On the cover: It’s September 1943, and eleven-year-old Ellie McKelvey’s older brother, Jimmy, has just been drafted. Jimmy has a joyful heart and a kind word for everyone, and he’s the only person who thinks Ellie is smart and funny and as beautiful as Lana Turner, the movie star. Ellie can hardly stand to see him go. With Jimmy gone, Aunt Toots moves into his bedroom, Ellie’s mother takes a war job at a factory, and everything in Ellie’s life seems upside down. But she figures that the war will be over and Jimmy home by Christmas, so as much as she misses him, she keeps her spirits up. Even as families in the neighborhood begin to receive telegrams informing them that their boys are wounded or worse, Ellie never stops believing in Jimmy.

Tomorrow, we will have a special interview with Mary Ann!

Visit the other Blogs on tour with Jimmy’s Stars!

01 Charger, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, By the Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Maw Books, Small World Reads, The Friendly Book Nook, The Hidden Side of a Leaf

      Looking for something new for your 7 -10 year old to read?  Beverly Lewis, author of some great fiction based on the Amish lifestyle, has a great little series out called the Cul-De-Sac kids.  These books are all around 80 pages in length and are about the adventures of 9 children who live on a cul-de-sac called Blossom Hill Lane. 

      There are over 20 books in the series.  Each one tells a cute story while teaching a little about friendship, living a life for God even as a child, caring for others, or similar relevant topics.  My oldest daughter learned and still remembers all the fruits of the Spirit by reading one of these books.

       I like how all the children have quite different personalities.  I also appreciate how the stories show kids who are looking to please God with their lives.  Of course they are not perfect, yet they care to do the right thing.  I love that my girls can enjoy the stories, and be shown examples of kids living their lives for God at the same time.

Beverly Lewis’ Cul-De-Sac Kids books are available from Bethany House Publishers.

Pam Davis’s Girls ‘n Grace Collection is a Christian mom’s alternative to the American Girl Series. They are books about young girls in different countries and in different time periods. I read one about Mesi, a young girl in Africa, and Sydney Clair, a young girl in the United States during the 60’s. Mesi struggled with putting her faith in God through hard times. Her family did not even have the money to put her in school and things did not seem to be getting any better. Sydney Clair was exposed to the difficulty of understanding the racial issues of her time. African Americans legally had rights, yet white Americans were not ready to acknowledge those rights.

In each book the grace of God is a central theme. Author Pam Davis says that she intentionally left out the “i” in the title of her collection “Girls ‘n Grace” to emphasize that it is not what we ourselves do that earns the love or favor of God, but His love and favor - His grace - is His gift.

Similar to the American Girl series, Girls ‘n Grace also offers dolls that look like the characters of the books, and girls can buy one that looks a bit like themselves. You can even choose to buy a doll and a small Bible together and have it sent to someone who may need to read the message of God’s grace. This is not such a bad idea, but I have to say the dolls are quite pricey at $77 each. I would never spend that much for a doll, even if it is a collector’s item. Others will feel differently, of course.

I do recommend the books. The publisher says they are for age 6 and up, but I would say the reading level is a bit higher than that for most children. 6 year olds may be interested in hearing the stories read aloud, however. The stories are sweet and the pictures are well done. They share the element I love of American Girl which is that your child can learn a bit of real history in a fun way, and they have the additional element of sharing about God’s grace, an ever-important message.

Product Description
Beamer, age 13, who speaks only Californian, is an alien in the world of Middle America, exiled to a bizarre, ancient house on a mysterious street that may or may not exist on any map. With the help of a nerdy African-American kid named Ghoulie, a gangly tomboy named Scilla, and a miraculous, broken-down tree house shaped like a spaceship, he battles the indigenous life forms in his new home, from bullying creatures to the strange inhabitants of dark castles, subterranean caverns, and a spider web the size of a house, to discover how God gives a distinctive purpose to each uniquely designed human being.

From the Back Cover
Know Your Star-Fighters
Beamer: California transplant to a weird Midwestern town. Feels like he’s living on another planet. Scilla: the gangly tomboy next door. Ghoulie: the class nerd.
Add one spaceship-shaped tree house capable of taking them most anywhere in the universe. Hop in and blast off for fantastic outer space adventures in Star-Fighters of Murphy Street-the quirky, funny, fast-paced new trilogy by Robert West.

