Cynthia Gives Thanks for Its Great To Be A Girl

Another Thanksgiving is upon us and I am always in awe of how God blesses my family and I every year. Every year brings new challenges and experiences and God is always right there blessing me with opportunities to live and learn. I am thankful for my position here at CCBR and being a part of a group of women who care about feeding our children's spirits through literature. I am especially grateful for It's Great To Be A Girl by Dannah Gresh. My 11-year-old daughter and I love this book. It's a resource that continues to help my daughter through the challenges of adolescence in a practical and spiritual way. It also encourages her to share her journey with me as an ally.

Everywhere your daughter goes--online or in real life--our culture tells her lies about her body. That's why bestselling author Dannah Gresh, creator of the Secret Keeper Girl events has developed this resource that points tween girls like yours to the truth about God's design.

With stories and examples your daughter can relate to, this Girl's Guide takes her to the Bible as her resource, helping her meditate on its message and have fun while she does it. She'll explore questions such as What if my body is different from everyone else's? What does the Bible mean by "Honor God with your body"? What about makeup--should I wear it? If so, how much? Should I be afraid to grow up? What's the big deal with nutrition and exercise?

Here's solid guidance with biblical grounding that will help your daughter grow spiritually as she's maturing physically.

About this series: The Girl's Guide books in the Secret Keeper Girl Series have been created for tween girls to help them explore topics important to them and give them the opportunity to travel deeper into "God's diary"--the Bible--for truth and instruction. 

What I Like: This in-depth book for young girls about to or who are already experiencing puberty goes into what is happening to their bodies, the importance of the changes and why God is the author of the changes. From the very beginning, authors Dannah Gresh and Suzy Weibel offer opportunities for the young readers to take this journey with their parents and friends as a bible study and learning experience. They are teaching the readers prayers, the importance of meditating on God's word and confidence that puberty is positive and necessary. I found it refreshing that Dannah & Suzy made puberty a journey of growth to be proud of, not scary or disgusting. I love that they encourage bonding with moms and friends during the journey.

It is an interactive book where girls can do crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, doodling, prayers, word search and journaling. The book is meant to be a resource, not just a one time read. The book includes sections of bible study.

The book also includes practical information like photos of the female womb and its purpose, menstrual cycle info, along with hair style ideas, hygiene practices, staying active while having fun, the importance of healthy eating and even bra shopping.


What I Dislike: Nothing

Overall Rating: Excellent

Age Appeal: 8-12 Years but I would say 10-14 due to reproduction discussion.

Publisher Info: Harvest House Publisher, 2015; ISBN: 978-0736960076; Paperback, 128 pgs., $11.99

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $8.99

OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $9.21

Water Or Goo?

Water or Goo?--that's the question in this Tania Abbey novel by Penny Reeve. It's a pretty important question, although not, one would think, for Australian Tania Abbey.

Tania is a spunky kid, and a bit of a teacher's pet, but one who has a big heart. She adores her teacher, Ms. Flinders, so when the teacher announces there is a water rally in their drought-stricken region of Australia (a problem that really has been happening in the last decade in that country), Tania is the first kid in class to raise her hand saying she wants to participate.

The only problem? Boisterous Tania didn't ask Mum and Dad first. Tania's parents decide she can participate in the rally and subsequently set up a booth, but only if Tania can come up with a good idea to educate others about water. She only has 24 hours to decide, since that's when the entry fee is due.

Enter Tania's best friend, Emily, as well as both kids' siblings. All of the kids throw ideas back and forth, but it's not until Tania goes to use the bathroom at Emily's house and the toilet backs up that she gets a lesson on how people in the third world live--and this sparks an idea that quickly snowballs. How would you like to drink water that someone may have been using in or near the bathroom? And the idea of a booth called "Water or Goo?" is born.

