This Classical Life

When I requested this book from Thomas Nelson, I was excited to have a book of Bible maps to use as a reference. But it ended up being so much more. Photos, charts, and outlines, as well as downloadable PDFs, make this a great first stop for visual information related to the Bible. Additionally, each book of the Bible has an overview including things like the basic message and setting. I was impressed with the balance between historicity and orthodoxy, they seemed to hit the middle ground of the majority of evangelicalism and not lean too far towards fundamentalism or liberalism.

With over 500 pages, and a list price of under $20, this is the sort of resource that belongs on on each family’s bookshelf. If you serve as a teacher, you can even use duplicate these charts and maps for non-commercial use to share with your students. I can anticipate some great uses for homeschooling families as well.

If you simply want a book with large, full color maps that remind you of the ones in the back of your Bible, this is probably not the best choice. But as an all-around resource, it really shines.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I have been writing some children’s book reviews here and there, I figured y’all might find them useful, so here are some previews with links to the full review. All of them should be available at your local public library.

The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora (5/5) …the illustrations are truly engaging and beautiful and stand on their own merit, not just as a non-white version of a classic.

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (4/5) A sweet story that many will probably think of as “Little House in Sweden.”

Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson (5/5) The oil paintings and collage illustrations by Kadir Nelson are beautiful and striking, they seem to make a faraway world more real to readers, integrating African textiles and motifs.

Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier (5/5) Martin’s Big Words is a book that every family ought to own. It’s the best introduction to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that we have come across, something appropriate for even four or five-year-olds.

A novel in short stories, Olive Kitteridge is a skilled weaving of tales to show the way lives intersect with one another in a small coastal village in Maine, and in doing so, teach us about community everywhere.

The stories are raw and real, and the protagonist, if she can be called such, is rude, overbearing and larger than life. To know Olive is to be flummoxed by her, and yet, like Henry readers find themselves undeniably smitten with her.

Loneliness, depression, longing and pain are all vivid parts of the lives of those documented, and sometimes things don’t end up the way you’d want them to be, but the book wasn’t without hope. Somehow, the weaving of these stories together mirrored the weaving of all of our stories to me, and gave me a glimpse of something beautiful.

Virtue is also apparent in the lives of these Crosby residents. Loyalty, faithfulness, kindness… in their small connections community is born and grows. And community sustains them through many hardships. It’s a lovely book, and is even able to talk about difficult things with grace and beauty, and I’d recommend it to almost anyone. (9/10)

Kathleen Norris’ little book about “laundry, liturgy and ‘women’s work'” is a must read for anyone who struggles to see the value in repetitive tasks. Quotidian is a word from the Latin meaning daily or ordinary, and in our society where we feel measured by our output, these everyday things like laundry, cooking and dishes can be very discouraging to those who do them day in and day out. It might also be a good read for a spouse who has trouble understanding exactly what their partner does day in and day out. The author is not a stay-at-home mother, so homemakers who work in or outside the home, with or without children, will all relate to her insights. It’s a work that is short and very readable, having been delivered as a lecture series, but also thought provoking and deep. I expect that I will be coming back to it again in years to come, for encouragement and insight to sustain me in my daily work. (9.5/10)