The Adventures of Rooney Cruz RINGLEADERS: A Truth Becomes Her Review

I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Growing up I had two brothers and no sisters.  In college I was a nanny for two little boys.  Since my experience was dominated by boys, having a little girl of my own was an entirely new affair.  Even today as the boys are 10 and 3 and my girl is 7, the difference between girls and boys are striking.  And my girl is a tomboy and keeps up with the best of them!  Still, her heart is just an entirely different thing.  The beauty of that also offers a challenge of encouraging her with the right combination of sensitivity and adventure.  Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a group of items that strives to touch that tenacious spirit through some great examples in the Bible.  We are talking about The Adventures of Rooney Cruz RINGLEADERS and a collection of books from Truth Becomes Her.

What We Received:

We received 4 separate items:

-The Adventures of Rooney Cruz RINGLEADERS, a hardback book written by Erin Weidemann.

-RINGLEADERS: Journal for Mothers and Daughters, a paperback book full of writing prompts for mothers and daughters to explore together.

-Ringleaders: A Devotional for Girls, a paperback book for girls to read on their own.

-Ringleaders Coloring Book, a coloring book featuring scenes from the story and scriptures.

How It Works:

RINGLEADERS is a fictional story about Rooney who gets a visit from Mari, a small angel who has the ability to peek in to stories in the Bible and take Rooney with her.  Throughout the book, Rooney is taught helpful truths from women of the Bible and the obstacles they had to overcome along side her own circumstances she finds herself in.  Depending on the age of your girl, this book can be read aloud or she can read it on her own.  My daughter is 7 and she read it on her own just fine.  Along with the story book, the devotional book includes illustrations from the storybook and daily devotions, scriptures and activities.  It can be read on its own, but would lend itself to great discussions if read together between adult and child. The Journal for Mothers and Daughters gives even more space for mom and daughter to respond to each other and to ideas presented in scripture and the book.  Finally, there is a beautiful coloring book that is an anytime anywhere element to remind the girls of scenes and scriptures as they color.

What We Thought:

Because my 10 year old is the oldest in our family, he has gotten more than his fair share of review items over the years.  So when my daughter found out she was getting items only for her, she was really motivated!  Then to discover it was for me to do along with her, she was so happy!  She immediately sat down and started reading.  While she could read all of it on her own, the various different ways I could engage with her on it was really good for her as well as our relationship.  She can get lost in the shuffle sometimes as the middle child and only girl, but this offers a great opportunity for me to focus entirely on her. So much of our culture offers empty or shallow stories and concepts that when we discover something so rich, it's important to dig in! We had never heard of the Bible Belles series, but after this we will certainly look up other books!

Overall, we loved these products and would recommend them for an upcoming holiday or birthday gift for your favorite girl!

Follow Truth Becomes Her on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BibleBelles

Instagram: https://www.instagram/truthbecomesher/

Do you have a daughter older than 7 and wondering if these books would still be a good fit?  Check out other family's reviews below for an older perspective.

Kingdom Files: A Barbour Publishing Review

Over the years, I have began many Bible reading plans that start in Genesis in January and then somewhere along the way - usually in Leviticus or Chronicles - slow down to a halt.  The noble effort leaves many of the minor prophets less read than the beginning.  Children's Bible curriculum can also only hit the highlights and miss some of the significant details in the name of giving a good overview of the Bible.


My latest review is part of the Kingdom Files series from Barbour Publishing.  The entire set includes:

Who Is Jesus?
Who Was Daniel?
Who Was David?
Who Was Esther?
Who Was Jonah?
Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus?


These Bible-based biography books by Matt Koceich dig into the entire life of individual characters, giving a broad perspective and key details to their life and place in the kingdom.  For this review we received Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? The series is intended for ages 8-12, so my 7 year old book worm did just fine.  After he read Who Was Mary, I asked him what he thought.  His response was, "It was good.  You should read it.  I think you'll learn some things!"  It made me laugh, but he was on to something.  The manner in which it is laid out provides a very comprehensive way of learning, something we don't always receive through a lesson or typical Bible reading.  Too often we remember a big event clearly - like Mary giving birth to Jesus or Jonah getting stuck in the big fish - but so much more happened that we should consider.

