NZ Filbruns

About the Book:

Book: A Little Christian’s Animals (The Little Christian Learning Collection Book 2)

Author: Lila Noffsinger

Genre: Christian Children’s Picture Book

Release Date: February 20, 2024

A Little Christian’s Animals is the newest installment of the Little Christian Learning Collection, which teaches preschool level learning concepts with Bible stories! In A Little Christian’s Animals, children journey with sing-songy rhymes through ten animal-centered Bible stories. Children will be captured by Lucy Shin’s adorable illustrations, and parents will enjoy nourishing their kids’ hearts and minds. Big Biblical truths are packed into this bite-sized book, the perfect length for little attention spans. Little animal enthusiasts will love Jonah’s whale, Daniel’s lions, Egypt’s frogs, and many more animals! A Little Christian’s Animals is sure to become a family favorite of kids and parents alike!

My Thoughts:

This book is cute! Each two-page spread has just one sentence, giving one simple fact about an animal that is mentioned in the Bible,  along with a beautiful, full-color illustration of that story. These pictures are somewhat cartoonish in style, but not so much that they bother me—and not even my husband, who is a stickler for realism! This book is perfect for 2-year-olds or maybe even 18-month-olds who like picture books. It’s a bit too young for my youngest at this point, but the last page tells where to find the stories in the Bible, The Beginner’s Bible, and The Jesus Storybook Bible. That is a way to expand this little book for older children. On the very last page is a QR code that will take you to a website that offers free downloadable coloring pages of the pictures in the book. My 4-year-old has been enjoying coloring them while we have our family Bible time in the evenings.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

Lila Noffsinger is a Christian, wife, and mama to three. Her kids are her inspiration for writing, and she loves creating for them books that are cute, fun to read, educational, and biblically enriching. When she isn’t writing or playing with her family, she loves to read, craft, and hike. Lila lives with her family in San Jose, CA.

More from Lila:

I don’t need to look far to find inspiration for my books. Literally. My little inspirations are usually physically touching me. My three kids (ages 3 and under) bring joy, laughter, and a lot of books into my life. As a mom, I want books for them that are fun for me to read, engaging for them to look at, and enriching for their hearts and minds. What sprung up from that desire was The Little Christian Learning Collection, now including A Little Christian’s 123s, A Little Christian’s Animals, and the accompanying coloring & activity books.

It continues to fill me with joy when my kids pick these books off the shelf to read. My youngest daughter will toddle through the house with A Little Christian’s Animals in her hand, yelling “Am-mi-mals!” as a request to read it. If I accidentally skip the frog on the first page, she will turn back to it so she can point it out. Frogs have become her favorite animals, and, based on Lucy Shin’s adorable portrayal of them, I can’t blame her.

I’ve been so honored by the reports of these books being similarly loved in other households. It brings me so much joy to know that kids are asking to read these Bible stories over and over again.

I love the work that goes into constructing these books. The rhymes are fun to ponder over as I rock babies or cook dinner. I love the research that goes into making the illustrations historically and geographically accurate. Illustrator Lucy Shin is a joy to work with, and the way she turns my notes and scribbles into something adorable seems like magic to me.

I’ve also really enjoyed putting together the coloring and activity books. It’s yet another way to let kids engage with Bible stories, learn something new, and have fun doing it! I’ve been surprised by what a hit they’ve become, and I’m so glad that kiddos around the country are enjoying them. If you want a taste, ALL of the coloring pages are available for free here: https://www.seedlingsbooks.com/color

Overall, writing these books has been a huge blessing, and I’m continually honored to hear how they’re being enjoyed by little readers. Keep your eyes open for more in the Little Christian Learning Collection! There’s more to come.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

About the Book:

Book: KidVenture: Through The Maize (KidVenture Book 3)

Author: Steve Searfoss

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

Release Date: March 30, 2023

Chance, Addie and Sophie launch a new venture when they get lost in the country and stumble on the idea of starting a corn maze business. They quickly discover that while it’s easy to rush into a maze, finding your way out is hard. They will need to convince an investor to fund the venture, persuade a reluctant farmer to let them build their maze on his corn field, and figure out a way to work with his headstrong nephew. Along the way they will realize just how little they know about planting corn, designing mazes and writing business plans. Through many twists and turns —and dead ends— they will learn how to keep a partnership together and what the true job of a leader is. There’s only one thing harder than finding your way out of a maze: creating a maze people want to get lost in.

KidVenture stories are business adventures where kids figure out how to market their company, understand risk, and negotiate. Each chapter ends with a challenge, including business decisions, ethical dilemmas and interpersonal conflict for young readers to wrestle with. As the story progresses, the characters track revenue, costs, profit margin, and other key metrics which are explained in simple, fun ways that tie into the story.

My Thoughts:

Over the past few years, I have enjoyed reading the first two KidVenture books, about a boy who started two different businesses. Each of these books taught children a lot about finances and business principles. My children didn’t enjoy them as much as I did, but I thought they were good encouragement. So, of course, I was quite interested in reading the third book, Through the Maize, when it was offered!

