Kingdom Files: Jonah and Mary ~~ A New TOS Review!!!

We have had a lot of fun the last few weeks reading these Christian biographies for kids from Barbour Publishing called Kingdom Files! We received two different books Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? for our review with the Homeschool Crew. These were a great addition to our homeschool and a nice way to ease back into the full swing of school (even though we school year round and we were in the throws of packing and moving!)

Both of the books were about 90 pages written in a slightly bigger font that makes it very easy for younger children to read. There are also black and white illustrations littered throughout the books. The books are divided into three sections to make it easier for your child to investigate the life and stories of the Biblical characters. The first section is called the FACT FILE is just what it sounds like -- it gives you all the factual info on your Bible character, key stats, and even has a mini timeline that depicts their life in a line.

The next section, called the ACTION FILE, is where the meat of the story is broken into chapters. The two books we received were 6 and 9 chapters in length which were perfect to read a chapter a day. You learn all about the life and character of the Biblical figure. In Who Was Mary we find out all about Mary as a teen about to give birth to the Savior of the world. We then follow her through her life as she rears Jesus, goes through the trial of losing him at the temple and all the way to watching her son die on the cross and then in a few days know that He had risen from the dead!! A powerful story of hope and trust.

 The last section is called the POWER FILES. There are 10 in each book and they take a part the life of the Bible Character you've been investigating and then pull out from the Scripture how we can apply those same lessons to our daily life. Each of these "Power-Ups" come with a memory verse to reiterate the lesson that is to be learned.

Throughout the Action file you will also find CLUES. These are to help draw the attention of your reader to important truths they have just read about.

I found the story in Who Was Jonah? was very fitting for the time we are currently in as a family. Obeying God (one of the themes from the Power Files) is really something we have had to rely on with our move from South Carolina to Indiana. Another theme dealt with God providing for you and we have seen that with this move also with people helping us, temporary housing, etc. I really liked that this book tied in to our lives at this time so the children could clearly see how God is moving in our lives even when it looks not as we assumed it would look. One of my favorite "Power Ups" from Who was Mary, the Mother of Jesus? was that God does great things for you -- I love this reminder.

Since we were moving and in process during the review time I didn't get to let the kiddos check out everything on the website, but there are worksheets, games, and other fun things for each book!

Here's what my kiddos said about their experience with these books:

Arianna - "I like how he wrote it in a narrative instead of from a specific character's point of view. The clues reference to the Bible and give you information you can use now instead of trying to piece it all together by yourself.

The Fact File tells you a little bit about the person the book is focusing on including a timeline of important events. The Action File tells you about all the kingdom work that the Bible character did in their lifetime. In the Power Files (there are 10 in each of the stories I read) is where you find the "get up" for the day. A "get up" is where it helps you get back on track, refreshed, or revived. They have memory verses for you to memorize and put to work in your life. Oh and they have clues throughout the story and they help you to apply it to your own life.

I think these books are perfectly geared to elementary and early middle school. I read them because I like to read and they were an easy and fun read for me.  In the books they take the actual words that were used in the Bible and quoted it and then wrote the story around that by explaining how the author felt about that Scripture. I think these would be great for children who have never heard of these stories. Paul, John and Peter would all be great additions to these Kingdom File stories.

One of the things I did not realize was that Mary was around 15 when she was pregnant with baby Jesus and engaged to Joseph. That's my age!! That's crazy!
And then in Jonah when I was reading the word that kept popping up at me was that God 'provided' those things for Jonah (the scorching east wind, the caterpillar to eat the vine, etc.) and He did so at the right time for Jonah to experience it even though some might say these were "bad" things."


Audrie - " I really liked the clues throughout the stories. They were very interesting. I also liked the maps and that they showed where we were talking about. And the pictures throughout the story were so cool (even though they were in black and white). I would like to read a story about Ruth -- he could make her the next one he writes!!"

Seanan -- "The book was a little hard for me to read by myself, but my sister read it to me which was very nice. But I did like the activities mom found on the website. I want to do them all!!"

I know we will be checking out more of these Kingdom Files (especially if Mr. Koceich uses any of their suggestions for more stories), but in the mean time you can also find Barbour Publishing on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. And as always be sure to check out all the other Crew reviews by clicking the link below.