Guardian Angel Press
Topic: Homeschool Product Review

 

I was very blessed to grow up in a reading family. My parents were always reading, and passed on that love of reading to me. Now, as a parent, I try to instill that love in my children as well and have found that one of the best things you can do for your children is read to them from a very young age.

Recently, Guardian Angel Publishing sent me free copies of five of there ebooks to try out and write this review. They ranged from simple picture ebooks - Maybe We are Flamingos, Rainbow Sheep  - to an ebook about a handicapped boy competing at the fair - Andy and Spirit Go to the Fair - to more educational style books - No Bones About It - The Sum of our Parts Series, Earthquake. But, no matter the topic, they were all well written with a moral to the story.

 

 

The first book, Maybe We Are Flamingos, was a joy to read to Joshua, my 8 year old. Written by Safari Sue Thurman, Maybe we are Flamingos is about newly hatched Flora and Fernando Flamingo who doubt their identity because they don't look quite like their adult relatives. After some soul searching and a discussion with their mother, they find that they are really Flamingos after all. The writing is very imaginative, and the illustrations by Kevin Scott Collier made my son roll on the floor laughing. This story can be downloaded as an ebook ($5.00) or bought as an ebook on CD ($9.95+SH), Paperback book ($10.95+SH) or as a DVD book video (9.95+SH). Suggested age for readers: 3 (read to age) to 9 (read alone).

 

Rainbow Sheep, written and illustrated by Kim Chatel, is an equally cute book. Rainbow Sheep is about the shepherdess Genevieve and her unique flock of sheep. After a few particularly rainy days, Genevieve decides to climb the tallest hill and tickle away the clouds only to find a very sad rainbow. In her usual friendly way, she cheers her newly found friend up and is in return given a special gift. Kim Chatel has creatively illustrated her book using the art of felting and has included in the back of her book the history of felting along with some felting crafts that your children can create with adult help. Written for readers 4 (read to age) to 10 (read alone) Rainbow Sheep can be purchased as a downloadable ebook ($5.00) an ebook on CD ($9.95+SH), a paperback book ($10.95+SH) or a book DVD ($9.95+SH).

 

Andy & Spirit Go to the Fair, by Mary Jean Kelso, illustrated by K.C. Snyder is part of the Andy and the Albino Horse series. This series focuses on young Andy, a wheelchair bound boy, and his struggles with his disability. After going through equine therapy, Andy falls in love with an Albino horse by the name of Spirit. Andy & Spirit Go to the Fair, the second book in the series, is about the horse and boys first major riding competition at the Nevada State Fair. I would recommend this beautifully illustrated book to anyone who has a child with a disability or who would like to educate their child on disabilities. Although the Guardian Angel Press website has this book rated "for children of all ages (0-12)", I would recommend this book to children in the upper age range of that scale. Andy & Spirit Go to the Fair is sold for $5.00-downloadable ebook, $9.95+SH-ebook on CD, or $10.95-paperback book edition. The website lists the DVD book video edition coming soon for $9.95+SH. The website also states  "A portion of the proceeds from this book are donated to Healing Reins of Bend, OR. www.healingreins.org, a non-profit organization, and Horseplay of Fernley, NV. http://downshorseplay.googlepages.com "

 

The next two books are entertaining but more educational in nature. The first, No Bones About It, written by Bill Kirk and illustrated by Eugene Ruble, is a humorous look at the different bones in the body and why they are important. Written for ages 8-13, each page features a bone from the body with a short poem to help you remember that bone. It also has a "factoids" section with interesting facts about bones and a red box with a random bone pictured. At the end of the book you'll find a labeled skeleton to help you put all of the bones together, and then an unlabeled skeleton with a challenge to see how many of them you can remember. The author also has an "extra credit" challenge to go back and see if you can identify all of the bones that are pictured in the red boxes. This book would be an excellent addition to any biology study or study of the human body for an older child or just an intro to bones for a younger child. Although the publishers have an age range of 8-13 listed, I would use my discretion if I had a child on the lower end of that scale. Some of the pictures, although humorous, could be frightening to a more timid child. No Bones About It sells for $5.00 (pdf downloadable ebook), $9.95+SH (ebook on CD) or $10.95+SH (paperback book).

The last book I received was Earthquake!. Earthquake! is filled with fascinating facts about these wonders of nature as well as constrictive information on how to prepare for, how to live through, and how to survive after an earthquake. Written by Susan J. Berger and illustrated by Eugene Ruble, this book also contains "Factoids" throughout the book, but also includes wonderful maps, charts, lists, and instructions for learning about, putting together, or making almost anything that you can think of pertaining to earthquakes. It also includes experiments that help illustrate what an earthquake is like. This book would be helpful for anyone who wants to learn more about earthquakes, but especially for anyone living in an earthquake prone area. Earthquake! is recommended for readers ages 6-9 and sells $5.00 for the downloadable ebook, $9.95+SH for the ebook on CD, and  $11.95+SH for the print book.

I really enjoyed the five books that were sent to me from Guardian Angel Publishing, and am looking forward to reading more from this company. One word of caution, the name of the company may be a bit deceiving. It does suggest that this company is a religious company. Although I found nothing objectionable in any of the books and they were very moral books, they also were not religious. There may be some books that they carry that are Christian oriented, but the five that were sent to me were not. Again, I want to express that I found nothing objectionable with any of them and encourage you to visit their website by clicking on any one of the highlighted areas above. Also, check out what the other TOS Crew members are saying by clicking here. Happy reading! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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