The Greatest Horse of All Time

The recent Disney release is spectacular…good for the whole family. Secretariat was more than just a good typist, he awed the world with his speed. Here is the actual last race being run…don’t watch if you don’t want to be spoiled by the ending.

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When Dad Walks In

My favorite book I’ve yet to understand (Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl) gets reviewed by the author’s dad.

Here’s what Doug Wilson (and his dad) had to say about Nate’s book. [Let me know if you have to be logged-in to read it. If you do, I will copy and paste it here.]

I’ve heard anecdotally that a professor at Southern Seminary said that the 19th century had Orthodoxy. The 20th century had Mere Christianity. The 21st century has Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl. I suppose we win then.

It’s only $6. Buy it…now.

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Are You Too Seasoned and Mature to Practice Something Fundamental?

Read “seasoned and mature” as hoity-toity. I bet you never practice new ways to tie your shoes, either.

Increase your typing speed while racing against others: TypeRacer.

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Fantastic Books for Roadtrips!

Amazon has a scratch and dent sale from time to time. So I bought 5 of these for $25 to give to my boys and two of their cousins a few days before Christmas. The regular price is still worth it for a great book that drives the imagination, encourages creativity and calls for quiet on roadtrips.

Put these in stock at your house. Click to link to Amazon.

I assume this one below is as good.

And this one for the two younger boys.

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Must Own/Must Gift: Behold the Lamb of God

Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ

Gather ‘round, ye children come
Listen to the old, old story
of the power of death undone
by an infant born of glory
Son of God
Son of Man…

It may be enough to tell you that iTunes says that we have listened to this album about 230 times since we found it in 2008. It is Scripture simplicity in stunning lyrical form, and it has knocked my socks off. Beyond any other music, the effect that this album has had on my heart is almost unrivaled, coupled with the move in 2008, a wonderful new church, the realization of the beauties of The Jesus Storybook Bible…these things combined at once to open Scripture to me as I had never seen it. It enhances the beauty of the Old Testament and the incarnation as I had not known.

I meant to do a listing on TBAP of my favorite Christmas albums. I would need to figure out what to do Messiah, which has been shaping the world for a lot longer than this has, but this certainly is the top of my heap for anything written in the last 100 years…far and away.

You can get this on Amazon at the link above or below, but it’s also on iTunes and it’s also free to listen to online here (studio edition preferred but live edition included) and here (with lyrics). But the best place to buy it is straight from the artists (and it’s $2 cheaper than iTunes).

 

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: A Gospel Primer

A Gospel Primer: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love

Bound for Heaven as you may be, you do not yet well-know what you were, are or will be. The Gospel is our bread, hope, and life. This small book should be studied by every Christian as a rich source of condensed Gospel talk.

After pages of careful explanation, the book concludes with a bonus section of prose and a section of poetry that both concisely summarize the entirety of the book. It’s a great feature.

Nothing should be more prominent and preeminent in our lives than Gospel truth and living. This book is an essential means to aid toward this end.

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

 

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Must Own/Must Gift: Team of Rivals

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

This book is somewhat of a biography of Lincoln, but it’s really about how Lincoln brought a team together. It’s an  astounding display of how Lincoln, for the good of the country and to his own personal detriment sometimes, would hire (and then not fire men) who were totally opposed to him, sometimes bitterly-opposed. There are lessons in deep and wide magnanimosity and lessons for playing well with others.

A few weeks ago a friend was looking for some suggestions on a biography of Lincoln. I said, in part: “I understand about not wanting to commit to it… it took some time… [this is a big book]. But I might need to suggest you do it anyway. It is first, a dealing with his politics, especially the relationships and it has a good deal to teach about dealing with people with heaps of grace. But it also covered some of the biographical stuff very well and it really, REALLY pulled me in during the final days of his life; I wept at one of the scenes that occurred two days after his death.”