Newly arrived from California, thirteen-year-old Beamer MacIntyre feels like an alien in this bizarre Midwestern town. Strangest of all is the spaceship-shaped tree house in his yard. Surprises await Beamer and his two new friends, Ghoulie and Scilla, when they climb inside and blast off to a universe full of adventure-including a surefire way to make the school bully stop harassing Ghoulie (provided it doesn’t backfire!).

Sally’s Review: This book seems perfect for boys and girls in grades 3-5. I found it interesting because the family moved from California to the midwest and five years ago I moved from the midwest to California! The book is full of adventure and imagination! There are three books in the series (The Star-Fighters of Murphy Street). The book deals with making friends in a new place and getting along with different types of people. A good imagination can make things bearable in difficult and new circumstances.

Published by: Zondervan

The Rabbit and the Snowman is a very sweet book about friendship and how friendship changes over time. Friends come and friends go - many times nobody is to blame for this.

Sally O. Lee is both the author and illustrator of this book. The illustrations are simple watercolor, ink and pen and add to the overall feel of the story.

This book is about a group of children who build a snowman in the woods and then leave and go back to their homes. The snowman becomes lonely and makes friends with a rabbit. They spend time together and discuss all the things important to them during the winter months. When it becomes warm, the snowman disappears and the rabbit becomes lonely and wonders why the snowman left. He wonders what he did wrong. Then the rabbit becomes busy and life happens. When winter comes again the rabbit goes into the woods and guess what he finds?

I can’t wait to read this to my class. The story can bring up good discussions about the changing weather, friendships, self-esteem, and how our lives change over time. A very sweet and thoughtful book.

Today’s review is brought to you by Leah’s seven year old daughter Emily! I hope you will give her a warm welcome as she shares our love of books!

What I like: I like how Despereaux is brave enough to go in to the dungeon to save the princess Pea. What I don’t like: I don’t like how Despereaux gets his tale cut off. This story is about a little mouse and his giant bravery. It is also about Miggery Sow who wants to be a princess.

     I am about 3/4 done with the book we will be discussing here at the Nook at the end of the month, “The Girl Who Stopped Swimming.”  I read a major portion of it last night while babysitting for a friend.  The house was quiet as the children were sleeping and the lights were dim.  Honestly?  I couldn’t wait for the parents to come home so I didn’t have to be alone with that book anymore!  The story is gripping but the history of the characters is down right chilling.  I could deal with it much better at home with my husband and my puppy and a little bit of chocolate!

     So to lighten my mood, I thought I’d mention a few more fun toddler books that we like around here.

  Jan Brett’s The Mitten is a sweet tale about a boy who loses a white mitten in the snow and the animals who discover its warmth.  The story is cute, and of course the remarkable illustrations add much enjoyment to the reading of the book.  I love how Jan Brett gives clues in her drawings as to what is going to happen on the next page.

   The favorite book of my eldest daughter when she was a toddler, I have read this book aloud hundreds of times.   I really don’t think that’s exaggerating!  Using rhyme and repetition, this book talks about - yep, feet!   A Dr. Seuss classic. 

  I also have not come across a Sandra Boynton book that I didn’t think was absolutely fun.  Her stories allow you to put some rhythm into your reading.  She has a gift of getting into the world of toddlers - using words and pictures and situations that they can relate to.  We also love to read Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs and Hey!  Wake Up! 

Grab a small person in your life and enjoy some good reading today!

We decided to share some of our favorite fathers from books with you all for Father’s Day!

Leah: One of my favorite fathers from literature is Pa Ingalls. He was hard-working, good- natured, loving and kind. He was a farmer, so his days started early and ended with the evening farm chores, yet even amidst all the persistant work a farm requires he always had time for his girls. He often had a twinkle in his eye, a song or whistle on his lips, a hug for Ma, and a twirl in the air for one of his girls. Though the Ingalls’ life was not an easy one, Pa helped ease the hard times by having a cheerful attitude and a trust in God. He was patient to let his little girls “help” with building the roof, or door, or barn, or whatever his project was at the time. He demanded obedience, yet also showed grace at the appropriate times. One of my favorite stories is when Laura and Mary get in trouble for sliding down the haystack - thereby ruining all his hard work of stacking the hay. They had already been told not to mess with the haystack, yet it called to them and they could not refuse. So when Pa angrily asks if they had once again slid down the haystack (after having already seen the damage), they deny it completely. Pa gets even more angry until Laura admits they had not slid down the haystack - but they had rolled down it. Pa has to turn his back from them to keep his laughter from showing. He loves them and though he is upset about the extra work they had caused him, he can forgive them and even see the humor in the situation.