Through the Maize is my favorite so far in this series. There are a lot of lessons about business and finances, but even more of this book has to do with relationships and how to work with people. Chance was very excited about his new business opportunity, but very quickly found himself in over his head with trying to figure out how to work with people. I really liked the way he asked his father for advice. The lessons Chance learned through the summer are valuable for anyone. As with the first two books in the series, there are frequent tables with the lessons he is learning. Some of these have to do with working with other people, and some are about the financial decisions he has to make. These tables help to keep all the lessons organized and clear. At the end of each chapter are several questions to help children think through the concepts and discuss what the right way to respond would be. The basic storyline in this book kept my interest all the way through, and I found myself laughing out loud at times; I love the humor that is woven into it. Chance’s 3-year-old brother is as funny as most toddlers, and of course there is the broken joke detector that appears in each book.

I have not yet read this book to my children, so I don’t know what they will think about it. Their response to the first two books was disbelief that Chance could have been so foolish in some ways. Having had a bit more life experience, however, I can see how he would have missed some things that seem obvious when reading the story! I definitely like this series, and especially this third book, both for the life lessons taught and for the example of a family who work together, with a father who is there to offer help and advice when needed but who lets his children make mistakes and learn from them as well. 

There is one thing I found annoying with this book–the formatting. I didn’t notice it when I read the ebook, but it made the print book harder to read. That was the beginnings of the paragraphs: They are not indented. All three books are printed the same way, and I find that it makes it harder to know exactly who is talking. So, not a huge deal, but rather jarring and distracting for me!

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

I wrote my first KidVenture book after years of making up stories to teach my kids about business and economics. Whenever they’d ask how something works or why things were a certain way, I would say, “Let’s pretend you have a business that sells…” and off we’d go. What would start as a simple hypothetical to explain a concept would become an adventure spanning several days as my kids would come back with new questions which would spawn more plot twists. Rather than give them quick answers, I tried to create cliffhangers to get them to really think through an idea and make the experience as interactive as possible.

I try to bring that same spirit of fun, curiosity and challenge to each KidVenture book. That’s why every chapter ends with a dilemma and a set of questions. KidVenture books are fun for kids to read alone, and even more fun to read together and discuss. There are plenty of books where kids learn about being doctors and astronauts and firefighters. There are hardly any where they learn what it’s like to run small business. KidVenture is different. The companies the kids start are modest and simple, but the themes are serious and important.

I’m an entrepreneur who has started a half dozen or so businesses and have had my share of failures. My dad was an entrepreneur and as a kid I used to love asking him about his business and learning the ins and outs of what to do and not do. Mistakes make the best stories — and the best lessons. I wanted to write a business book that was realistic, where you get to see the characters stumble and wander and reset, the way entrepreneurs do in real life. Unlike most books and movies where business is portrayed as easy, where all you need is one good idea and the desire to be successful, the characters in KidVenture find that every day brings new problems to solve.

More from Steve:

KidVenture books are interactive business adventure stories for middle grade readers. In every KidVenture book, a group of young entrepreneurs start a business and have to overcome a series of challenges to make their business profitable. Every chapter ends with a series of questions where readers face the same choices as the protagonists and can reflect on what they would do and how they would respond to the obstacle. These can be great starting points for rich discussions if read with a parent or as a group.

Beyond teaching business lessons, KidVenture books are also full of characters encountering ethical dilemmas and all sorts of temptations: the desire to lie when the business is not doing well, the enticement to break a partnership when it’s no longer convenient, the inducement to keep extra profits to yourself and not share them, and so on. Young readers are asked to wrestle with these questions too as the story progresses.

Years ago when my son was about 4 or 5 we went to a corn maze on a school field trip. After a while it occurred to me to hand him the map and have him lead us. I got to show him how to interpret the map, decide which way to turn, and how to look for landmarks. And —this was the best part— I let him get lost, and helped him figure out how to know when you’re lost and how to get  find your way back to a spot you recognize. It was such a sweet memory, an almost perfect vision of what fatherhood is like. And then later I realized, as wonderful as that day was, being a father is much more challenging. The maze has a right way and a wrong way. Life is messier, way more complicated. That thought always stuck with me, the contrast between that day inside the maze and every day outside it. I didn’t know what to do with that idea, until I got a burst of inspiration and decided to write a new KidVenture book based on a corn maze business.

In Through The Maize, there are a group of three siblings who decide to start a corn maze business. Chance, Addie and Sophie remember going to a corn maze when they were younger and lament that it has no closed, so they are inspired to stat one of their own. They go visit a farm just outside of town and present the farmer with a proposal to build a corn maze on one of his fields and fields. The farmer is skeptical and asks for an upfront payment to use his land. This threatens to sink the kids’ new venture before it ever gets going, but after some debate they decide to put together a business plan and find an investor. That’s when the action really starts.

