notes that filled thousands of loose-leaf sheets. There was a legend, probably not far from the truth, that he could give the reference for every verse in the Bible, and the children he knew best when he lived at Clarendon School in later years used to love to shoot unexpected texts at him.  But they seldom, if ever, succeeded in catching him out, not even the small golden-haired girl who fixed him with a diminutive forefinger and stated solemnly, “They wife shall be a harlot in the city,” and my father replied with equal solemnity,  “Amos 7:17,” after which they both relapsed into a state of mutual admiration and glee.

“Mr. St. John, “I’d give the world to know the Bible as you do,” said a lady to him at the close of a meeting.

“Madam,” he replied, that’s just what it costs.”

But he always stressed that the Bible is never an end in itself.  It is the path by which you reach Christ, and he never considered any study really worthwhile  unless it affected one’s daily conduct in a practical way. (p. 201)

In 1984, pictures of the Ethiopian famine began to appear on news media, and “England was shaken. Over the past years we seem to have gotten used to pictures of war, famine, and misery, and the public may be suffering from what has been called “compassion fatigue.” But in 1984 nothing quite like that had been seen before.” (p. 267)  As neighborhood children knocked on her door, asking what they could do for Ethiopia, Patricia heard the question over and over: “where was God in a situation like this? Did He care? Why? Why? Why? He could send rain if he wanted to, remarked one bewildered teenager.” (p 267) As a representative of Global Care, A Christian charity with which Patricia was involved, she was asked to visit the refugee camps on the Sudan/Ethiopia border. In May 1985 she did this, and said this: “In some ways it was a nightmare, but I will always e glad that I went. So many questions were answered, and life was the richer for the experience.” (p. 268) She went on to describe the almost unbelievable sights she saw during her month in that camp, where temperatures routinely climbed to 120 degrees and about 1400 new starving refugees joined the camp every day. Her question remained: Was the Lord among them? One Sunday she was invited to a worship service; she found the answer to her question:

We would have changed their circumstances, but we would not have changed them.  God’s solution is sometimes different. He does not always lift people out of the situation. He himself comes into the situation, as Christ the eternal man once entered this world and in a sense came to stay. He does not pluck them out of the darkness. He becomes the light in the darkness, the peace in the midst of the conflict, the spirit’s riches in the midst of poverty and loss and physical degradation.  Right there in the desert, he gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (p. 276)

 

This briefest of summaries is but a glimpse of the anointed life and talent of Patricia St. John. If  you are wanting an interesting book to read during those precious few minutes of reading time you have, I highly recommend this book. You will be challenged in your daily walk and drawn to a closer walk with your Lord Jesus Christ.

6-13-13 Star of Light

We enjoyed this excellent book by Patricia St. John. Written in 1953, our local inter-library loan did not offer the original version, so this was the first revised edition (published in 2001) we have read. It was just as good as the other St. John books we have read; actually it was probably one of our favorite St. John books. Actually they all are favorites. Very difficult to rank in order of preference!!!

The setting is in a Muslim village in northern Africa; as we followed the life of Hamid, we also learned about the lifestyle and culture of a people far different from our own, where hunger, hate, and abuse are commonplace. Hamid’s blind little sister, Kinza, was to be sold to a beggar by their uncaring step-father. Heartbroken, Hamid and Kinza’s mother, Zohra, asked Hamid to take Kinza to a missionary nurse in a distant village. Hamid escapes from his mountain village with little Kinza on his back, determined to rescue his little sister and keep her safe. This is only the start of their adventures. Will Hamid succeed? What will happen to Hamid when his stepfather discovers his loss?

As with all of St. John’s books, the simple message of the gospel is presented in clear and unforgettable terms. Her talent to present the message of salvation in word pictures continually amazes me. Truly her pen was blessed of God.

As I was reading this book aloud to the kids, I started reading the autobiography of Patricia St. John to myself. Interestingly, on page 14 of this book, a letter is recorded that she wrote in reply to a little boy who thanked her for her books. Dated June 8, 1990, an excerpt of the letter follows.

“I was interested to hear you are reading Star of Light because in September I am going back to Morocco and I shall go up to that little town in the mountains and visit Hamid. I was the English Nurse and lots of ragged little children used to come to my house. Not all the Star of Light story is true, at least it didn’t all happen to Hamid, but all about him living in the street & stealing the eggs and wanting to read & becoming a Christian is true.  He is grown-up now and he sells melons, & it is very lonely being a Christian in Morocco because there are so few. But he still remembers how Jesus loves him and his favourite story is the story of the Prodigal Son. So perhaps you will sometimes pray for Hamid when you have finished all the chapters.”

