Reading Treasures - A New TOS Review!!

We love to read in our family. I've always been a HUGE reader and I hope to instill the love of reading into my children.  So sometimes I require certain books to be read and then they have their own 'leisure/fun' reading books.  We read for almost everything - unit studies, to get more info on a particular subject we are studying or an interest area, and for fun! So when the Crew was told we could choose from 10 books from a Christian bookstore called Grace and Truth Books, I was excited to have the chance to get some books from a new (to me) store!

The Product & Our Experience:
Grace and Truth Books is not your regular online Christian bookstore.  It doesn't have all the up and coming books.  Instead they have built this bookstore on what books will glorify Him and help them grow in their walks with the Lord.  They have a variety of  books from character building books to homemaking to even books from specific people like G.A. Henty and Elsie Dinsmore.

As I mentioned we were able to chose from 10 books.  Some were above the ages of my girls so I tried to stay between the 7-12 age range so that both of them would be able to enjoy the books, either being read to or reading them for themselves.  The books we chose were from a set called the Girl's Heritage Series.  This set includes eight books and we had the privilege or reviewing two of them - Grace Raymond and First Impressions of God. The other six books in the series are:

** The Little Girl's Treasury
** I Have a Soul
** The Dairyman's Daughter
** Behind Mr. Bunyan
** Patty's Curiosity
** The Young Cottager

These books are reprints which were written and originally published by the American Tract Society in the 19th century.  These books have been enjoyed for over two centuries and have been some of their "most spiritually enriching books for ages 8-14."  However, the style and tone of writing is appropriate for reading aloud to younger girls as well.

Grace Raymond  is a 62 page book which is a story of a little girl who has quite the temper and tends to be quite mean with her tone and words. During the course of the book Grace realizes that if she allows her anger to continue to grow that it would end up hurting more of the people she loves, like her sister.  Grace learns the way of salvation through a kind and influential teacher. The change that Grace makes in her life is one that all of her family and friends can see.

Being written in the early 19th century some of the words used and sentence structures were a little difficult to comprehend, but Arianna seemed to be able to understand it conceptually.  We talked about what some of the sentences made and at the end of each of her reading sections.  This book was a little more difficult in that it was separated into two parts and no chapters.  So I had to just let her read for a time period and then we'd find a good 'stopping point'.  Arianna didn't like that much.  However, we did notice that this book was actually written by a deaf and dumb lady for the American Sunday School Union.  This was a great find for Arianna since over the summer we had done some research on Helen Keller.

The second book we reviewed, First Impressions of God, is just as it sounds. It is about a little girl named Emily Tappan who is just six years old and this story is written following her first finding out about God from her friend Mary.  She is so excited and beside herself that she runs to share the story with her mother. Her mother was not nearly as excited about the new truth Emily has found.  But Emily can not WAIT to learn more, even if she does not have the ability to read yet.

This book, a little longer at roughly 102 pages, is written on a level where a good reader (about 2nd - 3rd grade, depending) should be able to read the book on their own.  Arianna read this book on her own during "require reading" time.  She said she enjoyed 'Emily's book' more then the one about Grace Raymond.  Grace was very mean, but Emily wanted to know more about God. She also liked the breakdown of the First Impressions of God book, which had 10 chapters and each had a title and a brief verse to start the chapter off.

Both books are softcover and are available individually or as part of the Girl's Heritage Series Set, which is available for just $39.00. If you want to purchase them individually they range in price from $5 to $7 normally.  However, Grace Raymond is on sale for just $4.75 and First Impressions of God is on sale for $5.50. And I noticed that if you spend more then $49 you can get your books shipped for FREE (US orders)!

My Thoughts:
I think these book had great lessons about our God and Godly character traits that we all should strive to instill.  Even though the Grace Raymond book shows very blatant sin, it does call it as such.  It also leads a child on how to deal with their temper throughout her story.

I would love to read more in this series and more from Grace and Truth Books.  There might even be some of these books on order for Christmas very soon. ;)

If you like good quality books with age old morals, then I hope you take the time to read many of the other Crew members reviews. That way  you can learn more about ALL the books we reviewed - just click the banner below and you can check them out.

*** I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2011-2012 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of money for any of my reviews. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences with the products and services that I receive.***