God Gave Us the World

What a sweet little book this is!  I thought it would be a kind of fun book to review since we are going to be doing world geography next year for school and I thought this would be a fun introduction to the differences between people living in different places around the world.

It did exactly that!  Through the simple idea of using the differences between different types of bears I was able to teach my boys how people living around the world live in a huge variety of ways. We eat different foods.  We have different kinds of weather.  We talk differently and live at different paces.

The illustrations were sweet, as they are with all these books, and my boys really enjoyed it.  And of course I loved that everything ties directly back to God as the creator!  I am sure we will return back to God Gave Us the World many times throughout the year and am glad we had the chance to review it!

I was sent this book as a part of the Blogging for Books program from Waterbrook Press for honest review.  All opinions are solely my own.

Rumble, Zap, Pow (Review)

Rumble! Zap! Pow! by Diane Short and Illustrated by Luke Daab is a sweet and fun little Bible that packs a quick punch in a short space.  All the stories focus on ways that God proved himself mighty throughout the Bible and each story features a Mighty Thought (kind of like the theme), Power words (or key verse), and and activity to drive everything home.

I think this children's Bible is an ideal pick for little boys for a whole host of reasons! My boys have loved the comic book style. I think it keeps them actively involved, following all the different pictures around the page.  All the comic book style action words (such as a blast cloud with the word "Zoomfa" inside) really take the stories into "boy language" and speak straight to their little sound-effect sensibilities!  And there is just the cutest little sheep super hero who introduces all the stories- so that appeals to both mom and boys!

I will say that it is pretty surface, as Children's Bibles tend to be, but if you are just looking for a good overview of Bible Stories that present them in such a way that your kids are sure to listen, then you will most definitely enjoy Rumble!  Zap!  Pow! 

I was sent this book as a part of the Tyndale Blog Network.  All opinions are solely my own.

Hands on Bible Review & Giveaway!!

What a great Bible- for not only kids but the whole family!  Just to start off, I think this Bible does a really good job of personalizing the experience of reading God's word for kids and truly encourages them to get involved with it.

Each book features a great intro page that tells important facts, shows a timeline of the book's events and gives a synopsis that is written in a fun and engaging way- just to name a few.   There are also great bios of the heroes of the Bible; fun facts that make the Biblical text relate-able; and, of course, hands-on activities sprinkled throughout that literally give kids the chance to experience the meaning of God's word and grasp it in a more tangible way.

Possibly one of my favorite aspects of this Bible are "The Jesus Connection" segments that explain how everything in the Bible relates back to Jesus.  What a valuable and useful tool!  In that way it reminds me a lot of the Jesus Storybook Bible, which we love!

The last thing I absolutely love about this Bible, and simply couldn't close my post without mentioning, is the website that accompanies it!  You can check it out at MyHandsOnBible.com.  This site is packed with great resources for learning about the Bible and even a wonderful, downloadable family study book.

I have been truly impressed with this Bible and am quite sure that we will be using it in our home devotions and homeschool for many years to come.  It is a fantastic first Bible for Rhythm and will probably even purchase one for Lion Cub when he gets old enough!

Do you think this might be a Bible you would like for your children?  If so, you can purchase one right here.

Or, if you want to try your hand at a little contest to win one first, here is how you can enter:

Mandatory Entry- Visit MyHandsOnBible.com and then come back here and tell me what feature you would find the most helpful or interesting!

Extra Entries (one separate comment per entry):

• Follow or subscribe to The Mama Kenz Studio (my main blog- right sidebar)
• Become a Fan of The Mama Kenz Studio on Facebook
• Follow or Subscribe to The World According to Them
• Add The Mama Kenz Studio button to your blog (Left sidebar- leave address where I can find it!)
• Add The World According to Them button to your blog (leave address where I can find it!)
• Write a blog post about this giveaway, linking back to this post (leave address where I can find it!)
• Write a blog post about any other giveaway I am hosting during the same period of time (giveaways on The Mama Kenz Studio are included.  Leave address where I can find it!)
• Tweet about this giveaway!  (this can be done once daily) Feel free to copy and paste the following message:

@Chic_Mama is hosting a giveaway for The Hands on Bible- head on over to enter! http://tinyurl.com/28adz7c

Thanks for Entering!  Best of Luck!

This contest will run from August 18- September 1, 2010 at 8:00PM PST.  Please make sure that you enter your e-mail address so that I have a way of contacting you if you win.  Winner will be drawn via random.org.  Please go here to see additional rules and terms.

This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers for honest review.  All opinions are completely mine- I would tell you if I didn't like it!

God Gave Us... Book Reviews!

We were recently sent God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren to review and I cannot deny that I really like these books!  We have always been a fan of God Gave Us You and these two books are wonderful additions to our God Gave Us collection!

One of my favorite things about God Gave Us Christmas is that it addresses the Santa issue without bluntly ruining a child's wonder in the magic of Christmas.  Instead it simply redirects children's attention to God and His all-important role in the holiday.  The story is tender and loving- a wonderful book to read before bed and may even make you want to set aside a special time for each of your children to have some one-on-one moments with you this season.

God Gave Us Love is equally as wonderful and a true joy to read.  I think this book is especially good for children with younger siblings (or any siblings at all for that matter) as it emphasizes not only God's love for us but the importance of us showing love to others.  I am really looking forward to using this book during the month of February for a study we are planning to do on the Fruits of the Spirit, but it's theme obviously applies to our whole lives!  I think the message this book imparts can be beneficial for the whole family and could also be used during a family devotional time for little ones.

To grab a copy of these books for yourself you can visit the following pages on Random House:

God Gave Us Christmas

God Gave Us Love

This book was provided by the publisher for honest review.

To find out more about reviewing books for Waterbrook Press, you can go here.

Read and Share Toddler Bible Review

What a great little Bible this is!  We truly love it!  It is very simple but it is a great place to start.  We generally read and discuss one Bible story a week after dinner and this is typically the Bible I turn to on Mondays.  It puts everything in terms that little guys can easily understand and encompasses the basics of each story very clearly.  The graphics are adorable too!

I also like that at the end of each story there is a little box with ideas for parents to help their children better understand what was just read.  The ideas range from drawing descriptive pictures to acting stories out.  They are easy to do and make the story time so much more interesting!

To top it off, a one hour DVD is included with the Bible.  R-Man loves watching the stories and seeing them animated just helps drive home the concepts even more for him.  I highly recommend this toddler Bible and think it would make a great addition to any children's home library.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible can be purchased from Thomas Nelson Publishers here.

This book was provided for honest review from the publisher.