5-23-13 Rainbow Garden

Written by Patricia St. John in 1960, Rainbow Garden was another completely and thoroughly enjoyed read-aloud this winter. I thought this online review summed it up quite well:

This captivating little book is yet another example of the ease with which Patricia St. John mixes thrilling adventure with classic Christian truth.

When we first encounter Elaine, she is a selfish, spoiled, stuck-up city girl who is unable to grasp that happiness can come from anything but pleasing herself and having her own way. But when her mother sends her to stay with the Owen family in the Welsh countryside, while she goes on a business trip to France, things begin to change.

Watching the gradual change in Elaine as she is forced out of her own little world is like watching the slow blooming of a flower. The story of her conversion later in the book is much more dramatic, but simple and eminently believable.

Today’s children will enjoy this book equally as much as those who read it when it was first published over forty years ago. And parents who read it with their children will enjoy it, too.

This parent enjoyed it just as much as the children!

5-4-13 Where The River Begins

Where The River Begins is another excellent book by Patricia St. John.

Published in 1980, this book tells the story of Francis, a ten-year-old boy whose home life is dismal at best. Filled with strife, deception, lies, and anger, his home is being torn apart by his step-father’s affair with another lady and his mother’s consequent nervous breakdown. Francis determines to join a gang as soon as they will accept him, and is well on his way when things at home completely fall apart. His mother is institutionalized, and, facing a foster home, Francis runs away to seek a home with a Christian family which he met earlier. They take him in and gently lead him to discover the source of a nearby river; as well, they lead him to the source of Christian life which of course transforms his entire being.

Although filled with more adult themes than other of St. John’s books, these very real topics are presented in a sensitive manner which allows for discussion and education about the world outside of our “bubble” lives. To a point, we strive to shelter our children from these harsh aspects of life, and yet we want them to know it’s a tragic reality for many many children. We hope to help them understand that this too is part of life, and this is why Jesus died – to heal the heartsick, to mend broken lives, to fix the unfixable, and, ultimately, to save the lost. This book is an excellent tool to do that.

Another action-packed thought-provoking book we’d love to have in our home library. Regrettably, many of St. John’s books have been edited “with language sensitively adapted to a new generation of child readers” and re-published. I haven’t yet read one of the edited versions, so I can’t say for sure I won’t like it, but in general such editions aren’t quite as good. If you have an original, published by Moody Press, or find one at a garage sale – hang onto it!

4-20-13 Tip Lewis and His Lamp

The bed that fourteen-year-old Tip Lewis has just tumbled out of is ragged and unkempt. Tip looks just like the bed, and the whole room looks the same. In fact, all three look about as bad as dust, rags, and poverty can make them look.

Tip’s sick father and his hardworking mother do not know God and give no instruction in right living to their mischievous, idle son.

One Sunday morning, for the purpose of the frolic and fun, Tip and his friends enter a church, and the story that Tip hears sets his mind to thinking of heaven and plants in his heart a longing to see all its beauties and glories.

No one knows what thoughts are going on in Tip’s mind-that is, no one but God. Very lovingly, God woos and leads him, using others to drop encouraging words that fill him with a longing to live a better life. Finally he determines to do what he can to go to that heavenly city.

Many are the trials Tip faces, but the wise counsel of the minister sets his feet on the right path and introduces him to the Word of God, which becomes his guide and comfort- a lamp to his feet and a light to his path.

Few people take seriously Tip’s first efforts to change his life. His sister,Kitty,is astonished and wonders what has come over him. His schoolmates are amazed when he arrives at school on time and makes an effort to obey the rules and learn his lessons.

One severe trial is Bob, the boy who was with Tip in every form of trouble and wrong in the past. How can he withstand the pressures that Bob exerts upon him?

Your heart will be touched as you follow Tip in his struggles, his failures, and his triumphs.

Does Tip’s lamp ever fail to encourage him, to show him the way to the heavenly city? 

This book carries to the heart of every Christian a challenge to faithfully “cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”

Thus reads the back cover of another of our read-alouds this winter.  It was written by “Pansy” in 1988; as with any book published by Rod & Staff, there was absolutely nothing deserving a caution in Tip Lewis and His Lamp. My only advice is – make sure you have a water bottle handy because your throat might get sore when children always want “just one more chapter”!