What I Like: There's a lot of good things in this book. Exposing kids--especially American kids who really have no knowledge of what's going on outside their little suburban home--to problems in other areas of the world is great. The initial premise for the water march is the drought in Australia, which, as I mentioned, was an ongoing problem down under when this book was published. But Tania's focus quickly goes from Australia's problems to those in the third world. A girl named Shanti in India is predominantly featured in the book, and I presume she was the subject of an earlier book because she's referred to quite frequently, with Tania wondering how Shanti survives with dirty water, or how she carries multiple vessels of water a long distance to her home daily.

This book offers some possible solutions to the dirty water problem. At the tail end of the book, there's an author's note which provides some additional information about how to help others get clean water, although they're primarily for UK and Australian youth. If, after your child reads this book, they feel moved to help, I would personally urge you to look into the organization "Wells for Life," which is an organization that helps bring new wells to areas of the world in desperate need of clean water. But this is just one of many American organizations bringing clean water sources to the third world.

What I Dislike: Story-wise, there's not much I don't like about this book. The religious content is minimal, but present, so the minimal part would be my only gripe. As a writer, though, I did find the writing a little choppy, but that probably won't bother anyone but the most aware of readers.

Overall Rating: Very good.

Age Appeal: 9-12.

Publisher Info: Christian Focus Publications, 2008; ISBN: 978-1-84550-341-3; Paperback, 94 pgs., $6.99

Buy it at Amazon.com for $6.94

Special Info: This book is written primarily for an Australian audience, and the lingo and spelling reflect that. For instance, "learnt" is used instead of "learned," and "crisps" are used instead of "chips," but there are many other examples throughout the book.

In Front of God and Everybody: Confessions of April Grace

It's summer vacation, 1986 style, and April Grace Reilly's biggest problem is choosing which book to read - or so she thinks in In Front of God and Everybody by KD McCrite. But when Ian and Isabel St. James of San Francisco, California, show up on her dusty road in the Ozarks of Arkansas, things change.

First, she has to put up with them both looking down their noses at the "hillbillies" who live in April's little corner of the world. When the shack the St. James' have bought is deemed unlivable by April's mother, the snooty folks move into April's home - which means she has to share a room with her unbearable older sister, Myra Sue.

Then, Mama Grace, the grandmother April Grace adores, starts dating Ole Mr. Rance, and April's sure the man is up to no good - but who will listen to a kid?

One way or another, April Grace will dig up the truth, learn she has to accept the faults of others... and very possibly both.

What I Like: I fell in love with this character before I even opened the book. The description on the back cover did full justice to the April Grace I met in the book's pages. She is a spunky eleven year old who loves her parents and her grandmother, and merely puts up with her fourteen year old sister, Myra Sue. Her opinions about others are varied and colorful, usually with an Ozark twist... like the OLD hippies Temple and Forest who live nearby and their lack of showering.

"I like Temple just fine. She's real nice, and so is Forest, but they are strange and weird and they don't believe in things like deodorant and toothpaste or having regular jobs." (pg. 51)

It's obvious the family isn't overly preachy in their ways. However, when it is more than appropriate, discussions of what the Bible says are woven in brilliantly. For instance, April and her grandmother, Mama Grace, talk of the way April's parents treat others - like Ian and Isabel St. James - when the new people in town have done nothing to deserve the Reilly's kindness. Mama Grace points to 1 Corinthians 13, or the Love Chapter ("love is patient, love is kind...") to illustrate how April's parents take things to heart - and how April should do the same.

What I Dislike: This is a very minor thing. The book is set in 1986, but really, it could've been set in the present day. Other than a few references to Murder, She Wrote and terry cloth shorts (who remembers THOSE?), you wouldn't really know it's supposed to happen 25 years ago.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Age Appeal: 9 and up (and I'd highly encourage you borrow it from your daughter's library!)

Publisher Info: Thomas Nelson, 2011; ISBN: 978-1-4003-1722-6; Paperback, 288 PGS., $9.99

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $8.19 or $7.19 as an e-book,
OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $9.99 or for the Kindle for $7.19.

Special Info: This is the first book in the "Confessions of April Grace" series by Ms. McCrite.