Book Reviews

The Fun part of History- Learning about Patriotism from Children’s Books!

“It doesn’t take a giant to defeat one…” 

It’s hard to find wholesome and quality picture books for children on the market. There are monster books, silly books, abstract & ugly books, and a lot of in-between books. That’s why when I find a good book I get really excited! The Town that Fooled the British by Lisa Papp is one really neat book I want to share with you.

The book starts right into the action, so little children will not get bored with a long-winded introduction before the action starts. This is especially useful if you’re reading to impatient little boys (or tomboy girls). The tale is actually based on a true event in American history that not very many people know about. In fact, I doubt this event is even recorded in most history textbooks. I love coming across seemingly minor historical events, but which can be so interesting! They make for great books! So now if you get this book, both you and the young ones you read it to will learn something new! I guarantee adults will enjoy it just as much as young children (take my word for it 🙂 ).

One thing I really love about this book are the illustrations. They are so expressive, professional and detailed! It adds a dimension of high quality to this story- an aspect that’s very important to me when I look for children’s books. Now that you heard how neat this book is, I hope you’ll go out & check it out!

“We’ll not fail, Miss…I promise you that.” 

This is such a beautiful story. I love it, and I could probably say it’s one of my favorite children’s picture books. Another inspiring tale of the sacrifices many Americans have made in the hard times of the Revolutionary War. The characters seem so real, you can connect with them, their determination, fears and real life situations. The illustrations, done by the same artist who did The Town that Fooled the British, are just as beautiful as in the aforementioned book, if not more so!

This is a fictional story, but as you read it, you will discover it goes along the lines of other true stories you heard about in relation to the Revolutionary war. As you can see, both these books go so well together, complementing each other with two different characters- a boy and a girl, both of whom do something patriotic and brave in behalf of their country. One part of the tale Scarlet Stockings Spy nearly brought tears to my eyes, and I would sit and just absorb the detail of the beautiful pictures. I feel that this story also draws parallels to the circumstances that our modern-day military families face.

Both of these books are in a series of picture books called Tales of Young Americans. There’s a little kid in all of us that enjoys a good story with good pictures no matter how old we are. Wouldn’t you agree?

Do you have any favorite picture books either from your childhood or ones you recently discovered?

 

 

 

NOTE: Sleeping Bear Press sent me complimentary review copies of these books in exchange for my honest opinion.

8 thoughts on “The Fun part of History- Learning about Patriotism from Children’s Books!

  1. Hi Rebekah, thank you very much again for your comment! It really uplifted me again, and you have very useful advice!
    here’s my email address, If you email me then I will have your’s too, I would love to stay in touch 🙂 I never imagined this when I asked you the first question, to be honest I didn’t even expect a response!! Thank-you!
    I didn’t include it in previous comments as I am normally very wary when giving it out!
    You are already in my prayers too,
    God Bless,
    Anna xx

  2. Hello, this is not a comment on this post as such but I wanted to ask you a question and I thought that this would be the most convenient place to put it, I hope that you don’t mind!
    I am a Christian, in the original meaning of the word (someone who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the sufficiency of His death burial and resurrection to be save them from the consequences of their sins), and I am about to start university in a few days time and am wondering what would your advice be for me to stand firm in my faith when confronted, and also to generally survive.
    Thank you very much
    Anna

    1. Hi Anna,

      Thanks for stopping by and for leaving such an important comment! I hope to be able to answer effectively for your benefit and God’s glory. From what I understand you will attend a secular university? I am a student at a secular university as well. I was wondering what made you decide to ask me and share your thoughts? 🙂 How did you find my blog?

      I would say a very important tool in dealing with confrontations about your faith is prayer. Pray daily for God to give you wisdom and grace to deal with situations, professors, people and give the right answer. Pray also for your professors and classmates, that God will open their eyes. Have others pray for you too.

      I encourage you to check out this great resource and read it thoroughly before you start school. The online presentation is called “College Ready”: http://becollegeready.blogspot.com/. I have it on my blog too, and it was written by my pastor especially for students who will be going to college/university. It shows you how to prepare for and deal with difficult classes like philosophy, anthropology, sociology, biology etc.

      If you feel you need resources to be able to give informed answers, there’s a great ministry called Institute for Creation Research which provides books, seminars, and online resources for defending your faith.
      You can subscribe to receive their monthly magazine “Acts & Facts” in the mail for FREE at this link: http://www.icr.org/subscriptions/index/?option_old=signup&f_country=US. Their magazine has articles on creation vs. evolution. They have great Christian scientists and speakers who write them!
      I’m already subscribed and enjoy receiving their daily devotionals “Days of Praise” in my inbox too. Their recent issue was actually on the topic of “Creation and College” and you can read the articles from that issue online here: http://www.icr.org/aaf/. They also have really neat short videos that present interesting creation related facts: http://thatsafacttv.com/.

      I also find it useful to watch youtube videos with debates and presentations done by great apologets.

      Besides being well prepared to give answers, it’s important to be grounded in the Word of God. I make sure I read the Scriptures daily, usually before I start the day, and am consistent in my prayer. Doing this will encourage you and keep you anchored. Know the details of your faith…meaning, study the Bible thoroughly in context, look up background information and learn the doctrines of Grace in the book of Romans. Use resources like the New Ungers Bible Handbook and Nelson’s Compact Bible Handbook to go more indepth. You can find links to them here: http://heritageofgrace.wordpress.com/books-i-recommend/.

      There’s so much I could say that it would require a separate post, but I’m trying to give you things in a nutshell. 🙂 Also, don’t get discouraged. You will have good days and bad days. I know that from experience. Don’t get worked up over it when you have to defend yourself, but have a critical mind about everything you are taught in school and filter it through a Biblical worldview.

