FAVORITE EARLY TO MID ELEMENTARY READS Hands down these were some of our favorite early elementary chapter book read alouds and some of my kids' favorite elementary reads. Several of these books are the starts of series.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF JAMES HERRIOT: A CHARMING COLLECTION OF CLASSIC STORIES by James Herriot Calling all animal lovers! Oh my goodness, if you love animals and good, old-fashioned, British fun, this book is for you. This may be confusing for a moment, but stay with me. James Herriot was actually James Alfred Wight in life, and he was a country veterinary surgeon in Yorkshire England in 1940. He began writing stories inspired by his real life patients under the name of James Herriot in 1965. He changed things up just a bit to hopefully not offend the people that he knew in real life. Most were able to recognize themselves and were "flattered" to see themselves in print. However, there were a few that were "annoyed." This particular book is a collection of stories from Herriot's very popular series of books. Each story is introduced with some background info, so the reader has the stage "set" for them before plunging into the details. As you would expect in animal stories there are several that are laugh out loud funny! While on vacation last week, I burst out laughing several times imagining the antics of animals, difficult owners, and car trips to farms. As you would also expect, there are a few sad tales as James and his fellow vets scramble to figure out illnesses that are wiping herds out, etc. There is a bit of HEADS UP to go over, but before I do I highly recommend the Masterpiece Theater version of All Creatures Great and Small. Our whole family has enjoyed it. There was one time in Season 3, I believe, that one of the characters spews out a pretty strong line. (No F bombs.) HEADS UP- First there is some language typical of classic British literature. Second, there are pub gatherings which are a common occurrence in Britain. Third, this is a book by a vet about vet activities. That includes breeding, etc. The terms vag*** and pen** are used with reference to the physical parts on the animals.

ZAO'S TALES by J.A. Sommer I don't know if you guys have noticed, but in the publishing world there is a really great movement happening. There are lots of independently owned book publishers popping up everywhere! These boutique publishers are allowing writers to return to a story based writing focus instead of an agenda based focus, and it is refreshing! My book share today comes from one such publishing company by the name of Bandersnatch Books. ZAO'S TALES is a delightful adventure read about a mother, Patty, and her three daughters, Lili, Ella, and Carey.The father is away from home working, but his thoughts and love are often with his family as he sends them gifts that he knows will demonstrate his care and missing of them. In this case, he sends an old leather bound book filled with tales of fairies and other lands entitled ZAO'S TALES. The family immediately opens the book and starts reading together. After a bit, they go off to do other things leaving the book open. What they don't realize is that by leaving the book open to an illustrated page, they have released the bad fairy from the book into their world. (Think of Jadis from The Magician's Nephew) When they realize what has happened they must use other characters from the different stories to help defeat her and return her to the book. This book is filled with lots of wonderful quotes that speak truth into our lives and our children's lives when they encounter difficult situations in life.

DEAD SEA SQUIRRELS: TREE-MENDOUS TROUBLE This series just continues to be a great series to read. Nawrocki continues to come up with fresh ideas to do with these squirrels alongside teaching really fantastic values. In TREE-MENDOUS TROUBLE, the main character focuses are jealousy and mercy. Mr. Nemesis, the cat, is a little tired of all the attention Merle and Pearl have been receiving from the family. He's used to being in the family spotlight, but now he's been relocated to one of the bedrooms. Finally, he's had enough and decides it's curtains for the 2 squirrels. But as someone famously once said, " The best laid plans often go awry," and that still holds true in this story. The question is will Merle and Pearl find mercy and forgiveness in their hearts when they discover what the planned outcome was supposed to be?

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT CHRISTIANITY IS REALLY TRUE? by Chris Morphew I am often skeptical when I pick a book up like this. Sometimes I find the content doesn't match the age that the book is intended for. That's not the case here. This 81 page read is a great read! My kids have grown up in a Christian home. They have witnessed their parents' faith, and it was a normal part of the rhythm of our home. Even if they made professions of faith at a young age, I find that there is a point that each of my teens have grappled with the "How do you know..." questions. I don't see this as a problem. I see this as a sign of maturity, because they are grappling with the age old questions and owning the answers for themselves. After all, the call to follow Christ is extended to each person and must be accepted by each person individually. This is one of those wonderful resources that can come alongside and help answer the big questions! I'll include a picture of the Table of Contents in the comments so you can see what topics this little gem covers!

