Wonderful, Convicting Story...

Every once in a while, I get the chance to read a wonderful novel for children. This week was one of those weeks. This morning I finished reading The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson.

The Friendship Doll is about a Japanese doll, Miss Kanagawa. This book is a series of interrelated short stories about this doll and several families. When I started reading this book, I was a bit distracted. It didn't draw me in. The doll and the first short story annoyed me and irritated me. The writing was good from the beginning, but I wasn't so sure about how this book would turn out. I'm very thankful I stuck with it. This is a wonderful book! It brought me to tears and even as an adult it made me reflect on life's suffering.

The stories of the young girls begin with the opulence of the roaring 20s. The next story is set in the early years of the great depression. The next stories are set later in the 1930s. The final story is set in the present time. Each of the stories has a message of what matters. Love, loyalty, kindness, bearing with one another in love--all of these are embedded in the short stories amidst great suffering.

In one of the short stories, a child dies and that is why I recommend that this story is appropriate for middle schoolers. If your child has known children that have passed away or had family members pass away, he or she may be ready to read this. But, I wasn't sure that all 4th and 5th grade girls would really understand the weight of the stories in this book (I think girls will be more likely to read this book than boys). Each of the stories deals with the suffering of life--the death of a parent, deep financial struggles of families, death of a child, loss of a living parent, alzheimers... These are challenging topics to discuss with children and help them understand. This may be a wonderful book to read aloud with your children and discuss. Talk with them about the decisions the parents and children made and why. Ask them what they thought of their decisions. Help them understand that suffering is a part of life, but that God is with us every step of the way. That is the one part of this book that is missing. God. He isn't mentioned in any manner or form. So, although he isn't included, he also isn't disrespected by the story. I think reading this book would be a great a chance for you to share with your children about death, heaven, and God.

As a parent who is always looking for good, solid books for my children to read, I highly recommend this book. I plan on incorporating it into our curriculum in 7th grade. I'd also recommend this book to adults. It may really make you pause and think about how petty our cares are at times and how great true suffering and loss is as it did for me. We need to remember what matters and live that way.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher.

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story. My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard. Am I questioning too much? Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way. But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them. Recently, I read a book that troubled me. The book I finished reading was Guiltless Living by Ginger Hubbard. When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...

Listening to the Bible

The Word of Promise (Bible on CD) I have been reading the Bible for as long as I can remember. I remember being given a Good News Bible when I was in third grade. When I was 14, my great grandmother gave me a copy of the Living Bible. When I went to college, I began to read the NIV and held onto a thin paperback copy for 4 years that I wrote all over. After I graduated from college, I really wanted a nice NIV study Bible and I saved up to buy one. I have held onto it ever since. Last year, I found a tiny ESV leatherbound Bible on clearance and it is now the one I carry with me in my purse. Interestingly enough, after all these years of reading the Bible, I have never listened to it on CD. I've often considered it. I've listened to lots of teaching on CD from Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, and others, but I've never actually listened to the Word on CD. Two weeks ago, I received a copy of the Word of Promise Bible on CD. I opened it up with excitement ...

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