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Did you enjoy this week’s reading? Lois Lowry gives many clues about Jonas’s community. We learn about Sameness: climate control, the absence of color, the same skin tone, flat land. Is this a good thing? What was sacrificed to achieve sameness? Would you be willing to make these sacrifices? Why? Differences can be great—colors, seasons, mountains…

Psalm 23 begins: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want…” (NIV) “I shall not want” means I have everything I need because God, my shepherd, provides for me. To be “in want” means that you need something. For a long time, when I read: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want…”, …

This week, Zuno picked The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. Color and sparkling scales fill the covers of Marcus Pfister’s Rainbow Fish, as do lots of lessons on friendship, giving, and a good attitude. Meet an octopus, a starfish, Rainbow Fish and a school of others when you dive into this book.

Have you ever opened your mouth only to have words spill out that you wish you could get back? Me too. The Bible compares our mouth to fire or a wild animal that can’t be tamed. Listen to what Solomon tells us in Proverbs 10:19: “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he…

The Ceremony of Twelve begins today as we read chapters seven through twelve of Lois Lowry’s The Giver. The Chief Elder selects Jonas for a special assignment, and the community honors Jonas above all the other twelves. What is the mysterious assignment and why was Jonas chosen? Look for ways Jonas’s community is different from…

What did you think of Jonas’s community? Would you like to live here? When I first read The Giver, I felt uneasy. This community is nothing like mine. To me, Jonas’s community is like a doctor’s office, cold and sterile. Did you notice the rules of the community? Word choice, hair ribbons, how to park your bike,…

We love a good swordfight at our house. With three boys, we have not only watched numerous swordfights (from movies like The Princess Bride, various Robin Hoods and Zorros,  and The Scarlet Pimpernel) but also have staged many of our own. Plastic and foam swords leave little damage, but the real thing—it can take your…

Can you believe it? Zuno has chosen a cat book this week—Judy Shachner’s Skippyjon Jones. Skippyjon Jones is a Siamese cat who thinks he is a Chihuahua. Break out your favorite version of La Cucaracha and start rolling your Rs as El Skippito and Los Chimichangos battle a frijole-stealing bandito. Parents, there are several Skippyjon…

Can you keep a secret? When someone shares a secret, they are taking you into their confidence. Did you know that God takes some people into His confidence? Check out Proverbs 3:32b (NIV): “…for the LORD detests a perverse man, but takes the upright into his confidence.” God wants to be close enough to you…

This week, we begin The Giver by Lois Lowry. The first of a trilogy, The Giver introduces us to a world that is very different from our own. It is perfect, or is it? We meet Jonas, a boy of 11, who apprehensively awaits the Ceremony of Twelve. The ceremony marks the end of childhood…