After some negotiation, the farmer agrees to partner with the kids but they must work with his nephew, Cody who is older and has a lot of experience working on a farm. Right away Cody and Chance butt heads, as Cody seems to disagree with everything Chance proposes. Even worse, Cody demands his own share of the profits, separate from what was promised to the farmer. As the kids proceed with their plan, begin planting corn and drawing the maze map, the situation between Chance and Cody only gets worse. Finally tempers explode and the whole venture is in jeopardy. Not only is the business falling apart, there is an investor who will lose his money if Chance and Cody can’t figure out a way to work together.One of my goals with KidVenture books is for kids to feel empowered to take on the world and tackle complex problems. I don’t just mean business problems like figuring out what the price of a product or service should be, or how to market a company. That’s certainly part of it. But more broadly, I want kids to learn how to handle difficult people problems. Business comes down to working with people and to be good at business you have to be good at working with people, whether It’s motivating people on your side to work towards a common goal or negotiating with people on the other side to reach an agreement both can benefit from.

My hope is that young readers will see how Chance handles the relationship with Cody and learn from it. At first, Chance does a terrible job. He’s jealous of the attention Cody gets and he begins to interpret everything Cody says and does as an attack, as a challenge to his authority, even when it isn’t. Things finally start to change when he begins to understand what his role as a leader should be, and that includes making the people who work for him (like Cody) feel like heroes in their own story. That requires humility and letting other people take credit for what they’re accomplishing. Chance has to decide what’s more important: feeling properly recognized, or getting the job done and having a successful business?

Once Chance begins to reframe his relationship with Cody in this way, he also starts to become more aware of how he has been filtering all of Cody’s actions through his own sense of wounded pride and interpreting them in the worst possible way. Chance realizes he has the power to change how he construes what Cody says and does, and this gives him the freedom to focus on what’s important to him (namely finishing the maze) and not be constantly reacting to Cody. This is an enormously empowering realization, one that I hope young readers can learn from which will help them get through their own mazes in life.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

About the Book:

Book: But In Mount Zion (Companion Study for Knowing Obadiah)

Author:April W. Gardner

Genre: Bible Study for Women

Release date: October, 2023

But in Mount Zion is a companion study for the commentary Knowing Obadiah.

​This workbook offers an interactive and reflective experience for readers to engage with the commentary and dive deeper into the book of Obadiah.

Through thought-provoking questions, exercises, and group discussion prompts, the workbook provides readers and teachers the tools to apply the lessons from Obadiah to their own lives. It also includes suggestions for further study, making it an excellent resource for Bible study groups or individual study.

Whether you’re a seasoned Bible scholar or a new believer, this set will help you deepen your understanding of Obadiah and its message.

My Thoughts:

Several months ago, I noticed that April Gardner was asking for reviewers for her first Biblical fiction novel, A Hope Fulfilled. I offered to help her out, and along with that book she sent ebooks of Knowing Obadiah and a companion study guide, But in Mount Zion. I decided to work my way through this study of the book of Obadiah for my morning quiet time. I read Knowing Obadiah, and when I reached a place where the instruction was given to work through the study guide I switched to it. 

On my second read through But in Mount Zion, this time without going back and forth between it and Knowing Obadiah, I was struck with the author’s emphasis on me, the reader. How do these ancient writings and prophecies apply to my life? What does God want of me and have for me? This is quite an intense study. I wouldn’t recommend trying to do it without going through the other book, though. These two books are best used as a set, in my opinion.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

APRIL W GARDNER is an indie author whose great passion is historical romance with themes of Native American and Southeastern U.S. culture. Copyeditor, mother of two grown children, and non-trad college student, April lives in South Texas with her husband and two German Shepherds. In no particular order, April dreams of owning a horse, learning a third language, and visiting all the national parks.

More from April:

How close are you to your Bible? I don’t mean the distance from you to the nightstand where it’s resting. Or the amount of warm-and-fuzzy you feel toward it. Or the number of heartfelt notes you’ve scribbled sideways into the margins. I mean, how close is your connection to the Bible’s people and places?

Are you here in the twenty-first century while it’s there in some unknown BC year? Are you here in your comfy chair re-reading old Bible stories while prophets and priests are there battling against idolatry, while apostles and saints are there suffering for Jesus?

Or are you here and there, backside in a plush chair but feet planted in the hot sands of the Negev, body existing in the twenty-first century, but heart and mind connected to every message and mission given in Scripture?

The story of the Bible isn’t a three-act play: Old Testament characters and plot, New Testament characters and plot, present-day characters and plot. From Genesis 1 to today, it’s all the same act. We are all players in God’s Great Story. If we’re Christians saved by Christ’s sacrificial death, we’re all joined by the same Scarlet Thread. From Adam through Joshua, Obadiah, Esther, Lydia, Stephen, and all the rest to you and me.

It’s my hope that as you go deeper into the study of Obadiah, its origins, prophecy, and fulfillment, that you’ll place yourself at the center of its Before-Christ settings, that you’ll feel Esau’s grief, Jerusalem’s terror, and Judah’s righteous anger, and that you’ll look to God’s stage where His Story is playing out and say to yourself, “These are my people. This is my story. I am a player.”

So. Let’s get playing.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.