Kregel Publications Goldtown Beginnings - A New TOS Review!

The children in my house are long time readers of Susan K. Marlow books so when we had the opportunity to read her newest ones - the first two books in the Goldtown Beginnings Series from Kregel Publications. Jem Strikes Gold and Jem's Frog Fiasco are Book 1 and 2 in a series slated for six books created for ages 6 - 9 as independent readers. Since my son loved listening to his eldest sister read all about the Andi books (the first series of books that had us fall in love with Marlow's work) we thought these books would be a great set for him. And even though he's a little older the reading level of these books are just what he needed to help cement his confidence in reading alone.

Goldtown Beginnings is set in Goldtown, California during the gold rush in the 1850's. This series has the main character as a young boy, Jem Coulter who is also the main character of the older series called Goldtown Adventures (where he is a bit older as well). Their family is camped by Cripple Creek as their dad, his younger sister Ellie and he pan for gold.

In Jem Strikes Gold, Jem tries to keep the gold mining rules at the forfront of his mind as he also tries to help his family.  Along with panning, Jem also helps his mama out by delivering pies that have been ordered from the other miners in their gold mining community. But a bully, Will Sterling, is always trying to stir up problems with Jem. In the midst of his weekly errands Jem has to find the strength to do what he knows is right. In the end, his own "gold nugget" comes to the rescue as Jem and his sister Ellie also strike it rich!

We haven't completed Jem's Frog Fiasco, but I have read ahead. My son is slower at reading and during this review also seemed to "lose" (or purposefully misplace) his reading glasses, which made our reading sessions longer than necessary. Anyways, we again meet Jem, his sister Ellie, and their new pet, but Jem wants to help his pet stay helathy so he decides he needs a job. Once he gets his job he has a time trying to keep his pet and his little sister out of the way so he can catch the bullfrogs.

In the end Jem's temper gets the better of him and his sister gets the brunt of it. And then Ellie runs away. Jem is left to have to face the facts that his anger may have caused his sister to be in harms way after he promised to watch over her. The final chapters have us follow Jem searching for his sister and praying that God will help him find her. You will have to read to find out whether she is found and the mystery will keep your young reader turning pages for sure!

Throughout the stories the characters exhibit Biblical teachings and even ponder Scripture to help them stay on the 'straight and narrow'. This is something I tend to look for in books for emerging readers so that my children can also learn about God in the day to day.

Even though these books are aimed for ages 6 - 9 my eldest has read ALL of Susan K. Marlow's books and I even saw her take them with her for a "break" from her college work. She loves the mystery and action all packed in the little books. They only take her about 20 minutes to read! She also likes the black and white pencil drawings sprinkled throughout the 10 chapters.

My son, not a lover of reading (GASP!), has enjoyed the stories. We have been reading them together so that we can try to finish them sooner than he would on his own. He was thankful that the printing was larger then some other books he reads. That is a complaint I have heard from many younger students ... the words are too small. Here the book seems to be at perfect font size.

He also wanted me to print a few of the coloring pages which are free on the main website. My middle daughter liked to color the black and white drawings in the book themselves instead of just the coloring sheets. There are 10 sheets for each book and some of them have a "Just for Fun" section where the child is asked to add additional details to the page.

You will also find a few other neat things in the book. After the contents page you will find New Words. This is helpful since this is based in a historical time period and some words like claim, prospector, hit color, fiasco and coyoute hole might not be known or mean what they mean in this context.

At the end of each book there is also a section called A Peek Into The Past where the young reader gets a little more information about the historical context the book is based on. In these two books we learn more about gold and coyote holes.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, Jem Strikes Gold and Jem's Frog Fiasco, of the Goldtown Beginnings Series from Kregel Publications and look forward to the rest of the 6 book series. There were many other Crew members who also reviewed these books and I encourage you to read some of their reviews by clicking the link below. You can also find Kregel Publications on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.