tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21164198225671905242024-03-14T04:53:19.556-07:00Really Good ReadsGreat books reviewed from a Christian perspectiveLinushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844685804840757785noreply@blogger.comBlogger502125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-3073906041450752412024-03-05T15:50:00.000-08:002024-03-05T15:50:04.207-08:00Little Robot<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqRjzrS-9aJfip_7lDxL7tfyBqI_q8f3JRxLnMGTLqT0jBf06tcVcR6AxkPBl1Zgye6FScjG4dO8lqCHJezUgEG_fumAdKkx0B3ORl1qFTiXO5OpKgdwxFwB-9CNPVzyz8wCX3fKkOJe5-Rhx5Peqhc6xPX1SwPCNvZlzXvSWgi_WUKTN7JQn9OS6oVEw/s663/little-robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqRjzrS-9aJfip_7lDxL7tfyBqI_q8f3JRxLnMGTLqT0jBf06tcVcR6AxkPBl1Zgye6FScjG4dO8lqCHJezUgEG_fumAdKkx0B3ORl1qFTiXO5OpKgdwxFwB-9CNPVzyz8wCX3fKkOJe5-Rhx5Peqhc6xPX1SwPCNvZlzXvSWgi_WUKTN7JQn9OS6oVEw/w338-h400/little-robot.jpg" width="338" /></a></div>by Ben Hatke</i><br />
136 pages / 2015<br />
<p>This is one of those little-girl-meets-little-robot, little-girl-loses-little-robot, little-girl-kicks-some-big-robot-tushy-to-save-little-robot stories. What sets it apart from all the others is that the first 26 pages are entirely wordless, and there isn’t much talking the rest of the way either.
</p><p>The little girl, it turns out, is quite the amateur mechanic, so when she comes across an abandoned box and discovers a robot inside, she sets out to get it running. And she gets a little frightened when it does come to “life.” This little girl is also quite lonely, so once she overcomes her fear, she becomes convinced this is going to be her new friend.
</p><p>However (insert ominious music here) she isn’t the only one interested in the little robot! His manufacturer has noticed he’s missing, and has sent a big bad robot on a search and recover mission. And this thing is massive – a semi-truck-sized beast that looks like it could eat trees!
</p><p>When it swallows the little robot, it’s up to the girl, and some other new-found robot friends, to outwit the big robot bully and free her little buddy.
</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Cautions
</h3><p>At one point the big bad robot also swallows a poor defenceless kitty, but never fear, the fuzzball isn’t chewed up – it’s just inside, waiting to be rescued.
</p><p>The only other caution would be the notion of robots as people. Kids’ stories have all sorts of anthropomorphism – cats can have hats, rabbits have swords, and trees might even walk – so is it a big deal if robots get this treatment too? No, unless kids get too much of it. No one believes cats, rabbits, or trees could actually become people, but they are saying that about robots today. The world misunderstands mankind as simply “meat robots,” and from there, it isn’t much of a leap to think robots could one day become “metal people.” But we are more than our meat – we are body and soul, and no amount of hardware or software will ever engraft a soul into a robot. And that’s a point that might be worth sharing with our kids.
</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion
</h3><p>The protagonist of the story usually gives you a good gauge of the target audience, and as this one is a little girl, girls would certainly be among those interested. But it’s also got robots, and robots hunting robots, which will appeal to the boys. And as a mostly wordless comic, it will also have some appeal for early readers.
</p><p>It has a bit of tension, which could be a bit much for some in Grade 1, but for most in Grades 1 through 5, this will be a real treat.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-32051799904025413692024-02-10T01:01:00.000-08:002024-02-10T01:01:34.326-08:00The Dark Harvest Trilogy<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IfV9mwbSDOmg_s78r28zotp1zxZ1zZQLGO-a-QhXAR6aW0R-pbjYz2bH-RbpxBJ7Q3f-v0QY4KbSBGPO25xIwedcLYZqTJ_Kd40kmnCjEYERmZ1Kz6YvEuS9oDWS2swFIDP5cH3cGxEW53DC3rAUI2bln_lAOydsOtZHGW07OR1egcmFpjMRkTRjhWo/s1020/dark%20harvest%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="630" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IfV9mwbSDOmg_s78r28zotp1zxZ1zZQLGO-a-QhXAR6aW0R-pbjYz2bH-RbpxBJ7Q3f-v0QY4KbSBGPO25xIwedcLYZqTJ_Kd40kmnCjEYERmZ1Kz6YvEuS9oDWS2swFIDP5cH3cGxEW53DC3rAUI2bln_lAOydsOtZHGW07OR1egcmFpjMRkTRjhWo/s320/dark%20harvest%201.jpg" width="198" /></a></b></div><b><br />The Dark Faith</b><br /><i>by Jeremiah W. Montgomery</i><br />368 pages / 2012<br />
<p></p><p><b>The Scarlet Bishop</b><br /><i>
by Jeremiah W. Montgomery</i><br />
304 pages / 2013
</p><p><b>The Threefold Cord</b><br /><i>
by Jeremiah W. Montgomery</i><br />
312 pages / 2014<br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;">*****
</p><p>I gave <i>The Dark Faith</i> to my oldest daughter, knowing only that it was by an OPC minister. The cover looked a bit dark and ominous, but I figured It’s by a Reformed pastor, so how freaky can it be? I hadn’t gotten to it yet because, well, I’d also figured It’s an epic fantasy novel by a Reformed pastor, so how good could it really be?
</p><p>I was wrong on both counts. This was really good, and quite freaky. My daughter was only a few chapters in when she gave me this update: </p><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;">“Dad, the main girl has just fallen into a well of blood!” </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;">“Real blood?”</p><p style="text-align: left;"> “Yeah, real blood!”</p><p style="text-align: left;"> “Hmmmm… maybe this isn’t a good one to keep reading.”</p><p style="text-align: left;"> “No Dad, it’s okay. I can keep reading.”</p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEoYQfmsQ6OfXJHAgFj1CnAccWZGmSwkCkNqsRK9rSmQF8EHuLoFpI3alvbf51QRYAaC4J_YGceIQFApXadEdTPfaXCs0i9VqqQeOCnkdTHQ4g5I853Tp71N12iJGZVk_qY0lClkjJKaM9GFe8PTiO3T-4E9w4oOAH-8y7Pf6YynGIZCJNFB0I9p3beg/s1020/dark%20harvest%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="656" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEoYQfmsQ6OfXJHAgFj1CnAccWZGmSwkCkNqsRK9rSmQF8EHuLoFpI3alvbf51QRYAaC4J_YGceIQFApXadEdTPfaXCs0i9VqqQeOCnkdTHQ4g5I853Tp71N12iJGZVk_qY0lClkjJKaM9GFe8PTiO3T-4E9w4oOAH-8y7Pf6YynGIZCJNFB0I9p3beg/s320/dark%20harvest%202.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br />An OPC pastor writing about wells of blood? A couple of days later, and another update from my daughter: “They’re going to skin this nun alive!” And then, “Oh Dad, there’s something even worse!”<p></p><p>A story this freaky, that my squeamish daughter still wouldn’t put down? I had to start reading it too… and it was so good I didn’t stop until I was through all three.
</p><p>The trilogy is set on a Great Britain-like island empire called Aeld Gowan, and the time is very pre-Reformation. The Church here isn’t quite the bed of hypocrisy that got Luther going, but it attracts both the devout and the power-hungry eager to use its influence.
</p><p>Our hero is one of the devout, a monk named Morumus, who turned to the Church for another reason: knowledge. When still a boy, Morumus saw his father, Raudron Red-Fist, and all his soldiers, slain by nightmarish creatures whose song rendered the men unable to raise their swords and shields in defense. The boy Morumus was overlooked and escaped. Now, as a grown man, Morumus thinks that whatever it was that attacked his father, they were likely followers of the “Dark Faith” that once ruled the island. And he wants to learn more, to prepare the Church for what might be coming. But in ten years of study so far, he hasn’t found much of anything.
</p><p>What his learning has done, however, is make him an expert in languages, and now his archbishop wants him to translate Holy Writ into the language of peoples who might still follow the Dark Faith. His love for the Lord, and his obsession with solving the mystery of his father’s murder seem to be converging!
</p><p>This is a complex story, and not one that can be briefly summarized (the appendix of names is a much-needed feature to keep track of the extensive cast). There’s just so much here – whether it’s palace intrigue, a compromised Church, cunning enemies, or unexpected friends, it’s all here, and all wrapped up in an epic fantasy that is very relevant for our own time.
</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOzwAg6f0hzAgVw9qPCXsfBTucbaD9uhr7uH1mCE1aUfNALSZR4huZzMkex9QqIII2MS3YJxvdAAD0IE49JLWv4CcIb5lDswdJ9rafM97QXZQk2xmGjQo9kKl5xOFuXmfYUIpMGlEKesMmhMc0dP8HC9RmjGS9r02GNyZqqAv-SbfsPi6g6_K7ZFbPoE/s1020/dark%20harvest%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOzwAg6f0hzAgVw9qPCXsfBTucbaD9uhr7uH1mCE1aUfNALSZR4huZzMkex9QqIII2MS3YJxvdAAD0IE49JLWv4CcIb5lDswdJ9rafM97QXZQk2xmGjQo9kKl5xOFuXmfYUIpMGlEKesMmhMc0dP8HC9RmjGS9r02GNyZqqAv-SbfsPi6g6_K7ZFbPoE/s320/dark%20harvest%203.jpg" width="214" /></a></b></div><b>Caution
</b><p></p><p>The cautions concern the gore, and especially a scene in which a monastery of monks, who were having their evening meal, are found slaughtered, their innards piled up on the plates in front of them (this was the scene my daughter was warning me about). Why did the author include that? I think to show the evil to be evil. And while there is gore, he’s not glorying in the gore, as some writers do. That’s why my 14-year-old could read it without getting too bothered, though this was a book she wouldn’t read at night. It is, however, why this might be better for 16 and up.
</p><p><b>Conclusion
</b></p><p>I was struck by just how well-written it is – this would make for a great read-out-loud if only I could find an audience brave enough to hear it. I don’t want to overhype it, so I won’t make comparisons to Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, but I will say that outside of those two, this is really among the best of the best of Christian fantasy fiction. Epic, excellent, and insightful, telling an old tale that has lessons for our modern age. Two thumbs way up!
</p><p>And if you want to hear another Reformed perspective on the <i>Dark Harvest Trilogy,</i> be sure to check out <a href="https://opc.org/review.html?review_id=456" target="_blank">this review, by OPC member and teen (at the time), Katharine Olinger.</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-91198053052164422742024-01-10T15:28:00.000-08:002024-01-10T15:30:07.859-08:00Mooses with Bazookas<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jknsrwM-qV-McMFT7NLRG3lpeQKZ7TDhyACW6W6AzBuilc_T8J3WmgEy6m7DHd0YHWLPC_gxrUJPXN1cozky6Blt9z2Nd1SbR29GQLOGR_dpaH1Jxis7xeLF2IA8XSpOJvdH2BZAM8TTa52B2k5NvNtCHaw2l4u96A0_2LO3dvtt_7a8BryUaz8CcVg/s924/MoosesBazookas.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jknsrwM-qV-McMFT7NLRG3lpeQKZ7TDhyACW6W6AzBuilc_T8J3WmgEy6m7DHd0YHWLPC_gxrUJPXN1cozky6Blt9z2Nd1SbR29GQLOGR_dpaH1Jxis7xeLF2IA8XSpOJvdH2BZAM8TTa52B2k5NvNtCHaw2l4u96A0_2LO3dvtt_7a8BryUaz8CcVg/w242-h400/MoosesBazookas.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>by S.D. Smith</i><br />2023 / 160 pages<br />
<p>I liked this book so much that right after I finished it, I read it again, this time to my kids for bedtime.
</p><p>Like C.S. Lewis before him, S.D. Smith is a popular Christian author who had some curious correspondence land in his lap. In Lewis's case, it was serious<em> </em>stuff – he somehow got his hands on notes from a senior devil to a junior devil, instructing him on how best to tempt and devour people. Lewis later published this correspondence as <em><a href="https://reformedperspective.ca/devilish-correspondence-lord-foulgrins-and-screwtapes-letters/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Screwtape Letters</a>. </em>
</p><p>Smith got sillier stuff, but how he got his hands on these letters is every bit as mysterious. Eleven "jug notes" from one Wally Warmbottom, author, expert, and solitary shipwrecked resident of the deserted island of Peachpitistan, somehow floated across the ocean to Smith, who lives in the land-locked state of Virginia. Smith doesn't understand it, but he collected and has now published the notes.
</p><p>As Wally Warmbottom recounts it, his small island is full of peach pits and beach pits, both of which are tripping hazards. It also has a "story cave" with tales preserved there in jugs, written by, well, who knows? The stories didn't interest Wally, but he thought Smith could take a look, so the book includes, in addition to 11 letters from Wally, four of these short stories. What Wally missed, you will most certainly enjoy as "Binsley Bustbocket burns the buns" and "Rocket and Elsie and Rocket" are a hoot!
</p><p>This is wonderfully stupid throughout, but I think I might have most enjoyed one running gag that pops up in a couple of Wally's letters, and also in the title story. Barry the Moose has been having quite the day: Fort Moosefort has been overrun by flame-thrower-wielding bears, Barry's lucky stick has been burnt to ash, and a bear bullet broke off a favorite bit of his antler. So now he's on the run, and who can this silliest of all creatures turn to when he's in desperate need? Well, Science of course. But when Barry invokes his god, it's always to no effect.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div><ul>
<li>"The bears started firing rocket launchers at the cabin. 'Trust in Science!' I screamed..."</li>
<li>"I swiveled and saw a pack of wolves rushing at us with fully loaded shotguns. Were they locked as well? I couldn't tell. I didn't know if you could lock one or if you would even want to in a fight, because if it's locked, can you still shoot it? ...'Help me, Science!" I cried as I dove behind a skinny tree."</li>
<li>"The wolves had abandoned the chase – or at least the chase of me. Maybe that was bad news for J. J. whathisname or whathisinitials, but for me, no loaded or locked gun would be fired or shot at me for a while. <em>May Science guide you, </em>I thought towards J.D., finally remembering his intials..."</li>
</ul>
<p>It's a joke that will breeze right over the kiddos' heads, but is there for mom and dad to appreciate. So, a silly goofy story, with some political subtext – what more could you want?