THE DOUGHNUT FIX by Jessie Janowitz Moving can be a difficult change in a child's life. (No guilt here folks!) The leaving of knowns behind and saying goodbye to friends can be a challenging road to maneuver, and that's exactly where Jessie Janowitz takes us in her book, The Doughnut Fix. Tristan is shocked when his parents announce they are moving from New York City to the hick town of Petersville. No more basketball, no more best friend, no more school that he's used to, but that's nothing compared to the shock he feels when he lays eyes on his new home, a fixer-upper that's a repulsive shade of purple. What in the world are his parents thinking? When his parents go to enroll him in the local school part way through the first semester, the school suggests waiting to join at the start of the second. Now Tristan has nothing but time on his hands until his parents come up with an idea. Pick a project to complete during the last weeks of the first semester. As he contemplates this one morning, he sets out on his bicycle to find some doughnuts for breakfast. When he finds a sign for life-changing chocolate cream doughnuts he thinks maybe he's found the first good thing about this town, but then he walks in the store. The owner has quit making them. Enter project possibility and a whole community that opens before him to accomplish his goal! HEADS UP- There was one little bit of an uncomfortable spot. When Dad falls off the roof and needs a doctor, they find the doctor painting in his room in some extremely small shorts. "The ones that are so small you're worried that something will fall out." It's a short section, and it brings out some of the oddities you can find in small town living sometimes.

THE TREE OF LIFE by Elisa Boxer. Illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig This amazing story is one of my TOP PICKS for the year! Located in Czechoslovakia during WWII was a prison camp for the Jews called Terezin. Terezin was a propaganda camp which means it was established as a pseudo camp for the Red Cross to investigate the treatment and conditions of the Jewish prisoners by the Nazis. Once the investigation was over, the majority of the prisoners were shipped to Auschwitz and put to death. The Tree of Life is the true story of a teacher who lived in Terezin and risked her life to have a small sapling snuck in to the camp. This small sapling brought hope to the prisoners, and they each willingly sacrificed a few drops from their very limited water supply to keep the young tree alive. Born from that tree are 600 saplings spread around the world to remind us of the prisoners from Terezin and to give us hope. HEADS UP- This picture book is not going to be for a sensitive or a young child. While the book does not go into detail, it is very clear that a group of people is being mistreated and held against their will.

AMON'S SECRET by Arnold Ytreeide If you aren't familiar with Arnold Ytreeide's story telling genius based on New Testament events, they are wonderful! Beginning with 4 books set around Advent Season (Jotham's Journey, Bartholomew's Passage, Tabitha's Travels, and Ishtar's Odyssey) and then continuing on with the adventures of Amon's Adventures at Easter, Ytreeide's latest installment, Amon's Secret, follows Christians after Christ's ascension and into the days of Saul before he became Paul. Readers follow 13-year-old Amon through Jerusalem and get a good idea of the danger that early Christians faced. Amon's Secret is divided up into 31 short chapters. Each chapter ends with a short reflection to help draw out key thoughts to ponder and discuss if you choose. Is it possible to start with this book and skip the others? Yes, it is, but the other books do give you the back stories of other characters in the book.

MELIN: THE LOST YEARS by T.A. Barron Merlin has always been a bit of an enigma. As a child one of my constant check outs from the library were books on Arthur and his Round Table knights which included glimpses of Merlin. I always wondered a bit about him and where his powers originated. There are a lot of varying ideas. Some are very dark and some say that he drank from the cup of Christ which then brought his powers about. Barron takes a middle of the road approach. In The Lost Years we get a lot of the back story as Merlin searches for his origin. He has no memory of before he ended up tossed from the sea onto the shoreline in Wales along with a woman named Branwen who claims she is his mother. Branwen refuses to talk about where they've come from or who Merlin's father is. She is a great respecter of the Celtic, Druid, Greek, Jewish, and Christian faiths. While there are a lot of references to God and Jesus (in fact Branwen believes that God has gifted Merlin with his magic), she looks to the Celtic, Druid, and Greek faiths as older than the Christian faith. Merlin hits a point where he must know about his past. He leaves Wales and begins a journey to Fincayra, which is a world suspended between Heaven and Earth. What he stumbles into is a land that is enchanted by an evil spirit named Rhita Gawr and desperately needs freed. At this point in the book there were definitely parts that reminded me of Tolkien's writing with Mordor, Sauron, and the ring. Merlin's quest ultimately will cause him to come to terms with where he is from and what his future holds. HEADS UP- The book is squeaky clean. The big element to deal with here is magic. While acknowledging God, it is clear that there are a lot of other faiths mixed up together in a sort of hodge podge. For some that will mean this book isn't for them. For others it's a part of ancient folklore.

