Great Books for Reading Activities for Grandparents and Grandchildren, From Christian Heroes of the Faith Biographies For Kids To A Cute Dragon and Turtle!

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Oyyyyy! I just came in from a fairly brisk walk with my senior mom. Outside, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and gardening ideas abound. It looks like spring, it sings like spring, but it doesn't quite feel like spring. It's. Still. COLD! 30 degrees and a wind brisker than our walk! I walked back in the house 5 minutes ago and my cheeks are still defrosting! I'm glad mom wants to walk, as it's so good for both of us, but left to my own – I'd hide inside with the mini stationary exercise bikes. 🙂 God is definitely making sure I stay extra active, between my senior mom and my grandchildren, that's for sure.

And speaking of grandchildren, I had a lovely time walking with them yesterday (wasn't quite as cold and I ran for part of it – so it FELT warmer, though it really wasn't). Then we went inside and enjoyed reading some new books. Since I shared grandgirls books on Monday, I thought it was only fair to share some grandboys books today – younger audience though, as my grandsons are younger.

The grand-twins still prefer books with LOTS of pictures and I found a couple of new-to-us ones that were fun to read:

The Wrong Kind of Bark by Julia Donaldson reminded us of Amelia Bedelia books as the little boy kept misunderstanding the teacher. For example, she told everyone to bring in any kind of flower. In the midst of the roses and daffodils, he poured white baking flour into the vase. I thought that was humorous and didn't think the teacher should be quite so frustrated with him as she was. Then again, when she said to bring in something from a TREE, like bark, she had better reason to be a bit frustrated when he showed up with a dog. It was a silly little book that was fun to read and gave me a good "platform" to point out the importance of listening carefully to teachers and grandparents. 🙂

The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari is another fun book in the series of Christian stories for young children by Donita K. Paul and her daughter, Evangeline Denmark, and wonderfully illustrated by Vincent Nguyen. This is the second in the series (the first was The Dragon and the Turtle) given to me by Waterbrook Multnomah to review for you. This time the cute little dragon and turtle are on safari (sleeping in the backyard), hearing strange noises like wolves (dogs and cats), and enjoying fun stories and tasty treats (s'mores and crunchy baked bugs). They set good examples of being kind and helping each other as the night progresses. I appreciated that the author included a Bible verse and talking points at the end for parents and grandparents who want ideas of what to discuss about the book.

For my older grandson, I found a GREAT new (to me) series of Christian stories for children that I am enjoying reading to him as much as he is enjoying listening to! Trailblazers Featuring William Tyndale and Other Christian Heroes, by Dave & Neta Jackson, is a real delight! This particular volume also includes historical fiction biographies for children about Frederick Douglass, and three other Christian heroes of the faith – from missionary to soldier – who "had the courage and strength to stand up for the God they believe in." The basic stories are factual, but the writers use fictional children to help tell the stories of the heroes in a very interesting way. I knew Tyndale played an important part in the English Bibles we are blessed with today, but had no clue how dangerous his life was because of it. It's fascinating historical information, helping my grandson learn more about world history, as well as giving him great examples to follow. There are several volumes in this series, so I'm looking forward to sharing all of them with him over the next year, and hopefully getting the younger ones engaged in the next year or two.

Of course, once spring really springs, we'll be playing outside a lot more. But I am a firm believer in Bible memory verses, reading long and  short stories to develop children's reading skills, and other educational activities for grandparents and grandchildren in good weather as well as bad. So we'll keep reading, no matter what the weather is like. How about you? What's a favorite grandkids book for you this week? We'd love to hear. 🙂