A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Reviews

Loving My Actual Neighbor

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I freely admit that I have only read 3/4’s of the way through Loving My Actual Neighbor.  This isn’t the result of lack of trying, rather a result of  a busier than expected month. Alexandra Kuykendall has written a heart compelling treatise to help us love the neighbor who lives right next door.

Loving my Actual Neighbors

What I am Reviewing

Loving My Actual Neighbor.
Alexandra Kuykendall
BakerBooks
220 pages
Reviewed for Nuts about Books.
Christianity, personal growth, spiritual growth, bible study

The Details

Seven chapters, plus and introduction and conclusion round out the pages of this 220 page book.   Written in a personal tone, Alexandra walks us through what it means to love your neighbour, giving us practical helps along the way.

Chapter titles are 

  • Holding a posture of humility
  • Asking questions to learn
  • Being quiet to listen
  • Standing in the awkward
  • Accepting what is
  • Lightening up
  • Giving freely
Loving my Actual Neighbors

Each chapter follows a similar format 

  • Quote along with bible verse
  • Lesson with a personal story to illustrate the point
  • A cut out to help you think more deeply
  • A call to Saturday living
  • Questions for Reflection
  • Practicing the Practice
  • Scripture to digest

Ms. Kuykendall shares freely from her personal life about things she has learned in meeting with her neighbours, and about how she has been challenged in her faith to be involved more deeply in their lives.  It’s a hard push sometimes to be vulnerable, it’s hard sometimes to step into gaps and help others you are not as familar with, but it’s good and necessary.

Loving my Actual Neighbors
A cut out to help you think more deeply

Saturday living.

“A neighborly life marinates in the Saturday life. Saturdays are for mowing the lawn, hanging out on the sports sidelines, and heading the grocery store. They are days of proximity, with natural interactions happening all around us. …… There is another element to Saturday living, a tension we hold as Jesus followers that is found most profoundly on Saturday — Holy Saturday, that is. We are people defined by the resurrection. … While we stand in the Friday pain of the world, we have the Sunday knowledge of the hope found in Christ. We are to operate out of both. This is Saturday living.” (p.21)

Loving my Actual Neighbors

I found the questions for reflections to be well done.  Challenging without being, I’m not sure of the right word, challenging without being wrong, or superficial or asked without meaning.  Sometimes reflection questions just seem to be asked without regard for the reader.  I didn’t find that to be so with this tome.  Ms. Kuykendall really wants her readers to think hard about who are our neighbours are and what we need to do to truly be neighbours.  We NEED to be neighbours who matter and try to touch the lives of those around us, impacting them for the Lord. 

Loving my Actual Neighbors

Once you have listened to the wisdom contained within these pages, scenarios to practice the skills you have been taught are provided. They followed the format of those I’ve shown below. One that I found to be a good reminder for me was “Stop and pay attention to the people you are serving. Let them interrupt you.” This is SO important. I find at the foodbank I can be very focused on organizing shelves that sometimes I forget about the people I am organizing the shelves for.

Loving my Actual Neighbors

My Thoughts

I admittedly like this book.  I do have some hesitations.

  1. Some quotes are from books by people that I question their belief in God. I admit that sometimes a quote is just a quote, but I am cautious about giving the nod to someone who has some questionable beliefs/ideals. 
  2. Often the practice scenarios seem devoid of any mention of God.  It’s like “find a person and see if you can find a way to love them”.  It’s all man done.  I wish the each practice session had a distinct connection with God.  Even “which of your neighbours are you led to pray for, or Pray for your most difficult neighbour asking God to help you love them, and then later on .. how can you show love to that unlovable neighbour?”

I love the focus on “how can we treasure our neighbours?”   That challenge lies before me.  How can I love the people that surround me?  How can I let them know that they matter…not only to me but also to God?

Alexandra Kuykendall has done an great job at challenging me (and will challenge you) in how to show love, in an active meaningful way.

So go on… get out of the house.  Live like Saturday is here now.  Connect with your neighbours, learn to love them well.  Show the heart of God.