THE 4 HABITS OF JOY-FILLED MARRIAGES by Marcus Warner and Chris Coursey What if I had a book that says with 15 minutes purposefully set aside with your partner a day to focus on your marriage, you could have a stronger relationship? Would you jump on it? Would you think the focus of the 15 minutes would be healthy communication or how to resolve conflict? While both of these are important, according to this little read, those are not the heart of a strong marriage. According to 4 HABITS of Joy-Filled Marriages the answer is experiencing JOY together. According to the research done by Warner and Coursey there are 4 HABITS that make up the acronym PLAN that promote a culture of joy that help keep problems at bay. I'm not going to give you all 4. You'll have to read the book for that. However, I will give you the first one - P=Play Together. I don't know about all of you, but once upon a time my husband and I used to spend a lot of time having fun together. Somewhere along the way, life and business has filled a lot of those pockets of time. I honestly hadn't noticed that those purposeful times had become so few. Reading this book reminded me of the "old days" and the desire to carve out time for that again! This is a handy dandy short read that will put you back on track of purposefully planning time for you and your husband.

OLIVETTI by Allie Millington I'm going to tell you a secret about how I read. See all the post-it note pieces sticking out of the top of the book? Those are places that I mark to remind me of events in the book when I go to write these posts. (I seriously should have bought stock in 3M!) Typically they mark trouble spots but not this time. This time they mark all the lovely, heartfelt moments in this wonderful read! Olivetti is the story of a typewriter that belongs to Beatrice Brindle. In fact, it was a gift from her husband and was used to propose to her. To say it has been there from the start and knows all of Beatrice's secrets wouldn't be a stretch. Olivetti was there during the hard time when Beatrice was diagnosed with cancer and the family was overcome with worry. That was in the past. Beatrice has been cancer free for over a year, but something has happened. Beatrice has pawned Olivetti off and disappeared. The family has no idea where she is or why she's left. Olivetti knows he is full of Beatrice's memories and decides to break the typewriter code that forbids the sharing of memories. He allows those memories to spill out, hopefully leading to where Beatrice has gone. This story is told in alternating points of view from Olivetti and Ernest, the Brindle's son and shares one family's journey with cancer. For those of you who love Narnia there are lots of references to this wonderful classic! Beautifully written! Highly recommend!

THE INCREDIBLE OCTOPUS by Erin Spencer We just might be developing a love for the octopus around our house. This amazing creature is awe inspiring when you take in consideration their ability to fit in the tiniest of places, their defense mechanisms, the fact that they can be found even in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, and on and on! They come in an array of colors and sizes, and they are just down right fascinating. Their unique design is attention getting whether you are young or old. The Incredible Octopus is what I call a meaty picture book. It is filled with information, but it is also filled with glorious photographs. I ordered it when I first saw its release, and I have to say when I opened it I was thinking too much info - overload. Boy was I wrong! I read it while waiting for one of my teens, and I read it straight through. Spencer keeps the reader's attention with a continual stream of interesting facts! I am looking forward to sharing this book with my family. This truly is one of the types of books that you close and think how awesome God's creative ability really is! ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES - want a few extras to do with the book? Find on the map the location of where the different kinds of octopuses can be found. If you have an aquarium or zoo local that has an octopus, go visit! Make simple octopus snacks https://briebrieblooms.com/octopus-snacks/ https://www.pinterest.com/.../make-a-fruitopus-fruit.../ Watch a video of an octopus stealing a fisherman's crabs. (The octopus does eat the crabs so beware for sensitive children!) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DabRPaXgJGQg&ved=2ahUKEwjEtJPyr7iGAxUdk4kEHYoJCJMQwqsBegQIDRAF&usg=AOvVaw2-ljrv0ZZM-eQkigtjiXlA