Youth Books

In How Each Child Learns, Stankard empowers the reader to discover and utilize her own gifts in encouraging the gifts of others. She provides practical and fun exercises for drawing out the innate intelligences held by every child. Her style is accessible, causing the reader to feel that she's made a new friend simply by reading the book. This is a resource I can use as a public school teacher, as well as a religious educator.

Bernadette T. Stankard is a Christian minister with over thirty years' experience. In How Each Child Learns: Using Multiple Intelligence In Faith Formation, Bernadette has specifically written a book for Christian parents and religious educators that explores how theories of multiple intelligence can be applied to creatively teach religion to children. Highly recommended reading for Christian parents and educators regardless of their denominational affiliation or background, and offering practical methods for the home and the parish, How Each Child Learns is a respectful tribute to the Christian faith and the search to better understand how young minds can come to learn about God's love.

Have you ever had a late Saturday night trying to come up with ideas for church in the morning? I found this book wonderfully refreshing and full of creative ways to bring God to children. It also made me begin thinking of news ways to bring the Bible alive.

Have you ever had a frustrating Saturday night before teaching Sunday school because you couldn't come up with any ideas? Read this book. Ms. Stankard explores the many varied ways to get children in touch with God and in touch with His attributes. Sing the Blues to God, use a prayer blanket, cook a Bible recipe. The author opens the door to creativity in a refreshing manner. Great book.

As a former high school teacher of theology, I wish I had read this book years ago. I would have loved to teach using its novel methods. Without a doubt, I would also have loved to experience this type of education in my own faith formation as a youth. In this book, Bernadette Stankard presents an abundance of helpful research into the nine types of intelligence. What's more impressive is her practical applications of lessons and activities for each type of intelligence, each of which builds a young person's faith in a unique way. People with true faith have usually acquired it by experience, not by merely studying it. This book offers a multitude of experiences designed to nurture the seeds of faith in many different types of young people. All of them have been tested in the classroom by the author and found successful. Do your students like nature? Try the "Terrarium Terrain" exercise. Do they enjoy math? Challenge them with "The Cost of Poverty" activity. Do they appreciate creative storytelling? Invite them to try their hand at "The Gospel According to me." Kids will come to enjoy faith formation in a fresh and new way. Stankard reminds us that God has made each of us with different talents, gifts, and challenges and we each come to know God in different ways. This book respects and celebrates the God-given differences in each human being. Using this book will prove that faith formation in youth can truly be stimulating, challenging and very rewarding for students and teachers alike.

My friend showed me this book 10 years back and I never forgot it as you can tell by my subject caption! I think it's even more enjoyable now that I've read more of the bible and that I can get a better understanding of what Jerry Savelle teaches in this book! One nugget in it, among many, is that he teaches us to pray God's word or pray scriptures over our lives and circumstances and he shows us the enemy is like the Wizard of Oz; he's a defeated foe and he is out to deceive us and fool us and has fooled me a lot in the past! But, after you know who you are in Christ (for those who asked Jesus to be Lord of their lives), you see what Satan's game is and that because of God, the power He gave you and me, we have already won and we don't have to take sickness or poverty or any of that; he teaches us that the enemy is more afraid of us (when we use God's word) than we should have ever been of him! Now, that's what I call good news! I also recommend meditating on God's word (see Joshua 1:8). Like the billboard once said in Myrtle Beach..."Pray, it works!" And, God didn't put anything in the bible just to fill up the page! Praise His name forever and thank God for Jesus!!!

This book is one of the most truth telling book I have ever read. It readily tells you that we allow Satan to cause strife in our families and in our own lives. Don't let Satan steal your joy. Mary

What a Faith building book... Found this book when I was going through a very bad time. I could not put it down and even read it when I couldn't sleep. Page 97 especially did it for me, I started to laugh so hard. I have used this information and it truely is life changing. Simply written and a really easy, enjoyable read. Thank God for this timely, timeless information.

Outlines our rights as Christians. How to overcome the 'devourer' and take back what he stole. Truly inspirational and eye-opening.

This is an incredible book that every Christian needs to read. It will reveal the reasons why things happen in your life. A must read to begin enjoying the abundant life!!

My 5 yr old has been riveted by this book since he got it at the age of 3.....we have given it as gifts to 4-5yr olds and always got a call or email commenting on how great the book is. The story is imaginative and well written, with interesting details, it is actually educational but mostly fun. The pictures are what take your breath away. It is a great birthday gift for boys and girls!

