Review 5 star
Find It On Amazon Sweet Potato Pete and the Green Garden Gang by Art Ehrens is a fun-loving picture book about the value of vegetables and nutrition. It is accompanied by an audio track. Sweet Potato Pete, a friendly boy with flaming hair like the starchy tuber he’s named for, invites children to accessible, entertaining discovery of the exciting world of healthy food. A big fan of vegetables, Pete is part of a gang of other children who each favor a healthy natural food—String Bean Slim, Carrot Top Karen, Apple Andy, and others—and when he’s unable to fulfill his mission to give his wagon of sweet potatoes to the nearby town, his friends all pitch in to help them. Art Ehrens’ capable story uses an upbeat, cheerful tone to win kids over and the cleverly inserted song—just scan the barcode in the book—will have them singing along immediately. It’s very, very catchy and well worth the brief time taken to access it. If words like “veggies are good for you” and “you need lots of iron” aren’t ringing a bell with the kids, Sweet Potato Pete and the Green Garden Gang takes things straight to them. On their level, with a colloquial voice and a lot of bouncing enthusiasm, the little character even presents some real nutritional facts. Most importantly, Pete is excited about other people and getting them the good foods that they need, and he’s part of a group of loyal friends who share his wish to help others. His goals are not only nutritious they are unselfish, and he provides a role model in more ways than just a very laudable love of fruits and vegetables. Review 4 star
Find It On Amazon The Gathering Gods (Trip) by M.K. Baker is an imaginative epic fantasy tale filled with symbolism and cosmic themes. It begins at a remote period of history at which the world is beginning again after an even earlier time. A young girl named Perl awakens with no memories and soon realizes a beautiful woman named Ohm, her mentor, has given her fruit from a special tree called the Bodhi. This has caused Perl to reawaken with a new identity—one of The Wise. Perl is ordered to take the remaining twelve fruits and give them to others, many of whom she encounters by accident. Guided benevolently by Ohm, Perl and her first five friends travel the world and continue to expand outwards until all recipients of the Bodhi fruits have been found and a civilization can be built. The Gathering Gods (Trip) is a journey into philosophy and adventure that shows the mark of a true creative mind. With a wonderfully developed mythology all its own, this book is literature at its most pure. M.K. Baker has the originality and depth that I’ve always admired in the best books. The personalities of Perl and her friends unfold in a gently paced, realistic way, as they travel, and record their significant experiences, and each of them—bookish Rychis, scientist Dehmun, pert, spunky fairy Imladi, the noble water-creature Endi, and more--blend perfectly together as representations of everything in humanity. We spend the most time with the first seven partakers of the fruit, as they have meaningful encounters with those of their species who have not been “awakened,” individualized visits from Ohm, or special bonds with each other that add threads to the journey, drawing a story that is just beginning as the book ends. A beautifully told, intelligent tale, The Gathering Gods should be on your list. It's All About Grace: Insights from the Word for Women of Koinonia by Shirley Kiger Connolly10/15/2019
Review 5 star
Find It On Amazon It’s All About Grace: Insights from the Word for Women of Koinonia (A 10-Week Course for Group or Individual Study) by Shirley Kiger Connolly is a really good, immersive, practical Bible course. It guides women in an understanding of their Christian walk as friendly vessels that reach out to others. There are a lot of skilled, imaginative interactive exercises to aid in the learning process—such as the Potter section, in which women envision themselves as a piece of clay being molded in all the steps, including being fired in a kiln. With five overarching themes--Women of God in Times of Adversity,” “The Woman God Wants Her to Be,” “God Doesn’t Make Mistakes,” “Finding Grace in Her Garden,” and “How Will She Sail Her Ship?”— this course has a lot of wisdom in it. It’s All About Grace: Insights from the Word for Ladies of Koinonia stands out for the hands-on way it deals with hard times in people’s lives. I enjoyed the realistic approach. Instead of offering an unabated cheerful tone on God’s abundant plan, words like adversity, refining, dry times, pruning, sickness, and melancholy recur constantly and a rich and thorough tapestry of examples from the Bible and from the author’s own life thread the book with proof that God actually uses tough experiences to shape people. Shirley Kiger Connolly delves deep into the human beings of the Bible to show that God worked with them in the same way he does with us today. From a great detailed comparison of a godly woman’s life to the complexity of year-round gardening to an opportunity to draw your own little boat (should God tell you to build one like Noah) there’s something for everyone. Recommended. |
AuthorThis is the companion for Sarah Scheele's newsletter blog. In it I share reviews for books I'd recommend/are similar to my own. Archives
August 2022
Categories
All
|