4-12-13 Incident At Hawk’s Hill

a book report by Ben

In the family, there’s William and Esther McDonald. They have four kids: John, Beth, Coral and Benjamin. Ben was very small for his age and had a way with animals. He could imitate animals and could get very close to wild animals. Ben didn’t mean to run away; he just was following a prairie hen. The hen took him far out into the prairie because she was leading him away from the nest. That’s how Ben got lost. It began to rain so Ben took cover in a badger hole. When the badger came back, she adopted him because a litter of her cubs had just died. While he lived with the badger, the badger fed Ben prairie hens, frogs, and other stuff. Back at home, they sent out a search party but after two months of looking, there was still no sign. The McDonald family was starting to give up hope. Would they find him? You’ll have to read this book, which is based on a true story, by Allan W. Eckert.

4-5-13 The Runaway

“Philo, a first-century Phoenician boy, is worried about his family. Evil hangs over their house like a cloud. And it all seems to come from his sister Illyrica, who is possessed by a demon.

Hearing about a prophet from Nazareth who has healed the sick and even raised the dead, Philo wonders if He can save his sister. But the mere mention of the prophet’s name sends Illyrica into fits of rage and despair. Even if the prophet really is as powerful as people say He is, how can Philo and his little sister, Ione, take Illyrica to Him to be healed?

Hopeless, Philo runs away from home. But everywhere he goes he hears more about the Jewish prophet and His miracles. Who is He? How strong is His power? Most of all, would the Jewish prophet help Philo, a Gentile?

This story of revenge and forgiveness, sickness and healing, and evil and grace traces the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth – to the places He walked and the people He touched.”

So reads the back of The Runaway, another worthy book written by Patricia M. St. John. Although the library has this book labeled as Interest Level Ages 13 & up, my audience of five littles enjoyed each page almost as much as I did. Especially intriguing were the scriptural accounts that were woven into the story; heads would raise from their coloring as they recognized Bible accounts, as the light dawned that they knew what was going to happen next. We had frequent discussions about this blend of truth/fiction; for example, the truth of the demon-possessed girl (Matthew 15:22-28), and the fiction of her name being Illyrica and having a younger brother and sister. Adding to the impact of the book was the timing, which I did not realize or plan; but as it happened, we read of Jesus’ crucifixion on the day before Good Friday. The three hours of darkness, the veil rent in two, the resurrection, and the responses of Philo and those around him really directed our thoughts to the suffering of our Lord so long ago; we decided we might want to read it again next year around Easter. 

3-22-13 Little Britches

“Ralph Moody was eight years old in 1906 when his family moved from New Hampshire to a Colorado ranch. Through his eyes we experience the pleasures and perils of ranching there early in the twentieth century. Auctions and roundups, family picnics, irrigation wars, tornadoes, and wind storms give authentic color to Little Britches. So do adventures, wonderfully told, that equip Ralph to take his father’s place when it becomes necessary.

Little Britches was the literary debut of Ralph Moody, who wrote about the adventures of his family in eight glorious books, all available in Bison Books editions.”

Quote taken from the back cover of Little Britches, the first of Moody’s books which I read aloud to the kids last fall. I meant to write a  summary then; but we zoomed on to other books and I just never got around to summarizing and highlighting it.

First, from page 143, right after Ralph accidentally caught a cock pheasant in a prairie dog trap, Father’s wisdom is shared.

…Father said, “What did you do, get your own foot in your trap?”

I said, “No, sir.” Then I went ahead and told him about catching the pheasant, but I didn’t tell him about wanting to hide it. I asked him if he thought they’d put me in the hoosegow, as Fred said, if the sheriff found out about it.

Father didn’t say a word for a minute or two. Then he said, “It isn’t a case of ‘if the sheriff finds out about it.’ It’s a case of your breaking the law without intending to.  If you tried to cover it up, you’d be running away from the law. Our prisons are full of men whose first real crime was running away because they didn’t have enough courage to face punishment for a small offense.  Tomorrow you must go to see the sheriff. I’ll explain to Mother about your coat.”

Later, on page 147, after Ralph talked to the sheriff, Father had more wise words for him.

That night when we were milking, he told me it had been a day I should remember. He said it would be good for me, as I grew older, to know that a man always made his troubles less by going to meet them instead of waiting for them to catch up with him, or trying to run away from them.