Lincoln is controversial, too. Though widely hailed (especially among people who can’t name more than four Presidents) as the best President, Lincoln is not faultless. But he knew that. And while some men would have tried to cover up their foibles with lies, screens, smoke, and eloquence, Lincoln brought in transparency, honesty and, literally, a team of rivals (primarily those who had lost to him in the primary) to stand next to him and help him through the turbulent pre-Civil War America. It’s an amazing study.

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: The Church History ABCs

The Church History ABCs: Augustine and twenty-five other heroes of the faith

We were only gifted this book a few days ago, so it may be a little premature to add to the list, but…

This is a great $10 spent. Per the title, it’s a fun alphabet book of personalities in Church history. Primarily, this is a great start to overcoming our historical myopia. It very palatable introduction to Church history for children and almost everyone will learn some new personalities and some fun things about those people.

I’m really into books that don’t take themselves seriously, and this one doesn’t. A few times, it’s a little too [being careful with words here] silly.

I want my kids to know history much better than I do. I want them to be better acquainted with these men and women and their idea, their valor, their heartiness, their hardiness, their God.

 

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

 

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Must Own/Must Gift: Jonathan Edwards: A Life

Jonathan Edwards: A Life

Edwards was not a prude, a stiff, a softie. He is often mischaracterized as a  mean-spirited and spewing brimstone. The reality is that his sermons and life were overflowing with the words joy, pleasure, delight, and enjoyment and often they referred to the hear and now.

I think Marsden treated Edwards pretty fairly. He has his warts, but most common conceptions of him are wrong. This is a big book, but it will enrich you, because you can’t spend hardly any time studying Edwards, without learning to hope in God.

Edwards stands on one of the very tippy-top rungs of the Church history ladder. He is recent and he is knowable. Here is where you can find out. Come see how wrong you were.

 

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: The God-Centered Life

The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today

I love and am helped by maps, airplane level views and wide angle pictures. This book is a sort of that for me as it takes the dense writing of Edwards, picks out the high ideas and processes them beautifully.

If you are never going to read Edwards, read this. If you are willing to read Edwards, but haven’t yet, read this first.

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

Weighing in at a hernia-inducing 22 lbs and covering almost 1,500 pages, this table-crushing collection is the single, comprehensive source for all things Calvin and Hobbes. It includes significant commentary from Bill Watterson and every single strip from the 10-year run.

The humor is insightful, mischievous, whimsical, sardonic, daring, honest, and profound. Calvin, the perpetual 6 year old, grabs boyhood by the horns and gives stodginess a shake. If it weren’t for the heft, this could make my desert-island collection.

I can’t express how thrilled I am that this set makes 8-year old roll in riotous laughter.

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

 

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Must Own/Must Gift: Wingfeather Saga

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. And the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree (Book 1)

and

North! Or be Eaten: Wild escapes. A desperate journey. And the ghastly Fangs of Dang (Book 2)

Yes, really. This silly-named-books are stellar story and should be enjoyed by all. It’s gripping and can be enjoyed by all ages. Though it’s intense for children, I read it to a classroom of first-graders who were delighted and eager for more. Here is a full-review I wrote last year about the first book. A third installment in the saga is nearing completion.

I’m not being flippant with these recommendations: Christie, the boys and I love this series.

This is one in a series of posts this month of things  must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: The Chronicles of Narnia Radio Theatre

The Chronicles of Narnia Radio Theater

Focus on the Family Radio Theater is an amazing gift, and I have one more that I will recommend to you probably, but this is the top of listening heap. We bought this 4-5 years ago when it was $60 more expensive, and it is one of our most treasured belongings. Our boys have listened to this top-notch, full-cast, beautifully-orchestrated, Doug-Gresham-endorsed, 19-disc recording over and over and over…. This set, along with the books, have shaped our family, and I don’t mind that when we bleed or cry, we shed Narnian blood or tears. In being so enveloped in Narnia, we are enhancing and deepening our Christianity reality.