      I will pray for you! Hope this helps, and looking forward to hearing from you again!

      In Christ,
      Rebekah

      1. Hello Rebekah
        First of all I would like to say that I am deeply grateful for the time that you have taken to answer my question. I was a bit blown away when I saw your answer, I have never asked a question on a blog before, and am touched that someone, who I do not know at all, would take time to give such an answer. You have a kind heart!
        I found your blog while I was flicking through blogs of Christian girls to try and get encouragement, to see that there are many others out there like myself! I found the link to your blog on the “treasuring today” blog! First I was struck by the name of your blog, and the verse that you choose to quote at the top. I started to skim through your posts, and the first one that I read right through was the “answering my own questions” post, and thought hey, this girl is quite like me, and that was when I thought I should ask you the question. It was a strange thing for me to do, as usually I think about doing something a long time before I do it….
        Thank you for all the links and I will try them all out. The internet is a dangerous place, and I generally like to have a recommendation for a website, instead of endlessness surfing as it can lead to seeing things that should not be seen, and is a big time waster!! It takes a while to find some Biblicaly sound sites sometimes!
        Yes it is a secular university, as far as I know I will be the only Christian in my course.
        Do you wear skirts? I do and I find that I stand out like a sore thumb! Inmy old school we had a uniform so that didn’t matter. Besides that I am not very fashion conscious. I am normally comfortable in a denim skirt a t-shirt and a hoodie!!! I feel that people will judge me when they see me and I can imagine myself sitting alone through lectures all the time as I am shy and find it hard to make friends especially when I would not be attending discos and drinking with people, where it seems like most people make friends!!
        And it is not that I want to make good friends there as I find that you can not be a true friend with someone unless they are also in Christ. I just don’t want to end up a loner!!
        I know that the Lord will give me help when it is needed, I recently was reading in Lamentations 3 V 22 and 23, about God’s mercies being new every morning. This means that each day, we get the mercy that we need for that day, and that day alone, we need not worry about days in the future as we haven’t received the mercy for them yet!! And it is true that things do not seem so bad when we are actually facing them, as when we think about facing them!! It reminded me of the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, where it says
        “Morning by morning new mercies I see, all I have needed Thy hand hath provided”
        You should look it up if you don’t know it, it is a lovely hymn.
        Thank you for the promise of prayer, James 5v16 “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” It is good to see someone who still believes in the power of prayer. It has often been said that “the secret to the Christian life, is, the secret Christian life!”
        Sorry for rabbiting on a bit there!!

        God bless you,
        your sister in Christ,
        Anna

        1. Hi Anna,
          I must say your reply encouraged me just as my response did you! I am excited to find like-minded people, and I’m glad the Lord led you to my blog through different means and put on your heart to write. And no problem about rabbit trailing, because I like long comments/emails/letters etc. 🙂
          Thank you for the encouragement with the verses from Lamentations, because fall semester started already, and I started worrying about “the future days”, and I read a verse today from Matthew 6:32 that said “Do not be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.” So your verses tied in to that very well, and I have to learn to live one day at a time. Yes, the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness has encouraged me many times too, including the part where it says “all I have needed Thy hand has provided”…

          I will definitely pray for you (and already started), and I would appreciate your prayers too. I understand the loneliness feeling you get when you’ll be in class- because you have different beliefs, values, and lifestyle so it’s almost like you’re automatically isolated. But you can find comfort that it means your behavior and appearance shows you are different- you are a light in your campus for the Lord. Like you said, I don’t even look for friends there, so I find fellowship and comfort with my family and church. By the way, what kind of church do you attend? I find it’s so important to have a good church and see other believers- it lifts me up as I go on to the next week, and I have something to look forward to at the end of the week. But anyway, I just converse normally with my classmates when appropriate/needed, and treat them as non-believers should be treated, without expecting anything from them, but rather praying for their salvation. Soon you will find that you get used to it, and in college especially, people are very independent and transient, so their interactions are superficial. A new set of classmates every semester. Sometimes I used to envy other believers who went to Christian colleges and think they have it SO easy! The students, faculty, staff are all like you- and you have nothing to worry about. But then I realize if God called me on a secular campus, the challenges I face are there to train me, to help me grow and become stronger.

          Yes, I also wear skirts. 🙂 For an evening class I prefer pants, as well as for other activities. But like you mentioned, it’s always noticeable to non-believers (even to believers sometimes!) when you dress in skirts, and they tend to give evaluating/confused/awkward looks. When I get that, I just enjoy “lifting my chin a little higher” somehow challenging them by sending a message like “Yes, I’m in a skirt. So what? That’s how girls should be actually.” But I also found that people even respect you more when you’re in skirts, and it gives you more dignity. People realize you’re not the average girl in pants. 🙂
          You will find by and by that people (esp. believers) might even come up to you to express appreciation that you dressed modestly and in a skirt, because they do notice the difference.

          Anyway, I rattled on too! 🙂 We could continue keeping in touch if you want, even through email (just include your address when you comment and only I will see it). Or if you feel comfortable by commenting here, that’s fine too!

          Blessings in Christ!
          Rebekah

    1. Sorry for my late reply. I’ve been super busy the past 2 weeks and last week was full of appointments 🙂 Thanks for sharing about author Lynley Dodd. I’ve never heard about her, but from the looks of her website it seems she wrote a lot of picture books in her series! Do you like checking books out from your local library? That’s how I discovered a lot of the children’s picture books when I searched for books for my younger siblings. I have a liking for children’s books because I enjoy writing and hope to publish my own someday too.

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