Christian books for 5th graders

How cute is this little garden trinket? I spotted it at a Dollar General last month. 

Amon's Adventures and Tabitha's Travels (Biblical fiction)... These are Biblical fiction stories about Jesus combined with devotionals. I learned about these from Read Aloud Revival and the recommendation was to just read the story portion so that's what I did.

Baxter Family series (fiction)... This is a five book set and my daughters wish there were more. These are focused on a big family, Told from the perspectives of two of the sisters (Kari and Ashley, for those who are familiar with the adult series).

Danger on the Flying Trapeze (fictionalized biography)... I always enjoy good Circus book so I liked this fictionalized story about DL Moody.

Devos for Brave Boys / Devos for Brave Girls (nonfiction, devotional)... I previously had a copy of each of these and found that my children enjoyed them quite a bit at this age.

Everybody Always for Kids (nonfiction)... My kids and I love these Bob Goff books and find the stories inspiring and motivating.

Flight of the Fugitives (fictionalized biography)... This is the Gladys Aylward story and we found it interesting and exciting.

Green Ember series (fantasy fiction)... This is a long-standing favorite series for my children, including the three accompanying series (Old Natalia, Archer, and Lost Tales). My younger kids got to start the series early and they love it, too. There's a new addition releasing May 25th and we pre-ordered it :)

Hero Tales (nonfiction)... This is a great collection of short biographies and stories about various Christian heroes and missionaries. I found that several of these caught my attention and led me to seek out a longer book on the person.

Imagine series (Speculative/Biblical fiction)... These are a fun kind of Time travel/Biblical fiction series that really captured my kids' attention.

Ivan series (fiction)... This communist Russia series was on the Good and the Beautiful Book list. I found it interesting but my oldest did not so you'll have to see what you think!

Landon Snow series (fantasy fiction)... This fun, light fantasy involves talking books!

Lena in the Spotlight series (fiction)... This trilogy, about a Girl who is suddenly thrown into the spotlight is a definite favorite for my girls.

Lizzie and the Redcoat (historical fiction)... We listened to the audio version of this one last summer and it really brought the Revolutionary War to life for my girls.

My Name is Tani (nonfiction, memoir)... We all love this memoir about a refugee who came to America and became a fantastic chess player. Some of my kids have read this one multiple times.

The Power of a Praying Kid (nonfiction)... I've read a few Stormie Omaritan books but this is the only kid book. Only one of my children has read this one so far but she was very inspired.

The Seed of Faith (fiction, Christmas)... This Christmas read, which I do think is a better personal read than read-aloud, is short but sweet.

The Shadow and the Promise (fiction)... This is fun... basically, Biblical fiction from the perspective of animals who were there. I think animal lovers will enjoy this one. It's a series but I've only read book 1 so far.

Soul Surfer series (fiction)... this is my girls' favorite of all the Faithgirlz books they've read do far. This is a series that talks about surfing and amputation, just like Bethany Hamilton's real story. 

April reads

April was a good reading month for sure. I keep getting excited about grown-up books and reading/listening to lots but I really need to focus more heavily on middle grade in May. I'll still enjoy adult books too, just not as many.

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bible study: Matthew. I really floundered a bit with this... I wanted to take an old testament break and get into Matthew but I also hated that my Bible study notes wouldn't be going in order. I actually flitted back and forth for a week before settling into Matthew. 

📖 26 Below (Christian, fiction, suspense)... This was a fast-paced, Alaska-set story about what I would call cyber terrorism. It was a good story but I don't think I'll probably read the next two in the series as they start over with different characters.
📖 The All-American (Christian, historical fiction)... I Really enjoyed this baseball-themed coming-pf-age story and added it to our high school list!
📖 All She Ever Wanted (Christian, fiction, time slip)... This family story is heavy in nature and heavy on the sin + consequences. I recognize it would be too depressing for most people but oh my goodness, it was a 5-star read for me!
📖 Chasing the Horizon (Christian, historical fiction)... This is the first Oregon trail story I've read in a long time despite it being such a source of fascination for me for so many years in my childhood. I did enjoy it for the most part but I don't currently intend to continue the series.
📖 Digital Minimalism (Secular, nonfiction)... Loved this great book! Anyone who wants to get more done in a day should read it. It wasn't lost on me that I was listening to the audio version on my phone 😅 

📖 Long Way Gone (Christian, fiction)... This Prodigal son retelling was a good, very emotionally moving book. My one problem with the audio version was that it usually took me a few seconds to figure out if we were in the past or present storyline. I always prefer single timeline audio books if I can help it. 

