The Bridge Home

The Bridge Home is a powerful story about overcoming difficulty and the unexpected friends that become like family. Venkatraman crafted a captivating tale of four homeless kids who find a path forward and choose to trust—and hope—again.

Brief overview: 

Two sisters run away from a difficult home situation in their village and stumble across two homeless boys in the city. Together the four navigate life in India together and form a makeshift family under a bridge. As the children collect trash to earn money, they must figure out how to live life without adults and protect one another from the daily dangers of the street.

Recommended age range: 9-12

Strengths: 

• Allows middle grade readers to experience what life is like for kids who end up on the streets in age-appropriate ways.
• The storyline is engaging and based on the stories of real street kids.
• An element of surprise as Venkatraman beautifully unpacks the depths and stories of each key character.

Additional Notes:

• I recommend reading together and discussing how the author defined Christian beliefs versus what the Bible teaches.

Overall rating: 9 (out of 10)

Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine

Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine is a great historical adventure! Caroline shaped a story that fit together seamlessly and provided ample intrigue along the way. It was a delight to watch Jasper's growth from start to finish. A great story to read together!

Brief overview: 

Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine transports middle grade readers back to the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. Jasper and his older brother Melvin make the difficult journey across the harsh, yet beautiful Alaskan terrain in hopes of finding gold—maybe even the gold mine of Riley who struck it rich and left clues behind for someone else to discover.

Recommended age range: 10-12

Strengths: 

• Fascinating storyline.
• Characters with great depth.
• Author didn't shy away from putting the characters in hard situations and it was intriguing to watch how things unfolded.
• History is naturally woven into the plot making it a wonderful way to sneak in some education while reading engaging fiction.

Additional Notes:

• This book is historical fiction.
• While the book is not Christian, the author is. 
• A free digital discussion and activity guide is included on the author's website.

Overall rating: 8 (out of 10)

Interested in learning more about Caroline? Check out her author interview on my blog.

Cora Cooks Pancit

Cora Cooks Pancit is a delightful picture book that weaves the excitement a child has stepping into a big kid job with Filipino culture. Gilmore captures the bond between a parent and child and the beauty of a kid's changing contributions to a family.

Brief overview: 

Cora never gets to help with the important jobs in making pancit. But one day her siblings are all out of the house and her mother lets her decide what they should cook together. And Cora knows exactly what they should make: pancit!

Recommended age range: 5-8

Strengths: 

• Allows young readers a glimpse into Filipino culture.
  
• Pulls children into the story as Cora finally steps into big kid jobs—and succeeds!
• Beautiful illustrations accompany an engaging storyline.
• Excellent book to read aloud to a group.

Additional Notes:

• Consider pairing this book with learning about the Philippines.

Overall rating: 9 (out of 10)

Finding My Dance (by Ria Thundercloud)

Brief overview: 

Finding My Dance tells the story of a Native American professional dancer, Ria Thundercloud. Ria started dancing at powwows and as her love for dance grew, she explored other types of dancing. While it was challenging to be one of the only Indigenous dancers around, she never gave up.

Recommended age range: 4-8

Strengths: 

• Pulls kids into an Indigenous perspective through Ria's own journey from child to adult.
• Provides a good framework for Native American beliefs in a kid-friendly way.
• Adults will learn alongside kids. A great book to read together!
• The illustrations are gorgeous and invite kids into Ria's world.

Weaknesses:

• I don't think the age range is quite right. I think slightly older kids would glean more from this book. The storyline deals with bigger issues than preschoolers and early elementary students can fully track with (but they can certainly read it and benefit from it!) I would suggest ages 7-11.

Additional Notes:

• This is the true story of author and dancer Rio Thudercloud, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and Sandia Pueblo.
• Be sure to discuss how Native American beliefs differ from Christian beliefs with your kids, particularly related to spirits, prayer, and the deceased.

Overall rating: 7 (out of 10)

A Long Walk to Water (Linda Sue Park)

Brief overview: 

A Long Walk to Water follows the stories of two Sudanese kids about 20 years apart. Salva is a Sudanese boy who is displaced by the war and walks across entire countries to refugee camps. Nya is a Sudanese girl who walks miles to collect unsafe drinking water and doesn't have time to attend school because of the long journey.

Recommended age range: 10-12

Strengths: 

• Two characters move the plot forward in each chapter. Park's writing technique is well executed and results in the beautiful merging of these storylines by the end.
• Provides a fuller picture for kids to see the impact of war on refugees and how one boy finds a path forward despite the chaos.
• Helps children grasp how a lack of clean drinking water impacts the lives of kids and their families.

Weaknesses:

• Salva grows up and kids lose his childlike perspective (but this is necessary for the full impact of the story).

Additional Notes:

• This book is based on a true story.
• While not graphic, there are some intense moments (but I think done age-appropriately) along the way. These moments don't define the book and are not dwelt on but are present to give the necessary authenticity to the story told on these pages.

Overall rating: 8 (out of 10)

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Beginning (Book One)

Brief overview: 

The Beginning takes young readers on an adventure to when the world was first created. Siblings Peter and Mary uncover secret scrolls in their great uncle's house that transports them back in time! The two must solve the scroll's riddle in order to return home.

Recommended age range: 6-9

Strengths: 

• Well-written chapter book that pulls kids into the storyline.
• Provides good interiority in Peter and sets the stage for more adventure.
• Helps children explore the Bible in a fun way.

Weaknesses:

• Could strengthen the emotional arc of Peter.
• The medallion appearing at the end was a bit confusing. Will these medallions be important as the series progresses? This wasn't clear and could have used a bit more hinting at its role than what was given. Even another sentence with a clue would have been great! (But this is a very minor issue!)

Additional Notes:

• M.J. Thomas has a background in Bible Studies from Liberty University so I'm hopeful the series will be biblically grounded as it continues onward.
• I'm looking forward to exploring the Bible in this creative way with my son! And am thrilled to have a quality Christian chapter book series for kids!
• I found it interesting that the author started writing this books series because he saw a gap in Christian literature to engage kids in a fun way with the Bible—I started writing Christian kids fiction for the same reason (to help shape a Christian worldview in an imaginative way for children)!

Overall rating: 8 (out of 10)

God Wins: A Beginner's Gospel Story Book

Brief overview: 

God Wins is a board book storybook Bible that walks through four stories from the Bible: 

1) Joshua

2) David

3) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

4) Esther

Kennedy helps preschoolers trace God's goodness to do hard, scary things.

Recommended age range: 3-5

Strengths: 

• Kennedy helps kids understand key concepts and guides little ones in applying these truths in their own lives.
• Deftly engages children by keeping God at the center of each story.
• The beautiful illustrations by Trish Mahoney are perfect for preschoolers.

Weaknesses: 

• Anytime a book is adapted from another work (see below), I feel it loses a bit of its sparkle because a different audience was intended. (But this book has been well-crafted for the new audience of preschoolers.)

Additional Notes:

• God Wins is adapted from Kennedy's Beginner's Gospel Story Bible. 
• A great resource for parents to read with babies and toddlers as well! 

Overall rating: 8 (out of 10)

While I'm not typically asked by an author to write an endorsement for a book, in this case I was! I was sent a PDF version of this book to consider writing an endorsement. Since I am a big fan of it, I gladly agreed to write one and decided to write a review on my blog as part of my new book review series.