</p><p>Maybe the only critique I might have is that, other than this being both hilarious and clean, I wouldn't have had reason to suspect the author was Christian. That said, it might be hard to include God – Who appreciates silly, but is not at all silly – in such a deliberately insubstantial book.
</p><p>I'll rate this as a great one for everyone eight and up, so long as they can appreciate Dad-joke humor.
</p><p>For a good taste of the silly, check out the book trailer below. And if you like this, S.D. Smith has written a less silly but more adventurous series on "rabbits with swords." Check out our review of the first book: <a href="https://reformedperspective.ca/the-green-ember/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>The Green Ember</em></a>.
</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gxBhsfkB9Z4?si=aTHPL966NVifyEA8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></div>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-86005356185264881082023-10-05T20:15:00.005-07:002023-10-05T20:15:27.381-07:00The Always War<em>by Margaret Peterson Haddix</em><br />
2011 / 197 pages<br />
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjP8-S0aLF9YVo6kdYCGu7VGOduphJJu5DWwLJMrYnN63PUKhfUt9CDSrawZuDTGkwUeYRo1qBBP42vhduB3lGenYtPcClIsCHl0XEiIgMsoXmXVnibvHmQdtT8AcZR6dPT6HW2jpk1BDBaR1JHZZjtz-e6DO00aB2rhg0tWs34tHDqjbyoB8wgvfJdI/s560/The-Always-War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="373" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjP8-S0aLF9YVo6kdYCGu7VGOduphJJu5DWwLJMrYnN63PUKhfUt9CDSrawZuDTGkwUeYRo1qBBP42vhduB3lGenYtPcClIsCHl0XEiIgMsoXmXVnibvHmQdtT8AcZR6dPT6HW2jpk1BDBaR1JHZZjtz-e6DO00aB2rhg0tWs34tHDqjbyoB8wgvfJdI/w266-h400/The-Always-War.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>When my 13-year-old got a gift certificate to the local bookstore, it was an excuse for the two of us to spend some serious time perusing the shelves. But after an hour we’d discovered there wasn’t much there for her that she hadn’t already read. The teen books were either silly stories about teen crushes, or weird stuff about witches, demons, and vampires. We finally settled on something with a cover that looked almost liked some 1950s nostalgia, only to later discover one of the key characters had two dads. Another trip to the same story ended up with a decent book, but on the final page the author noted he uses “they/them” pronouns.<p></p><p>Third try was the charm... sort of. We found something by a preteen author I'd heard was quite popular, and whose books I'd seen in our Christian school library. But while the book we settled on – Margaret Peterson Haddix’s <em><strong>Found</strong> </em>(2008, 314 pages) – wasn't bad, I appreciated it more for being harmless than stupendous. It’s a time travel adventure/mystery, with a bunch of adopted children trying to figure out where they came from. There’s the typical cautions – kids acting behind their parents’ backs, along with a couple passing mentions of evolution – but none of the newer cautions needed. Peterson isn’t advocating for amputative surgeries on youth or adults (as the fellow with the “they/them” pronouns implicitly is, by pretending that gender is changeable), or for alternative lifestyles. The biggest caution I’d have concerns the fact that this is just the first of Peterson’s eight-book <em>The Missing </em>series, and at roughly 300 pages each, even if they all turn out to be mostly harmless, that’s a lot of cotton candy for any kid to be ingesting. I’ll also add a concern about whether this would be good or bad for adoptive kids to read, as the topic of adoption, and kids searching for who they are, is a big part of the story. Finally, as just a general caution on the author, I do know another book <em>(Double Identity</em>) by this author that features a female pastor as a major character. So it was more like one thumb up for this one. But while I'm not going to be continuing with that series, it was still good enough for me to check out more Haddix material.</p><p>And now I've found one I think worth recommending. <em><strong>The Always War</strong> </em>is a mystery of sorts, set in a world like our own, yet one that has been in a constant war for the last 75 years. We come along for the ride with Tessa, a girl who still reads old stories, even though no one else does anymore. She's at a celebration for a young war hero, a pilot named Gideon, that doesn't go as expected – instead of accepting his award for bravery, Gideon runs off. Why would a hero run away from his adoring and appreciative fellow citizens? Well, as Tessa slowly begins to discover, Gideon doesn't think he's a hero, because he did his arial combat, not from the sky, but from behind a computer – he was flying a drone. And he has discovered that instead of hitting a legitimate military target, he seems to have hit a civilian marketplace. Distraught, Gideon is determined to fly down to the marketplace to offer his repentance, for whatever that's worth. And Tessa comes along for the ride. But he has to go behind the military's back, work with black market privateers, and sneak past his own border guards. Then, when they arrive, nothing is as he expected. There are no angry grieving crowds to meet him. In fact there's nothing at all! So what's going on? What's actually real?</p><p>I don't want to give too much more away but will just add I found it an intriguing story. The mystery lasts most of the book, which means that this requires a reader with some patience. As for concerns, God is not a part of this world, and seeing as one of the themes of this story is about discerning reality from what authorities tell us is real, that the characters simply rely on their own wherewithal makes a bit too much of Man. But that's the biggest problem. Kids aged 12 will like this if they appreciate a mystery – they will need to have a little patience to let the story to unfold,</p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-32199699341216599142023-09-20T11:20:00.001-07:002023-09-20T11:22:48.714-07:00Dr. Seuss's "Horton trilogy"Parents may be familiar with the first two of Dr. Seuss' Horton books, but the third, only recently republished will be a new delight for many.<br />
<p><b>HORTON HEARS A WHO!</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsys7awPY47ztqDnsvPjoz1tQ-Gwbb-oRLVGFfwoPqMuhC6vax1RNtHz5V8BgPGs5D-OPv-LYAa0AVUvH6Q-G0JO5JbFZ4aIyiSCJihvEyR_Hg8JdCHHtYTcCrPb3wOrEA0DM1en5rJ7DkUMPEQy6bV6ZZHRPfetTnXJZJ3ZLEi9lM3Sr7IzdUT0Ph-Ro/s758/Who.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsys7awPY47ztqDnsvPjoz1tQ-Gwbb-oRLVGFfwoPqMuhC6vax1RNtHz5V8BgPGs5D-OPv-LYAa0AVUvH6Q-G0JO5JbFZ4aIyiSCJihvEyR_Hg8JdCHHtYTcCrPb3wOrEA0DM1en5rJ7DkUMPEQy6bV6ZZHRPfetTnXJZJ3ZLEi9lM3Sr7IzdUT0Ph-Ro/s320/Who.jpg" width="236" /></a></b></div><i>
by Dr. Seuss</i><br />
1954 / 72 pages <br />
<p></p><p>This was the last Horton story written, but ranks first in our hearts for its surprising pro-life message! With his giant ears, the elephant Horton is able to hear what no one else can: that there are tiny little people, – Whos they call themselves – living on what looks like a dandelion puff. They are too tiny to see, and for everyone else they are too tiny to hear, but as Horton knows, and as he often repeats:
</p><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">“a person’s a person no matter how small.”
</p></blockquote><p>So, conscientious pachyderm that he is, Horton is determined to protect the little Whos, and their whole town of Who-ville. His friends think he's crazy, and one in particular is so sure he's nuts that she wants to grab the dandelion puff and burn it, to put an end to his delusion. And that's where the chase scene ensues, with Horton encouraging all the residents of Who-ville to make as much noise as they can so others will finally be able to hear them! Will their humanity ever be recognized? You'll just have to read it to find out!
</p><p>Kids will love this for the rhymes and the charming hero, but pro-life parents can't help but embrace Horton's oft repeated entreaty that "a person's a person no matter how small." His simple plea is so famous that it can be a tool in cultural conversations about the unborn. Absolutely everyone has read Horton Hears a Who!
</p><p>Might Christians be reading something into the story that the author didn't intend? Yes, probably. His second wife said the pro-life movement was hijacking the story for its own purposes. But whether Seuss intended it or not, his story makes a point worth hearing: that our worth is not dependent on our size. Christians have to take that further though, explaining where our worth does come from: being made in the very image of God (Genesis 9:6).
</p><p><b>HORTON HATCHES THE EGG</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmn9B0OanuQFbwwSpzgoY4VoRIpXlBp5BFHFRNcwnP_f5EH1YLURQUECDRqx8dW25v_u_uyYFsl92yc9k1-zCvc6kk9P3CraU0cH-uKYt8gGao-3ZnW9aOyyTQYQL_P2ARt9UIfBXZsvj15SUeosRjFD5BK6AeSbu3TW7gRhHP91xLUmsWLzQ8OtitIKU/s765/egg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmn9B0OanuQFbwwSpzgoY4VoRIpXlBp5BFHFRNcwnP_f5EH1YLURQUECDRqx8dW25v_u_uyYFsl92yc9k1-zCvc6kk9P3CraU0cH-uKYt8gGao-3ZnW9aOyyTQYQL_P2ARt9UIfBXZsvj15SUeosRjFD5BK6AeSbu3TW7gRhHP91xLUmsWLzQ8OtitIKU/s320/egg.jpg" width="234" /></a></b></div><i>
by Dr. Seuss<br /></i>
1940 / 64 pages<br />
<p></p><p>The first of the Horton trilogy isn't as insightful as the third, but it is fun. This time the genial elephant is taken advantage of by a lazy mother bird named Mayzie. She says she just wants a quick break from egg-sitting, but once Horton agrees to take over, Mayzie takes off and doesn't look back.
</p><p>So, for day after day, Horton faithfully babysits the egg, roosted on the nest, at the top of the tree. As in Horton Hearts a Who, his friends aren't supportive – they're making fun of him again. And then hunters, startled by this strange sight of an elephant up a tree, transport him, tree and all, over the sea to put him in a circus. Horton has to endure the indignity of it all, now to be a spectacle to crowds all over, but, as he repeats to all his critics:
</p><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent!"
</p></blockquote><p>And that, there, is the attraction of this book – it is about steadfastness, and sticking to your word, even when others – where is that Mayzie? – just won't. Children don't need to worry though as both Horton and Mayzie get what's coming to them in the end: the baby bird that finally hatches is half elephant!
</p><p><b>HORTON AND THE KWUGGERBUG AND MORE LOST STORIES</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xybHDr9Llan4pilweKSX8BdQAVvPufIkM4YVu5XNJ9BDp16Ib3vieCizTMfQfp4ih6-TJWeZQgfgaqX9mC01sAgBDc7r55j0Q2bkVWAOStMUidy5P3DFEkCENchON1isn1CmYJOacjJYzRCjxJls8mAGjiBujo9BB7AIDKllCNzrSGbexIiRM_RYqoE/s754/kwuggerbug.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xybHDr9Llan4pilweKSX8BdQAVvPufIkM4YVu5XNJ9BDp16Ib3vieCizTMfQfp4ih6-TJWeZQgfgaqX9mC01sAgBDc7r55j0Q2bkVWAOStMUidy5P3DFEkCENchON1isn1CmYJOacjJYzRCjxJls8mAGjiBujo9BB7AIDKllCNzrSGbexIiRM_RYqoE/s320/kwuggerbug.jpg" width="238" /></a></b></div><i>
by Dr. Seuss</i><br />
2014 / 64 pages<br />
<p></p><p>In 2014 reports came of an upcoming "new" Dr. Seuss book, to be published 23 years after the author's death. It wasn't new new, but rather rediscovered new, with work that Seuss had published in magazines before, but never in a book. It was to be a collection of four stories, all of which had first appeared in print back in the early 1950s.
</p><p>The title tale features Horton once again being sorely treated, this time by a kwuggerbug, who promises to split some delicious beezlenuts if Horton will only carry him to the tree. It seems a deal when the tree seems near but in the end Horton is crossing crocodile-infested rivers, and climbing mountains and the trail just keeps going on and on. Then, in one final trick, the kwuggerbug "splits" the nuts by taking all the nut meat for himself and leaving Horton the shells for his.