The books begin with a FACT FILE section that lays out key statistics and includes a miniature timeline of events specific to that character.  The middle section is called the ACTION FILE which consists of several chapters discussing the action or events of their life.  This section includes small Clues corners that are sprinkled throughout that helps the reader understand the importance or meaning of certain events.  The last section POWER FILE is filled with "Power-Ups" that are short devotions designed to study further some of the lessons taught through the characters life.  Each one includes a memory verse so that scripture is then connected to the reader's every day life. 

With my oldest child being 7, I have had a few years to experience a lot of children's Biblical resources.  There is a ton of basic children's Bibles and of course plenty of high school to adult level resources, but the stuff in between isn't always the most helpful.  As my children grow, I absolutely want my kids to learn to study the Bible not just remember some of the big stories.  Bridging the gap between the two is important and often challenging.  These books do a really good job of re-telling the life events and providing information like you would receive in a lesson at church and then applying lessons to our lives.  In Who Was Jonah, I really appreciated the large amount of context they provide for Jonah and the people he didn't want to preach to. Both books do so much more than just teach a Bible story.  For young readers, it's a good combination of scripture and devotion that can truly help them study the Bible more closely as a result.  I am excited to collect all of them and have them be a regular part of my children's curriculum as they advance in their reading.

Barbour Publishing on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbourPublishing/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/barbourbuzz
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/BarbourPublishing1

The Beginner's Bible: A Zonderkidz Review

One of the most important parenting tasks Mr. Butler and I have is to teach our children the Bible and start out their lives with the habit of consuming it daily.  While I know that the word of God is so powerful, if it isn't in the stores of my mind and made available to use when needed, it can be made ineffective, to say the least.  As many of us are diving into reading the Bible (or parts of it) in a year, why not encourage our kids to do the same!  Our kids need these habits set in place as soon as possible for maximum benefit!  Last month, as part of the Homeschool Review Crew, we received The Beginner's Bible from Zonderkidz to review and it has certainly supported the family goal of studying the Bible more regularly.  Since J was born we have been exposed to a few different kinds of children's Bibles, but I had never taken a look at any version of this one.  It widened my children's Bibles experience!

This hardback book includes over 90 Bible stories that my 6 year old was able to read just fine, but comprehensive enough to read aloud with everyone. My husband started including it in the kids nightly reading time and noted with disappointment that the story of Cain and Abel was not included. Biblical accuracy is really important in our household, but as we explored the book further we were surprised to see instances of baptism and Paul's missionary journeys were included in the New Testament that often are omitted.. So, you can't have everything, but there were some nice details included.  Though it has been around for a while, the Beginner's Bible has recently been updated with new 3D artwork and some great resources to complement the book's use.  At first, I just gave the book to J to read during quiet time and he seem to take ownership of it pretty quickly.  Later, while exploring the website, I discovered a wealth of activities that accentuated the Bible study perfectly and for a range of ages!  Whether you have a large classroom setting or just trying to enrich your kid's Bible involvement, there is probably a resource for you.  On the website you have access to the following:

• coloring sheets (using artwork straight from the Bible)
• word searches 
• mazes 
• trivia cards 
• placemats 
• sticker sheets
• posters
• snack ideas
• reading suggestions
• games (paint, puzzles, matching, etc.)
• videos
• bookmarks
• and even more!

With all of the resources that Zonderkids has provided, you could easily develop a Bible curriculum for your students - for the year, for a few months or whatever your needs are!  Adults and kids alike, the most important foundation for a relationship with God is knowing what He teaches.  In my experience, one of the best ways to learn is to receive information and reinforcement from multiple directions and this resource website makes learning about the Bible almost as easy as osmosis with the variety of options available!  All in all, we found this Beginner's Bible to be a great place to start your kids

If you have younger kids or have different needs, Zonderkidz also sells a version for little ones, a deluxe version (that includes audible CDs) and a collector's edition.

Keep up with Zonderkidz on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zonderkidz/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zonderkidz

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