Don't Forget to Add These to the Christmas Stocking part 2

The last post showed the books I've written for early school age girls. These books are for older readers. The first three are for girls ages 8 to 12. But if your daughter, niece etc. is 7 or 13 and likes them, great. Every girl is different so the ages are only a guideline. All the books shown are available on amazon.com HERE or Christianbooks HERE but please check your local Christian bookstore first.

This book contains fun quizzes to help girls discover their unique personalities, strength, talents and quirks. Some of the quiz titles are: Are You for Real? How Honest are You? What Kind of Smart are You? Are You a Mary or a Martha? What Does Your Room Reveal About You? Each of the 22 quizzes has a key verse, a take away point, and a puzzle, story or craft. This book is more fun when done with a friend or family members.

Review: Part of a series, The Christian Girl's Guide to ME: The Quiz Book was written by Katrina Cassel and features 22 fun quizzes for tween girls. They cover a broad range of topics, from personality to Bible knowledge, from character to hygiene and habits.

Every chapter begins with a Bible verse then tells a short story. Some of these are contemporary tales; others are re-tellings of accounts from Scripture. Readers then take a quiz. Answers and evaluations are provided after along with tips for how to improve or apply what is learned from the quiz. Simple illustrations and "Fun Fact" sidebars pepper the pages.

As with every volume in this series, the book comes with a trinket. We received a leopard print coin purse exactly like the one pictured.

What I Like: What girl doesn't love learning more about herself? My daughter (age 9) was instantly attracted to this book. It offers a fun approach to learning and growing. I especially like that it goes beyond revealing truths about oneself to developing truths in oneself; it helps girls discover what God has intended for them. Of course, I also love the heavy emphasis on Scripture and truth. My daughter loved the coin purse that came with it.

This book has eleven tips for being successful in God's eyes. They include: Use Your Talents, Do Your Best, Stand Up for What's Right, Walk with God and more. Each tip is taught through stories, puzzles, journal questions and other activities.

 Reviews: Our daughter picked out this book to use as a fun Bible study with her friends. The girls meet once a week and cover one of the "tips." The girls have enjoyed the book, memorized a verse each week and have had a blast doing the crafts. Our group of girls are in third grade. Some of the stories relate to girls a little older (ex. running on the track team), but overall they can apply the lessons to their everyday lives. Godly principles are taught throughout the book. The parents and girls in our group have all LOVED it!

This is a great new book by an experienced christian author who has written several other books for children.This book is great for pre-teen girls-my 11 year old niece loves it and she doesn't really like to read.The book covers many aspects of being a teen or preteen girl including What is Success, Using Your Talents, What is Peer Pressure and standing up to bad peer pressure, walking with God and sharing your faith, also integrity, honesty and most important-getting along with your family.The book has discussion questions, quizzes, puzzles and projects to do.It would make a great book for a Junior or Junior High girls Sunday School class or other group to use for a study book.

Want the preteen girl in your life to learn more about the Bible this year? This book goes through the Bible book by book teaching key points and helping preteens apply Scripture messages to their own lives. It includes puzzles, journaling, crafts and more. Why not do the book with your daughter or as a family? 

Review: I purchased this for my 8-year old daughter, who is a strong reader and has gone through the God and Me! series already. This book has gotten her into some books of the Bible that she might not otherwise read. It also stays away from the sometimes-forced scenarios of how to apply God's Word. Instead, it focuses on the actual lessons learned by the people in the Bible. 

For girls ages 10-14, this daily devotion book looks at Bible women from Eve to Abigail to Mary and Martha. It covers both Heroines and Villains because we can learn from both. The book includes not only the well known characters like Rebekah, Esther and Mary, but also some lesser known ones such as Acsah, Drusilla and Huldah. These women faced some of the same issues still facing girls today such as jealousy, sibling rivalry and overcoming obstacles. The book has dated devotions, but you can jump in anywhere.

Review:

If you’re looking for a relevant, interactive devotional book for your daughter, consider Katrina Cassel’s The One Year Devotions for Girls: Starring Women of the Bible. Each of the 365 devotions is set up like this: First, it provides one or two key Scripture verses (written out in full). Next, the author gives a devotional essay that ties the Scripture to a female character from the Bible. The often thought-provoking text is written with compact clarity. Finally, readers find more questions to consider and a suggested plan of action on the margins of each page. Every seven days, the book provides a quiz, an activity, or a puzzle. These weekly breaks help review recent lessons. While the puzzles usually feature a verse from the Bible, the quizzes seemed geared to help girls identify their strengths and weaknesses, similar to what you might find in a popular teen magazine.

The book highlights not only familiar women, such as Eve, Ruth, and Esther, but lesser known women, such as Hagar, Vashti, and even a few nameless characters. Readers are encouraged to learn from not only the wisdom of the characters but from their mistakes as well. In addition, the book is set up in chronological order, which makes it feel like a journey through the Bible.

What I Like: I love the format. Each devotion fits on one page, and is packed with encouragement, helpful suggestions, and excellent questions to ponder. They are well-written, and teen-friendly. The quizzes and puzzles are a refreshing angle. Plus the book is very reasonably priced.

