Book Review: The Three Trees by Elena Pasquali, Illustrated by Sophie Windham

The Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale by Elena Pasquali
Illustrated by Sophie Windham 

Publisher: Lion Hudson PLC

Publish Date: January 21, 2011

Children's Hardcover with dust jacket, 32 pages 
Fiction, Children's, Christian
 ISBN:  978-0745961705

My Review:
Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully told, this re-telling of the traditional folktale really gets to the heart of the matter for children I thought.  Both of my boys seemed moved by the story.  For my 10-year-old who is all heart this admittedly does not take much. He takes all things to do with Jesus very seriously and I am proud of him for that. So hearing this tale just brought things more to home for him.  My 6-year-old is more restless and a little harder to get through to (I'm sure some of you understand), he understands about Jesus but at times he doesn't seem as reverent as my older son was even when he was 6.  However this book seems to get through to him.  Maybe it is the conciseness of the telling of Jesus' life in how the three tree's serve Him.  Maybe it's the powerfulness of the tale.  Maybe it was his mood.  But this book got through to him.  I have to admit it moved me as well.

Concise and to the point as a children's book should be, The Three Trees tells the story with the right amount of words and gorgeous illustrations that truly bring home the message of the words.  I think the illustrator did a wonderful job bringing the words to life in pictures.

I wish this book would have come into my house about 7 years ago so it could have become a Christmas and Easter staple.  I am sure I can get a few more years out of it, but my boys are quickly outgrowing picture books, but if you have children who are young then this is just the book for them and you as a parent.  You may be familiar with the story, I have to admit I was not, but I am glad I am now because it is a special story and one I will remember for quite awhile.

My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:
Three forest trees dream of what they will one day become. One dreams of becoming a royal throne; one of being a ship that can withstand any storm; and one longs to stay in the forest and grow as tall as tall can be. When they are felled, it seems their dreams are over. But as each tree is crafted into a new item--a manger, a fishing boat, and a rugged cross—it becomes clear that through the role they play in one important life their hopes are more than fulfilled.

This traditional folktale is accompanied by stylish artwork from a highly sought-after children's book illustrator, and will help set the Christmas and Easter stories into the overall context of the Christian faith.

About the Author: 
Elena Pasquali studied romance languages at university and has a special interest in researching folk tales. She worked for some years in children's publishing before going on to be an author in her own right. 
About the Illustrator: 
Sophie Windham has illustrated books for Bloomsbury and Orchard and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal for Unicorns! Unicorns! by Geraldine McCaughrean. 

FTC Information: I received this book through Kregel Publications for an honest review. 

Book Tour & Review: This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStafano and Mark Elliot

This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano, illustrated by Mark Elliot

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Publish Date: February 16, 2010

Hardcover, 40 pages

My Review:
This is a great book for children to read alone or with their parents.  It has my favorite thing for a children's book that I read to them - it flows.  It reads easy and has a wonderful messages that children will easily understand.  The most important one is God's love for them and how he is looking out for everything they do.  The prayer is beautiful and heartfelt and addresses things from fear to making the right decision, all topics are covered briefly and are ones that kids deal with every day.  The illustrations are beautiful too.  I love the use of a boy and a girl of different ages, yet they are uniform through the whole book.  The different parts of the prayers and lessons are illustrated well so a young child flipping through the book would enjoy this as well.

I can't say enough about this book.  If you want an easy-to-read, yet enjoyable and meaningful book to read to your children at bedtime or anytime, This Little Prayer of Mine is the book for you.
About the Book:
Nothing Compares to Childlike Faith

I know you're up in heaven, God,
and can hear my voice from there.
I'm just a little child.
Will you answer my short prayer?

So begins this delightful book that affirms God's readiness to answer our prayers, no matter what our age.

With engaging rhymes and beautiful illustrations, This Little Prayer of Mine assures children that God is always near--watching, listening, caring, and eager to respond to their requests. They'll also learn that prayer isn't just about asking for things, but about sharing their feelings of sadness and uncertainty as well as of thanksgiving and joy.

Most importanly, This Little Prayer of Mine reminds children—and those who love them—that they can trust God to tenderly care for them, no matter what the future holds.

About the Author:

Anthony DeStefano has received may prestigious awards from religious organizations throughout the world for his efforts to advance Christian beliefs in modern culture. These include an honorary doctorate from the National Clergy Council and the Methodist Episcopal Church's Joint Academic Commission, as well as the "Defender of Israel" medal from the Jerusalem Center for Peace Studies, conferred on him in 2003. He is the CEO of a Catholic not-for-profit organization; he lives in Long Island with his wife, Kimberly, a kindergarten teacher.

FTC Information: I received this book from WaterBrook/Multnomah for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Review: Jack's Dreams Come to Life by Sara Jackson

Jack's Dreams Come To Life by Sara Jackson

My rating: 4.0/5.0

Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Release Date: July 28, 2009
Pages: 26
Binding: Paperback
Children's Book

A cute children's book where a dog named Jack (who is no longer a puppy) gets tired of playing and falls asleep. While asleep he dreams of various things that he plays with becoming bigger. Thankfully he wakes up and finds it was all a dream.