</p><p>But once again, justice is done, this time via an unintentional sneeze. And while there is no great moral to this story, it sure is fun to see Horton this one more time.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-3613325427958599312023-08-28T15:33:00.006-07:002023-08-28T15:33:51.078-07:00Officer Clawsome: lobster cop<em>by Brian "Smitty" Smith and Chris Giarrusso<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaKd7jYDpa92t5A162WBMPpxNUIJIZEmYUApFK9SdOJAZhmIUsxJN0tvpBzno19VTpZApTkqso0QykX2ozH98DgVdG2-8yeQOB15WFdfTpSo1fQ1m7KrdbY01b1X04AsRCPyUhj_SC25QEtMLwxVMBujb-7Kkp91PnuqUtCPY24D5fpJnGpCw6IM_OL0/s846/clawsomecover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaKd7jYDpa92t5A162WBMPpxNUIJIZEmYUApFK9SdOJAZhmIUsxJN0tvpBzno19VTpZApTkqso0QykX2ozH98DgVdG2-8yeQOB15WFdfTpSo1fQ1m7KrdbY01b1X04AsRCPyUhj_SC25QEtMLwxVMBujb-7Kkp91PnuqUtCPY24D5fpJnGpCw6IM_OL0/w265-h400/clawsomecover.jpg" width="265" /></a></div></em>
2023 / 238 pages<br />
<p>In the opening scene a fish peddler (the fish is the peddler, not the goods) calls out "Fresh fruit here! Get your fresh..." only to have something "ZOOOM!" past and purée all his oranges and apples. Momentarily at a loss, the peddler looks down at the soupy mess, only to, one panel later, start smiling again calling out, "Fresh fruit juice here! Get your fresh fruit juice."</p><p>Comic genius? Not on its own, but just like a good dad-joke (are there any other kind?) the hiliarity builds with every one you layer on top. And there are oodles here, including some awful/awesome puns, starting with the hero of our story, the lobster cop "Officer Clawsome," called "Clawful" by the villains he arrests.</p><p>Like any good cop/buddy flick, Clawsome has a partner, the starfish Stariana who serves as both his badge of office, riding around on his chest, and as his ninja throwing star when needed. When the town's favorite bakery goes missing – the whole building, staff and all, are just gone – the twosome have to take on a whole host of underwater villains including Catburglarfish, the wrestler Masked Mussel, Brain Sturgeon, the Electric Eel, and a giant mechanized shark. It's all sorts of action, with all sorts of cinematic cliches thrown in just for dad to enjoy too – the best is the massive explosion in the background with Clawsome and Stariana strutting in the foreground.</p><p>One reviewer called this a “safe grandma buying read for the grandkids” and I'd agree. No cautions needed - this is just good clean, very silly fun. And it's so good that even though it weighs in at 200+ pages, your kids won't have had enough. Unfortunately, at this point there isn't a sequel.</p><p>But one can hope!</p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-61991108272903929062023-08-14T17:24:00.000-07:002023-08-14T17:24:00.403-07:00I survived the Nazi invasion, 1944<i>by Lauren Tarshis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlu0-sb-FcJsdY0BLjq8GoFycBDV7B_QJU8nj3JAzRBc1HK8urZXEoMLqNOSMkhCOLccX3RLsX3rJ-SwhkManxPmTDBdAZDVZUEvNimZ-eeFn0ZC8Xhr7LjEbbNorDlMUTJTm77sgk96mxvcpnewMSB4Aet2_hA7q7ovksdp7icoryiG1B2TZgXlAOy8/s829/Isurvivedsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlu0-sb-FcJsdY0BLjq8GoFycBDV7B_QJU8nj3JAzRBc1HK8urZXEoMLqNOSMkhCOLccX3RLsX3rJ-SwhkManxPmTDBdAZDVZUEvNimZ-eeFn0ZC8Xhr7LjEbbNorDlMUTJTm77sgk96mxvcpnewMSB4Aet2_hA7q7ovksdp7icoryiG1B2TZgXlAOy8/w270-h400/Isurvivedsmall.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
art by Alvaro Sarraseca</i><br />
2021 / 158 pages<br />
<p>Max and Zena are two Polish Jewish children who, at the time our story begins, have survived for almost 5 years living under Nazi rule. After Hitler's German troops conquered Poland, their mistreatment of the Jewish population started immediately. Jews were spat on, their synagogues burnt down, their businesses destroyed. In the town of Esties, as happened elsewhere, Jews were forced to all move to the same small neighborhood, which was then walled off with barbwire, so the Jews could never leave.
</p><p>With no employment, food was hard to come by, so when Max and Zena come across a raspberry bush just on the other side of the fence, Max decides to risk it. He slips through the wires to grab some berries. They both get caught. To save his sister, Max attacks the Nazi guard, whose gun goes off in the struggle, the bullet hitting the soldier in the knee.
</p><p>There's nothing to be done, but to run so off they both go, into the woods. During the first long night in the woods, Max does some remembering, and we're given the siblings' backstory, how their aunt had warned them not to move into the ghetto, and how their papa had argued it was best to just go along. Their aunt soon disappeared. To America? That's what Max hopes. When the Nazis then take away papa and the other men – to where no one is sure – Max and Zena are left to fend for themselves.
</p><p>Flashback complete, we see the two escapees stumble across a farmer. Will he help, or turn them in? Thankfully he is a friendly sort, and after misdirecting the Nazi searchers, the farmer introduces them to the Polish underground. These are Polanders who have never stopped fighting the Nazis, and who have a safe place to hide in the woods. The siblings are delighted to discover that one of the underground fighters is their very own aunt!
</p><p><b>CAUTION</b></p><p>When the Nazi soldier is shot in the knee there is some blood shown, but not in much detail. A little more gory is a two-page recounting of a story that Max's father used to tell him, about how David fought Goliath. We see rock-to-face with some blood spattering, but fortunately the giant's beheading is dealt with just outside of frame (David is described and depicted as a boy, maybe of 10 or 12, and and there is good reason to think he was an older teen instead).
</p><p>The scene is echoed some pages later when Max has to resort to hurling a rock to stop two Nazis about to shoot his sister. Again, we see rock to face, some small blood smattering, and. maybe more disturbing, a frame of the soldier, seemingly dead, staring up blankly. A gunfight follows, concluding with Max realizing that the Nazi trying to kill them is just a boy only a little older than him. He realizes this just as his friend Martin fires and kill the young soldier. That's the most devastating scene in the story, made so, not because of the blood spattering but because we learn that Hitler was turning near-children into murderers.
</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b></p><p>This is a really well done graphic novel, recounting a part of the war that our Canadian, Dutch heritage children, might not be that familiar with: the Polish Jew's perspective. I'd recommend it for 12 and up, but add that many younger kids would be able to handle it too.
</p><p>There are plans in place for at least 9 books in the I Survived graphic novel series, and so far I've read 6, and quite enjoyed 5 of them. The four other recommended ones are, in historical order:
</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><i>I Survived The Great Chicago Fire, 1871</i></b> – This is a bit of American history famous enough that many a Canadian has heard of it. A city full of quickly built wooden buildings goes through a heat wave, and while their fire department is impressive, one night they just can't keep up, and one mile by four mile length of the city goes up in flames. This comic has it all, with the brave young lead willing to stand up to bullies, and risk it all to save the girl. </li><li><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_R8iSXtgEKXTWatMvdmYzbL7CUdQk0BtsnOK-z_CMDOwpxADC1bXeTSM-RvsEyyAPRZ2fB_HLSFicuWG-R8g0KeZ-qvgiw75yugfuMQcgz886v4Hs3OqnyD0XOWhTUiiexV_hZh2to1kkMixiFpM1GUUbOosXIFYH_6H4QZvfuMXD-fRNl3wIOU0zRQ/s900/inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="609" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_R8iSXtgEKXTWatMvdmYzbL7CUdQk0BtsnOK-z_CMDOwpxADC1bXeTSM-RvsEyyAPRZ2fB_HLSFicuWG-R8g0KeZ-qvgiw75yugfuMQcgz886v4Hs3OqnyD0XOWhTUiiexV_hZh2to1kkMixiFpM1GUUbOosXIFYH_6H4QZvfuMXD-fRNl3wIOU0zRQ/w271-h400/inside.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912</i></b> – Our guides are a pair of young siblings, including a rascal of a boy who manages to discover ever last one of the Titanic's rooms, ladders and passageways. While two thirds of the passengers and crew lost their lives, everyone we're introduced to in the story makes it out, which makes this relatively tame account of this tragedy. </li><li><b><i>I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967</i></b> – This is the story of what led to two fatal grizzly bear attacks occurred on the very same night in the US's National Park system. . Melody Vega and her little brother are visiting their grandpa at his cabin in Glacier National Park – their mom recently died, and their dad thinks it's important for them to head out to their traditional their summer vacation spot even without her. But when a grizzly follows the girl right back to her cabin and tries to break down the door, Melody and her mom's best friend start investigating why the bears in the park are acting so strange. This isn't a Christian book, but the moral is: that humans have to take better care of God's creation – Christian kids should recognize the stewardship implications. People were dumping their garbage where bears could get it, which made for great shows for the tourists ("Come to the back of our inn and see the bears up close as they eat") but that got the grizzlies dangerously familiar with people. It also harmed the bears physically, from the glass and trash they ingested along with the food scraps. There is some minor nonsensical environmentalism along with the stewardship message: kids are told they can protect wildlife by not buying single serving bags of chips. It's quite the leap to go from showing the danger of feeding bears our garbage to saying that we're hurting them when we buy a big cookie wrapped in plastic. No, not if we throw it in the garbage. But this departure only amounts to a few sentences in the whole 150+ page book. </li><li><b><i>I Survived the Attacks of Sept. 11, 2011</i></b> – 11-year-old Lucas loves football, but football may not love Lucas. When his parents tell Lucas that his third concussion in two years means he has to stop playing, he skips school. He has to go talk to his Uncle Ben, the guy who got him interested in football in the first place. Both Uncle Benny and Lucas's dad are New York firefighters, and Lucas is desperately hoping his uncle can get his dad to change his mind. But as he's talking with his uncle, we see the first plane hit one of the city's Twin Towers. Lucas has to stay behind, as Uncle Benny and all the other firefighters head out to help. Author Lauren Tarshis initially considered having Uncle Benny be one of the victims, but realized that would be too much for her young readers. So all the main figures do make it out alive, but many of their friends don't. I thought this would be a heavy book for my kids. It wasn't any more so than the others. I get it now. I lived through this. They didn't; it's just more history for them; </li></ul>
<p>I wasn't impressed with <i>I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916</i> where the new kid in town pranks his friends by spreading ketchup on the dock only to see a real shark swim up the river. Of course, now no one will believe him, and he ends up paying for his prank with a piece of his calf the shark bites off. That makes this unnecessarily grim. After all, why do kids need to learn about this particular shark attack? They can learn not to cry wolf without the panel by panel depiction of a shark attack. To be clear, it isn't super gory, but as there is no particular reason to get it, I'd argue there's also no particular reason to overlook any gore.
</p><p>That said, I'm looking forward to the ninth book, scheduled for Spring 2024, called <b><i>I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944.</i></b></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-69197101826468838372023-08-08T12:54:00.003-07:002023-08-08T13:10:05.703-07:00The Mysterious Benedict Society<i>by Trenton Lee Stewart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygldb7sDNy4xYLLAvO2Mt48MHNFtWkoiqPVln83Lzro0u7WFpp4reM9-EfcWfR358i5St56ks6y11gyOmegH_lJhDFdwpW4zZs-2IeNEHS6MsYPV-iLADKiOanxeCLewB3jK7U-_pn0LdfQamjhRzgg6hUZJIG7n0XqxpyEGXzgNgav7s8p5K04RXunU/s827/benedictsociety.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygldb7sDNy4xYLLAvO2Mt48MHNFtWkoiqPVln83Lzro0u7WFpp4reM9-EfcWfR358i5St56ks6y11gyOmegH_lJhDFdwpW4zZs-2IeNEHS6MsYPV-iLADKiOanxeCLewB3jK7U-_pn0LdfQamjhRzgg6hUZJIG7n0XqxpyEGXzgNgav7s8p5K04RXunU/w271-h400/benedictsociety.jpg" width="271" /></a></div></i>
512 pages / 2008<br />
<p>Reynie Muldoon is 11-year-old orphan who knows he is smart – he certainly reads more than any of the other boys at the orphanage – but he doesn't quite understand just how smart. The orphanage administrators seem to have an inkling, assigning him his very own tutor. His tutor, Miss Perumal, is certainly aware, so when she notices an ad in the newspaper offering a scholarship for gifted children who pass a special exam, she signs Reynie up.
</p><p>It might seem just a multiple choice exam, but there's more being tested here than knowledge. I don't want to give too much of the fun away, but I'll share just one example. The children are told to take one pencil, and one pencil only; not any less or any more. Simple enough, except that as Reynie and several other children approach the exam building, the girl in front of him manages to drop her pencil down a sewer grating. The exam is just about to begin, and she has no pencil. Reynie stops to help but she tells him to just go – he doesn't have an extra pencil, so what can he do anyway? That's when Reynie takes out his pencil and breaks it in half. Problem solved. All it took was some creative thinking by a kind soul. The first half of the book is full of all sorts of puzzles like that, that involve not only clever thinking, but often thoughtfulness.
</p><p>While dozens of children take the test, only Reynie, and three others pass. Like Reynie, they are all missing their parents, and they all have their own unique way of looking at the world, and their own gifts. George "Sticky" Washington can remember everything he reads, Kate Wetherall is quick thinking, athletic, and always positive, and Constance Contraire... well the children aren't quite sure what Constance is, other than grumpy. After passing the tests, they meet Mr. Benedict, the man behind it all. He explains to them that the world is facing a mysterious danger, that the world is only aware of as "The Emergency." No one quite seems sure what the emergency actually is, but it has everyone feeling discombobulated, and looking to their leaders for direction.
</p><p>Mr. Benedict reveals that the Emergency is actually being caused by subliminal messages being sent over the radio and television airwaves. And the messages are coming from an elite children's school called the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened or L.I.V.E. (and note also, what it spells backwards). Mr. Benedict wants them to go undercover as his operatives at the school to find out what's really happening.
</p><p>I loved the first half of the book best, with all its different puzzles to solve. But another highlight was the creepy L.I.V.E. Institute, and their rules. Kids might not catch it, but if parents are reading this out loud, it might be worth noting to your children that the double-speak here is of the sort we hear from our own political leadership, who will transform tolerance to be mean its opposite, and love to mean embracing what shouldn't be. Here are a few of the Institute rules: </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>There are no rules here!</li><li>You can wear whatever you like. However, trousers, shoes and shirts are required at all times.</li><li>You don't have to bath if you don't want to. Simply be clean every day in class.</li><li>You may stay up as late at night as you wish. Lights are turned off at 10 PM and you must be in your room at that time.</li><li>You are free to go where you please. Please not, however, that you must keep to the paths and the yellow-tiled corridors</li></ol><p></p><p><b>CAUTIONS</b></p><p>A common and troubling theme in children's books is for the kids to be much smarter than their parents, such that they don't feel a need to listen to the authorities in their lives. After all, their dumb parents just don't get them. That the protangnists here are four pre-teen geniuses mean there is at least a little of that, but it's balanced off by the fact that Mr. Benedict himself is a genius and, and several of the other adults – his assistants Milligan, Number Two, and Rhonda – are highly capable. But there are still occasions – particularly in the first sequel – where the kids ignore an adult's order because they know better. And because they are geniuses, they often do actually know better! The author balances that out by the number of times the adults are involved in rescuing them – sometimes adults know best too.
</p><p>There are 5 books in the series, with each clocking in at 400+ pages, so with the amount of time a child might put into it, it is worth noting the complete lack of spirituality in the series. This is 2,000+ pages of God being almost entirely ignored. The only exception I can recall is in the prequel, Book 5, in which a mention is made of a chapel service.
