Redeemed Reader

Redeemed Reader is the site I recommend most often to other parents or educators for great book reviews and articles. I thoroughly enjoy reading the newsletter and thoughtful articles and hearing the different voices.... ~Debbie Redeemed Reader is an amazing resource for Christian moms everywhere! I’m always recommending moms use RR to screen books as well as find new series to try with their kids.

Rumpelstiltskin is an excellent retelling of an old fairy tale for a new audience. Reading Level: Picture books, ages 4-8 Recommended For: Ages 4-8 Rumpelstiltskin is a curious story. It has been retold with excellence by Paul Zelinsky and Paul Galdone, and there are many cheap versions available for the less critical readers.

Books about weather and natural disasters, and their related sub-topics like hurricanes, tornadoes, and giant floods, are hot picks for the elementary school crowd. Just ask any school librarian! This list just barely scratches the surface; we stuck with what we’ve reviewed, so all titles are linked to Redeemed Reader book reviews. Flood by Alvaro F. Villa.

The Cartoonists Club introduces young readers to the techniques and rationale of sequential graphic storytelling. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-14 Makayla is a fountain of story ideas but has a hard time connecting them. Howard doodles obsessively but needs a story. Art’s creative juices flow through a multitude of media, while Lynda, a talented artist, never thinks she’s good enough. These four need inspiration.

Home for Christmas is a lovely, literary collection of stories, old and new, that highlight the “spirit” of Christmas. Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old, edited by Miriam LeBlanc and illustrated by David Klein. Plough Publishing House, 2021. 339 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10 and up An unknown carpenter built a miraculous staircase for a chapel in the Southwest. A curmudgeonly cribmaker had a Scrooge-like vision one night and changed his ways.

The Visible Hand introduces teens to basic free-market economics in a way that’s accessible and entertaining. The Visible Hand: A Wealth of Notions on the Miracle of the Market by Matthew Hennesey. Encounter Books, 2022, 220 pages. Reading Level: Teen, ages 16-18 Recommended for: ages 15-up Who says we can’t have everything? What’s the problem with a minimum wage? Why can’t we afford a vacation this year? If gas prices go too high, isn’t there something the government can do to fix it?

Brand New Boy explores the “humanity” of manufactured humans through the eyes of curious middle-school students. Brand New Boy by David Almond, with pictures by Marta Altés. Candlewick, 2022, 304 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 What to make of the New Kid? Daniel and his mates at Darwin Avenue Primary Academy are intrigued when the headmistress, Mrs. Hoolihan, announces a new boy at school.

High octane, fast-paced adventure books for teens, the Maze Runner books raise interesting questions if readers can stop long enough to ponder. The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner. Delacorte. The Maze Runner. 2009. 375 pages. The Scorch Trials. 2010. 394 pages. The Death Cure. 2011. 368 pages. (The Kill Order; a prequel. 2012. Not covered in this review.) (The Fever Code; another prequel. 2016.

Three outstanding picture books offer windows into nano technology, beaver life, and the beauty and variety of beak design. *The Beak Book by Robin Page. Beach Lane Books (Simon & Shuster), 2021, 34 pages. Reading Level: Picture book, ages 0-4 Recommended for: ages 1-8 “Bird beaks come in many different colors, shapes, and sizes.” You might think of pelicans, ducks, toucans, hummingbirds—all very different, for sure. But why?