📖 Rescue at the Reef (Christian, nonfiction, memoir)... Whew, this was a hard but good/inspiring read by the parents of a young boy who was attacked by a shark but showed remarkable faith.
📖 Restoration series # 3 True Light and #4 Dawn's Light (Christian, fiction, Speculative)... I finished the series. Book 4 involves a child's brutal attack and was very, very hard on me. I was sorrowful from about halfway through it through the end + after. I don't see myself being up for suspense anymore for a while. If you recall, I found this series on a list great for Christian teens but I am absolutely not going to give it to my kids or recommend it for others. 

 📖 The Wonder of You (Christian, fiction)... This is book 5 in the Christiansen Family books, this one about the youngest daughter Amelia. I think I was less excited about this storyline than any others but I did still enjoy it. I am always bothered by a story about dating two people at once (Amelia) but I am invested in this series + wanted to see how things would play out for a different sibling couple as well as orphaned Yulia. I am looking forward to the next one! 

📚 Plus applicable sections of Mom Heart Moments and The Wonder Weeks

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS... 

📖 The Blue Door (Christian, YA, fiction)... This is the first book in a series about angels. It felt a little more feminine than I think my oldest will really get into but I guess we'll see!
📖 Catherine's War (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, graphic novel)... This WWII graphic novel was a recommendation by Gretchen Louise. It says "Load of B.S." early on but was a good story I enjoyed.
📖 The City of Ember (secular, fiction, dystopian)... This dystopian middle grade novel was recommended to me by another mom at a birthday party! I agree with her assessment that it was clean. I didn't find it super compelling but I think my oldest will enjoy it.
📖 Emmaline and the Bunny (secular, fiction)... This is cute, nothing super deep but a fun read with sweet bunny illustrations my daughter enjoyed.
📖 Glimmer & Shine: 365 Devotions to Inspire (Christian, middle grade, nonfiction)... My girls loved the Glimmer Girls series and were very excited for this devotional, too.
📖 Isabel: My Journal (secular, middle grade, fiction)... Last month I read the 1999 American Girl journal of Nicki and this month I read her twin sister's journal. It was the same story from a different perspective and I found it appropriate + nostalgically fun. 

 📖 A Nest for Celeste (secular, middle grade, fiction)... This was a cute read for nature lovers but there were a few things sensitive kids may struggle with. Audubon repeatedly killing birds so he could illustrate them, for example. 

📖 Parable Port #1: The Sower's Secret (Christian, fiction)... This one is inspired by the parable of the sower and I really liked it. I added it to our sixth grade list and look forward to trying book 2. 

📖 The Puffin Keeper (secular, middle grade, fiction, TGTB book list)... I liked this one and thought the illustrations and story paired together wonderfully. I expect one of my kids to love this story and the rest to just like it okay. 

📖 Ratscalibur (secular, middle grade, fantasy fiction)... This was a cute little animal version of the story of King Arthur. Squirrelin instead or Merlin, a sport in the scone instead of sword in the stone, etc. I am guessing all four of my oldest kids will enjoy it. 

📖 Tambika and the Shield of Wisdom (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... This is the second Lightgliders Origin installment and I think I liked it even more than the first! I look forward to seeing what my oldest thinks. 

📖 Yours Forever (Christian, YA, fiction, Christy Miller #3)... These Christy Miller books are so compulsively readable! I read something about Christy being a great role model for teens and decided to give it one more chance. I could see a good shift in her in this book and have decided to keep going with the series. 

YouTube: And so it begins...

