David and Goliath

My husband recently read a great passage about David in Disciplines of a Godly Man (which he loved and repeatedly recommends) with interesting timing since we'd just watched a children's movie on David. We were talking about David a lot and I thought I'd share a list here of resources we've enjoyed regarding David. 

Bible- 1 and 2 Samuel and Psalms 

David (children's animated movie)... We all really enjoyed this one. The animation and music was comparable with Disney/Dreamworks quality (and quite catchy) and we all look forward to sharing this one with some other kids in our lives in the future. 

Dominion (YA, graphic novels)... These are more focused on Saul but the gang's all there... as lions. In space. It probably sounds crazy but it was a hit with my teen. 

Goliath Must Fall (and young readers edition) (nonfiction)... This is a Christian nonfiction book written to help and inspire you to overcome the giants in your life and uses the David and Goliath illustration to help explain the message. It's not at all a complete study on David, just a good Christian living book that talks about David. 

House of David (television series, for adults)... We have watched the first two seasons (and plan to watch the third when it comes out) and are so impressed! There is definitely violence to be aware of, as well as plenty of other sin, but we have seen much worse in the secular shows/movies we always used to watch so we can handle it. I'm a pretty sensitive reader/viewer and have been able to handle this so far. 

Imagination Station, book 5 (Showdown With the Shepherd) (chapter book, Biblical fiction)... We love this series for the 2nd/3rd grade crowd. My oldest three re-read it many times and now my fourth is enjoying it, too. I do recommend starting with book 1, however, to understand just what exactly is going on outside of the David & Goliath story. 

Imagine series: The Giant's Fall (middle grade, Biblical fiction)... This middle grade series is geared more toward the younger side, maybe advanced third graders through fifth graders (roughly... you know your children better than I do!) and each one features a different child being catapulted through time to witness a Biblical event in person. We liked the whole series. 

Songs of a Warrior (middle grade, Biblical fiction)... This is a really powerful fictionalized version of the story that really brought it all to life for my son around 6th grade. This author has also written a version of the Nativity story, which we loved, and a Ruth novel which I look forward to reading at some point! 

Christian books for freshman and sophomores

*Some of these are adult titles, and YA is notoriously gritty and/or objectionable so parents, as always, beware of content before deciding* 

All the Lost Places (historical fiction)

The All-American (historical fiction)

Bonhoeffer, student edition (nonfiction)

Door Within series (fantasy)

Dragonspell (fantasy)

Dragon Seed (fantasy)

Fawkes (historical fantasy)

God Speaks Your Love Language (nonfiction)

God’s Smuggler (nonfiction)

God’s Story, Your Story (nonfiction)

The Heritage of Lancaster County series (Amish fiction)

The Hiding Place (nonfiction)

The Hobbit (fantasy)

Isle of Swords series (fantasy)

The Key to Everything (historical fiction)

Kisses From Katie (nonfiction)

Laura’s Shadow (historical fiction)

The Letter From Briarton Park (historical fiction)

Lifemark (fiction)

Lightraiders Academy (fantasy)

Mindwar (sci-fi)

Missing Isaac (historical fiction)

My Name is Tani (nonfiction)

No Ocean Too Wide (historical fiction)

Once a Queen (fantasy)

Replication (sci-fi)

Riley Unlikely (nonfiction)

The Screwtape Letters (fantasy-ish, epistolary, classic)

Set the Stars Alight (historical fiction)

This Changes Everything (nonfiction)

Whose Waves These Are (historical fiction)

William Henry is a Fine Name (historical fiction)

Winning the War in Your Mind for teens (nonfiction) 

*Also, unrelated- I just learned about a pretty fantastic Christian book giveaway I thought I'd share. One winner will win all 36 books! I hope it's you or me ;]

Christian fiction featuring pregnancy

We recently announced that we are expecting another baby so today I wanted to share a list of Christian fiction that features pregnancy. 

First, I want to make something very clear. Some of these books deal with complications and/or loss, some characters consider or have previously had an abortion, and some include dramatic and scary births. A joyful planned pregnancy between a happily couple is nearly as rare in Christian fiction as it is in Hollywood so there are plenty of painful situations surrounding some of these pregnancies, too. I encourage you to research the titles you're interested in if you know certain subjects won't work for you.