Pa was a good father because he loved his family. He worked hard to provide for them and even when times were hard, he didn’t take out his frustration on his wife or girls. He was cheerful about his work. He tried to provide extra treats to brighten up the day - such as store-bought crackers or Christmas candy. He may not have been able to provide the girls with everything they ever wanted, but they had in him what was most important. His love, his encouragement, and his delight at being with his family.

Sally: John Baxter is the perfect dad in a book series. He has a great profession (doctor), he loves his wife and kids and grandkids and also even though he has a demanding career - has enough time to spend building memories with his family. I’ve read that Karen Kingsbury patterned him after her own real-life dad, who recently went to be with Jesus. He is a strong Christian man who isn’t afraid to show emotion. He’s there, I mean always there, for his family and puts their needs above his own. When he becomes a widower and later finds a new love interest, he puts that on hold until he feels his grown children can handle a new woman in his life. After many books on the Baxters, John Baxter seems like someone you really know, respect, and love. Thanks Karen Kingsbury for your great male role models!

Amy: Well, Leah beat me to the punch with Pa Ingalls, but another book father I love is Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter series. I love the Weasley family, period, they seem like a bunch of fun. But Arthur is a fantastic father who loves not only his family but willingly extends his love to Harry as well. In addition to his strong desire to protect his family and instill good morals in his children, though, he’s so funny! He especially stands out in this series and in the world of Harry Potter because there are so few good fathers.

Who are some of your favorite fathers in books? Happy Father’s Day all!

Summary from the back of the book: Ashley was not prepared for the turmoil and disasters her baby chimpanzee would create. At times, she wished she had left baby Tina, at her home in Africa.

Rylee, Ashley’s best friend did her best to help.

However, this baby chimpanzee always seemed to be one step ahead of them.

There was no slowing down with Tina.

Would they ever be able to control her? Just how far would she go?

My review: I enjoyed this book, but I took it in to school and read it to my 7 and 8 year old students. They LOVED it! Most children are animal lovers and they fell in love with Tina the baby chimpanzee. The children could relate to all of the trouble Tina got into. They said things like, “Tina reminds me of my brother, whenever he is quiet for a long time he is usually into something - just like Tina.” “The monkey reminds me of my little sister when she is sleeping - I love to watch her sleep.” “Ashley reminds me of myself - I like to dress up my dog like she likes to dress up Tina.” The children loved the book, they thought it was funny. They became interested in knowing more about Africa (where Tina came from). We loved the illustrations. Charr Floyd did a fabulous job capturing the silly monkey, Tina in all of her antics.

Each time I brought the book out to read to the children, they became excited. They were engaged throughout and had questions and comments. This is a great book for 9-12 year old children to read independently, but I would also highly recommend it as a read aloud to younger children - even as young as five or six years old.

From the Back Cover:
When Jeri McKane is blamed by her best friend Rosa for using a secret against her, Jeri’s world is turned upside down. Unless the real blackmailer is found, Rosa could be expelled from Landmark School and her starring role in Cinderella given to a snobbish seventh grader. Worse still, Jeri could lose her best friends trust just when things with her own absentee father are heating up. Why does everything have to be so complicatedand where is God when you need him? Middle schoolers will identify with Jeri and her friends as they solve this mystery and learn valuable lessons about truth-telling, faith, hope, and love.

My Review:  I thought this was a very good read for girls ages 9-13.  The book was very engaging and I liked the variety in the main characters - some girls were missionary kids, some were girls at a private boarding school, some had money and some didn’t have much money at all and had to keep up a scholarship in order to stay.  The girls were from different parts of the world, but they each had common issues to deal with. Jeri dealt with forgiveness issues with her father which are common to today’s culture.  Rosa had to deal with being born before her mother was married.  Another girl dealt with losing a father to death. 

The mystery part kept me guessing until the very end - I like surprises!  Christianity is present, but it was ”not in your face.”  A nonbeliever could read this book and understand it.  I’d like to read more in the series!