Just a short word about the Narnia movies and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader which is coming out this month. The movies are good and should be judged on their own, but they are not the book series and they are not this set. The books are full and rich, the movie versions are “close-enough” adaptations. You don’t know Narnia if you only watch the movies. This set is not the book set, but the script comes straight from the books and they do a great job over 19 discs making alive the book. I think this enhances the reading of the book beautifully.

This is one in a series of posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: If

If

If is a small, inexpensive book that’s really good at poking hard at your heart. It’s broken into three or more sections, but the biggest section is a series of “If…” statements that will pound out your soul. It’s devotional and personal. While it may be physically possible to read the whole thing in 20-30 minutes, it’s not advised. The statements appear one per page and are random and pointed. It really should be read meditatively over days and weeks. (I sometimes assume that people know who Amy Carmichael is.)

This is the older (and better) cover. It shows this one on Amazon, but I think they may send you the newer, less-attractive cover.

Three sample pages…

If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind word, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the twentieth); if I cannot take the first without making a fuss about my unworthiness, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in a cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

This is one in a short series of random posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: Endurance

Endurance

“Men wanted for hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.” What would you do if you saw that ad on Craigslist, men? Would you respond? Shackleton’s ad had them lined up around the block. This is a compelling adventure story of grit, failure and endurance from the early 20th century. I wish there was a great hardcover of this. Let me know if you find it. Read the Alfred Lansing version of the story. This is the newer cover.

The Heroic Age Should Still Inspire Us

This is one in a short series of random posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them. Here are the others.

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Must Own/Must Gift: The Jesus Storybook Bible

I’m going to start a short series of random posts this month of things, one at a time, that must be on your wishlist and on your giving lists. It will be mostly books, but it will be some of the best things available. I’m not trying to promote consumerism. I’m endorsing breadth and depth, and this is the month that you’re buying.

Give a hoot. Don’t miss any of them.

The Jesus Storybook Bible

It is a myth that this book is for children. Rid yourself of the notion. This book encapsulates Scripture like no other book. It is simple, cogent, color-coded, illustrated, fun, convicting, convincing and inspiring. A healthy dose of this stuff makes seminarians much, much more tolerable and kids much, much more wise and adults much, much more stable.

 

The Handy Dandy Deluxe Edition of the Book that You Will Now Wish You Didn't Know Anything About Cause Now You Want One

 

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Recommendations for Really Short People

Our kids wish to casually recommend the Liberty’s Kids series to you and your kids. We don’t watch very much TV, but this is an animated series that we watch through Netflix (via streaming, but probably available on discs).

The show is 40 episodes of a mix of historical fact and fiction from the American Revolution period–a period which should not be so foreign to us because we are only 5-6 generations removed from it. The series portrays actual events of the Revolution as they pertain and are witnessed by fictional, teenage characters.

Though the theme song is a little narcissistic, I think you would enjoy the program. Some of the episodes are available on YouTube, if you are willing to watch it in parts.

Also, here is the official website and the helpful Wikipedia page.

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Imitation in Life

Education is a complex transfer of the habits, customs, rituals, sayings, stories, values, morals, songs, and jokes of the teacher to the students until the students are walking around looking, sounding, and acting like their teacher.

Read the rest of this wonderful article from Credenda/Agenda on Learning to Teach

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Reader Recommendations

I would like to start putting some more reader input in to TBaP and would like your help assembling some lists. This will require (please do it) some of you to click out of your reader and over here to the actual blog for a minute. Come on, the air is fresh and sweet.

Let’s start with simple one:

What are some of (let’s say three) your favorite non-fiction books that you have read in the past couple of years?

Please leave your responses in the comments section.

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Vittles

Hockey Fever

A chart showing water consumption during the gold medal Olympic game.

_____________________

In Defense of Food

“You now have to eat three apples to get the same amount of iron as you would have gotten from a 1940 apple, and you’d have to eat several more slices of bread to get your recommended daily allowance of zinc than you would have a century ago.”

