Andy Andrews, The Boy Who Changes the World

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

In The Boy Who Changes the World, Andy Andrews tells the stories of four boys, whose lives touched one another, and who each made a difference in the life of another, bringing about meaningful change in the world (in the end, Norman Borlaug creates superplants that helps feed billions of people; that's a pretty big change). Each little story encourages kids to realize that the choices they make matter, and even though their choices may seem small, they can have a great impact. He calls this the butterfly effect. The book is well written, the illustrations are both fun and beautiful, and the message is a great one for kids to hear. I look forward to reading this book over and over with my own boys, in hopes that each of them can be the boy who changes the world.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible and accompanying DVD is a nice toddler-focused resource. It includes 40 stories from both the Old and New Testament, along with a 60-minutes DVD with a number of computer-animated Bible stories. Each story in the book is nicely retold in toddler-friendly language and illustrated with simple, fun illustrations that hold my kids attention, and the stories are short enough that we can get through them. Each story also ends with a short lesson that parents may use to either illustrate the principle or reinforce a lesson, meaning it is both a good resource for parents and could potentially serve as a good classroom addition for toddler Sunday school. One could of course quibble about which stories were chosen or what lessons were applied, but the overall quality of the book is quite good. The DVD likewise is fun for the kids to watch. It's no Veggie Tales, but it is a good accompaniment to the book.