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Action/adventure fans will love Roland Smith’s Cryptid Hunters. Cryptozoology is the study of non-existent creatures, like the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot. Be ready for some great plot twists as Grace and Marty team up with their Uncle Wolfe to outsmart the evil Dr. Blackwood.

The Rule of the Ruler Measuring tapes, rulers, cups, and scales, we use them to analyze, study, compare, and contrast things. We calculate and conclude. Great for school, not so great when we apply those same principles to people. Check out Matthew 7: 1, 2 (NIV): “ ‘ Do not judge, or you too will…

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo won the Newbury Medal with good reason. DiCamillo paints brilliant imagery throughout this fairy tale while celebrating love, forgiveness, and grace. The movie does not do justice to the book. I read this novel, one with very few pictures, to my very wiggly kindergartner, and he was hooked.

Riding the Spiritual Scooter My kids like to scooter. They zoom through the neighborhood, jumping curbs and coasting down driveways. One foot pushes like mad, while the other stands rock steady and enjoys the ride. When they scooter, their feet have two different perspectives. One pounds the pavement and propels them forward. The other foot…

Lois Lowry’s Gossamer explores the realm of dreams and nightmares, the dream-givers and the Sinisteeds, and good and evil. Lowry weaves a story of an unlikely pair of humans and the little dream-giver Gossamer who will aid in healing their hearts.

Zuno saw a bunny in the park when we ran today and he has chosen The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. Hug your little bunnies tight and reassure them that, like Mother Bunny, you would go to the ends of the earth just for them.

What’s in Your Closet? T-shirts, Under-Armour, designer jeans, sneakers, or flip-flops, clothes tell you a lot about a person. Are they an athlete or a fashion diva? What is their favorite color? Is everything new or do they have a favorite pair of jeans that are older than their little sister? Just as our closets…

J. R. R. Tolkien’s Hobbit is Bilbo’s story and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf chooses Bilbo to complete a party of dwarves, making their number 14 and not the unlucky 13, as they head for the Lonely Mountain to face the dragon, Smaug. Along the way, Bilbo encounters a gruesome creature…

In Heaven, Praise is 24/7 Pop? Rap? Contemporary Christian? Where does your radio dial sit? In my family, depending on whose car you are in, the radio dial turns from sports to light rock to talk radio to Christian praise music. I think if God had a radio, He’d tune into praise and worship. Check…

Gregor the Overlander is the first book in Suzanne Collins’s The Underland Chronicles. Less edgy than her more recent The Hunger Games, The Underland Chronicles also look at the subjects of war, peace, and how to get along. These novels are suited for elementary school aged readers. The Hunger Games series is more appropriate for…