God's Amazing World Picture Book + Giveaway

About the Book:

Genre: Children's Picture Book

A new picture book celebrating God's Creation.

Gracie and her cousin Bo explore the seven days of Creation, all without leaving the backyard! As Gracie tells the story of how God made the world, she and Bo find evidence of each day's work right there around them. When they get to Day 2, the day God created the sky, they take a moment to cloud watch. Day 3 leads them to play in the water, and on Day 6, they imitate the cows and pigs and lions God made.

This sweet, clever picture book by Eileen Spinelli overflows with enthusiasm for God's Creation, and children will catch the excitement and will begin to view their own surroundings as a tour of God's lovely world. Parents can use this beautiful book to introduce children to the concept of God's work in the world and to encourage appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of the world around us. 

My Review:

5 Stars

This is an absolutely stunning picture book. The rich colors and details on each illustrated page is just beautiful and adds so much to the story. I loved shariing this story with my daughter and I know it will always have a spot on her bookshelf for years to come.

Eileen Spinelli with illustrator Melanie Florian tell and show the creation story in this children's book. It is a great book to share and teach our children that great story. Each page is beautifully illustrated with details that bring the story to life.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with young children and it would also make a great addition to children's libraries at church. This makes for a perfect bedtime story.

Giveaway Info:

*Ends April 9, 2014

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The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn by Lori Benton

About the book:

Genre: Historical

Frontier dangers cannot hold a candle to the risks one woman takes by falling in love

In an act of brave defiance, Tamsen Littlejohn escapes the life her harsh stepfather has forced upon her. Forsaking security and an arranged marriage, she enlists frontiersman Jesse Bird to guide her to the Watauga settlement in western North Carolina. But shedding her old life doesn’t come without cost. As the two cross a vast mountain wilderness, Tamsen faces hardships that test the limits of her faith and endurance.

Convinced that Tamsen has been kidnapped, wealthy suitor Ambrose Kincaid follows after her, in company with her equally determined stepfather. With trouble in pursuit, Tamsen and Jesse find themselves thrust into the conflict of a divided community of Overmountain settlers. The State of Franklin has been declared, but many remain loyal to North Carolina. With one life left behind and chaos on the horizon, Tamsen struggles to adapt to a life for which she was never prepared. But could this challenging frontier life be what her soul has longed for, what God has been leading her toward? As pursuit draws ever nearer, will her faith see her through the greatest danger of all—loving a man who has risked everything for her?

My Review:

4 Stars

Lori Benton debut novel was fantastic but I think she stepped up her game with her second and it is just as god if not better than her first.

There is something great about Lori's books, its that she writes in settings not nearly as common and really packs a ton into her books. From the beginning I knew it was going to be a fantastic book and I was right. Many books out there are very predictable but not this one with so many twists and turns it is hard to figure out all that will happen which really kept the flow of the book moving. I will warn that this book would not be great for younger readers as it does contain mature content, but nothing offensive and still reflects on Christian principles. 

Overall, great second book and I know I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

*I received this book through Blogging for Books for the purpose of this review.

How Sweet the Sound

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing How Sweet the Sound David C. Cook (March 1, 2014) by Amy K. Sorrells

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

An Indianapolis native and graduate of DePauw University, Amy lives with her husband, three boys and a gaggle of golden retrievers in central Indiana. After writing and editing for her college newspaper, she combined a nursing degree with journalism and creative writing, which led to publishing and editing a wide array of medical and nursing writing and multimedia projects over the past 21 years, a position as director of communications of her church’s children’s ministry, as well as a weekly column for a local newspaper which ran from 2009-2012. She has been a two-time semi-finalist for the ACFW Genesis awards, and was the winner of the 2011 Women of Faith writing contest.

When she’s not reading or writing, Amy loves spending time with her three sons; spicy lunches and art gallery walks with her husband; digging in her garden sans gloves; walking her dogs; up-cycling old furniture and junk; photography; and friends.



ABOUT THE BOOK

From a distance, the Harlans appear to be the perfect Southern family. Wealth and local fame mask the drama and dysfunction swirling through their family line. But as the summer heats up, a flood tide of long hidden secrets surface.

Devastation from a rape followed by the murder of two family members brings three generations of the Harlans together on their pecan plantation in Bay Spring, Alabama. Chief among them is Anniston, who by the time she turned thirteen thought she’d seen it all. But as her heart awakens to the possibility of love, she begins to deal with her loneliness and grief.

This tender coming-of-age tale, inspired by the story of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13, shows how true healing and hope comes only from God. Though our earthly family can wound and disappoint, our heavenly Father brings freedom to those long held captive through His mercy and grace.

If you would like to read the first chapter of How Sweet the Sound, go HERE.

Pups of the Spirit Children's Picture book

Pups of the Spirit 

Genre: Children's Picture book

With adorable pups, kids will enjoy learning fruit of the spirit traits including Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Patience, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control in an easy-accessible way.

Nine Fruits of the Spirit would normally be difficult for little minds to keep track of, but now there are nine personable pups to make it easier and more fun. For puppy lovers and kids ages 4-8 comes a clever picture book that teaches children in a creative way about God’s special attributes for his people.

Each of the canines represents one of the Fruits of the Spirit, introduced one by one with playful rhyming text. Max is filled with love and likes to greet people with a sloppy smooch; Pete the basset hound is so peaceful he falls asleep; Gigi is soft and gentle with God’s creatures. Children, their families, and their teachers will fall in love with the “heavenly hounds” while learning how they can grow closer to God every day.

My Review:

5 Stars

What an adorable children's book! Every page is filled with beautiful illustrations that will attract the young and old at heart. All nine puppies are cute and playful looking. 

This is a great book to introduce our children to the Fruits of the Spirit. Each dog is named after a different fruit and demonstrates how he lives it out. It helps children see an example of how to live it out and with the cute puppies helps them focus on the story and remember the lessons learned. This can be a hard and overwhelming concept to teach children but this book is a great resource. This is a great book for 4-8 but short enough that toddlers can pay attention too. What a great book for every child's library.

* I received this book through BookLook bloggers for the purpose of this review. Thank you!