</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b></p><p>Overall, this is a fairly gentle series – it could make for bedtime reading without much danger of giving anyone nightmares. I appreciated it for making television one of the tools of the bad guys, as it so often is in real life too. There is also an implicit warning against overreaching government control, with the bad guys trying to use the Emergency as an excuse for them to seize the political reins of power. This isn't really a political book, but what politics is has, I rather like.
</p><p>There are three sequels to <i>The Mysterious Benedict Society</i>, then a prequel for #5 telling the young life of their mentor Mr. Benedict, and finally, a companion puzzle book for #6 that invites us to become a puzzle-solver too, just like the Benedict Society. The series, in order, is: </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007, 512 pages) </b></li><li><b>The Perilous Journey (2008, 440 pages) </b></li><li>The Prisoner's Dilemma (2009, 400 pages) </li><li>The Riddle of Ages (2019, 416 pages) </li><li><b>The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (2012, 480 pages) </b></li><li><b>Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums (2011, 176 pages).</b></li></ol><p></p><p>I'd recommend the first two and last two. The first of the bunch has an originality to it, and a very clever reveal at the end that'll have you saying "Of course!" even as you had no inkling of it before that moment! The second doesn't reach the same heights... but how could it? It is, however, very fun. The second-best book in the series is actually the fifth, the prequel about the young Mr. Benedict, and his own adventures in an orphanage. I read about 15 minutes of this to our girls each night, for about 2 months straight, and they were always asking for more. While the puzzle book was interesting, I was glad we got it out of the library and didn't buy it.
</p><p>I wouldn't bother with books 3 and 4. In these two, Constance has developed telepathy, and since mind-reading is beyond all of us (even as figuring out puzzles isn't) this development makes these two books a good deal less relatable, and consequently less interesting. Telepathy also seems a cheat – how hard is it to outwit your enemies when you can read their minds? To top it off, Constance also learns how to manipulate minds with her telepathy, influencing them to think as she wants them to. This takes us into the realm of mind-control, not by machine as in the first book, but by supernatural powers. and for a decidedly unspiritual book, this is getting too weird for my liking. Thankfully each book is entirely self-contained, so it is easy to get just 4 out of the 6, without any sense of incompleteness.
</p><p>Books 1 and 2, along with 5 and 6 total more than 1,500 pages of reading, which should keep even the most avid bookworm in your family chewing for a long time.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-13234476705558669542023-07-27T08:38:00.011-07:002023-08-08T13:13:46.549-07:00Fever year: the killer flu of 1918<i>by Don Brown</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyavsLllLnLfp3rTqC-KRG1_CihbGSEZtTjhxTOAl-4JEftCZ20MzM_upK2Fw8CgWBEAREniC2goPvU2E6heQ1-BUUh8q9A5L7oaoZvuwm_IXm8b38AvkOgRdMNLYIjiQdmvZ_qSmkCc8rsiMPdGvZoJASrs4BGUKz1d-ROOdt9nc6oKFOdxf-XnyCOFc/s856/Feveryear.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyavsLllLnLfp3rTqC-KRG1_CihbGSEZtTjhxTOAl-4JEftCZ20MzM_upK2Fw8CgWBEAREniC2goPvU2E6heQ1-BUUh8q9A5L7oaoZvuwm_IXm8b38AvkOgRdMNLYIjiQdmvZ_qSmkCc8rsiMPdGvZoJASrs4BGUKz1d-ROOdt9nc6oKFOdxf-XnyCOFc/w261-h400/Feveryear.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><div>2019 / 96 pages
<p>In the Spring of 1918, even as the First World War was winding down, a more deadly foe made its presence known. An army cook, in Camp Funston, Kansas, reported sick, and over the next month a thousand of his campmates would also fall ill.
</p><p>Author Don Brown seems to be making the case that the Spanish Flu didn't originate in Spain, but in America, making the jump overseas with the soldiers that departed as the US entered the "war to end all wars." That, however, is a contentious point. The other sources I consulted agree that the disease was called the Spanish Flu only because the Spanish press was being more open about the numbers of citizens being struck down, and not because they were the actual source of the sickness. The true source of the illness seems to be a mystery.
</p><p>What's uncontested is the devastating nature of the epidemic. Before it was through, the Spanish Flu would travel around the world, and more than 50 million would die.
</p><p>By way of comparison, about half that numbered died during the entirety of the First World War, and as many as a third of those were from the Spanish Flu, and not weapons.
</p><p>The moral of Don Brown's story could be taken in very different directions, based on the particular bias of the reader. That the Flu jumped from city to city via infected travelers could be seen as proving the need for lockdowns. That health authorities assured the public of facts not in evidence – that there was no reason to worry – could be used to argue health authorities have a long history of lying to us. That New York kept schools and most businesses open, and that the city had a lower than average death rate, could be used to argue against lockdowns. That San Fransisco embraced masks but had the worst death rate on the west coast might be used to argue against masks' efficacy. Or folks could look to how San Fransisco banned all social gatherings except church services and see that as evidence that their ban needed to go further.
</p><p>As you can see, there is a lot information offered up, and it points in all sorts of directions.
</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJv-UvXp5Y_bRkPRwRQQ96sWu4Z-lpli4g0zJuCm-AQChXFSAfmnRbg-Qn9d4ERAoF8SXD7mf4Sa8T0V3IUqv8xJ4tkj3lysooUgJ_k9QnuQmBho_Pu3Mj5rukkqMXqNbImnPaRiSMxU9uxktyzeP22pcA6Yp5L1XcxSWbl0OREyg7Ovb_b1WG1-N46U/s899/feverpage.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJv-UvXp5Y_bRkPRwRQQ96sWu4Z-lpli4g0zJuCm-AQChXFSAfmnRbg-Qn9d4ERAoF8SXD7mf4Sa8T0V3IUqv8xJ4tkj3lysooUgJ_k9QnuQmBho_Pu3Mj5rukkqMXqNbImnPaRiSMxU9uxktyzeP22pcA6Yp5L1XcxSWbl0OREyg7Ovb_b1WG1-N46U/w249-h400/feverpage.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>What's more certain are the heroes: doctors and nurses who worked endless hours, trying to aid the ever growing numbers in need. Neighbors and even the elderly all chipped in when whole families would get laid low.
<p></p><p>Brown details the search for a vaccine, and how there was a real mystery to be solved. Though the flu was obviously highly contagious, doctors weren't sure about the how. Sick patients could cough right in the face of volunteers without inflecting them.
</p><p><b>CAUTIONS</b></p><p>This graphic novel came out at the end of 2019, 10o years after the Spanish Flu it chronicles, but just a few months before COVID-19 made its appearance. I've been wondering ever since if that was the very worst of times, or the best of times for this graphic novel to get published. If I'd reviewed this during the lockdowns, I might have added cautions about drawing too strong a conclusion from the information offered up in a comic book. That's still a good thought, but a little less necessary.
</p><p>While Don Brown illustrates the dead with some restraint – simple lines communicate discomfort and pain, but aren't realistic enough to really shock – this still isn't a comic for kids. 50 million people died from the Spanish Flu, so the topic is too grim for the very young. But I'd recommend it as a great one for a high school library.
</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b></p><p>Our recent history makes that an even more intriguing, and even more sobering read. What we went through parallels much of what the world endured then, though theirs was the far deadlier plague. That a virus can infect a third of the world reminds everyone to "seek the Lord while He may be found" (Is. 55). That's a lesson we were reminded of in the last few years, and one everyone would do well not to forget.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></div>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-86186008828654334242023-07-26T16:47:00.008-07:002023-07-26T16:51:24.555-07:00Tiananmen 1989: our shattered hopes<i>by Lin Zhang, Adrien Gombeaud, and Ameziane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvviD_AEKbU-MeyiInDEykIkPbMiLI7Z94yIZzxD--RD99HoUQr2WZxTIGdphlLTzXszwUk6470VxqsuROAnyri-mKOwNgGBib5aPsixB5PVXGGZToiXU8ZExMQ6oYzbpEiCzNOPiOo_Pzoaulr91QC8ZQoigzxnLQZOLMB8quF-e57UfcJeL2os7xxc/s744/tsquare1989.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvviD_AEKbU-MeyiInDEykIkPbMiLI7Z94yIZzxD--RD99HoUQr2WZxTIGdphlLTzXszwUk6470VxqsuROAnyri-mKOwNgGBib5aPsixB5PVXGGZToiXU8ZExMQ6oYzbpEiCzNOPiOo_Pzoaulr91QC8ZQoigzxnLQZOLMB8quF-e57UfcJeL2os7xxc/s320/tsquare1989.jpg" width="241" /></a></div></i>
2020 / 115 pages<div>
<p>I asked my 13 year-old and her friend whether they’d heard about China’s Tiananmen Square and neither knew anything about it. I was surprised, but shouldn’t have been: the massacre the square is known for – with the government’s tanks rolling over protesting Chinese students, killing hundreds and maybe thousands – happened 20 years before they were born.</p><p>Tiananmen 1989 is a lightly fictionalized biography of one of the student organizers, Lin Zhang – all the main figures are real, but some surrounding fictionalized characters have been added to round things out.
</p><p>he comic begins 30 years prior to the protests, with Lin Zhang’s early years, and accounts of various Chinese Communist Party government leaders rising in influence, then getting purged, and some later being “rehabilitated.” That’s three decades covered in the first 25 pages.
</p><p>From there it slows down, and for the next 75 pages we get an inside look at the protest’s 50 days, beginning on April 16, 1989. We learn that the tens and maybe hundreds of thousands of students arriving at Tiananmen Square was a spontaneous event, organized only after the fact. We hear students debate with each other about what a win would look like. We see hundreds of students decide to hunger strike en masse. And then we watch as the soldiers march in shooting.
</p><p><b>CAUTIONS</b></p><p>Thankfully the violence is depicted with moderation – we see a couple of people shot, and some bodies at a distance. This isn’t a graphic novel you’d want to put in your elementary school library, but no high schooler would be shocked.
</p><p>Language concerns are limited to a couple uses of “bastard.”
</p><p>The more notable caution would be ideological. The god of this book is democracy. That’s what the students were after, and willing to die for. It’s what they placed all their hope in. They spoke of their fight in spiritual tones, likening it to a battle of “light vs. darkness.” Near the end of the protest they even crafted a “goddess of democracy” statue. Young readers need to understand that democracy wouldn’t have been the fix-all that the students thought it would be. Their communist state was founded on the sin of envy, and a turn to democracy wouldn’t have done anything to excise the envy – it is prevalent, and every bit as destructive, in democracies too.
</p><p>While this is an insider’s perspective, I was impressed with its moderate tone. He’s criticizing his government, but also celebrates some within it. I did wonder if some bias might have been evident in the numbers: he wrote of a million protesters, whereas other accounts list as few as 100,000.
</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b></p><p>I think the memory of the massacre has faded even among those old enough to have seen it happen, reported live by CNN and the BBC, and carried by stations around the world. Do Canadians still remember what happened after martial law was declared, and thousands of Chinese troops descended on the unarmed students? Governments around the world condemned the Communist Party leadership for its violent overreaction.
</p><p>If Canadians still remembered, I rather suspect Prime Minister Trudeau wouldn’t have dared invoke the Emergency Measures Act this past summer to turn the police on the Freedom Convoy protest on Parliament Hill. Connections would have been made.
</p><p>If our young people were taught about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, they’d be aware that powerful governments have done enormous harm to their own citizenry. Yet a recent poll of Americans shared that among the under-30s polled, 29% would favor an in-home government surveillance camera, installed in the name of reducing domestic crime. A third of these young people trust their government so completely they’d like it in their houses.