I received this for review and read it to my boys last night. I have an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old and they both enjoyed it. The oldest said "that was a good book Mom" and the youngest said "Can you read it again?" So I would say it won them over.It reads well for an adult (I like kids books that read easy) and the kids seem to enjoy it. The oldest got the point about it being scary but the dog waking up to find out it's a dream. The youngest just enjoyed the story.

A great book for kids younger and a little older and great for parents to read to their kids. Wonderfully illustrated and well-written, we, as a family, really enjoyed this book.

About the author:

Professional author Sara Jackson is a graduate of San Francisco's Academy of Art University, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in screenwriting. After graduating, she became a freelance writer for The American Canyon Eagle. Ms. Jackson is a regular contributor of Gorezone Magazine, and she has written numerous book and movie reviews for Scars Magazine. She has also written opinion articles for the Times Herald, most of which address the issue of animal rights.

Additionally, Ms. Jackson won first prize in the January 2007 Soul Making Literary Contest with her non-fiction story, Necessary Procedures. She has written two screenplays that have been viewed by numerous readers in the Los Angeles area.

Review: Magic Treehouse Boxed Set - Books #17-24 by Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 17-24 by Mary Pope Osborne


My rating: 4.0/5.0
Includes Tonight on the Titanic, Buffalo Before Breakfast, Tigers at Twilight, Dingoes at Dinnertime, Civil War on Sunday, Revolutionary War on Wednesday, Twister on Tuesday, and Earthquake in the Early Morning

My son and I just finished this set of Magic Treehouse books and it was another enjoyable set.

The first four focus on getting gifts from various people/things to give to Morgan and Jack and Annie go off on these missions. I enjoyed Tonight on the Titanic the best, as did my 8-year-old, but the other three stories were great as well.

The next four focused on getting special writings from various people and this time Jack and Annie were working to save a boy who had been turned into a dog. Jack and Annie named the dog Teddy and later Teddy shows up to help them in more books (we had already read these so we knew about Teddy.)

I really enjoyed these four stories, two centering on wars (I learned about Hessians in the Revolutionary War) and two centering on natural disasters. Things were learned in all four books and I really enjoyed them, as they taught and they were very entertaining.

My son is now ready to move onto the next set and I look forward to reading more of Jack and Annie's adventures.

I can't recommend these books enough for a 6-10 age range. The audios are read by the author and very well done. My son and I look forward to our time in the car when we can listen to these.

Review: Magic Treehouse - Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne

Christmas in Camelot (Magic Treehouse) by Mary Pope Osborne


rating: 4.0/5.0




From Goodreads:

A cup, a compass, a key: the magic tree house has brought siblings Annie and Jack to Camelot, where they embark on a mysterious mission to find these enigmatic gifts. In this special hardcover addition to the bestselling Magic Tree House series, the young adventurers must travel to the Otherworld, an "ancient, enchanted land beyond the edge of the Earth, the place where all magic began" to save Camelot from dark wizard Mordred's evil spell. If they fail, Camelot will be forgotten forever.

DS and I listened to this on audio from the library. We both enjoyed it. The voices are well done and it's very engrossing to both me as a parent and my son the 8-year-old. I like the fantasy-world aspect and I also enjoyed the authors talk at the end about Camelot and how it came from history and from story-telling. Very fascinating. Another great read for DS and I to enjoy in the car on the way to and from school. And it offers a great jumping off point for some discussions.

Binding: Paperback
On-sale Date: 2001
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age Level: 6-9
Pages: 128

Review: A to Z Mysteries - The Deadly Dungeon, The Empty Envelope, The Falcon's Feathers, The Goose's Gold by Ron Roy

Review: A to Z Mysteries - The Deadly Dungeon, The Empty Envelope, The Falcon's Feathers, The Goose's Gold by Ron Roy (on audio)

rating: 4.0/5.0

This was my first exposure to The A to Z Mystery series which is a set of children's chapter books focusing on friends Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose who always end up trying to solve some sort of mystery. My oldest son (8) has read some of these before and was thrilled to see this set at the library when we went a few weeks ago. I thought it would be great for us to share the time spent in the car listening to books and then I didn't have to worry so much about him listening to the books I typically listen to. I was right - this is wonderful. The books are fun and we both work to figure out who did it in each one. We'll pause and talk about it and then finish up the book. The reader is wonderful, the stories easy to follow and suspenseful for a 3rd grader without being frightening.

I can't recommend these enough for those of you with children with budding interests in mysteries - it's fun time for you to share with them whether you are reading them or listening to them on tape.

After the first one was finished my DS was asking if the library had more of these. Sadly they only have I-J on audiobook, but they have the rest of the series in books. So I have the audiobooks, and we'll finish up reading because I want to know more about the adventures of Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose.

Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House for Young Readers
Pages: 96 per book