Callie has been doing a unit on Denmark, so that has prompted the reading of lots of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales this week! We have been enjoying illustrators Susan Jeffers, Jerry Pinkney, and Lisbeth Zwerger. The stories are endearing with life lessons to take to heart, and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous!

JONAH. Illustrated by Keith Mitchel I used this book this morning in Bible time with Callie and Isaac. We have been talking about some of the Old Testament Prophets, and it was Jonah's turn. As a kid I had a hard time understanding why Jonah didn't just go. After all, he had God with him. The pictures in this book helped to make Jonah's situation become more real. Jonah is portrayed as a mouse, the Ninevites/Assyrians as cats. Suddenly, the picture of how daunting this mission was became real to me. (It still doesn't negate the fact that God was with him!) The Assyrians were ruthless. Kurt Mitchell does a great job illustrating alongside text straight from the NIV Bible.

BORN-AGAIN DIRT: FARMING TO THE GLORY OF GOD by Noah Sanders With spring definitely in the air my mind has been turning towards thoughts of gardening. During part of my devotional time I have been reading Noah Sanders' Born-Again Dirt: Farming to the Glory of God. Sanders is a small operation family farmer who sells his goods at local farmers markets, through CSAs, local restaurants, etc. Sanders explores the reasons why we garden and also the types of conditions for optimal gardening (think soil) based on observing God's creation.

THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY by Brendan Slocumb Rayquan McMillian is a young African American man who loves playing the violin. His whole life everyone has been against the idea of him playing. The world refuses to accept an African American in a white person's world. His family thinks it's a waste of time, and he'll never go anywhere. Everyone that is except his grandmother. His grandmother remembers back to her grandfather, who was a slave, and his amazing gift of being able to play the violin for his master. In fact somewhere in her attic is his violin. She gifts the violin to Ray which turns out to be a Stradivarius worth $10 million dollars. Now his mom, aunts, and uncle want to sell it for the money, and the former master's family claims it was stolen from them. Then on top of that, he opens the case, and the violin is gone- stolen. This book is full of unexpected twists and turns that will keep you guessing to the end, and it's very clear the author knows violins and classical music. HOWEVER, HEADS UP- this book has a ton of language especially the f-bomb. Anytime a fight or even a victory happens it is heavily punctuated with the f-word. On top of that you know Ray and his girlfriend are having sex, but the book doesn't go into detail.

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson Annie and I just finished reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson is concerned. There is a madman on the loose harming an innocent child, killing a kind, old gentleman, and now it seems that he may be blackmailing Utterson's close friend, Dr. Jekyll. The problem is Jekyll won't tell him what's going on, but for some reason according to his will, if Jekyll disappears everything he owns is to go to Hyde. Hyde reeks of evil, and Utterson wants to get to the bottom of it.This book delves deeply into the good and evil in man. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in the late 1800s so vocabulary can be a bit of an issue. Use a dictionary if you get hung up, and if you feel like you're missing a deeper meaning don't hesitate to google a lit summary. Jump into classics! They can be very rewarding!

!!TOP PICKS!! REFUGE by Alan Gratz Oh my goodness - this book. I have read a stack of books this year already and this is at the top of it! Refugee tracks the journey of 3 different kids and their families in different time periods. Josef is a Jew from Germany in 1938. Isabel is from Cuba in 1994. Mahmoud is a Muslim from Syria in 2015. All three are fleeing with their families for their lives. It is gut wrenching. There is the leaving behind of all they have, persecution, separation of loved ones, and even death. It will take your breath away, and it will make you so very thankful to live where we do. On top of it, Alan Gratz somehow makes the stories connect. This is not an easy read, but it is so worth it! Heads up- The only heads up to give on this book is the persecution and that some people don't make it.

WHO TOOK THE FARMER'S HAT by Joan L Nodset. Pictures by Fritz Siebel Who Took the Farmer's Hat is a sweet little book about a farmer who is missing his hat. He checks with all the animals in his barnyard to see if anyone knows where it is. One animal has put it to good use!

In honor of the fact that more snow is coming! GOODBYE WINTER, HELLO SPRING by Kenard Pak Kenard Pak is a talented author/ illustrator. You will not be disappointed if you pick up one of his books. Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring follows the journey of a boy and his dog as he goes around his home saying "hello" to everything. The pictures start off black, white, icy blue, etc as the story shows wintery scenes. As days turn to spring, Pak introduces more vibrant colors depicting life. A good book to help us remember during this time as the weather goes back and forth that spring is coming! Side note- Pak is the illustrator on one of my other recommended books, Have You Heard the Nesting Bird.

THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner Finn Connelly is a boy growing up without his dad. His dad was one of New York's finest - a fire fighter. In the nation's eyes, he was a hero. He was there at Ground Zero on 9/11, and he was there for the the COVID pandemic. But the world didn't see what Finn saw. A man that after 9/11 began drinking to cope. Who took a break for a while, got himself clean, but returned during the pandemic only to be found dead in his car (see SPOILER ALERT below). Falling apart, Finn takes his grief and anger out on a headstone in a local cemetery kicking it over. What he doesn't realize is, the whole thing was caught on camera. Turns out the lady's headstone he knocked over was a mountain climber, part of a group called the 46ers, and she believed that time in the mountains could help a person heal from all kinds of pain. Instead of pressing charges, the daughter makes Finn a deal that her mother would have approved of. She'll drop the charges if he agrees to climb the Adirondacks' 46 peaks in one summer. In the process, he might learn a thing or two about himself and just maybe a thing or two about his dad as well. The Trouble With Heroes is a beautifully written book in free verse form. DO NOT LET THAT STOP YOU FROM READING THIS BOOK! It reads just like a story, and it is well worth the read! Know also, that while Finn's Dad had struggles, he ultimately was a hero, and Finn learns to respect his father in the process! The book ends in a positive way. Some fun extras in this book! This book is packed with cookie recipes! (I won't spoil it and tell you why! ) It also references the true peaks of the Adirondacks, so you can look up pictures and locations. SPOILER ALERT - Finn's Dad does not die from suicide or overdose. He passes away from COVID. HEADS UP- Two uses of God's name in vain.

GREEN      LIGHT with CAUTION 10 QUESTIONS EVERY TEEN SHOULD ASK (AND ANSWER) ABOUT CHRISTIANITY by Rebecca McLaughlin Rebecca McLaughlin doesn't shy away from the hard stuff that teens are questioning these days. She chooses 10 of the questions that are often debated where secular culture thinks Christianity falls flat on its face and answers them in a logical, well thought out method that we all can appreciate. Questions like "Isn't Christianity against Diversity, Can Jesus Be True for You but Not For Me, Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity, and Why Can't We Just Agree That Love is Love?" are covered. Like I said, the hard stuff. McLaughlin has a great way of making in-roads with teens. She uses familiar books and movies as quotes in each of her chapters. References to Harry Potter, Moana, Frozen, Lord of the Rings, Wreck-It Ralph are relatable and familiar to this generation. McLaughlin doesn't hide away at all. She admits to same sex attraction feelings from a young age. However, she chose to trust that Jesus' love was "better than the love any woman could give me." Today she is married to a wonderful man with two children. She says that there is a piece of her that still desires a relationship with a woman, but she gives that part over to Jesus with the claim that we all have unfulfilled longings that we say no to in order to say yes to Christ. This is a great book to sit down and go through together with your teen or each of you read separately and then sit down and have a discussion. It's one that may open doors to what your teen has already dealt with, is currently dealing with, or will be dealing with in our culture today. It may begin to allow communication to flow more easily between you about difficult topics. HEADS UP- She is a Harry Potter fan which will bother some. References are short. As stated above, Rebecca McLaughlin is same sex attracted but has chosen to marry a man and have children. The one area that I disagree with her on is her short section on the origin of the earth. She believes the origin began with a "big bang." The chapter is dedicated to Christianity is Science, and this is just a small part of it.

UP, UP, EVER UP: JUNKO TABEI A LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS by Anita Yasuda. Art by Yuki Shimizu. On September 22, 1939, JUNKO (Ishibashi) Tabei was born in the shadow of the mountains of Japan. From a young age, she longed to climb and explore the mountains. As a young adult, she attempted to join a mountaineering club, but most clubs were closed to females. Finally, she found one that allowed her to be a part, and she began scaling the heights she had so long admired. Little by little, she began to bring women together that had the same love for the mountains that she did. Her group of women set their sights on Mt. Everest and began to plan and prepare for a trip. (Very few men had climbed the tallest mountain in the world, and certainly, no women had.) This amazing story shares the journey that followed and the unexpected hardships that had to be overcome. Up, up, Ever Up is a beautiful story of perseverance and accomplishment and is worthy of reading!

THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR I love Agatha Christie murder mysteries. There is a shelf and a half in our loft dedicated to her books. I have read them all (that I own) and reread several. It is fun to see her being rediscovered by a younger generation. I loved the recent Murder on the Orient Express and am waiting to watch Death on the Nile. (Here's hoping they did a good job!), but Hercule Poirot will always be David Suchet in my mind. If you walk into a bookshop or flip through a Bas Bleu catalog you'll notice that authors are writing about her 11 day disappearance. (That truly happened.) They still don't know why she disappeared for those days which has given authors lots of fertile soil for the imagination. Did she solve a real-life mystery, was she mourning her mother who died, or her marriage since her husband announced he was in love with another woman? Who knows. That is what THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR is all about. This book is told from the point of view of her husband's mistress Nan O'Dea (Nancy Neele in real life). The book is well-written, but here's your HEADS UP. HEADS UP- There are several sexual scenes that do not go into detail that do not just revolve around the mistress. This also includes a situation of abuse. For a current book language was impressive. If there was any it was so minimal I don't remember any. There you have it.