</p><p>There’s good reason then, to get this book into our school libraries. God calls us to honor those He puts in place over us, but it is only when we understand how power can corrupt, and how power has been abused, that we will know the importance of limited, restrained government.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQ3zKoFT6kLHD3juKzihhdlUoDLgKfO55uidBq9ZpZGVjd5XLBNsxBEgRuTbuTbPI4Wls-jy698IJe-NKtomXG1-TcrLRF98peTFPv8oqGPjOJAElkUu7TbpyQbuEgpe7raEudAiLH4PH2LRa4nZxoQIdrhFGCiJJ_gW3rG_CXkcx7W1NMkq1AfdXNfE/s1280/pages.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="1280" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQ3zKoFT6kLHD3juKzihhdlUoDLgKfO55uidBq9ZpZGVjd5XLBNsxBEgRuTbuTbPI4Wls-jy698IJe-NKtomXG1-TcrLRF98peTFPv8oqGPjOJAElkUu7TbpyQbuEgpe7raEudAiLH4PH2LRa4nZxoQIdrhFGCiJJ_gW3rG_CXkcx7W1NMkq1AfdXNfE/w640-h411/pages.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></div>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-12918595402027262622023-03-21T19:56:00.004-07:002023-03-22T15:25:11.120-07:00Harriet Tubman: Fighter for Freedom!<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bSMfsX9jK8r1oj-gONDWaSjrGsFdh7LXYAqVqugHvcKc5DYRgNFrkclf6kuHh8a1vIC2C76mHWVD6Z1c6_P05dXL0_0JtPidYp4FyEZVyIoiyzylt6VYEjvN7yIwol51F62gn2qARSLD0pr8vtkusjYgmcXS8gvjknKAKCeW8lD9BbUzR1kwwQ4V/s832/Harriet.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bSMfsX9jK8r1oj-gONDWaSjrGsFdh7LXYAqVqugHvcKc5DYRgNFrkclf6kuHh8a1vIC2C76mHWVD6Z1c6_P05dXL0_0JtPidYp4FyEZVyIoiyzylt6VYEjvN7yIwol51F62gn2qARSLD0pr8vtkusjYgmcXS8gvjknKAKCeW8lD9BbUzR1kwwQ4V/s320/Harriet.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>by James Buckley Jr. and Izeek Esidene</i><br />
2020 / 94 pages<div><p>Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was an American black woman born into slavery who escaped the South only to go back again and again to show other slaves the way to freedom. She also served in the American Civil War as both a guide for Northern forces, and as a nurse. Even during the war, she continued making trips to free slaves.</p><p>Biographies can sometimes be dry and dusty, but one advantage of this comic-book format is that it allows for an era that survives only in black and white photos to be brought to life in full color.</p><p>One wonderful surprise in this secular book, was how Harriet is shown repeatedly pleading to, praising, and thanking God. It was made obvious that what she was doing was based on a love for her Lord. She could be brave because she knew she was in God's hands. </p><p>Like the other American-focused editions of this "Show Me History!" series, this comic is narrated by two kids, a boy and a girl, which makes it all the more accessible for early readers. Sam, is actually a young "Uncle Sam" and his friend Libby, clad all in green, is also known as "lady liberty" (aka the Statue of Liberty) and their back-and-forth banter really adds some fun, especially in Tubman's life, which is otherwise a pretty serious story. This has me excited to check out other titles in the series.</p><p><b>Cautions</b></p><p>In a book in which God is being praised dozens of times, I don't think it a stretch to presume that the one time someone "interjects" God's Name that it is been done as a short prayer of thanks. I include the instance here for you to decide. Harriet's niece Kizzy is escaping and desperately looking for her aunt. On spotting Harriet ahead, Kizzy says to her husband: "I see her, John, oh Lord... I see her!"</p><p>Another caution concerns how the book presumes that the South's secession was a problem that needed to be solved by war. While estimates vary, at least 600,000 soldiers died in the war, or more than 2% of the population of the time. And that doesn't even include the uncounted number of civilian deaths. Southern slavery was wicked, but Great Britain ended slavery without a war, so it is worth considering if Abraham Lincoln did the right thing. The indivisibility of the country is also worth considering in our own time when up until just recently abortion was legalized nationwide for 50 years, leading to more than 60 million deaths. Might that number have been smaller had pro-life states had the ready option of leaving the union? I will add though that the fact this comic doesn't question the righteousness of the Civil War is hardly unusual, and in that sense, it is not all that notable.</p><p><b>Conclusion</b></p><p>At 94 pages, this has the room to go a lot deeper than most kids’ biographies ever do. I think it’d be great for any kids 10-14 who wanted to learn about either US history, or about some of the Christians who helped fight slavery.</p><p>So far I’ve checked out two others in this “Show Me History!” series.</p><p><i>Benjamin Franklin: Inventor of the Nation</i> was also very good. The man himself is PG-rated – he had kids out of wedlock, and possibly two wives at the same time – so even though the comic only briefly touches on those details, that one might be better for teens than preteens. And, in sharp contrast with the Harriet Tubman title, there’s really no Christian content. But his life as an inventor, printer, diplomat, and one of the American Founding Fathers is quite the read!</p><p><i>Abraham Lincoln: Defender of the Union</i> was also a quick and easy read, but it shares a caution with Harriet Tubman. The book presumes that the Union had to be preserved, even at the cost of 600,000 men’s lives. That’s an especially big part of this book, make it a bigger caution in this case, so I might go with a different comic Lincoln biography: Rick Geary’s <i><a href="http://www.reallygoodreads.com/2011/05/murder-of-abraham-lincoln.html" target="_blank">The Murder of Abraham Lincoln</a></i>.</p></div>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-2890481882408739022022-10-21T15:07:00.008-07:002022-10-21T15:07:00.210-07:00The Comic Book Lesson<strong>A graphic novel that shows you how to make comics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGPRiDfm5yNfodrivDbdIXFEIVfBW8DcIpjIn1lJhz0H178mI9WSIqWyxkBmI3PKCKhrJtMwzwkNY3QRNN0UymQJhLTv1tFFH5v7Laurv9uuHuhTezLWrAIJkb12saMYnZpuWKv28ojIXy6X9A5R8lgPGLZ44fEMT3wJuX4nuUrafgY4YAq7M8nYb/s560/Comic-Lesson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="391" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGPRiDfm5yNfodrivDbdIXFEIVfBW8DcIpjIn1lJhz0H178mI9WSIqWyxkBmI3PKCKhrJtMwzwkNY3QRNN0UymQJhLTv1tFFH5v7Laurv9uuHuhTezLWrAIJkb12saMYnZpuWKv28ojIXy6X9A5R8lgPGLZ44fEMT3wJuX4nuUrafgY4YAq7M8nYb/w279-h400/Comic-Lesson.jpg" width="279" /></a></div>
</strong><em>by Mark Crilley<br />
</em>2022 / 156 pages<br />
<p>Emily is a young artist with plans for a comic book - she wants the hero to be a "pet finder" coming to the rescue of any and all who have lost their furry friends. But it's one thing to have a story and the skills to draw it and yet another to know how to transform it into comic book form. So how can she bridge that gap? She just needs the right sort of mentor. What author Mark Crilley has given us is a story showing aspiring cartoonists how they, too, can learn what Emily wants to know – we get to come along for her journey as she meets three talented ladies who are willing to teach.
</p><p>First up is an encounter at the comic store: Emily discovers that the store clerk, a high schooler named Trudy, is a fantastic artist working on a comic project of her own. Emily's enthusiasm and persistence ensure that one impromptu lesson becomes more. Trudy teaches Emily things like pacing – how including adding a couple more frames can make a scene more dramatic – and how a character's eyebrows communicate more about their emotions than a smile or frown.
</p><p>Trudy is so impressed with Emily's work that she introduces her to Madeline, a friend who's already a published cartoonist. The lessons Madeline teaches include the importance of a "broad" establishing shot before going in for close-ups, and the need to script a comic before you begin drawing it. Madeline, in turn, introduces Emily to her own cartooning mentor, Sophie, who has yet more to teach Emily, like the proper order for word bubbles, and the need to eliminate any possibilities of confusion.
</p><p>While I don't like to include spoilers, for the sake of young readers, I'm going to include one. During her time with Sophie, we find out why Emily was so earnest about her hero being a pet finder: because Emily wasn't able to rescue her own dog. Her loss is poignantly told, which made my one daughter sad enough that she stopped reading. I suspect though, that she might pick it up again. If your child is a sensitive soul, it might help to give them a heads-up beforehand.
</p><p></p><h4>Cautions</h4>
<p>I'm going to list a few cautions that aren't all the relevant to the mid to older teens this is aimed at, and I only include them because some 10-year-olds and even younger could really enjoy this comic, but with some parental guidance.
</p><p>This is one of the tamest, safest "how-to-cartoon" books you can find (<em>Maker Comics: Draw a Comic</em> is another, though it covers different ground). But parents need to know that comics today contain loads of weirdness. Whether it's the way women are depicted as impossibly buxom and skinny, or the heroic witches, ghosts, and demons that feature in more and more stories, or the queer agenda that's inserted in comics for even the youngest ages, there is a lot of twisted stuff out there.
</p><p><i>The Comic Book Lesson</i> isn't pushing any of that, but in a few instances, this secular work does "bump" into this weirdness. So, for example, Trudy mentions the "Electric Angel Nurse Mizuki" comic she's authored, and we're shown the cover depicting a nurse with wings. Madeline mentions she is writing a comic book about assassins for hire. A customer asks for a copy of <span style="font-weight: 400;">Raina Telgemeier's <em>Smile,</em> which is a fine book, but whose sequels take a queer turn. And</span> the 12-or-so-year-old Emily is depicted at a comic store and convention without her parents, which are weirder places than we'd want our 12-year-old to go without us.
</p><p>That's about it. Nothing too bad, but some of it worth a discussion, especially for younger readers.
</p><p></p><h4>Conclusion</h4>
<p>Comics can combine not simply exceptional writing but outstanding art, doubling the creative potential to explore. That's why Christians really should dive into this medium. <em>The Comic Book Lesson</em> is a solid piece of "edutainment" that'll give young aspiring artists an introduction to the general approach needed to be able to expand and refine their skills. This is not so much a "how-to-draw" book – there's already enough of those – as it is a "how-to-decide-what-to-draw" book.
</p><p>If your child loves <em>The Comic Book Lesson</em>, you may be interested to learn that the author has also created <em>The Drawing Lesson, </em>which I hope to check out very soon.
</p><p>For more, watch the video below where the author gives an in-depth (20 minutes long) introduction to his book<em>.</em>
</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mp8hqEQ5x1A" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-36649019995447411182022-10-05T17:25:00.004-07:002022-12-21T15:37:57.606-08:00Fuzzy Baseball: Triple Play<i>by John Steven Gurney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDOwQSLk9_nc0uLluBJqJtus0nW78WtwZIj71zacmpBzeNlC3HmGBytQh_5uvqWVxTzlYtuMaZr4CgMUe6VoJ39FsqEQatWI2-glEFLRg8Qaug6nE7afCJS-LaZQ6MKI6dMhUgYuH1N25SRwHTXvxhmJ0960ix5xQ5xkssLvhQAxaMtheKst2m8fl/s837/Fuzzybase.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDOwQSLk9_nc0uLluBJqJtus0nW78WtwZIj71zacmpBzeNlC3HmGBytQh_5uvqWVxTzlYtuMaZr4CgMUe6VoJ39FsqEQatWI2-glEFLRg8Qaug6nE7afCJS-LaZQ6MKI6dMhUgYuH1N25SRwHTXvxhmJ0960ix5xQ5xkssLvhQAxaMtheKst2m8fl/w268-h400/Fuzzybase.jpg" width="268" /></a></div></i>
2022 / 176 ages<p>This is, as the title references, three stories in one, each involving the Fernwood Valley Fuzzies baseball team taking on a different opponent. The Fuzzies are quite a cuddly team, even if their manager is a bear. Other players include a koala, a wombat, and a penguin.</p><p>In the first story we’re introduced to their biggest fan, Blossom Possum. But when the Fuzzies keep losing to their rivals, the Rocky Ridge Claws, this fan decides she has to do more than cheer from the sidelines: Blossom tries out and makes the team! But can a little possum really get a hit playing against the fearsome critters of the Red Claw? What can she do versus a crocodile, warthog, bull, rhino, or wolf? As you might imagine, there is a happy ending.</p><p>In the second story, the team travels to Japan to play the Sashimi City Ninjas, a polite, but very cocky lot that leaves some of the Fuzzies feeling intimidated. Things get crazy when the Ninjas are able to amplify their baseball skills with a “morfo-power blast” – this is riffing off of Asian cartoons where characters often have some kind of secret power boost they can employ when they most need it. But when the Fuzzies take advantage of this power blast too, it’s homeruns all around, but, as Blossom notes, “This isn’t baseball.” A fun quirk to this story is two alternate endings, the first where it was all a dream, and the second where it wasn’t.</p><p>In the third story the Fuzzies discover that the team they are playing are actually robots. Can they beat mechanical wonders? The Fuzzies are up for finding out.</p><p><b>Cautions</b></p><p>This is a collection of what was first three separate books – Fuzzy Baseball, Ninja Baseball Blast, and RBI Robots – and while I have no concerns with any of them, I’ll mention that the fourth book, Di-no hitters. This time the Fuzzies are playing a team of dinosaurs, and while I’ve only read the back cover, it has a couple of allusions to evolution, so I suspect that one will have more than a few jokes about millions of years and such. So, pick up Triple Play, but it might be worth giving book #4 a miss.</p><p><b>Conclusion</b></p><p>This is a kid’s comic that sticks to that target audience: it’s fun, creative, and while this isn’t really trying to teach kids anything, whatever morals there are to the stories (maybe, “be a good teammate,” or “work hard,” etc.) are ones we can appreciate. This would make for a fantastic Christmas present for any kid who likes baseball, fuzzy animals, comics, or even none of the above.</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/flWKrF1_ojI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-36435491939603663382022-09-10T23:29:00.005-07:002022-09-10T23:29:00.212-07:00The Hobbit: an illustrated edition of the fantasy classic<i>by J.R.R. Tolkien </i><br />adapted by Charles Dixon<br />illustrated by David Wenzel<br />1990 / 133 pages<br />
<p>There's a hierarchy so unfailingly true it could be carved into stone: the book is always better than the movie, and the movie is always better than the graphic novel adaptation. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXNOOj-bklQ/YB5E_LXe2kI/AAAAAAAAD1w/Qq9kbhtilYwJv1RdAEdbdaFv6h6wOchhwCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/hobbit.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="374" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXNOOj-bklQ/YB5E_LXe2kI/AAAAAAAAD1w/Qq9kbhtilYwJv1RdAEdbdaFv6h6wOchhwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/hobbit.jpg" /></a></div>But I am here to tell you that this otherwise unfailing rule does have an exception! I'm not going to start talking all crazy and tell you that this comic is better than the book – that has never been and never will be! – but <i>it is better than the film! </i>It is even better than <i>many </i>a book, paling in comparison only to its original source material. <p></p><p>For those unfamiliar with the epic tale, this is the story of Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit, and a hobbit is basically human-like, though half the size and with at least twice the hair on their feet. Hobbits are homebodies so Biblo isn't exactly sure how he joined a dwarfish expedition to steal back their treasure from an enormous talking dragon. Small though he might be, Biblo is big in character, and though he doesn't think himself brave, in meeting up with trolls, goblins, giant spiders, and, of course, an even bigger dragon, he ends up doing many a brave thing. It's a good old-fashioned epic tale, with good, eventually, triumphing over evil...but not without paying a price. </p><p>That's the original, and the 133 pages of this graphic novel adaptation give this the space to capture it all. And illustrator David Wenzel has given this a classic look for this classic tale - there's a reason that in the 30 years since this first came out, no one has even attempted to improve on it. </p><p>Its size and depth mean this isn't for the casual comic fan, but for fantasy fans 14 and up, this will be such a treat!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNPJlmul-MacpNvJTs02QjGnXFfKFc7eOOfAiFCFW51E3AZ5aGQruz0pcYMS2MxDeBGxHEY4Jk9N5G4ZzvdjFpPnmioQydUFuvIn4ySUVJwHXumn9QR8IcGN1RQwCOrUn4Ng0ENcBTy_KFYjLQ_SHXWgVUPCL6_85_0SYXuTvYTrAzK_sy_vRlG9c/s1920/Hobbit2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNPJlmul-MacpNvJTs02QjGnXFfKFc7eOOfAiFCFW51E3AZ5aGQruz0pcYMS2MxDeBGxHEY4Jk9N5G4ZzvdjFpPnmioQydUFuvIn4ySUVJwHXumn9QR8IcGN1RQwCOrUn4Ng0ENcBTy_KFYjLQ_SHXWgVUPCL6_85_0SYXuTvYTrAzK_sy_vRlG9c/w640-h360/Hobbit2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-67644707791072337222022-09-06T17:06:00.002-07:002022-09-06T21:29:47.617-07:00Mis-inflation: the truth about inflation, pricing, and the creation of wealth<i>by Douglas Wilson and David Bahnsen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrcnm6HGE1xnfmnzdf39RdZqvef-KgSGe3j6kRN98YGJEs64QYPRVlhBvCnEaka1K2pIkV42JniuByf1_tE_szkgXT6hk9X4zN2K63GzHfN2PDgLP0iuomp-rEKqKJenBcR_Mqw6aW2vyImH4Tej4tAlMssGYYfohcUjlITFMDQdll4jH2maEWeoV/s560/Mis-inflate.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="363" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrcnm6HGE1xnfmnzdf39RdZqvef-KgSGe3j6kRN98YGJEs64QYPRVlhBvCnEaka1K2pIkV42JniuByf1_tE_szkgXT6hk9X4zN2K63GzHfN2PDgLP0iuomp-rEKqKJenBcR_Mqw6aW2vyImH4Tej4tAlMssGYYfohcUjlITFMDQdll4jH2maEWeoV/s320/Mis-inflate.jpg" width="207" /></a></div></i>2022 / 140 pages<br />
