Family

"God created families so people would have a place of connection, a haven of rest, a group who would accept and love one another no matter what." 

-Family by Karen Kingsbury... This is is the fourth book in the Firstborn series, which is a follow-up to the Redemption series. 

9 powerful Christian memoirs by parents whose children faced a medical crisis

This is a very specific type of memoir and it's definitely the most painful kind I read. In this season of my life I can't imagine anything harder than seeing my children suffering through a medical condition. I learn so much from the parents of these books and their faith journey (and resilience!) is so inspiring to me. 

These books aren't for everyone and they certainly aren't light reads but if you can handle them you'll walk away with so much more than you brought in! 

Anchored... Kayla Aimee tells the story of her micropreemie daughter's long NICU journey with wisdom and a great deal of humor. 

Blessed, Blessed, Blessed... This is Missy Robertson's (of Duck Dynasty) story about her daughter's cleft lip and palate journey. Mia's attitude is also very inspiring! 

A Different Beautiful... This is a beautiful story. Courtney Westlake's daughter was born with an incredibly rare disorder which has affected both the function and appearance of her skin. Courtney has learned to navigate it all with grace and to redefine what beautiful looks like. 

Forgiving God... Hilary Yancey's picture-perfect pregnancy was quickly turned on its head when her baby was given multiple diagnoses. Craniofacial abnormalities and a missing eyeball are just the beginning of her son's struggles and Hilary had to really come to terms with what this all said about God and his love for her and her son. 

Heaven is for Real... You've likely heard of this book, or at least the movie. This is Todd Burpo's story about his son Colton's appendectomy and Colton's insistence afterwards that he spent his anesthesia time in Heaven. 

A Love That Multiplies... I know a lot of you have no interest in the Duggar family but I was really into this family back in the day. It was an appropriate show we could watch with our kiddo! This particular book is heavily focused on the NICU story of their micropreemie, Josie. 

Miracles from Heaven... This is a crazy powerful story about a young girl's gastrointestinal disease and its sudden disappearance after she fell through the trunk of a tall tree. This one was made into a movie starring Jennifer Garner. 

Through the Eyes of Hope... Lacey Buchanan has a beautiful story here about her son's journey after amniotic bands prevented the growth of his eyes during her pregnancy.  

Unreasonable Hope... Chad Veach has a very powerful story to share about his daughter, Georgia. Georgia has a rare condition called smooth brain but Chad and his wife have an incredibly powerful faith (unreasonable hope) that God will heal Georgia. 

I'd also love to take a moment to remind you of one of my books, Blessed by Birth. While most of the birth stories in this book are just fun and happy moments, a handful of them contain health struggles as well. If this type of memoir moves you, it would mean the world to me and the other contributors if you would consider checking out our book! 

Historical nonfiction chapter books we love

Apollo 13... (Bookshop // Amazon) 

Balto and the Great Race... (Bookshop // Amazon)) 

Climbing Everest... (Bookshop // Amazon) 

The Curse of King Tut's Mummy... this one was particularly interesting to my son. This is about the excavation of King Tut's tomb, but there is also information about further back ancient Egypt to explain what's going on. (Bookshop // Amazon) 

Five True Dog Stories (Bookshop // Amazon) and Five True Horse Stories (Amazon)... both of these books are so much fun for animal lovers! There is also one called Nine True Dolphin Stories (Amazon) and I am always hoping to get my hands on a copy but have never been able to yet.

I Have a Dream... this Martin Luther King book is so well written and so powerful. I highly recommend this one. (Amazon) 

Helen Keller... this one is also very well written and Powerful. I don't even know how many Helen Keller books I have read at this point in my life but this one is particularly well done. (Bookshop // Amazon) 

A Horn for Louis... we love this book about Louis Armstrong's start as a musician. (Bookshop // Amazon) 

Magic Tree House Fact Trackers: Titanic... truthfully, I do not care for the fiction versions of the Magic Tree House books but quite a few of the fact trackers have made their way onto our shelves book lists because they are so jam-packed full of information written in great language for the third grade reading level. (Bookshop // Amazon) 

New Toes for Tia... I found this gem in a yard sale where they just gave it to me and I was so delighted. This is a missionary story about a little girl named Tia who had burned her toes in a fire. The missionaries helped to provide the necessary medical treatment for her and it is overall just a great look at her life and culture. (Amazon) 

You Choose: The Dust Bowl... I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and this was such an awesome way 2 teach kids history! Although this is kind of fictional in that you decide which path to go down and the story is sort of written from that perspective, this is jam-packed with factual information and I think it is allowed to count as nonfiction for that reason. (Bookshop // Amazon) 

Great reads for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

All Thirteen (middle grade nonfiction)... This is the powerful, amazing story of 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped in a rapidly flooding cave. The story garnered national attention and it was beautiful to see that a great number of people from all over the globe worked together to rescue them. Along with moving me, this book also taught me a lot about Thailand and Thai culture. 

American Girl: Corinne (secular, middle grade)... This one has culture and racism focus but not really any history. The focus is much more on other things but I wanted to include this anyway. 

The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh (picture book)... We read this picture book during a Cambodia unit. We learned a little about Cambodian culture and enjoyed our protagonist's clever way of ensuring her dreams come true. 

Chinese Menu (secular, middle grade)... Grace Lin has done such a great job combining fantastical folklore with true history behind various popular Chinese dishes. Bonus- beautiful illustrations! 

Finding Spiritual Whitespace (Christian nonfiction)... This was a beautiful book about healing and diving headfirst into God's comfort but she also dove a bit into her heritage as it pertains to her childhood trauma. I often call this book a Christian mental health memoir. 

The Firekeeper's Son (picture book)... I love Linda Sue Park's writing and we enjoyed this picture book about signal fires in 1800s Korea. 

Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same (leveled readers)... These leveled readers by Taiwanese-American author Grace Lin are fun and cute with just a touch of culture.

Lon Po Po (picture book)... This is a Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. We actually know this one from a book DVD, 20 Fairy Tales. 

The Magnolia Story (Christian nonfiction)... This book is about the businesses and life of Chip and Joanna Gaines and it does spend a little bit of ink on Joanna's half-Korean heritage. 

Ming's Christmas Wishes (picture book)... This story, set in the 30s, looks at that uncomfortable in-between feeling immigrant's children sometimes feel. Ming's Chinese heritage is proudly and boldly on display in this lovely Christmas story. Ming and her father do briefly pray to a goddess on one page. 

Sylvia & Aki (secular, middle grade)... This one talks about a Mexican-American family working a Japanese family's farm during their time in a Japanese Internment Camp. Both girls' experiences are shown, back-and-forth. This is a true story but it reads like a fiction novel. I really enjoyed this one.

What is Nintendo? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... This one is of course a huge hit at my house and even i enjoyed learning about the history of Nintendo. 

Where is the Great Wall of China? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... Not all of these books have been yeses for us but this one was and gives a good, illustrated look at the history of the Wall. 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (middle grade)... Part fantasy, part Chinese folklore, full delight 🤗 We listened to this one on audio and were so happy with it!