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The Crayon Man

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Edwin Binney, a new to me inventor, created something I have used often, even as an adult. Edwin Binney was known as The Crayon Man. This is the story of how the crayon came into being. Come along for this colourful ride!

The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons

What I am Reviewing

The Crayon Man: the True story of the invention of Crayola Crayons.
Natascha Biebow
Steven Salerno (illustrator)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
48 pages, ages 6-9, jacketed Hardcover
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
Picture book, Elementary, Biography
Crayola, Crayons, colouring, Art, Inventors

What child doesn’t love to hold a crayon in their hands? But children didn’t always have such magical boxes of crayons. Before Edwin Binney set out to change things, children couldn’t really even draw in color.

Here’s the true story of an inventor who so loved nature’s vibrant colors that he found a way to bring the outside world to children – in a bright green box for only a nickel! With experimentation, and a special knack for listening, Edwin Binney and his dynamic team at Crayola created one of the world’s most enduring, best-loved childhood toys – empowering children to dream in COLOR!

The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons

The Details

The Crayon Man is well illustrated by Steven Salerno, where he shows the brightness of the crayons that Edwin Binney created. I have to admit, that I’ve never thought a whole lot about the founder of the crayon. Therefore I found it very interesting to think about the colours made. I noted the difficulty he had making them safe for children. Not an easy job for him.

From the eyes of a man who worked a rather dreary job came colour! This man loved colour and wanted children to be able to easily use it came the crayon that we love today. It wasn’t the first thing he invented (you’ll have to read the book to discover what else) but it is the one we remember the most.

I just loved the colours that dotted the pages, my pictures of the book don’t show the brightness of the hues.

The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons

My Recommendation

If you are at all curious about how crayons came to be, The Crayon Man is just the book you need. Answer the questions of your children, stimulate them to think about the origins of something they use everyday, and encourage them to think of something THEY could create. I

The Crayon Man is a lovely meaty picture book that speaks to the determination of a man to make a useful product for children. We see the help he needed from others along the way, and how the encouragement of his wife was a boon to him.

The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons
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Go For the Moon

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Imagine, you live in 1969, you have a rocket kit and astronauts are headed to the moon. What would you do? In Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing Chris Gall shows us a boy travelling to the moon, just as the astronauts. Play turned real life in imagination.

Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing

What I am Reviewing

Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing.
Chris Gall
Roaring Brook Press
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
Received: ARC copy, trade paperback
48 pages, 5-10 years, picture book
Outer space, rockets, Aeronautics, exploration

The Apollo 11 astronauts have prepared carefully for their attempt to be the first men to land on the moon. The young narrator of this book has prepared carefully, too: he explains the design of the spacecraft, the flight from the earth to the moon, and the drama of touching down – while shadowing the astronaut’s voyage with one of his own.

Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing

The Details

Absolutely wonderful full colour images fill the 48 pages of this picture book. Geared to the younger elementary student, the reader is walked through all the stages of this monumental trip to the moon.

Narrated by a young boy, we are walked through his excitement and wonder of travelling to the moon. The young man explains the details of this journey as he works through his toy spaceship kit.

We learn how the spaceship is made and how it works, this is a nicely meaty picture book that is carefully illustrated to show the details well.

Many of the pages show a cut out so we knew what the narrator needs to do with his own toy spaceship.

Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing

My Recommendation

Should you get Go for the moon? YES! Run out, buy it, use it for your studies of the first moon landing. Buy it so you can see how toy kits can simulate real life and make the learning run deeper. Buy it so you can learn how the Apollo 11 was able to complete its’ mission. By it so that you can do the experiments the narrator did yourself.

Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing
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Peter & Ernesto: the Lost Sloths

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Okay, this book is just fun. Graham Annable writes a fun story about friendship and overcoming trials with Peter & Ernesto the Lost Sloths. The question asked throughout the book is : Can Peter and Ernesto save the day? Can they find the sloths the home they so desperately need?