I'll also add that some books are full of pregnancy while others feature it only in the first few or last few chapters, some are the main character's pregnancy and others are a sister's or her clients (there are a few midwife books in this list). 

I'll try to keep updating this list as I go! 

Airborne (scary biological warfare epidemic during a pregnancy) 
All She Ever Wanted (Only a small part of the book) 
The Amish Midwife 

Authentically, Izzy (Izzy's cousin is pregnant with twins and our exposure is minor at best)  

Baxter Family books by Karen Kingsbury, excluding the children's books (Not all of these books are pregnancy-specific and only a few of them show much pregnancy detail. They're also very dramatic with quite a lot of pregnancy/birth trauma in one of the books) 
Because You're Mine (pregnant while newly widowed and in danger, probably not ideal for most!) 
Beneath the Seems 
Bundle of Joy (Christmas) 
The Choice (themes of abortion) 
Christiansen Family books (Not all of these books feature pregnancy. One is heavily focused on a pregnant woman with a whole lot of drama surrounding it) 
Christmas at Carnton (Christmas, pregnant while newly-widowed) 
The Deep End of Love (teen pregnancy. Talks about abortion, infertility, and infant loss) 

The Girl Behind the Red Rope (thriller, a lil creepy)
I'll Be Seeing You (so. much. drama.) 

Lifemark (teen pregnancy) 

The Lost Story of Via Belle (not a joyful pregnancy story) 

The Medallion (WWII, traumatic circumstances while pregnant) 
The Midwife 

A Pocketful of Pinecones (this one is probably not for everyone, primarily geared towards homeschool moms/nature lovers... but if you like a sweet, cozy book you might like it anyway!) 
Shaped by the Waves (pregnant with a health condition... I'm pretty sure it was gestational diabetes but I could definitely be wrong) 
Tending Roses
What I Would Tell You (pregnant during the Holocaust, intense) 

Christian middle grade reads for each of the 8 Great Smarts

I still think on a very regular basis of the fantastic book The 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers. Not only did this book help me recognize the God-designed strengths and aptitudes in my children, but also in myself! I constantly recommend it to homeschool mamas (there's another version that has nothing to do with homeschool, too) and today I wanted to share some middle grade books I feel are a good pairing for kids with each of their specific smarts. I hope to add to this list over the years. 

Body Smart- Gifted Hands // The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted // Lightgliders series // Son of Angels //  Soul Surfer // Soul Surfer fiction series 

Logic Smart- Jack Zulu series // Jones and Parker Case Files // My Name is Tani // The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles 

Music Smart- Glimmer Girls series // The Inkwell Chronicles (we think not until book 2 though) // The Songs of a Warrior 

Nature Smart- All of Creation // Bug Bandits // From Sadie's Sketchbook // Indescribable // Marvel at the Moon // Road Trip Rescue // This Seat's Saved // Where Wonder Leads 

People Smart- Baxter books // Everybody Always for Kids // Glimmer Girls series // Green Ember // The Key House // Love Does for Kids // Road Trip Rescue // This Seat's Saved 

Picture Smart- Baxter Family children's books // From Sadie's Sketchbook // The Inkwell Chronicles // The Restorationists 

Self Smart- Gifted Hands // Green Ember // Road Trip Rescue // This Seat's Saved 

Word Smart- The Edge of Everywhen // Gifted Hands // The Inkwell Chronicles 

September Reads

 

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bible study: Slowly studying Ezekiel with my husband. What a wild journey! 

📖 Authentically, Izzy (Christian, fiction)... This was a cute You've Got Mail vibes rom-com written mostly as a modern-day epistolary novel (texts, emails, and messages on a dating website). I don't think I'll necessarily seek out the next two, since my library doesn't have them, but if I ever spot them in the wild I'll be happy. 

