Wanda E. Brunstetter has outdone herself this time. I've read many of her books and this is the best one so far. If you've heard of Ms. Brunstetter, you're probably thinking of her Christian fiction romances about Amish young people. This book is also about Amish, but it is a children's book. I read this aloud to my children and we all enjoyed it. The main character is a boy named Solomon Lapp. The book is a collection of short stories about him and his family. In each story Solomon or a brother or sister learn a valuable lesson taught from the Bible. The lesson is woven into the fabric of the story line very well. My favorite one was actually the first one. Solomon is a pretty smart boy and his siblings and friends come to him for advice on varied problems. His advice is a little off and...well, you'll just have to get the book and read it for yourself. Honestly, I really enjoyed this book and couldn't find a thing wrong with it. In fact, I would encourage Ms. Brunstetter to continue to write more stories in this line. This book will definitely be on our bookshelf.

http://jent-manyblessings.blogspot.com/

 

The Wisdom of Solomon is one of the cutest child-friendly storybooks I've ever encountered. The book is a compilation of twelve lesson-teaching stories that children will be able to instantly relate to. Although the stories are about Amish children I believe any child can relate to the characters. Occasionally an Amish word is used in a story, but the English word is always parenthesized for easy story-telling. This would make a great read aloud, and Kindergarten age children would probably enjoy acting out the stories as well. The only religious part of the book is the beginning of each chapter where a verse from Proverbs is shown next to the chapter title. Other than that, the stories are about everyday life and the lessons children learn such as sharing, telling the truth, minding parents, and being a friend. Young children ages 3-5 will probably ask to be read this book over and over and older children 6-7 will probably enjoy reading this book once or twice by themselves. I give this book a very high recommendation for it's interesting stories, cute artwork, and the lessons it teaches. This book is due to be released March 2009. At 256 pages, this book is also a great value.

http://awriterspen.blogspot.com/2009/01/wisdom-of-solomon-by-wanda-e.html

 

Wanda E. Brunstetter has set the standard when it comes to writing about the Amish. Her novels are well-loved as are her young adult books in the Rachel Yoder series. Now Wanda takes her readers on an even greater adventure, a book of children's stories, beautifully illustrated for ages three to seven! The Wisdom of Solomon features Solomon Lapp and his family and friends. Young Solomon is typical of any young boy, and he must learn life-lessons like being honest, helpful, encouraging others, and forgiveness. Each Solomon experience features a Bible verse that sets the tone for the story, and the lesson is shared in such a way that children will eagerly listen to and understand the message. The drawings that illustrate the stories are whimsical and fun to look at and feature a host of farm animals, outdoor scenes and typical Amish household activities. As each story unfolds, children are introduced to some Amish vocabulary. The definitions immediately follow the words, but they are also located in a handy glossary at the end of the storybook. These stories give parents a multitude of teaching opportunities ranging from character traits to good daily work habits and proper behavior toward others. My personal favorite was the story about Happy Lights! Can you guess what that is about? It brought back pleasant memories from my own childhood! I don't have young children in my home any more, but I can confidently recommend this book to anyone with young children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews. The Wisdom of Solomon will provide a rich time of teaching, sharing and fun for everyone, and will quickly become a household favorite. This would also be a good choice for Sunday School teachers and nursery workers who are ministering to the pre-K and kindergarten groups. I hope Solomon Lapp will enjoy many more adventures from Wanda Brunstetter's pen! This book releases in March of 2009 from Barbour Publishing.

Kim Ford—Window To My World

 

If you are looking for some excellent books for early readers from a Christian perspective I have a couple to highlight for you. The first one is I Can Read God's Word by Phil A. Smouse. This book has sixteen Bible Scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments. For each topic a beginning section has the actual Scripture, along with a quick devotion. There is also a "big word" defined in each topic, and the phonics used in the reading of the story, for example beginning consonants, short vowel sounds, beginning blends and more. Then the Bible passage follows in an easy to read special paraphrase with each of the phonetic tools shown in red print. I brought this book along when we visited my extended family just before Easter to read with and give to my 6 year old niece. She was particularly engaged with the illustrations and tried hard to sound out the words given the phonetic instructions. She was so excited to have it, and proclaimed that she was going to bring it to church to show her Sunday School teacher. If you would like to see inside this book head on over to Amazon.com and you can see a few pages inside it. The other book I'd like to mention is The Wisdom of Solomon Lapp which is written by Wanda E. Brunstetter and illustrated by Phil A. Smouse. The illustrations in this book are charming and like most of Wanda's stories for children it is full of fun, but also filled with great lessons. The twelve stories in this book begin with a Proverb and then an adventure with Solomon, his sister Sara and their friends, impart the lesson to be learned. Children ages 4 -8 are sure to enjoy it.

http://thehomeschoolclassroom.blogspot.com/2009/04/early-reader-books-review.html