My 5 year old has so much fun with this book. It is written in a way that makes the child feel as if they are traveling to the moon. It talks about what it would be like. The pictures are my son's favorite part of the book. Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful book that my 3 year old loves, but, despite being appropriate for a 3 year old, it is a pleasure to read to him, because it is full of provocative ideas that adults enjoy. I suspect we will both continue to enjoy it for years to come. It is a great companion to 'On the Moon' by Anna Milbourne and Benji Davies, which is essentially a re-telling of the Apollo mission for kids, whereas this book is a re-imagining of the Apollo mission. It follows an imaginary modern journey to the Moon, where, among other things, the young astronaut finds the flag left by the Apollo astronauts blown over by their blast off, and re-erects it. It ends by comparing the richness of life on Earth, made possible by air and water, to the desolation of the Moon. It is also beautifully illustrated.

This book arrived at our library last week, and I was immediately blown away by it! Faith McNulty and Steven Kellogg have done a great job of showing and telling children what a trip to the moon would really be like.

One thing that is great about this book is the way experiences and things that are familiar to children are used to describe extraordinarily UN-familiar experiences and ideas. The book is written in the second person point of view -- directly addressing the reader. I thought it was brilliant the way McNulty captures what a child's (or anyone's) feelings might be as they hurtle through the dark expanse of space, far away from the comfort of Earth and home. ("Up here in space you may feel very alone. Don't look back at the Earth. It would make you even lonelier.")

Kellogg illustrates a variety of moods, experiences and concepts from eye-catching perspectives. There is whimsy: an astronaut floats weightlessly around inside the capsule amidst a swarm of playing cards, and, later in the book an unexpected herd of hypothetical moon cows makes an appearance! There is quite a lot of loneliness in Kellogg's space: A lone astronaut hops around and explores the strange, barren, black and grey moonscape for several pages. In a compelling two-page spread, Kellogg depicts a lone astronaut, standing on the Moon under a lonely black sky -- the scene is printed with the darkest jet black ink I have EVER seen printed in any picture book. At the end of the journey, the astronaut returns to an exuberant fold out frieze of Earth's magnificently varied biodiversity, under a shining sun and clear sky with children swimming in fresh, clear water -- the essential element that makes our planet habitable. I was especially pleased to see this book, since another excellent children's book about the Moon, E.C. and Robin Krupp's book, The Moon and You, is not readily available anymore. I highly recommend this book for any elementary school library, or for the book collections of Kindergarteners to second graders. I also would not be surprised if it wins some children's book awards in the months to come.

If you have a child like mine who loves scientific minutia then this is the book for you. It is technical and not appropriate for younger preschoolers.

This is a great book for parents and teachers who want to show their children that one person can make difference-no matter what the age. This young boy saw a need in people far from where he lived and discovered a way to reach out to them. It's a must for every classroom and family. At the end of the story, there are steps for children to use to "Imagine If" they, too, can make a difference in the lives of others.

Being the grandmother of twelve, I think this book should be in every families library. It lets children of any age know that if they can think it, they can do it and make a difference. It teaches them to be thoughtful of others and it's okay to help even if you are just one person.

IMAGINE IF.... Our church finished a week of Vacation Bible School at the end of June. Several of the daily lessons were be thankful and help others. IMAGINE IF teaches both lessons in such practical ways. It also shows children how a small idea can make such a BIG difference in lives of others. Great family and one on one reading.

What a great story to share with our children. It helps teach them that anyone can make a difference and help someone in need no matter how great or small. This is a great book for the whole family with a message that delivers! Check it out!

This is a great read-a-long book for any family. The lessons in it are many. From leadership to caring to acting and planning, your kids will get the message whether they read it themselves or you read it with them. (I recommend reading it with them. Its fun!)Plus the illustrations are colorful and perfect for young minds. It even comes with a "Plan of Action" list in the back in case your child says "I want to help someone."

I picked up this book as an afterthought - not really interested in the content - but compelled to by the Holy Sprit. What I found was a book full of insight and encouragement. I felt like someone had finally captured - on paper - the essence of my personal relationship to God and the church. I read this book in several hours - and have passed it on to many friends and members of the clergy. I highly recommend it to young adults who are unsure of their relationship with the church - and to pastors who may be starting a ministry to the next generation of young adults.

Generation X is labeled by individuals within the group as speaking up for independence and non- conformity, while the elders are busy referening to them as isolationist. Well, all may be true, but it is through the eyes of spirituality that this generation may become truly connected to each other as well as the church. That is just the goal of this book, bringing together the similarities, and doing it through there hearts. They ask a simple question "How can we bring spirtuality into the Generation X'ers life?". From this standpoint the conversation begins, and the results formulate a wonderful read.

Celek and Zander help quantify the philosophies of today's generation as much as possible. They explore several of the many paradoxes in the thought of this demographic. It helped me, as an Xer and church planter, put together a church to reach people like me.