_____________________

Grooveshark

Live stream full-length custom songs and albums and make your own playlists. This is different from LaLa and Pandora and the others. I use it every day.

_____________________

Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel

If I were in the market for a $20 breakfast, I would so be here when I spend three days in Louisville next month.

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This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land

This weekend we finished the last (6th) disc in Ken Burn’s series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. The set is a treasure trove of Americanism and the vast variety and beauty of God’s created world. We enjoyed every drop, sometimes with our jaws hanging open. Every video made us want to go jump in the car and get going on our own National Park tour.

On this date in 1872, Congress made a brash and unprecedented move of creating Yellowstone National Park. It was an outlandish idea to all the world, and Yellowstone is called America’s First Park, but it could be called the first in the world. Today there are almost 400 National Parks in the U.S. and over 6,500 national parks worldwide.

Peter Coyote is the primary narrator for this set, and his voice and the music are very compelling in building a beautiful mood for telling the story. More than just landscapes, which are stunningly presented, National Parks is the compilation of stories of individuals who loved the parks and sought to preserve and expand them. There are a good number of villains, too.

There were a good number of wonderful quotations from the documentary, but the two words that best encapsulate the whole series are the ones that have been mulling through my mind since I saw it a week or two ago is the idea that being in the parks, experiencing the sheer vastness, experiencing our infinite smallness, promotes the reality of our own “atomic insignificance” as Charles Sheldon said as he stood face to face with Mount McKinley.

Available on Amazon here.

Here is one of many wonderful previews of the story:

There is also a book based on the series.

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The Godly Home – Book Review

The Godly Home was written by Richard Baxter in 1673 as a sort of “sum of practical theology…directing Christians how to use their knowledge and faith.” This updated and edited version by Randall J. Pederson is a sort of summary of just one of the many facets of that original work: Christian economics (family duties). It was released by Crossway on 1/31/10.

Even though the book has been updated and edited, maybe significantly in parts, the weight and flow and vocabulary is decidedly in the Puritan style. It is weighty language taking on weighty matters. It takes good and steady practice in concentration and patience to read the Puritans. The book is presented by chapters dealing with instructions for marriage, family worship, motives, duties of the different parts of the families.

Chapters 4-5 were the primary selling points to my betterment. “Motives to Persuade Men to the Holy Government of Their Families” and “Motives for a Holy and Careful Education of the Children” were chock full of solid gold. They were words of poignant, classic, timeless clarity that should ring in the ears of the men of the church, warning them for example that, “It is more comfortable to have no children than to beget and breed children for the Devil.”

“[Children] have an everlasting happiness to attain, and it is that for which you must bring them up.  They have an endless misery to escape, and it is that which you must diligently teach them. If you do not teach them to escape the flames of hell, what thanks do they owe you for teaching them to speak and do? If you do not teach them the way to heaven and how they may make sure of their salvation, what thanks do they owe you for teaching them how to get their living a little while in a miserable world? If you do not teach them to know God and how to serve him and be saved, you teach them nothing, or worse than nothing.”

I commend almost the whole of the book to you. Baxter’s name and works have stood the test of time because of his careful, meticulous attention to the details and spirit of Scripture. This portion of his ultimate work will give you richness abounding. God will give you grace and diligence to receive it well, for His sake.

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Nelson’s Complete Book of Maps and Charts – Book Review

The most well-worn, worn-out Bible I own was a gift to me by my church when I graduated from high school. Though I used other Bibles that were easier to carry (pocket-size), or had more notes, or had room to write notes, this Bible was my standard-bearer. What I loved the most about it was the headers. It wasn’t a reference Bible. It didn’t have expansive notes, but the outlines and headers that broke the Scriptures into artificial parts, and the introductions to each book were wonderful. I really, really liked how they helped me to stay with the flow. They helped as I was teaching and offering feedback, too. I didn’t know (or really care) then that they were Nelson notes. I realized it a few years ago when going through another book that had the same outline of Scripture all through-out it.

Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts was first published in 1993. The third edition was released two weeks ago.

It is a beautiful book. It is full-color and includes a good number of photographs of the historic sites. The array of maps, charts, diagrams, and comprehensive outlines is dizzying. It is really hard to describe how broad the scope of the content of this book is. This is a great asset for all levels of spiritual training, even a great springboard for the highly-advanced scholars.

Maps and Charts is immensely informative and should be included within arm-reach of every Christian student. The only complaints I have are minimal. I do wish this were available in hardcover; and also,the content associated with the wisdom/poetry books is not nearly as expansive as the other books, though the outlines are thorough.

But those complaints are minimal because of so many other compensating factors. Other great features of the book are:

• All the maps and charts are reproducible for use in groups and teaching settings.
• All the maps and charts are can be freely downloaded from the Thomas Nelson site (with book purchase) for viewing and use in group and teaching settings.

I’m so pleased to be able to recommend this resource, especially at such a low cost. It was a benefit to me to review it, and I made a good number of notes of things that I wish to go back and dig into more deeply.

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Get Rid of Ads on Facebook

Want to get rid of those uninteresting, offensive, repetitive, misleading, irrelevant, ads on FaceBook. You can.

If you have Internet Explorer, it’s tedious and hard. You can click the “X” next to the ad, and manually reject each ad individually. This takes an enormous amount of energy, and you will never win (but you could probably keep up with the Mobsters advertisements with about 30 minutes of clicking per day).

If you use Firefox, which is an immensely safer program and is the world’s most popular web browser, then it is a super-simple process.

1. Go to Tools > Add-ons > click on the Browse All Ad-Ons link >

2. From there you have entered the magnificent world of add-ons. Ways to very easily customize your internet browsing experience. Everything becomes much simpler in your life from this point on.

3. Search for AdBlock Plus (or click here to skip straight to it).

4. Click Add to Firefox, and the program automatically installs and then will ask you to restart Firefox. When it comes back up, you will need to subscribe to the USA filter list. It’s a one-click, free, process. There is no registration. There is no mess. It just runs.

And it will block almost all advertisements, pop-ups and banners on every website you go to NOT JUST FACEBOOK.

A word about add-ons: There are 10,000+ of them. A few dozen of them are truly useful. Some just waste your life. Some of the add-ons I find most useful and use frequently are:

• Fast Dial
• AdBlock Plus
• Shorten URL
• XMarks
• ScreenGrab
  

If you don’t use Firefox. Do so.

There is at least also one other add-on that will block the ads only on FaceBook.

These directions are overkill for some readers (you’ve been using this forever), and some of you think this is too high-tech. If this overwhelms you, please ask for help. Any other recommendations from the pros?

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The White Horse King – A Review

Had Alfred only delivered his people from the plundering Danes whom he defeated at Edington, then his contribution would have been significant and worthy of rememberance, but he would not have been worthy of the legendary status the the name King Alfred has acquired over the years. He would not have been King Alfred the Great.

Benjamin Merkle’s first book, The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great was released last November and is a great first deposit into the publication pool. I am, after reading it, fully endeared-to and thankful-for the man who was only English king to ever be called “the Great.” This story is a readable, action-packed, probing look at the man who played an enormous role in defending, stabilizing and then civilizing a fragmented kingdom that would later become what we call England, which would later play a crucial role in the democratic and orderly governments of many other major countries, including the one most of my readers call home.