Peter & Ernesto: the Lost Sloths

What I am Reviewing

Peter & Ernesta: the Lost Sloths.
Graham Annable
FirstSecondBooks.com
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
128 pages, jacketed hardcover, ages 6-10
Friendship, overcoming trials, perseverance, cooperation

Peter and Ernesto loved their tree.
Then a hurricane came and blew it away!
Now, Peter, Ernesto, and the rest of their sloth friends must venture into the jungle to find a new – great – tree. But the jungle is full of dangers, including angry ants, slithering snakes, and a ravenous jaguar!
Can cautious Peter and confident Ernesto work together to keep their tribe safe? They’ll have to, if they want to find the perfect tree to call home!

Peter & Ernesto: the Lost Sloths

Details About this Book

Peter and Ernesto are friends living in a tree with all their friends. A hurricane happens. Their tree… well.. a hurricane happened! Whatever would they do?!?!?! Peter and Ernesto to the rescue!

Through a graphic novel format we watch as Peter and Ernesto make new friends and discover all the life in their forest.

Humour is abundant throughout (watch out for the peccaries). Teamwork is important, and problem solving dangers is real.

The text is larger than normal for a graphic novel, making this a great introduction to elementary students to the graphic novel format. The story is carried along nicely from frame to frame, predominately using a conversational format. I enjoyed the use of colour in the illustrations and how it fit with a forest theme and rainy weather.

Peter & Ernesto: the Lost Sloths

Recommendation

The story is simple, the forest fraught with danger, but friendship holds true. It’s a fun read. Go borrow it from your library or order it for your book shelves. 🙂

Peter & Ernesto: the Lost Sloths
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Our World Is Relative

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Some ideas are difficult to truly understand, the Theory of Relativity is one of them. Julia Sook takes this theory and breaks it down into an easily understood scientific Fact. Our World is Relative is an excellent picture book helping readers understand Einstein’s theory easily.

Our World is Relative

What I Am Reviewing

Our World Is Relative.
Julia Sooy
Molly Walsh (illustrator)
Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan
Received: ARC copy, trade paperback
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
32 pages, 4-8 years,
Picture book, Math, Science,
Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein

Size, speed, weight, direction, distance
We think of space and time as fixed and measurable.
But these measurements – our experience of space and time – they are relative.
Our world is relative.
With simple, engaging text and vibrant art imbued with light and movement, Our World Is Relative offers a child’s-eye view of time, space, and the vast role that relativity plays in comprehending our world. It’s an introduction to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, perfect for any curious young scientist.

Our World is Relative

The Details

Molly Walsh does a wonderful job of illustrating how easily one’s perspective influences how one sees the world. She helps young children see, along side the simple language written by Julia Sook, how relativity matters.

An inch can be small, or an inch can be large. A ruler is 12 inches, but in space can be shorter. We move through time going forward, but it can appear to be going backwards. Depending ENTIRELY on our perspective.

Everything we see around us is relative. A difficult concept perhaps for young children to understand. Through excellent illustrations and careful word usage Ms. Sook brings the Theory of Relativity to life.

Our World is Relative

My Recommendation

To be honest I find this a hard one.. Often when I look at picture books I try to think of them as bedtime or cuddle time books. I don’t see this book in that light.

However, picture books are so much more than that. I remember attending a conference where one of the speakers recommended that regardless of the age level you are teaching, go to picture books first.

Authors of picture books are forced to explain concepts in simple terms. That very requirement makes picture books an excellent resource for understanding difficult material. This picture book does it well with the Theory of Relativity. Not your normal fodder for kindergarten, but definitely worth looking at for various age levels.

On that level, this book is worth looking at. For helping students break down the concept of relativity in a way easily grasped.

Our World is Relative
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Elon Musk

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Occasionally I get a review book in the elicits a response from my 13 year old. Elon Musk: a Mission to Save the World is one such book. Crammed full of pictures and interesting tidbits we learn the story of Elon Musk’s life.

