Tuesday, July 30, 2013

A Perfect Pet for Peyton by Rick Osborne and Gary Chapman

This book is about a little boy and his twin sister's birthday. The two kids, and their friends, go to a pet emporium where they have fun visiting with all kind of animals and await their "perfect pet pal" match up. Peyton is worried that their isn't a perfect pet for him. The owner of the pet emporium, Mr. Chapman, tells the kids how to find the perfect pet pal by using the 5 love languages: Quality time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Physical Touch, and Acts of Service. Each child is matched up with their perfect pet pal. To find out which pet Peyton is matched up with you will have to read the book for yourself.
This book combines two of my kids favorite things: animals and finding hidden pictures.The Pet Emporium is like a zoo, pet shop, farm and aquarium all rolled into one. All my children ages 7-13 love animals; so they were excited to see all the different animals featured in this book. The author also included hidden pictures(find the insects etc...) throughout this beautifully illustrated picture book. As a parent I loved the explanation of the 5 love languages; it helps children recognize their own gifts as well as the gift of others.       

*This book was sent to be by Moody Publishers  in exchange for my honest review. Check out the free app "Peyton and Friends" in the App Store.

















Thursday, July 11, 2013

Sherlock Holmes and the Needle's Eye by Len Bailey

Sherlock Holmes and the Needle's Eye: The World's Greatest Detective Tackles the Bible's Ultimate Mysteries
The author, Len Bailey, did a great job in incorporating classic fictional characters, like Holmes and Watson, into Biblical stories. There were instances when these two were observers in the story (like when Jesus was tempted by Satan) and also times when they participated in the story (like Joshua and the battle of Jericho). I like how the author wrote this in a way that can either be used as a novel for recreational reading, or the questions for each chapter at the end of the book could be used as a small group study, or even for a personal Bible study.
 
Each of the ten chapters included a story from either the Old or New Testament. I found myself trying to use Holmes’ deductions to see if I could figure out why David grabbed five stones or why Paul started his journey in Philippi.
 
I would recommend this book to anyone at least high school age that enjoys solving mysteries. Even if you are not familiar with the writings of Holmes, this book was easy to dive into and become familiar with the characters… and if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes – even better.
 
*I received a copy of this book from Book Sneeze  in exchange for my honest review.