I love books and my children love books – we are always looking for good, high quality books and the more Christian character that they instill the better. However, it’s becoming harder and harder to do so and filtering through most books at the store leaves you empty handed. I have a solution – Grace and Truth Books. Grace and Truth Books is an online Christian book store that doesn’t make you sift for character building and God centered books for yourself and your children.
I was given the choice to pick two books out of ten – it was a near impossible choice! I chose First Impressions of God and Grace Raymond – you can purchase them separately for $5.50 or $4.75 or in the Children’s Heritage Series – Girls Collection (8 books) for $39.00. They are 19th century re-prints originally published by the American Tract Society geared for ages 8 to 14 years old. Even though these books are part of the girls collection – they are also good for boys as the books have character building traits that are for either gender, but the covers do make them seem more geared to girls.
First Impressions of God is an endearing story of little Emily Tappan who begins to learn the truth of God’s existence and becomes fearful not only of her own soul but that of her mother, who does not know the Lord. Through some ordeals, like an extended illness and a tornado, Emily begins to learn of the things of the Lord through her friend, Mary Lewis. This book is 106 pages in length so it’s short but since I have such a varied age group – I tried to read one chapter a day. All three of my children, two girls – ages 10 and 8, and my son – aged 6, all listened in. The book is a re-print so keep that in mind as it was written in the late 1800’s so the language has not been changed, but I liked that as it gave a chance to sort of expand our usual modern day English.
Most children have a temper, and most have a hard time controlling it at times – just like Grace Raymond. Unfortunately, even though she knows she can be harsh, it took an injury to a sister for her to realize just how much harm was being caused by her uncontrolled temper. Grace’s family, know of God but aren’t Christian however the children’s teacher/nanny is a Christian and longs to teach the children in the Raymond family of the Lord and what He wants for their life but she can’t defy the father of the house. After seeking his permission she is allowed to begin a weekly course on the Bible and the Lord. Can the Lord change Grace’s heart? Well I’d have to say you must grab this short book, 71 pages, and read it to see if Grace, with the Lord’s help can change her ways.
As I said, the books do contain dated language, however it really challenged my children and even I had to look up some words and we’ve come away with new words we can use to impress our friends. My girls liked it more than my son, but I know he still got some because there were moments he’d make a comment on a reading and I’d think “it’s clicking”. I used these as a read aloud for after we were done with our other school and if my children had the choice we would have read them both in one day. I’m so glad to have been introduced to this bookstore and this series of books – and others have made their way to my children’s Christmas wish list.
If you’d like to see what other homeschool parents thought about these and several other books, including ones for boys, visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.
**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.
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