<p>Over the last ten years hyperinflation has wiped out the Venezuelan currency, reducing it to 1/40 billionth of what it once was, and for years now I've been wondering, aren't we in danger of heading in the same direction? Isn't it just a matter of math that if our governments keep printing <em>more</em> money, that money will be worth <em>less</em> – if they double it, shouldn't each bill end up being worth half as much? </p><p>And if that's so, what with Western governments' stimulus handouts, quantitative easing, and COVID emergency spending, why haven't we become Venezuela already? </p><p>That's the lead question that Pastor Douglas asks financial manager David Bahnsen in <i>Mis-inflation.</i> It's a series of back-and-forth emails, with Wilson the interviewer, and Bahnsen (son of Reformed presuppositional apologist Greg Bahnsen), giving his best replies. The short answer is, that we probably don't need to worry about Venezuelan-type hyperinflation (and, consequently, don't need to start buying gold), but stagnating like Japan is a real danger. </p><p>More important still was a connection made between economic worries and the Parable of the Talents. The unfaithful servant fearfully buried his talent, but we are called, even in economic downturns, to take what God has given us and seek a return on it to His glory. </p><p>Now, if economics is not your interest, this will be a tough read - it took me about three chapters to begin to understand what Bahnsen was explaining (though Wilson's questions did help unpack Bahnsen's answers). However, if you are interested, this has some helpful answers that don't seem readily available anywhere else, which makes it worth the effort! </p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-50237581967136007262022-09-03T22:45:00.039-07:002022-09-03T22:45:00.194-07:00Only When It’s Dark Can We See the Stars: a father’s journal as his son battles cancer<i>by John van Popta<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzVBVNj-tr9UHxJo9vRsRYCVWjUP1KA8ugb-PhAxXEcxS_V_JbSuM7hsIzP6G5NdOx_WO2LoWSheJK7jX0WNDOd1oyuW93HQnxH-b13Yr7csy0PLE6Gl1tbWRvhs9qNTnfpoqUvtTSvTGr1_TnBLhDO9xs9gYaJP74gjdEPQqoqLBBd3jC0lJ56ZJ/s560/dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="373" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzVBVNj-tr9UHxJo9vRsRYCVWjUP1KA8ugb-PhAxXEcxS_V_JbSuM7hsIzP6G5NdOx_WO2LoWSheJK7jX0WNDOd1oyuW93HQnxH-b13Yr7csy0PLE6Gl1tbWRvhs9qNTnfpoqUvtTSvTGr1_TnBLhDO9xs9gYaJP74gjdEPQqoqLBBd3jC0lJ56ZJ/s320/dark.jpg" width="213" /></a></div></i>
2022, 194 pages<br />
<p><i><i>Why Lord?</i> </i>That’s the question 12-year-old Julian van Popta, his parents, and his siblings had to contend with when this young man was diagnosed with leukemia. <i>Only When It’s Dark Can We See the Stars</i> is an account of the four years that followed, as written by his father, Pastor John van Popta. The chapters are made up of the regular updates Rev. van Popta sent out to friends and family during the rounds of Julian’s treatment. </p><p>What’s striking, and what makes this such a valuable read, is the trust the author demonstrates in God, even as the van Poptas struggled with why God would bring such sickness. As the author shares, it is one thing to face cancer as a pastor comforting parishioners, and another thing to do so as a parent seeing their child too weak even to eat. The question <i>Why Lord?</i> is made all the more urgent when, during Julian’s repeated hospital stays, they meet other children also battling cancer, and the van Poptas share in these families’ hopes and their losses – Julian does eventually recover, but many others do not. </p><p>While this is a deeply personal account, the struggle to trust God in the face of death is one that we’ll all have to face, and this then is an example of how to struggle well. It is a father writing, but there’s no missing this is also a pastor who wants to feed the sheep with what he knows we need: to understand that my only comfort is that I am not my own but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. That truth, powerfully delivered, makes this not simply a good book, but an important one.</p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-78588988951712479632022-08-15T01:11:00.000-07:002022-08-15T01:11:00.201-07:00The Flames of Rome<i>by Paul L. Maier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGAVWn_cYVV2sf1nbKRb2OnHYH7xus2RFV5Ff74btn8NO94_2E13jTkck_zBORZ05sUQxYM_uMC4ZtZAyOznRBR1tVZOyljxe3Zclv5qiMhs3y0y_losWSjikUT-shFyiZSJ4i2EXGjyur_jOuTRD3oIcDUcqKz5_DZIthITQms2iuSLu_00fWFb5/s560/flames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="372" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGAVWn_cYVV2sf1nbKRb2OnHYH7xus2RFV5Ff74btn8NO94_2E13jTkck_zBORZ05sUQxYM_uMC4ZtZAyOznRBR1tVZOyljxe3Zclv5qiMhs3y0y_losWSjikUT-shFyiZSJ4i2EXGjyur_jOuTRD3oIcDUcqKz5_DZIthITQms2iuSLu_00fWFb5/s320/flames.jpg" width="213" /></a></div></i>
Kregel Publications<div>1981 / 445 pages<br />
<br />
If you like history, church history, or historical fiction, you’ll likely love this well written tale of Rome in the time of Nero. The Flames of Rome recounts Nero’s rise to power, his reign as emperor of Rome, and his ultimate brutal death.<br />
<br />
Strictly speaking, this book is not history. While it’s certainly true to the historical period, and works with real, historical characters, it fills in a lot of details. For example, at one point the apostle Paul visits Rome and we learn about his interaction with other characters in the book. Did Paul visit Rome? Yes, he did. Did Paul sit down and talk with the other characters in the book? Since the other characters, like Paul, really did exist, it’s possible. Will we ever know for sure? It’s doubtful.<br />
<br />
Though the book works with historical characters and detail, it’s still fictional. It’s useful to give you the full flavor of the glory, and the immorality, that was Rome. Nero, as one of Rome’s more depraved emperors, is depicted in all his disgusting glory. His fascination with his friend’s wife, and his ultimate success in taking her for himself is real enough. Her desire for Nero, her seduction of him is a useful plot device that could’ve happened but probably didn’t.<br />
<br />
What made the book fascinating for me was the way the rise of Christianity was woven through the storyline. Early on, the character Pomponia encounters Christianity and is sorely tempted to get involved with this strange yet exciting sect. This, naturally, causes friction between her and her very Roman husband. The trouble does not stop there. Pomponia’s daughter, Plautia, becomes a Christian as well. Her new husband, Sabinus, happily indulges her beliefs in this offbeat Jewish sect, but becomes more influenced by them than he might have imagined. Sabinus, in his eventual role as governor of Rome, must struggle with his desire to free Rome from the insanity of Nero, while trying not to betray the Christian beliefs he is increasingly calling his own.<br />
<br />
The only caution I have about this book is that if you are squeamish, this tale may not be for you. While Maier writes with delicacy, it’s still clear that Nero is bisexual, and that Christians die in horrible, terrifying ways. Maier strikes an admirable balance between letting his readers know of the depravity of Rome without using needless and titillating detail. Yet the gross reality is there since a tale like this cannot ignore it.<br />
<br />
It’s a good tale and it makes for an easy read. It’s historical fiction that’s good enough that it could’ve happened. Read this book.</div>Linushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844685804840757785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-68570951195368366322022-08-13T15:54:00.004-07:002022-08-13T18:04:53.056-07:00Snow Treasure<i>by Marie McSwigan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOE7puhD0srCrVe0qYVquoKdSnqw4V_X75cqY4swCGLjio44TP9A6ycHPEcJ9IWyXFBuMjBh8LNk-ed_arTOuHqcTYUpHeWPMGxsb3eDEs42KT_ktv6XFGMsHqPHls4pay8NpkvejcyerhISp6yvrHvi20pk9a_IT0D3swD6kciozld043Ppr25YM/s560/Snow.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="362" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOE7puhD0srCrVe0qYVquoKdSnqw4V_X75cqY4swCGLjio44TP9A6ycHPEcJ9IWyXFBuMjBh8LNk-ed_arTOuHqcTYUpHeWPMGxsb3eDEs42KT_ktv6XFGMsHqPHls4pay8NpkvejcyerhISp6yvrHvi20pk9a_IT0D3swD6kciozld043Ppr25YM/s320/Snow.jpg" width="207" /></a></div></i>
1942 / 196 pages
<p>In 1940, shortly after the Germans invaded Norway, a Norwegian freighter arrived in the US city of Baltimore carrying $9 million worth of gold bullion. This cargo has been smuggled out of the country to keep it from the Nazis, and as a news account from the time noted, children on sleds had been used to slip it past the invaders.</p><p><i>Snow Treasure, </i>published two years later, expands on those scant details to give young readers a story that should be understood as much more fiction than fact: 12-year-old Peter Lundstrom, and all the other children are made-up characters, as are all the events and details.</p><p>But what's true about this tale, and the reason it is worth reading is the bravery of not just the children, but the parents too in putting their children at risk to keep this wealth out of the hands of men who would use it only for evil. It's this celebration of courage and conviction that's likely kept this continuously in print since it was first published 80 years ago! (It was awarded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award" target="_blank">Young Reader's Choice Award</a> back in 1945 when winning it meant something.)</p><p>There are no cautions to offer. While there is peril, no one dies or even gets shot at. </p><p><i>Snow Treasure</i> will be best enjoyed by children in Grades 2 and 3, and might be a quick fun read for those even a little older. Over the decades it has been published with all sorts of covers, both terrible and terrific, so be sure to get a good one.</p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-82317489480493010702022-08-11T13:57:00.004-07:002022-08-11T13:57:53.630-07:00The New Has Come<i>by Christine Farenhorst<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YRtXSpw13nq2Oce5sA7BsE5Tc4dwefNI4UIyZSQLBIxs4VU6OQM12whGFNYLUgsBvuHW85gsp9EEg5B9_I1LD9B8IvnyhysCuA62wm86c1kWmm1nD8baKgc85uf8qgq-pljx686R0ar0XfEGvXOuk0Q8KIubgxzQv37uXdZPOJ98lkEBwhsh4bON/s560/New%20has%20come.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="373" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YRtXSpw13nq2Oce5sA7BsE5Tc4dwefNI4UIyZSQLBIxs4VU6OQM12whGFNYLUgsBvuHW85gsp9EEg5B9_I1LD9B8IvnyhysCuA62wm86c1kWmm1nD8baKgc85uf8qgq-pljx686R0ar0XfEGvXOuk0Q8KIubgxzQv37uXdZPOJ98lkEBwhsh4bON/w213-h320/New%20has%20come.jpg" width="213" /></a></div></i>
2022 / 262 pages
<p>Linnet is a five-year-old Dutch girl who, we discover, knows absolutely nothing about God. Her ignorance is so profound that when the Nazis invade, and an occupying soldier tells little Linnet about the wonderful family that "God has given" him, she wonders, <i>Who is this God he is talking about?</i> and <i>Is God German </i>For our own children, who may take always knowing God for granted, it will be eye-opening to follow what it's like, and how wonderful it is, for someone to be introduced to God for the first time. </p><p>Linnet has the same wonderings any kid might have, but her wartime experiences also have her asking deeper questions, including a child's version of "God are you really there?" </p><p>Christine Farenhorst's <span><em>The New Has Come</em></span> is that rarity that will appeal to all ages: the World War II setting and charming protagonist will grab your children; moms and dads will appreciate Linnet's questions and the opportunities they present to talk about God with our kids, and grandparents will get more than a little misty-eyed at just how beautifully this tale is told. I could not recommend it more highly!</p><p>As you some blog readers might know, Christine writes regularly for the magazine I helm, Reformed Perspective, and if you want to get a taste of her writing <a href="https://reformedperspective.ca/tag/christine-farenhorst/" target="_blank">you read some of her many articles on the RP website here</a>. </p><p>You can also get a preview of the book's first chapter at the <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/New-Has-Come-Christine-Farenhorst/dp/B0B7QFSG85/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JBOW0MSCWIJ6&keywords=the+new+has+come&qid=1660250941&sprefix=the+new+has+come%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-1&asin=B0B7QFSG85&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1" target="_blank">Amazon.ca listing here</a>. </p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-84343021970585788812022-08-01T14:49:00.002-07:002022-08-01T15:00:00.397-07:00Chris Chrisman Goes to College<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_5ynnU7KKHwbAsH4NuYSW-K3YuTNLq70AobL4GqV3yN6DTetqdRqWENmdMqyU9UvO5QD3ct1IihL1wDfVMExal6utIJIgxe7bHVcXYmI9TTU0IrEbM05UwcgZiOyGbsD7ukFuXQNl8E5jwc7Vbzts__SWxfPPP9y-lE74RCPZbqw6Cwakgn6P_sK/s450/Chris%20Chrisman%20Goes%20to%20College.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_5ynnU7KKHwbAsH4NuYSW-K3YuTNLq70AobL4GqV3yN6DTetqdRqWENmdMqyU9UvO5QD3ct1IihL1wDfVMExal6utIJIgxe7bHVcXYmI9TTU0IrEbM05UwcgZiOyGbsD7ukFuXQNl8E5jwc7Vbzts__SWxfPPP9y-lE74RCPZbqw6Cwakgn6P_sK/w195-h293/Chris%20Chrisman%20Goes%20to%20College.jpg" width="195" /></a><b>and faces the challenges of relativism, individualism, and pluralism</b></p><p><i>by James W. Sire</i><br />1993 / 155 pages</p><p>The clearest way to describe this book is as an apologetic novel - not one that apologizes for Christian faith, but one that puts forward arguments for not only Christianity, but for the engagement of Christians with society - as Chris Chrisman, a Christian, and Bob Wong, an atheist, have their world(view)s turned upside-down by the relativism of their university education.</p><p>Whether the name <i>Wong </i>is a sly shot at the <i>wrong</i>ness of atheism is debatable, but the story is full of punny names. Chrisman and Wong share their search for intellectual clarity with their mutual friend, Bill Seipel, who is indeed a faithful di<i>sciple </i>of Christ.</p><p>However, the novel is more than a set of Socratic dialogues (like the works of the Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft, which are <a href="http://www.reallygoodreads.com/search?q=kreeft">reviewed or previewed on this blog</a>). A few additions make the story a potentially more compelling read. First, the story is told mostly through the eyes of Chris, including his concern for his roommate Bob, as well as his increasing interest in Susie Sylvan - but the book also glancingly brings in several other characters whose reaction to religious and social issues parallel both the current complexities of those issues and the different kinds of seed spread in the parable of the sower in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+13%3A1-23&version=ESV">Matthew 13:1-23</a>. Second, the author James W. Sire alternates Chris's fictional story with chapters on the historical development of the worldviews facing the students at Hansom State University - individualism, pluralism, privatization, and varied types of relativism. In the process, Sire makes clear that Christians, no matter how sincere, often do not see the power of the kingdom of God to bring about not only individual salvation, but also the entrance of salt and light into our broken society.</p><p>The only problem is that Sire's concerns and suggested solutions tilt heavily in the direction of the quest for social justice, including his list of organizations that seek to bring Christian perspective to social issues - and of course, the list is out of date. As well, Sire describes the problem of individualism as extending even to significant denominational differences. For that reason, I suggest that the book is a good one to become acquainted with some of the challenges of campus life and instruction, but needs to be taken with a grain of salt regarding exactly how churches and Christians need to engage more fully with each other and our broken world.</p>Jeff Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15244687154866717719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-70553150717360149202022-07-01T16:17:00.005-07:002022-07-01T16:21:17.168-07:00Virginia Lee Burton: Queen of nostalgia<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTop_KA_g1Bvw_lbDVXeGurN41UuijPjYvv4NWmO_D7Nson51he0IZ16eSxj4AQag807-t6vMOEcrNu12-kg77y3wn9Q41sLJ1ahpdGAiNz5cCQH0zc59pMRkXXz44TaDt_L7RAbYoXqbqqkSlYVTeZrVqZzhltFt7ZCxBx3fpUZ1IT-q0vJ4uijU/s617/Katy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="617" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTop_KA_g1Bvw_lbDVXeGurN41UuijPjYvv4NWmO_D7Nson51he0IZ16eSxj4AQag807-t6vMOEcrNu12-kg77y3wn9Q41sLJ1ahpdGAiNz5cCQH0zc59pMRkXXz44TaDt_L7RAbYoXqbqqkSlYVTeZrVqZzhltFt7ZCxBx3fpUZ1IT-q0vJ4uijU/s320/Katy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />One of the funnest things about Virginia Lee Burton's books is the history behind them – these are <i>classics</i>! A mom reading <i>Katy and the Big Snow</i> to her daughters might remember her own parents reading the same book to her. Since they first came out in the 1940s, Virginia Lee Burton's books have been enjoyed by three generations.
