Psalms for Kidz: Psalm 148

The verse, "Let all heaven and earth praise the Lord" is consistently highlighted in Sherri Trudgian's book, Psalm 148. Just one in her series of Psalms for Kidz books, Psalm 148 features angels, animals and people praising God. Trudgian's rhyming text and Melanie Moreland's watercolor illustrations aim to make Psalm 148 understandable for young children.

The chorus, "Praise Him, Praise Him" is repeated on each page, as we see sun, moon, mountains, trees, birds, fish and mammals praising God in their natural habitats. For example, a sweet, brown-eyed cow looks at us from a page that reads, "Jersey cow knows/What to do./She gives us milk/Then she m-m-moos--/'Praise Him, Praise Him.'"

Trudgian includes a brief note to parents at the beginning of the book, and she includes the entire text of Psalm 148 at the back of the book.

What I Like: In the parent note, Trudgian states, "Children can praise God simply by doing what God created them to do." This is a welcome reminder in a busy age, where the temptation is to put formulas on how we do everything--even praise God.

I also like the repetition of the words, "Praise Him, Praise Him." This will catch young listeners' attention, and give them an opportunity to help "read" the book. I found the phrase going around in my head for the whole day!

What I Dislike: Although I admire the author's intentions, it took me the first couple of readings to figure out the reason behind various spellings of the word "praise." On the page featuring the sun, praise is written, "p-ray-se." On the page with pine trees and streams, praise is written, "P-R-A-I-S-E." The hummingbird page states, "Praise Him-m-m." On the bee page, we read, "Praiz-z-ze Him." Trudgian attempted to make the word "praise" correspond to the animal or natural object on each page. Bees buzz, hence the word "Praiz-z-ze," and so on. However, this makes reading the book aloud very choppy, until you get the hang of it. Using onomatopoeia to show how animals and nature praise God is a great idea, but it isn't executed well in this book.

Also, the overuse of dashes makes the words for "praise" even more confusing. Usually, when letters are separated by dashes, you pronounce each letter individually, but not in this book.

Though the watercolors are cute, they are a bit odd. The sun is a warm yellow, with a big smile, but it has skinny white arms and hands with skinny white fingers coming out of its cheeks. The kangaroo looks happy, but has a rounded nose, more like a dog.

Overall Rating: Good

Age Appeal: Preschool-First Grade

Publisher Info: Little Sprout Publishing House, 2006; ISBN: 0977919404; Paperback, 32 pages, $11.97

Buy it at Amazon.com for $7.99.

Special Note: The angels look like adorable, multi-cultural children with wings.
You can read our other reviews of Psalms for Kidz books here.

The Love That Is True

The Love That Is True, written by Paul Chilson, is about God’s love.

But, it is more than that. The author starts the book by describing the time before the Creation. He tells readers God “wanted to share The Love That Is True,” so he created the universe and all that is in it. The text continues with the stories of Adam and Eve, Jesus’ birth and his life, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The book ends with the good news that when our life on earth is over, we will share “God’s love: The Love That Is True.”

The text is written in rhyme. Each verse is on a separate two-page layout with a Biblical reference for the text. All but two of them also include a discussion question about the verse. For instance, one verse reads like this:

“The bad angels tell us God’s love isn’t true,
That God couldn’t possibly love me or you.
Rejecting God’s love makes our soft hearts turn hard.
We sin and grow hollow, lonely, and scarred.”

The discussion question is: “Do you ever forget that God loves you?”

There is a music score near the end of the book. Each verse in the book can be sung to the written melody. The author also includes a list of Bible References at the end of the book.

The illustrations by Ruslan Sivachov are bright and vivid and very eye-catching.

What I Like: The book has a great message about God’s love and how it relates to our lives. I also like the comprehensiveness of the text with Bible references and discussion questions for nearly every verse.

What I Dislike: As many of you know, I’m not a big fan of rhyming text as it is difficult to do well. For the most part, the rhyme scheme is okay for the text of this book, but the rhythm is off in several places. I think the book would be stronger written in prose, not verse.

As mentioned, the illustrations are bright and vivid and eye-catching, and I like most of them. However, when angels are depicted, they look more like bendable pieces of gelatin than angels. The illustrations for the text right before the verse where Jesus is born shows modern-day people doing various things, but the illustrations for the next several verses depict people from Biblical times, making the time-sequence a bit awkward. And, the illustration for heaven shows winged horses flying around what looks like a castle, making the whole image seem like a fantasy.

Overall Rating: Good.

Age Appeal: No age group was given but I’d say this is the type of book that would appeal to children in the 6-10 age group.

Publisher Info: 2 Roads Publishing, 2010; ISBN: 9780982979358; Hardcover, $16.99.

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Katy's Homecoming

Katy Lambright is a Mennonite girl going to a public high school. As such, she is constantly exposed to ideas and concepts that are totally foreign to her.

Katy’s Homecoming, written by Kim Vogel Sawyer, is the third book in the Katy Lambright Series. In this episode, Katy is introduced to the concept of a homecoming dance. She wants to go to the dance for several reasons: It sounds like fun; she’s never been to a dance before; she’s been chosen to represent her sophomore class; and she’s been asked to the dance by Bryce, a boy she has a crush on.

However, dancing is strictly forbidden in her Mennonite order. So, Katy has some tough choices to make, choices that will determine how she responds to the pressures of the modern world.

What I Like: Everything. I especially liked reading about what is must be like to be a part of the Mennonite culture.

What I Dislike: Nothing.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Age Appeal: Young adult.

Publisher Info: Zondervan, 2011; ISBN: 9780310722878; Paperback, 208 pages, $9.99.

Buy now at ChristianBook $7.99!
Or buy at Amazon.com $9.99.

Special Info: This book is part of the publisher’s Katy Lambright series.