Graphic Novels for Christians

I've had this on my list of book list ideas for years but getting a chance to check out Dominion and Radio Free Amerika this month helped me finally go for it. Graphic novels have become quite a hit at my house. We are book people and will always prefer long novels with sweeping passages or vivid descriptions that transport us to the story. But we're also artistic people and the occasional art-filled graphic novel entices us, too.

These are the Christian graphic novels we've loved so far- hopefully with lots more to come! Fantasy is still the main favorite over here (much to my chagrin) so you'll see a lot of that. 

The Action Bible... We'll always prefer the actual Bible, of course, but it is so fun to see a visual version of a story after or alongside the written word. 

*Dominion, volume 1 and volume 2... This space agey graphic novel set, which was beautifully illustrated, was a pretty cool anthropomorphic retelling of Saul. I was curious to see how such an ancient story would play out in this setting but I felt it worked quite well. The illustrations were often stunning to look at. I love to draw but I am not skilled with realistic features so these really caught my attention. I know my oldest will absolutely love these books but one of my daughters is obsessed with big cats and will likely love it, too. 

Epic Bible and devotional... We'll always prefer the actual Bible, of course, but it is so fun to see a visual version of a story after or alongside the written word. In this case, there's also an accompanying devotional my oldest really liked.

Faithful Spy... This is a fantastic biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his involvement in WWII. We are always checking to see if there are any new John Hendrix novels!

The Harbinger... This one is also a novel and a documentary, both which have been enjoyed around here. This one would be most interesting to teens and adults. 

The Hiding Place... I really want everyone to read Corrie ten Boom's powerful WWII memoir before enjoying the graphic novel version... which really is great!

Hinds Feet on High Places... This beautifully illustrated version of the allegory classic isn't a true graphic novel I'm the comic style sense but I'm including it anyway!

The Hobbit...  This illustrated version of the Tolkien classic is absolutely lovely!

Kingstone Bible trilogy... We'll always prefer the actual Bible, of course, but it is so fun to see a visual version of a story after or alongside the written word.

Mythmakers...  Another hit by John Hendrix! This one is about CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. 

*Radio Free Amerika... This dystopian graphic novel was such a good one! My oldest child and I both love dystopian fiction and this did not disappoint. It does contain the tension and battle that most dystopian stories contain, FYI, so in our family this is a book for teens, not younger kids.

Raising Dragons... This is the graphic novel version of a Bryan Davis story that my oldest loved.

Sleuth Family Robinson... Fans of detectives and spies will enjoy this one. I really appreciated the family dynamics in this one.

A Wrinkle in Time... I only recommend the first two books in this series. The graphic novel version of the first one is a hit over here.

Clean secular graphic novels we've enjoyed: Anne of Green Gables // Kindred Dragons // Lightfall, Books 1-3 // The Secret Garden // Snow and Rose // When Stars Are Scattered // White Bird

* I received free copies of the Dominion graphic novels and Radio Free Amerika in exchange for an Honest review. 

Analog Bag

I do not have Tiktok, Instagram, or other social media platforms so forgive my ignorance here but I just learned about the concept of the analog bag.

I love the idea. Yes, less screen time! You all know I've been an advocate for this for years! I also love that I have basically already had this since I was a small child- mine is just a stack on my nightstand rather than a tote bag.

I love, love, love to work through "my stack" at bedtime, and sometimes at naptime if my toddler is still asleep when I'm done grading that day's schoolwork.

Currently in my stack:
- Journal
- Planner
- Letter to respond to, plus colored pencils because I enjoy decorating the envelopes
- Notebooks in which I'm writing stories for my children
- current reads (too many right now... Bible // Mom Heart Moments // Hidden Mysteries and the Bible // Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World // Raising Gen Alpha // The Wings of Poppy Pendleton // whatever kid book I'm checking at the moment 
- dress to mend + dress to alter 

- New phone I'm prepping as a mock dumb phone using this tutorial 

In the past:
- loom-knitting projects
- sewing projects
- photo projects
- home decor crafts
- magazines
- handmade holiday gifts
- homeschool lesson prep work
- coloring devotionals
- scrapbook

I also love to paint... but definitely not in my bed.

Things I've discovered are not for me:
- puzzles
- Rubiks cube
- precise sticker projects
- jewelry making