Cover to cover, Ralph’s mishaps and adventures kept us all clamoring for “just one more chapter” until my voice gave out. An excellent addition to our home library, destined to be read again and again.

A word of caution, though. Ralph spent some time with cowboys whose language was not acceptable. I read this book aloud and simply skipped these words, and our older kids know the words and know not to use them, but use discernment when letting younger kids read this book alone. Also there were times when Ralph kept things from his parents; rather than throw the book out because of these incidents, we discussed why this was wrong and what Ralph should have done differently.

3-15-13 Treasures Of The Snow

A book review by Ben

There was once a family in Switzerland. In the family there was a dad and mom and a daughter who was 8. It was Christmas and the mom was very ill. She died after giving birth to a son named Dani. The dad gave the baby to Annette (the daughter) to raise, and their granny came to help as a mom. Years went by and soon Dani was five. His birthday was at Christmas and he put out a slipper out at night because he thought that if he put one out, Santa Klaus would put a present in. They were very poor so they didn’t get presents. The next morning, he looked in and there was a shivering kitten. It had been lost out in the blizzard that night and had found a slipper to go into. They named the kitten Klaus. That summer Dani and Annette were playing out in the meadows and Lucien, a boy from school, was there. Lucien and Annette were not fond of each other and they were arguing. Annette slapped Lucien on the cheek and ran away, so Lucien decided to bother Dani because Annette got away. First, Lucien took his flowers for Annette and stomped on them. Then he took his kitten and held it over the side of the ravine and pretended to drop it over. By accident, he did! It landed on an out jutted rock and Dani tried to save it. His foot slipped and he fell all the way down to the bottom. Everything was quiet. Lucien looked down and Dani was sprawled out on the rock below. He ran all the way home crying and hid in the hayloft. Meanwhile Mr. Burnier (Dani and Annette’s dad) looked for Dani. Meanwhile, Annette stopped by Lucien’s house to see if they had seen Dani. Annette talked to Lucien’s mom (the dad died) and sister Marie to see if they had seen him. Annette asked if Lucien was home so she could ask him. Then they heard a whimper from the hayloft. They ran up in the hay loft and there was Lucien crying. They asked him where Dani was. Lucien led them to where Dani was and Mr. Burnier got rope and lowered himself down the sheer rock edge. Dani had a broken leg, and Lucien’s mom knew they would have to pay for it and they were poor. The only thing they made money off of was Marie. She worked at a hotel. Lucien knew Annette would tell all the kids at school about it so everybody would hate him. The first day, he walked up the side of the mountain and met an old man who taught him how to carve. He carved something for Dani but Annette broke it. There was a carving contest at school so Lucien thought that if he would win, the other kids would like him better. He made a very good horse, but before he entered it, Annette broke it and then she felt horrible. Now they all feel bad. Dani felt bad because he has a crippled leg. Annette feels bad because she broke the horse. Lucien feels bad because everybody hates him. Will they always feel bad? If you want to find out, you’ll have to read this great book called TREASURES OF THE SNOW, by Patricia St. John.

3-7-13 The Secret At Pheasant Cottage

by Kate

Mom has been reading us Patricia St. John books. One of them is called The Secret at Pheasant Cottage. The main people are Lucy, Grandpa, Grandma, Don, and Mr. Smith. Lucy is a girl who is about 12 years old. She has been living with her grandparents since she was a toddler. Both her mom and dad were writers, and Lucy also loves to write stories. Lucy’s mom was Grandpa’s daughter. She ran away to marry Lucy’s dad (Lucy wasn’t born yet). So Lucy’s grandparents never liked her dad. Her mom died when she was three, and her dad got caught in drugs and got sent to prison for a ten year sentence. Her grandparents never told her that her dad was in prison. She would always wonder where her dad was but never asked her grandparents. During summer break she meets Don and they become fast friends. Don’s dad works at the hotel in town, so Don meets all kinds of people. One of the people he meets is a writer named Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith is very sick. Lucy and Mr. Smith become friends.

One day Lucy came into the house and saw her grandparents with a letter, and they were crying. That night Lucy snuck down to Granny’s desk to find the letter. Grandpa catches her and he tells her about her dad. The next day she goes out to the woods and meets Don. She tells him about her dad. Don convinces her to go to the prison to visit her dad, so Lucy runs away to look for her dad. When she gets to the prison it turns out that he is not there. He was let out two months early because of good behavior. She is crushed. She thinks her dad does not want her because he did not come to find her.