<p></p><p>But there's more to the nostalgia, because even when they were brand new, they likely had a timeless feel. That's because, rather than being about Burton's present, they were a look back, celebrating a not-so distant past that seemed calmer, simpler, better.
</p><p>The idyllic yesteryear that Burton presents is just a bit before her own childhood, in the transition period between the late 19th and early 20th century. It's a curious time to pick as the wistful pinnacle of civilization. It's an age in which mechanization is already in place, so why is <i>Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel </i>worth celebrating, but the diessel shovels that followed are somehow threatening? But that is the pinnacle she picks, not only in <i>Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel</i>, but <i>Maybelle the Cable Car,</i> and then again in <i>The Little House.
</i></p><p>To be clear, these are more than quiet laments at the rapid technological advances that were revolutionizing the way life was lived. They are also a hubbub of activity, with all sorts of machines at work, and piles to see on every page. This busyness is then contrasted by the happy, calm conclusion to each story.
</p><p>While it's fun to take a peek at the past from someone who really appreciates the age she's depicting, parents might remind their children of what the Preacher says in Ecclesiastes 7:10: "Say not 'Why were the former days better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask this." To romanticize the past can sometimes be to overlook the many blessings God is showering on us right now.
</p><p><b>RECOMMENDED</b></p><p>Her four most popular are available separately and also in a compendium together. They are wonderful!
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJYsloyjfBaEM-iqUWjEnKBJCEE83G89RvwIfLNO5Zax9TJhAIVXQj-OI49rM8k6wYKvvH1A-gqlo3jKx5NYV0BF5h-OOb2PNRc-QbjnkEchtb4u31A5nh3I7SGK7ZobtUM5TlbOYwpmwa1zq63mIjv-a78pzltD2mAuGfWwO6_bPchNyRheLvnjR/s611/Mike-Mulligan.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="611" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJYsloyjfBaEM-iqUWjEnKBJCEE83G89RvwIfLNO5Zax9TJhAIVXQj-OI49rM8k6wYKvvH1A-gqlo3jKx5NYV0BF5h-OOb2PNRc-QbjnkEchtb4u31A5nh3I7SGK7ZobtUM5TlbOYwpmwa1zq63mIjv-a78pzltD2mAuGfWwO6_bPchNyRheLvnjR/s320/Mike-Mulligan.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="color: #990000;">Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel</span></b><br />
1939 / 48 pages<br />
<p></p><p>Mike Mulligan and his beautiful red steam shovel, Mary Anne, do a lot of digging in this story: cutting canals, lowering hills, straightening curves. But as technology advances, and new electric, diesel, and gasoline shovels come along, no one wants to hire a steam shovel. But instead of sending Mary Anne to the junkyard, Mike takes her to a small town looking to dig the cellar for their new town hall. He tells them that Mary Anne can do the job in a day, or they won’t have to pay him. The real fun here is not in finding out whether she gets the job done in time, but in the sweet way the story ends, with Mary Anne and Mike finding new jobs to keep them both busy.
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;">The Little House</span></b><br />
1942 / 44 pages<br />
The story starts with a solid little house in the country that can just see the lights of the city on the horizon at night. But as the decades pass, the city approaches and then engulfs the little house, making her sad. But when the first owner’s great great-granddaughter comes across, she decides to move the solid little house to a new spot, out in the country once more.
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKpJCtKGaTs5SsIZtr4kyL0elmmXaxqj0j0q2RAYwNmq5UzPQ1K5iTQs0VxEd_zwpHRvL6UmEX9GpIs9I4nPOQr6EViYI7wntAUXdUuuDFiIbRd8gY_8b7hPdX_JkpzI45GT0lg6nc_z8EbxXz_Lmn5-0dSuXasj-Roj0JZzQZTS6kAyap1eivM83/s594/Maybelle.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="594" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKpJCtKGaTs5SsIZtr4kyL0elmmXaxqj0j0q2RAYwNmq5UzPQ1K5iTQs0VxEd_zwpHRvL6UmEX9GpIs9I4nPOQr6EViYI7wntAUXdUuuDFiIbRd8gY_8b7hPdX_JkpzI45GT0lg6nc_z8EbxXz_Lmn5-0dSuXasj-Roj0JZzQZTS6kAyap1eivM83/s320/Maybelle.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="color: #990000;">Katy and the Big Snow</span></b><br />
1943 / 40 pages<br />
<p></p><p>A big red crawler tractor named Katy can push dirt in the summer, but when winter comes, she’s the only one strong enough to push through all the snow. When a Big Snow hits, and all the plow trucks get stuck, and the snow piles up to three feet, five feet, and even more, then it’s time for Katy to save the day. She clears roads for ambulances, fire trucks, the police, the mailman, the phone and electric company, and then even clears the runway for a plane that otherwise would have crashed. Katy saved the day!
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;">MayBelle the Cable Car</span></b><br />
1952 / 52 pages<br />
</p><p>Maybelle is a cable car who spends her days going up and down San Fransisco’s steepest roads, and she's been doing so for decades. But now the city wants to do away with all the cable cars and replace them with big new busses. Will Maybelle be out of a job? No, because a campaign by citizens to keep the money-losing cable cars wins the day. Yay? What this presumes is that, so long at the majority rules, it's okay to use tax dollars for non-neccesities of all sorts, including wisful ones. So parents might have to talk their children through this one, to ensure little ones don't walk away with that lesson.
</p><p><b>TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT</b></p><p>Fun to read once or twice, these don't need to make the cut for personal or school library shelves.
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNyyxst-usqqzPF2B8iEwdggNdUDr8gFdlQRcn7wXS35ihnV31VOK310jWCGGt0lSkB2aEszFsN-flHXp4b2akbpB0U8bs1CWlkCXOXLhlUbNKsl_6mvPoCuVCvlLmHBahZqdnP9jN_qIwxquEJf1Uo0OZ3CSsXZZjK5SwC-TYz6tUWI5lHAikbHA/s807/calico.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="807" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNyyxst-usqqzPF2B8iEwdggNdUDr8gFdlQRcn7wXS35ihnV31VOK310jWCGGt0lSkB2aEszFsN-flHXp4b2akbpB0U8bs1CWlkCXOXLhlUbNKsl_6mvPoCuVCvlLmHBahZqdnP9jN_qIwxquEJf1Uo0OZ3CSsXZZjK5SwC-TYz6tUWI5lHAikbHA/s320/calico.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="color: #990000;">Calico, the Wonder Horse</span></b><br />
1941 / 67 pages<br />
<p></p><p>A peaceful Western county is disrupted by a gang of bad guys. The wonder horse Calico disguises herself with a black mud bath so that Stewy Stinker, leader of the gang, will mistake her for his horse. When he does, she gives him a wild ride to jail. He escapes and makes plans to hold up the stagecoach only to discover that it is full of presents for the town’s children for Christmas Eve. Stinky starts crying because “I didn’t know I was that mean… holding up Santa on Christmas Eve. I’m never going to be bad anymore.” So the bad guys all decide to be good. This is a fun exciting story, but this people-are-only-bad-because-they-are-misunderstood turn at the end obscures that there is real evil in the world, fully determined to be wicked, and they must be fought and not coddled.
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;">Choo Choo</span></b><br />
1937 / 48 pages<br />
</p><p>A hard-working train engine, Choo Choo takes a bratty turn and decides she wants to go out on her own, so she runs away. After a misadventure, causing all sorts of mishaps as she flies through crossings and even leaps over an open train drawbridge, Choo Choo eventually runs out of steam and is left all on her own at the end of an abandoned line. Fortunately, her conductor, engineer, and fireman go after her, find her, and bring her home, much to Choo Choo’s relief – she’s learned her lesson and pledges never to run away again.
</p><p><b>DON'T BOTHER</b></p><p>The second book below made this category on, admittedly, a bit of nitpick, but the first earned its spot, being nothing but propoganda.
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;">Life Story</span></b> - At 80 pages, this is Burton’s biggest book by far, and all of it a godless evolutionary account of how life on earth originated. We move through millions of years of history until, in the concluding pages set in Burton’s time, there is on display, her wistful longing for a simple, country life.
</p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;">The Emperor’s New Clothes</span></b> - Burton illustrated this Hans Christian Anderson classic. As much as I like the story, what I’m looking for in an illustrated version for children is for the Emperor's nakedness to be strategically and artfully obscured. Burton almost pulls it off, but on the last page we have a naked butt, and yes, it is a cartoonish naked butt. However, she's already shown in previous pages that this nudity is unneeded. For this tittering age group, one naked butt is one too many.
</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b></p><p>If one could overdose on Virigina Lee Burton that might lead a child to romanticize the past, and maybe even take an anti-progress, almost Luddite turn. But Burton didn't write all that much, so this isn't much of a concern.
</p><p>Instead we can just enjoy her timeless books for the lovely look back that they are. We can dig up our own old copy, and point out all the action going on, the favorite bits that we recall from so many years ago "when your grandpappy used to read this to me." Burton at her best offers up stories that will endure at least long enough for you to read them to your grandchildren too.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-44992322705082366882022-06-28T10:00:00.005-07:002022-08-13T16:02:51.151-07:00Medallion<i>by Dawn L. Watkins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpX4n9DIMJMgKJlJbSQjzDIz1yBCiw9lD0OKp4FEheby8o_PaWzbuX46l2XXruWupkda5iNNkV9kGB9aMdU0gYhD_SKbGFqkkHSKCCZpRd5-a85HO62rq5_in6_r4wimBnIvfefObpSm2EQEgCGvtpjaFoH8GlpjD7xndkTlwVoSo0nRMy0SwH8NRu/s866/MedallionWatkins.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpX4n9DIMJMgKJlJbSQjzDIz1yBCiw9lD0OKp4FEheby8o_PaWzbuX46l2XXruWupkda5iNNkV9kGB9aMdU0gYhD_SKbGFqkkHSKCCZpRd5-a85HO62rq5_in6_r4wimBnIvfefObpSm2EQEgCGvtpjaFoH8GlpjD7xndkTlwVoSo0nRMy0SwH8NRu/s320/MedallionWatkins.jpg" width="207" /></a></div></i>
1985 / 213 pages<br />
<p>This will be a fun one for Grade 4/5 boys. Young Trave plans to be king one day, but in the meantime, the current king of Gadalla, his uncle, won't even let him learn to ride a horse. Trave's life takes a turn when a rider comes to warn his uncle of an impending war, and tries to recruit him as an ally against the "Dark Alliance." His uncle dismisses the warning but allows Trave to head off with the departing rider, happy to be done with this annoying boy. But why does the rider have any interest in Trave? Because the rider turns out to be the king of the neighboring nation of Kapnos, and he knew Trave's father back when he was the fighting king of Gadalla. This King Gris is eager to help Trave become the king not simply that Trave wants to be, but that the neighboring nations need him to be, to stop the Dark Alliance.