The bulk of the book is the story of Alfred’s attempts to rid his land of innumerable waves of marauding Vikings who pillaged and ravaged wherever they went. They were a formidable and constant enemy to Alfred for almost every bit of his 50 years. But the story of how Alfred turned them to flight was also an evolution of thought (changing the mind and pattern of a nation) and also the story of the value of righteousness and honoring Christ in pattern and traditions. It was no easy process, but in his end, he was honored with this inscription on a statue that stands in Wantage:

Alfred found learning dead and he restored it, education neglected and he revived it, the laws powerless and he gave them force, the church debased and he raised it, the land ravaged by a fearful enemy from which he delivered it. Alfred’s name shall live as long as mankind shall respect the past.

And so, 1,111 years after his death, King Alfred’s name and deeds are remembered again–this time here in Nashville, TN. His name will be promoted on this blog, in my memory, to my 5 little ones and wife, and to those with whom I can muster an opportunity to bring this story to note. The great ring-giver will live on in this way.

(Also, you will love the redemptive story of the man who was called Guthrum.)

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Spread Out

I’ve recently added a personal, finance blog to my Reader.  It has been a big help to the way I think, and I’ve taken some good advice from it in the past two weeks…and I’ve already made measurable money by following his advice (dozens of dollars).

I’m recommending you to Matt Jab’s Debt Free Adventure. I have been relieved of the enormous burden of monthly, credit-type debt already (just in the in the past year or two), but still there is much to glean here, whether you are carrying the burden or not.

I hope you will find it profitable, too.

Probably I should give you a better idea of the array of subscriptions I have on Google Reader…some day.

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Admittedly, I Know Little About This (Among Most Other Things)

I like books, and I love lists of books–I even like books of lists. I read recommendations and like to give recommendations (i.e. this list of lists I made). But I haven’t read much literature directed primarily toward little girls (nor, I suppose, have I read much foreign pulp fiction, but that is probably only said because of my strong affection for speaking in asides–which I do frequently–in fact, sometimes the asides are required to steal the show–because what I was saying was far too pedestrian).

Anyway, not to downplay this list with a string of unimportants, here is a list of recommended read-aloud books for parents of little girls. It was compiled by Mrs. Erin Kornu, who God gifted to JECA to teach our 2nd graders. She loves lists like I do.

I hope you are able to find profit and enjoyment from these works. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive and was compiled with the ages of 2-7 in mind, primarily.

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Betsy-Tacy (and others in series) by Maud Hart Lovelace

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Heidi by Joanna Spyri

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Best Loved Doll by Rebecca Caudill

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

Sarah Whitcher’s Story by Elizabeth Yates

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgiesh

The Most Wonderful Doll in the World by Phyllis McGinley

And here is a fantastic $10 recommendation for the boys in your life.

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The Way We Get By

On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting over 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The Way We Get By is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront the universal losses that come with aging and rediscover their reason for living. Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet find the strength to overcome their personal battles and transform their lives through service. This inspirational and surprising story shatters the stereotypes of today’s senior citizens as the greeters redefine the meaning of community.

Here is the trailer:

This documentary is currently posted for full viewing on the PBS website until December 12.

Full Description

Broadcast Schedule (on PBS)

[I have not viewed the entire documentary, yet.]

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Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ

Be introduced to our favorite Christmas CD, though it’s not literally Christmas music and we listen year-round without apology. We’ve had the CD for a year, and iTunes says we have played this on our desktop 140 times in the past. It’s a great work to have internalized in your heart, and I love that it falls so easily of our boys’ tongues.

Andrew Peterson wrote the music. Here is the backstory, the retelling of how this came to pass.

Need an introduction? You can listen to the story here for free. Then go buy it.

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What You Should Buy Your Child For Christmas

Let me not be a brow-beater. Let me just state plainly that you should buy your child, nay yourself, a copy of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness for Christmas. Andrew Peterson has started his book-writing career with a full-tilt, high-charge adventure.

Let me go back a bit. I’m a fan of Lord of the Rings, but this is not that. I’m a much bigger fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, but this is not that either. Although it’s a fantasy adventure, it stands alone and different than either of those. It in no way pretends to be either of them either. It’s not a classic…but I think it might have the trappings to be one. It’s got a steady and sure plot, heaps of suspense, liberal doses of humor, adventurous and curious boys, a sweet and compassionate little girl, a stalwart mother, and really hideous bad guys.

