As I explained in this post, I am having great fun hosting a young readers book club at my local Christian book store, Cathedral Book and Gift. The second book in our middle-grade reader series was The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers. Bark is a fantastic first book in a very worthy…
Tag: book club
Book Club: Henry and the Chalk Dragon
This summer I hosted a Henry and the Chalk Dragon book club at my local Christian bookstore. We had 12 kids aged 6 to 13 attend and we really did have a wonderful time together. Because we hosted this at our Christian bookstore and because I think that the Christian themes are absolutely present in…
The Bark of the Bog Owl
This review is of the first book of the trilogy. If you wish to read our review of the whole trilogy, click here. “‘Who knows what the future holds? Only the One God,’ explained Aidan. ‘You live the little bit of life that you can see in front of you. You live it well. And…
The Mad Scientists’ Club
Bertrand R. Brinley lived a fascinating life. I suggest that readers read this article (written by his son) before proceeding. I think that it will help give some insight into the things that I must say. In short, Brinley’s early life was not dissimilar to that of Louisa May Alcott’s. After a peripatetic childhood (I…
Brideshead Revisited
“Read and re-read. Re-reading we always find a new book.” ~C.S. Lewis, Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, “On Stories” (1947) I have always been a big fan of re-reading. While most good books can support many readings, certain excellent books almost seem to require multiple readings before the reader can claim to really understand…
GK Chesterton: Architect of Spears
In my Potato Peel Pie book club we are reading a little Chesterton every week. And by “little,” I mean one essay every Sunday from In Defense of Sanity. Each week we read and reflect on one short essay or article from G. K. Chesterton and play with the ideas he articulates. Some of the…
CS Lewis’s Ransom (Space) Trilogy
To our shock and dismay we often see this series recommended to young readers – the 10 to 12-year-old boy niche in particular – and we could not more emphatically disagree. Our purpose with this review is to highlight some specific content issues in each of the three books so that parents can discern when to share this story with their children.
Reading Plan: Sara’s Approach
I grew up loving the Ben Hur film with Charlton Heston. Thanks to Anne Shirley, I discovered that it was based on a book by Lew Wallace and now I love the book even more than the movie. There is a key moment in the story of Ben Hur when Judah’s character is evaluating a…