</p><p>And while Trave appreciates being rescued from his uncle, he doesn't like being treated like a schoolboy in need of lessons. He mistakenly believes that being a king means fighting and giving orders, rather than serving. And that makes him susceptible to the flattery of the Dark Alliance's leader, who wants Trave on <i>his</i> side.
</p><p>This is a quick tale, that has some depth to it, because of the three kingly lessons that Trave needs to know, not just by heart, but in his bones. He finds out, the hard way, that a king needs: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>to learn what is true</li><li>to believe what is true</li><li>to act on what is true </li></ul><p></p><p>While the author is Christian, that's more notable in the lack of any new age or woke weirdness, rather than the presence of any spiritual dimension to the book. The only diety-mention of any kind is that the bad guys worship and are also terrified of owls.
</p><p>Boys will love the story, and appreciate the twenty or so great pictures, including one of the evil king riding what looks like a miniature (yet still large) T-rex. That's a reason to get the book all on its own! Another highlight is the curious creature Nog, who lives under a bog, and his every line, is always spoken in rhyme.
</p><p>While this is a little too simple for teens, it's one that'll really appeal to the 9-12 set, and younger even, if Dad is reading it as a bedtime book. </p><p>This works well as a stand-alone, but I was initially excited to learn there is both a sequel and a prequel. However, the sequel, <i>Arrow </i>struck me as having too many characters to keep track of, and there was an added mystical dimension thrown in, where a queen and princess used a mirrored portal to unexplainedly travel to another realm. Mysterious can be good when the mystery is eventually revealed, but this magical turn is left unexplained, and that bothered both me and my oldest daughter too when she read it. </p><p>The original was good enough that I still checked out the prequel, <i>Shield</i>, and while it might have also suffered from too many characters, it was much more like the original: good, if not quite as great. So I'd recommend just the two - <em>Medallion</em> and <em>Shield</em> – while noting that the content in <em>Arrow</em> is "safe" enough (there's nothing problematic) for any child who wants to complete the series.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-15028086819162543012022-06-08T16:04:00.004-07:002022-06-08T16:04:53.263-07:00Urchin of the Riding Stars<i>by M.I. McAllister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrZ3iPOSFpKOxS0-4rZLVWg63hvJvTluKudw1x6Ph8ltlbmcSH866NoyRZsNOKFN3wJB84M16WFj-joUTVXPW4ToCDDnZhAlg9m6TcWLApLbrPuS8GIqWQXZlXRA0Q3sun1mWAttLi4H4MFxsqcXN5P8FbXrIKlHl_J6qfukL0ukEH6iq60wy1jkm/s560/Urchin.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="371" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrZ3iPOSFpKOxS0-4rZLVWg63hvJvTluKudw1x6Ph8ltlbmcSH866NoyRZsNOKFN3wJB84M16WFj-joUTVXPW4ToCDDnZhAlg9m6TcWLApLbrPuS8GIqWQXZlXRA0Q3sun1mWAttLi4H4MFxsqcXN5P8FbXrIKlHl_J6qfukL0ukEH6iq60wy1jkm/s320/Urchin.jpg" width="212" /></a></div></i>
2021 / 299 pages<br />
<p>This was so good I had to share bits of it with my wife. This is an animals-with-swords tale, the hedgehogs, otters, moles, and squirrels all living together in the same island kingdom under the good King Brushen. </p><p>But all is not well in the kingdom of Mistmantle – there are "cullings" being done to the newborn handicapped children. This is quite the somber subject for a children's book, and as the culling are considered for the elderly too, it's clear that the author is speaking to both abortion and euthanasia. </p><p>The young Urchin is very much opposed, but his heroes, Captains Crispin and Padra, don't seem to be doing anything to stop it, and the third captain, Husk, seems to be enjoying it! So who are the good guys then? Who can Urchin turn to for help to save these children? It turns out some of the good guys are indeed good, but, on the other hand, some turn out to be really, really bad. </p><p>This a fairytale that takes seriously the Chesterton quote about dragons:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">"Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon."</p><p>There is evil in this book, and the might even turn off some of its target preteen to early teen audience. But it gets to be quite the rollicking adventure soon enough, full of courtly intrigue, conspiracies, and heroes being heroic. </p><p>I think the author is Christian, and the God of this story is referred to as "the Heart." This spiritual element isn't huge, but it is persistent and doesn't stray into anything weird or wacky. I know this will be a book I'll enjoy reading to my kids. An otherwise entertaining second book in this <em>Mistmantle Chronicles </em>series is marred by an agenda-pushing, albeit passing, mention of a female priest. The first book stands well enough on its own, so in our house I think we're going to start and stop with number one.</p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-86042689458197608232022-05-24T11:45:00.006-07:002022-05-24T11:45:34.845-07:00Nobody knows how to make a pizza<i>by Julie Borowski<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQu8dEVqxlaLzuCwVRWbHkmO4olgxRW9r-OUF8imxzq7M2zlK9fo-7DzIlbI0jxTWXZ06vLiNPJCiVmp3v0T5ZrbMDLlu1TfT0uFJd1XECxalztKEVBVAp2tt4VNSQi8WIbozHMVAItFfJv2OsMsLA1GybS8deqDtpGxOjNutB4HCAyYnE6a38tLlt/s1104/Pizza2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1104" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQu8dEVqxlaLzuCwVRWbHkmO4olgxRW9r-OUF8imxzq7M2zlK9fo-7DzIlbI0jxTWXZ06vLiNPJCiVmp3v0T5ZrbMDLlu1TfT0uFJd1XECxalztKEVBVAp2tt4VNSQi8WIbozHMVAItFfJv2OsMsLA1GybS8deqDtpGxOjNutB4HCAyYnE6a38tLlt/s320/Pizza2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></i>
2019 / 30 pages<br />
<p>The picture book’s title makes a claim that my daughter just couldn’t believe: “Come on Dad, <i>you</i> know how to make a pizza!”
</p><p>But do I really? Sure, I know how to combine a pizza crust with cheese and tomato sauce. I’m even very good at it. But the point this slim volume is trying to make is that there is a lot more to it.
</p><p>That flour I use started as grain that somebody had to grow, and I certainly don’t know how to do that. That farmer who does, brings in his crop using a wheat harvester, which he isn’t able to make himself. He’ll ship off his grain, perhaps via a train, which neither of us could ever manufacture. We also don’t know how to turn wheat into flour, and the folks that do, don’t know how to make the semi-trucks that ship their flour to grocery stores around the country. Making even the simple pizza crust requires a lot of different people all working together, with not one of them knowing how to get all the needed steps done. That’s why the pizza narrator’s claim – that “there’s not a single person on Earth who knows how to make me” – isn’t as outrageous as it first seem, And that doesn’t even get into the tomato sauce and cheese!
</p><p>You might be wondering, okay, but so what?
</p><p>The point of this little book (and the <a href="https://fee.org/resources/i-pencil/" target="_blank">1958 essay, <i>I, Pencil</i></a>, which inspired it) is to expose the arrogance of any big government’s central planners. Whether it’s full-blown communists who want to plan everything, or a democracy where the elected leadership “merely” direct large chunks of the economy (gov’t spending in Canada accounts for <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/canada" target="_blank">45% of GDP</a>, and their impact is extended further still via regulations), we have governments of all sorts all around the world that think they know how best to run things from the top down. However, if planning the production of a single cheese pizza is beyond the capabilities of any one man, or even a team of the very smartest people on earth, then why would we think the government could ever know enough to competently make the innumerable management decisions they make, from what <a href="https://reformedperspective.ca/tag/minimum-wage/" target="_blank">minimum wage</a> everyone should be paid, to how children should be educated in K-12 (and what they should learn), which companies should be bailed out or subsidized, or even <a href="https://www.fraserinstitute.org/podcast/the-non-compete-cause-supply-management-in-canada" target="_blank">how much milk should be produced?</a></p><p>Of course, if no one knows how to make a pizza, that prompts an obvious question: how is it that countless cheese pizzas are made every day?
</p><p>Instead of someone at the top planning it all out, this miracle occurs without much planning at all. The author of this picture book makes more of a libertarian presentation than a Christian one, so I’m using the term “miracle” here for a wonder she doesn’t really attempt to explain. But Christians do have an explanation. Now, we might take for granted what the free market can produce – cheaper computers, innovations like the smartphone, innumerable kinds of bagel – to the point it seems too ordinary to call all of that a miracle. But the free market is a miracle nonetheless, completely beyond anybody’s ability to plan and create, making it all the easier to see God’s fingerprints. His commandment “Do not steal” creates property rights, which is the basis for one person trading what they own to another for something they want more. If you can’t steal from others, then the only way to provide for yourself and your family is by producing something other people will value. You get money from them to meet your needs by making something that meets theirs. So God’s law is the basis for free trade and it is unplanned, unorganized free trade that has miraculously proven to be the <a href="https://www.reelconservative.com/2019/05/the-pursuit.html" target="_blank">most effective way of raising people out of poverty</a>. The government still has a role here – to prevent theft, enforce contract laws, and generally ensure that property rights are respected – but not in picking the winners and losers.
</p><p>While that’s deeper than this picture book goes, what Julie Borowski does highlight is the result: all sorts of strangers cooperating with one another, each looking out for their own interests, but together creating something that none of them could make on their own – innumerable voluntary exchanges and, eventually, violà a pizza!
</p><p>As noted, this book has a libertarian flavoring to it, and because libertarians can often be libertines on moral issues, their values can be at odds with what God knows is best. However, in this case the libertarian impulse for small government syncs up well with the Christian emphasis on humility and Man’s fallibility – we have a hard enough time trying to plan out our own lives, so it’s arrogant indeed for bureaucrats and politicians to think they can plan out everyone else’s lives for them. Better then, to limit (though certainly not eliminate) the government and what it does, so as to leave people the responsibility and allow them the freedom to manage their own lives.
</p><p>This would be read to best effect with a parent along for the ride. Otherwise I could see kids enjoying it, even as they entirely miss the overall small government argument being made.
</p><p>You can watch the author read her book below.
</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zf99Bl8tsuw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2116419822567190524.post-2623706428991795182022-05-18T17:40:00.007-07:002022-05-18T17:42:30.890-07:00 Owly: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer<i>by Andy Runton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk2BnjylPBYWKH0E0sSPfzH2K0d8kaltTicMg3u6XwUVWBcuohhERfu285mzh0x1F1SmMuys1N4Nk7BgUSsDpmKDljOObEVS4cQ1XWwHf_xxBsv3yvqG_OcfrKkNYjolv7s8-PyvNqQrs7Fahb4H2MRmRaqy3CpCh_2acVG6neC3HqcM1tbmslnv5/s560/Owly.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="394" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk2BnjylPBYWKH0E0sSPfzH2K0d8kaltTicMg3u6XwUVWBcuohhERfu285mzh0x1F1SmMuys1N4Nk7BgUSsDpmKDljOObEVS4cQ1XWwHf_xxBsv3yvqG_OcfrKkNYjolv7s8-PyvNqQrs7Fahb4H2MRmRaqy3CpCh_2acVG6neC3HqcM1tbmslnv5/s320/Owly.jpg" width="225" /></a></div></i>
2004 / 160 pages<br />
<p>This is two stories in one, and at about 80 pages each, they have room for some real fun. In the first, we get introduced to Owly, who, as you may have guessed, is an owl. The forest creatures are afraid of him because, well, he’s an owl, and they know that typically owls eat creatures like them. But not Owly. He’s a kinder gentler owl, and all he wants to do is feed his fellow birds seeds. </p><p>Sadly, no one trusts him, and Owly is all alone… until the night of the big storm! Then Owly finds a worm, half-drowned, and nurses it back to health. Worm, realizing he hadn’t been eaten, trusts and befriends Owly, which is the start of something beautiful. It’s never really explained what Owly does eat, but we can be certain that it isn’t cute little worms! </p><p>In the second story, Owly and Worm meet a couple of hummingbirds and have a great time until the little speedsters have to head south for the winter. But don’t worry, they’ll be back come Spring!</p>
<p>It’d be more accurate to call these “talkless” rather than “wordless” because, even as the dialogue between Owly and his worm friend is limited to symbols and punctuation marks – a question mark when one of them is puzzled and an exclamation mark when they are excited – there’s the occasional shop sign or even a whole encyclopedia page entry on hummingbirds that does require the reader to be able to actually read. </p><p>If you’re considering getting this for your school library, you’ll be interested to know there are two editions of this story, the first in black and white with this symbol-based dialogue, and the second, now titled simply <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: maroon;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Owly: The Way Home</b> </em></span></span>(2020) that is in full-color and adds in a minimal bit of verbiage between the characters. While I really like the original near-wordless version, it was sometimes a bit hard to decipher what Owly and his pal were saying to each other, so the second editions are probably the best way to go. Everything in this series seems to be gentle and kind including <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: maroon;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Just a Little Blue</b></em></span> (1st edition 2005 /2nd edition 2020, 130 pages), <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: maroon;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Flying Lessons</b></span></span> </em>(2005/2021, 144 pages), <b><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: maroon;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">A Time To Be Brave</em></span> </b>(2007/2022, 132 pages), and<b> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: maroon;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tiny Tales</em></span></b> (2008, 172 pages).</p>Jon Dykstrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13867992075746045379noreply@blogger.com0