For both boys and girls ages 8-12, this book goes through the Bible chronologically challenging the reader to answer a question each day. The question draws the reader into the devotion, which holds the answer. Questions include: What Bible king was given 15 extra years of life because of his faithfulness? What pair of animals attacked the children who mocked Elisha for his baldness? Who was hiding in the winepress when God called him to be a judge? Which Bible mom gave birth to twins? and 361 more!  

Reviews: The One Year Book of Bible Trivia for Kids opens the door to brush up on Bible knowledge! This book may even possibly teach kids a few new things too. It's friendly format is basic, yet appealing. The meat of the book is straight to the point and readers will begin a yearly journey starting in Genesis and finishing with the book of Revelations.

Each of the devotions has a title ( for example: A Willing Learner), a Question ( What Jew really wanted to preach about the Lord but didn't know Jesus was the Messiah?), a multiple choice answer (a. Apollos, B. Agabus, C. Timothy), For You (a section that asks a question for the reader to contemplate the devotion at hand and apply it to their life), and the correct answer to the trivia question with the accompanying Bible Verse in which the answer is found ( in the devotion, I mentioned the answer is A and the story can be found in the book of Acts).

The 365 Biblical Trivia devotions are written as if speaking to the reader. The age recommendations is 10 -14 year olds but I think even a younger child interested in their faith can grow from using this book daily. This devotion could even work for a family time discussion. Reading through the book, I was even challenged by some of the trivia questions!

I recommend checking this book out for yourself. I very much enjoyed reading through it and am excited at the change to present it to my own children. I'm sure this title would be a blessing to any kid craving that deeper relationship God.

The One Year Book of Bible Trivia for Kids is great to jump start the mornings – and it’s a fun way to get the children off on the right foot instead of fighting (although I make no promises or guarantees that you’ll have the same or similar results about siblings getting along). The book is dated from January 1st through December 31st, but while some of the readings are themed like for the new year or for Christmas, you can really just pick and chose which ones to read on which days depending on what you want to cover. Of course you can just read it in order as well! The choice is yours.

The book has 400 pages and measures 6 inches by 9 inches which fits great in my tote bags and my purse for on-the-go devos for the whole family. An example of what you’ll find is for July 2nd, the topic is “Learn From It” and you’ll have the trivia question (take turns having the children guess or have a different child guess each day) then a short devo reading corresponding to the trivia, a “For You” question to open up discussion and then the trivia answer along with a Scripture verse. In the back of the book is a Scripture Index that outlines which Scriptures are used for which date, so you can pre-read and get a sense of what you’ll be covering before doing it with your children.

It’s not colorful on the inside but that is okay as it’s more to focus on bringing God’s Word to the child and giving them a way to make it relate to their life through fun trivia. I know some don’t like the Bible and fun together but if it sticks to Biblical truths and gets the Scripture into the hearts of children then I’m all for a little fun during devotional time. Since there are no years this can be used over and over to cycle back through time and again, and while it’s geared for ages 8 to 12 I can see other children who may be older or a bit younger also getting a lot of out this and enjoying it as well.

Don't let the cover fool you. This book is for all 5th-7th graders. (Even 4th and 8th graders too!) Readers will learn how to give their grades a boost, make testing easy, face life in a new school, deal with old friends and new, live out their faith at school and more. It uses quizzes and sound bytes of information to help kids learn to not only only survive, but thrive in middle school.

Review: If you have children, relatives, neighbors or friends who are starting middle school, Katrina Cassel's book,The Middle School Survival Manual offers a timely dose of practical encouragement. It is filled with study tips, friendship pointers, personality quizzes, thought-provoking questions, and planning charts to help all types of students. Each lesson ends with two or three "Verses to Think About."

Cassel's goal is to let students know God is with them and has a good plan for them, and teach students how to organize their lives, live out their faith and make the most of the middle school years. Beginning chapters cover topics such as goal-setting, improving grades and test performance, and adjusting to a new school. Cassel continues by teaching students about friendship and faith, how to choose the best activities, and identifying academic and personal strengths.

Cassel uses current education theory (e.g. Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences; visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles) to coach students to be in charge of their own learning. She also guides readers in choosing friends and repairing suffering friendships, as well as being a gentle witness for Christ in various school situations.

A chapter-by-chapter discussion guide is included at the end of the book.

What I Like: This is an excellent guide for students transitioning from elementary school to middle school. Cassel's practical steps will calm apprehensive students, and her wise advice will inspire confident students to reach out to others and tell them about their faith.

I like the way each chapter begins with an engaging story, followed by personal questions. Readers are asked to think about their own response in a similar situation, in order to connect more easily with material in the chapter. I also really enjoyed taking the quizzes and finding out more about my personality. Many middle school students will find this information new, interesting and helpful.

Faith in Christ forms the foundation of each chapter, and Cassel assumes readers are growing and maturing in their walk with Jesus. However, you could use much of the information in a public school setting as well.


So these are my suggestions for your daughter's, niece's etc Christmas stockings. Books are also a great way to start out the new year.