Elon Musk: a Mission to Save the World

What I Am Reviewing

Elon Musk: a Mission to Save the World.
Anna Crowley Redding
Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan
256 pages, middle school, trade paperback
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
young adult non-fiction, Elon Musk, entrepreneur,
outer space, rockets, business, biography

Elon Musk is the visionary behind SpaceX and CEO of the electric car company Tesla. He is working on unique and daring improvements to both public transit and solar energy. And then, there’s his highly-publicized plans for colonizing Mars. . . 
But behind the mind-blowing headlines and legendary drive is the story of a bullied and beaten school boy, who through creativity and determination decided to rewrite his story and find his own way to make the world a better place. And to do so with a sense of fun and style.
From hosting raves to pay for college to re-writing the rules on space travel, Elon Musk has always gone his own way. 

Elon Musk: a Mission to Save the World

The Details

To be honest, I had no clue who Elon Musk was (much to my son’s horror). He then proceeded to tell me all about SpaceX, colonizing Mars, and much much more. My son gave me so much information you’d think he’d been listening to videos about him. 🙂 He still plans to read the book!

Anyways, you will find images crammed on to almost every page of this tome. I received an ARC version so some looked a bit grainey, I imagine this will be cleaned up for the jacketed hardcover that is due to be released.

Elon Musk: a Mission to Save the World

I am currently about 1/2 way through but just had to tell you how much I am enjoying this book. It has been very interesting watching his determination and following how his mind works. Determination to succeed seems to be built into his bones. It was great to see the family connectedness between two brothers as they each pursued their own paths in life.

Throughout each chaper (15 in total) are spotlights, road trip alerts, take away armour, bookshelf and many other tidbits. Occasionally a warning would be found such as don’t talk to Elon Musk about capacitors unless you want to know WAY more then you originally planned.

Elon Musk: a Mission to Save the World

Interspersed are dark pages which highlight different members of the Musk family. We learn the Kimball loves food and cooked for the firefighters who responded to 911. Justine (his ex-wife) writes sci-fi novels. Each member has a page devoted to them.

Recommendation

The easy reading style combined with loads of images and highly informational text makes this a good read for anyone middle school and up. Learn the life story and see the determination to succeed in one boy from Africa who made his way in the United States (travelling via Canada) .

For my son to willingly add Elon Musk to his reading pile speaks highly of his motivation! 🙂

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The Giant From the Fire Sea

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Once in a while I meet a book that totally surprises me. The Giant from the Fire Sea is one such book. The premise didn’t intrigue me, but once I started reading, I very much wanted to know what was going to happen with Jat and Newton.

What I am Reviewing

The Giant from the Fire Sea.
John Himmelman
Jeff Himmelman (illustrator)
Henry Holt and Co.
Trade Paperback, 256 pages, 8-11 years.
Friendship, bullying, coming of age,
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

Jat is a boy who wants more from life than collecting coal from the Fire Sea.
Newton is a misfit giant, cast out of his homeland for his love of science and reading.
Brought together by chance, the two become the best of friends. But when enemy giants threaten to ruin everything, it’s up to Jat and Newton to defend Jat’s village, leading to the journey of a lifetime.

My Review

I don’t know why I put off reading The Giant from the Fire Sea, after all. my lad kept asking me what it was about. Maybe I was trying to wait him out? He knows he can read my review books. Anyways, once I started it, I had this need to finish it. I was glad that I did.

Jat and Newton make an unlikely pair of friends. Like all friends they need to learn when to stay out of each other’s business AND when to get right in the middle of it. Their determination to do what is right and to stick together was excellent.

I loved the development of the characters, watching how they matured through difficult times. The bad characters were a mixed lot, which honestly surprised me. It’s SO good to be surprised in a book, especially one meant for the younger years.

Some bad things happen, but nothing I think that should alarm your average upper elementary youth. The story sets itself up nicely for a sequel which, I think, would be interesting to read. I have questions I want answered.

I liked the illustrations that introduced each chapter. They fit, sometimes rather sadly, but were appropriate for the chapter. Overall, an excellent book for upper elementary students. Some laughter, a good story, with children making friends and learning how to be good friends.

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