📖 Borders of the Heart (Christian, fiction)... I listened to this one because I saw it on a list of good Christian fiction for high school boys. It's about a man old enough to have been married and have a three-year-old child, and it contains a lot of violence performed by a cartel member, but I do think a young man would enjoy the action and rescue elements. Racism against undocumented Mexicans is depicted here which does include some racial slurs. 

📖 God So Close (Christian, nonfiction)... I enjoyed this book on the Holy Spirit and was inspired by it multiple times- just what you want out of a read like this! 

📖 The Lost Story of Via Belle (Christian, historical fiction, timeslip)... This was my church book club's pick for September and it got mixed reviews. Only four of us read this month's book. I loved it, as did another friend, but the other two were not fans. It took me a few chapters to get into our modern character's story but I was interested in the 1940s storyline right away. Definitely not squeaky clean and not one I'll be adding to my kids' high school shelves but I still enjoyed it. 

📖 A Rumored Fortune (Christian, historical fiction)... This was not my usual style but I did mostly enjoy it. I am interested in a few others by the author too so we shall see what I think of those! 

📖Start With the Heart (Christian, nonfiction, parenting)... I loved this author's book 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers and really love her heart for parenting. It came as no surprise at all to me that I loved this one too and can't recommend it enough, especially for someone who is having behavioral struggles with one of their children. My biggest takeaway was something I had already taken away from 8GS though, which is that it is just so important to love, support, and respect our children for exactly who God designed them to be (not who we parents maybe might think they ought to be, for example!) and that COMMUNICATION IS KING!!!

📖You're the One That I Want (Christian, fiction)... This was book six in the series and it felt so different from the others! To me, anyway. I really enjoyed it though and I'm looking forward to the final book, the Christmas book! I do plan to then read the other Deep Haven books but I don't expect them to contain much if any mentions of the Christiansen family. I guess we'll see! 

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS 

📖 The Disappearing Seat (Christian, middle grade, fiction, book 2 in series)... Five stars, absolutely loving this series! I've got it in seventh grade and can't wait for one of my girls in particular to read this one. 

📖 Dragons of Starlight #1: Starlighter (Christian, YA, fantasy fiction)... More violence/gore than I want to see but overall fine. 

📖 The Elite Seat (Christian, middle grade, fiction, book 3 in series)... I really liked this third book, though admittedly slightly less than the first two. But I ADORED the first two so it's still high praise and I'm excited to try out the fourth! 

📖 Freedom Seekers #2 Race for Freedom (Christian, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I liked this one fine, will try book 3. 

📖 Hiding Edith (secular, fictionalized biography, TGTB book list)... I think this is my 5th Kathy Kacer book and I've really liked all of them. She's great at writing a powerful WWII story for kids that's still full of hope and not just darkness. 

📖 Lines of Courage (secular, middle grade, historical fiction)... I really enjoyed this WWI novel and can't wait to hear my 8th grader's thoughts! I think she's our favorite middle grade historical fiction author. 

📖 The Lost Puppy (secular, chapter book, fiction)... These books mostly feel the same but they've been a hit for us in the 2nd/3rd grade shelf. 

📖 Mark of the Thief (secular, historical fiction, fantasy)... There was more violence and injury description in this book than I like but my oldest is excited about it and I'm going to go ahead and let him try it. We can't get book two from our library so we'll see if he likes it enough to add it to our used book watch-for list or not. 

📖 The Messengers (Greystone Secrets #3) (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I thought this was a great end to a great series. 

📖Son of Charlemagne (secular, historical fiction, TGTB Book List)... This is not my personal preferred time period but I was pleasantly surprised anyway. I shouldn't have been, though. It's on basically every list of good homeschool reads. =]

📖 Spying on Spies (secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... This was a great nonfiction about a famous female code breaker of WWII which I happily added to our 8th grade book list. 

📖 Zoey and Sassafras #4 and #5: The Pod and the Bog (secular, chapter book, fiction, TGTB book list)... This is just a cute, playful series. Random science facts do show up. We did add these to our 3rd grade shelf. 

📚 PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: Amazing Grace // Holy Holy Holy // If You Give a Pig a Pancake // 

Favorite read this month: Probably the two Elita Brown books I read! I can't wait for book 4!