 

Kate did a great job writing this book report, but I’m not going to publish the rest of it because then you won’t need to read the book. Read this exciting book to find out how Lucy finds her father and how they both find salvation through the blood of Jesus!

4-22-12 Death of a Saloon

Well not much exciting to report but as always lots going on which made for a blink week. As in, BLINK where did it go? Monday was a routine school day except for haircuts after supper. Tuesday was a routine school day except for an ortho and Aldi trip. Wednesday was a routine day with piano lessons in the morning. Thursday was a routine school day, period. Friday was a routine Friday except for a few afternoon errands (which by the way I won’t do again- town traffic was heavy and everywhere I went was packed! I usually do errands earlier in the day and things aren’t nearly as busy. Live and learn!!). Friday night we had another wonderful evening with good friends. After they left (and this is VERY unusual) I stayed up until Saturday reading a Pablo Yoder book which is an amazing testimony of the miraculous saving power of Jesus Christ. I usually try not to start any Yoder books because they are so hard to put down and I don’t have that time to “waste,” but this one has so much food for thought and conversation that it was well worth every minute I should have been sleeping. Granted, I was a little draggy yesterday, but really not too bad considering my bedtime, and I found this true story on my mind often. The back cover reads:

“Teodolinda and her family moved to the rough Zapotal highlands of Costa Rica to find a better life. But as the years passed, things got worse. Much worse. Life became a cycle of work, moonshining, drunkenness, and fighting.  Frightened, disgusted, and angry with herself and her family, Teodolinda wished desperately for change.

“She hung religious symbols on the wall, lit candles to the saints, chanted prayers, and walked miles to visit a priest, all to no avail. She vowed to do better, but soon faltered. Nothing she did made a difference.  The family just slid deeper into sin.  Finally they were ready to take desperate measures.

“Death of a Saloon is a remarkable story of a soul-sick family and a testimony of the great mercy and power of God and of the miraculous deliverance and new life available through Jesus Christ.”

Published in 2011 by Christian Light Publications, Inc., this book is worth every dime of its $12.95. It is available at

http://www.clp.org/product/death_of_a_saloon_2746.

However, if anyone local would like to borrow it you are very welcome once Levi is done with it. He would NOT be happy if I loaned it out before he is finished, and since he has started planting with Uncle Randy, I’m not sure when that will be. But after that it will be available for loan; give me a call, text, or email.

Anyway. I have a few more Yoder books on the shelf that I haven’t read (all non-fiction), and after I’m done digesting this one I might have to work another one into my schedule.  I don’t read many books so tend to be pretty choosy when I do read one, and this one was a home run (actually Jesse picked it out at the convention). Also, over the years I’ve tried to read chapter books aloud to the kids, and sometimes I do good but other times I don’t. Lately it’s been kind of don’t. Last weekend a speaker at the APACHE convention reminded us of all the benefits of reading aloud with our families (which I know but forget so easily), and I want to do better, so I’ve purposed to be more consistent with this going forward. I read aloud four of five days this week so am off to a good start; we’ll see how it goes.

And yesterday was kitchen work for the girls and me in the morning, rides on the tractor with Levi for Ben & Josh, vaccinate Uncle Randy’s hogs for Jesse, and lots of miscellaneous tasks for Dad & Jacob which included some time in the South Grove where they were joined by the rest of the crew as their various other jobs were finished. For supper Levi & Jesse enjoyed a young group cookout at the Beutel cabin while the rest of us had a fun albeit wild cookout here in the backyard (px to follow!).

Friday evening smiles.

 

 

More work in the South Grove yesterday -

Go Kate!

 

Joshua’s joy for life is so contagious!

 

(and isn’t his hat a riot?!)

Suppertime. (Thanks Sarah for taking these px!)

 

(Camera back to me.)

Hot fire!

Somebody had the great idea to put this huge box on the fire.

Somebody else didn’t stop him.

Yeah -

Great idea.

Great fire.

Not so great consequence.

Yum!!

After supper stroll.

 

Back home again.

 

Notice anything different in this picture? As in something different about the (formerly) brand-new trampoline net? As in something different than the before-supper pictures?

Yeah. Nice holes. :(  Not the coolest thing that’s ever happened on this place, to burn a huge stupid box. But oh well. Kids will be kids right?