Andrew Peterson was built by God for storytelling. He has a solid background (“All the Way Home”), cohesive overview of reality (“the world was good; the world is fallen; the world will be redeemed”), has the God of Heaven as his center (“Far Country”), and the beauties of redemption in his sights (“every breath is a mercy”). He feeds his family by traveling the country singing stories about those things. Andrew lives with his wife, two boys and a girl in Nashville, TN…where his house is.

The Story

Janner Igiby lives in the sleepy little town of Glipwood. Sleepy that is, except for the smelly and dangerous Fangs who wave the strong hand of control over the Glipfolk. Janner along with his younger brother Tink and their little sister Leeli live with their mother Nia and their grandfather Podo Helmer quiet, simple lives. Quiet and simple that is until we meet them. The quiet ease is disrupted when the Igiby children beginning discovering clues and truths about the real history of their country, their dead father, and the life that their family used to live before the domination by the Fangs and their evil ruler Gnag the Nameless. [I appreciate how unfair it is to summarize a story so succintly. Buy the book to promote justice.]

Prerequisites

You must be willing to read the story with the spirit of a child. That is, you must not be put-off to be immersed in a world where live Fangs (from Dang), thwaps who infest gardens, and toothy cows who are immensely dangerous and drooly. In new worlds are new places, games, names and creatures. Some, like horned hounds, are dreadful, and some are very pleasant, like sugarberries and gooeyballs, along with rhythmical ancient tunes, the beauty and grace of an upright mother, and the power of a common purpose and pull.

What to Notice Throughout

All throughout, Peterson is nudging from the background, trying to spread hints than the Igibys have weight and depth and import. They aren’t simpletons. They aren’t followers. They aren’t common. We can see it in the education that Nia is giving her children, the tugging at their hearts when the bard sings, the hazy memories of memories, and the way that bravado and pluck come to the surface when called on.

You Should Know

Each character is very well-developed. Janner wants to know and understand. Tink wants to see and experience. Leeli is just, plain sweet and compassionate. You will love each of them.

Peterson is a wordsmith and his metaphors and similes are top-notch at pulling you further into the story, except when he intentionally pulls your leg by makes comparisons between two things that are both fictional.

The footnotes are practically worth the price of the book as they reference you further in and further back into the world in which you are delved, making it all the more real.

You Must Know

While the story is entertaining, it’s also serious. In every good story, good must be good and then treated like good. Bad must be bad and then dealt with in the end as bad. And sometimes that fact is a little hard to stomach…just like in real life.

Building a world like Skree (Glipwood is just one town) and beyond is a process. Just as a table must be set and the food prepared before the eating takes place, so doth the story go. The setting takes a few chapters and is good.  Be patient; don’t blink; the goods are coming. You will want more when it’s over.

But It Gets Even Better

When you get to the end of this book, and your heart is racing, and your spirit is soaring, and the answers have been made plain(er), it will seem as if things have only begun. And they have. This book is “merely” the first installment. And……hang on……you’re going to love this……Book Two is already written and ready for purchase. I haven’t read it yet. I have my signed copy all ready to zip through, but…well, it will happen quite soon. The reviews I have read have said that Book Two, called North! Or Be Eaten!, is a little darker but even better than the first book is. I can hardly wait.

You should also know that this series (formally called the Wingfeather Saga) has it’s own official website that will give you lots of interesting background, maps, encyclopedia, beautiful illustrations, and more. You can find it here: Wingfeather Saga Online. It’s a great feature. C.S. Lewis would have used it if he could have.

Now, you absolutely must leave here to read this letter that Andrew wrote to you.

Then, you can come back here to spring over to Amazon to do what you know you should do.

Oh, and I would love to hear from you if you decide to purchase the book.

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