Fantastic, insightful, accurate and not filled with fluff. Celek et al. get to the heart of what makes this midnset tick. Their focus is always biblical and on target. It's great reading for those in the lay ministry or those in full time ministry.

This book will help you understand why reaching Gen X is different than reaching the Boomers. It's different approach to a different group. A must to read.

This book is a great starting place for ministers who want to begin to understand the specific needs of Generation X. I found the insights on leadership incredibly helpful. The last chapter is devoted entirely to the study of GenX leadership styles: the need for empowerment, community, coaching (as opposed to dictating)...etc Indeed, the value of this chapter alone is worth the price of the whole book. Careful study and implementation of these informative and practical principles can assist church leadership to steer clear of, or to resolve unnecessary conflict. I highly recommend this book to the wide spectrum of ministers in leadership, from senior pastors to small group leaders.(boomers and busters alike)

Joyful Noise is back in print! Yeah! I've become a regular to the area of Massachusetts where the book is set, and this book was great summer reading for me. It's a wonderful story about all the characters of her family, and their adventures. Beautifully written.

My family and I discovered this book on a summer vacation in Cape Cod. Ever since, whenever we've found it at used book sales we've snapped it up to give to friends. Warm, hilarious, endearing, inspiring (to parents hoping to create the same quality of memories for their own children), this book, though set in the 1920s and very much a part of that era, is in its depiction of family relationships, timeless.

One of my favorite memories is of my father, a dignified man, now deceased, attempting to read aloud to me a section dealing with Pop and the Reader's Digest... he was chuckling so hard he was hoarse and had to stop and wipe tears from his eyes. (Twelve years later I can still see him.)

Buy this book and dive in for a wonderful read.

When Aunt K forgets that there's not a horse in front of the car and drives off the road, I laughed out loud. This special look into Janet Gillespie's time spent at her grandmother's home in Westport Point, MA is delightful. Stories of sailing to the mudflats to hunt for clams, unforgettable special breakfasts and funny visitors from the city are told so you see clearly an era gone by - a time when summers - and bare feet - went on forever. What a happy childhood!

My grandmother wrote this book and I believe it is a gem! She has a wonderful story telling ability and an amazing ability to recall her happy childhood. Her sense of humor is evident throughout the book. One of my favorite chapters refers to her trip to the church bazaar to purchase Christmas presents for her parents and her brothers. She was so joyful in her purchases - presents to which she gave a great deal of thought. I have shared this book with several of my friends and have always recieved rave reviews. If you get ahold of a copy of it - hang onto it! It is a treasure.

I logged on to see if there's an excerpt of this wonderful book, so I could send it to all my family and friends online. I am only 60 pages into it - because the copy I bought for my husband has been out of loan constantly! We love Westport so I thought my husband was biased in saying this was a great book as he laughed out loud, but once again, he is SO right! Read this book if you love to see the humor in family relationships!

I read with interest Janet Freedman's book, KENT ISLAND and was saddened by the great loss of American landscape, folkways and individual freedom that goes along with the vast real estate grab that has been occurring everywhere on the East Coast of the United States during the last 50 years. Except for a few state and federal parks, the coastline is completely owned by the wealthy. Where there were once families and communities engaged in agriculture or seafood harvesting we now have a blight of ticky-tacky housing and high rise hotels. Where there were once farmers and watermen working the land and the water there are now yachtsmen and other pleasure boat owners filling our bays and inlets to such an extent that nobody can derive any pleasure from fishing or sailing.Wherein lies the "pleasure"? And its not just the coastline. Here in Pennsylvania, truck farmers and orchard owners daily give way to the lucrative offers of land speculators. Soon we will be getting all our fruit from Chile or Peru because all the excellent arable land in the northeastern U.S. will have been turned into suburbia. GARY WHITTLE

I've never been to Kent Island but am familiar with the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Janet Freedman brings Kent Island and its history alive in her book. I can 'see' her family and the landscape. I can 'smell' the shore and its inhabitants. I can 'hear' the wildlife.

I've recently taken several literature classes at our local college and have come to appreciate the importance of listening to individuals as they relate their own personal history. Janet's book is like listening to an oral history account of a time that might easily disappear from memory if not recorded now.

Her book makes me want to stop at Kent Island, not just bypass it while traveling to some other location. I want to be able to experience what she experienced in what truly seems a lost Eden.

Thanks Janet Freedman for bring your past to life!

Freedman captures the historical saddness and lost beauty found all over the United States. Anyone can relate to the loss of heritage and land to corporate explosion. She brings to light the need to remember a simpler time. I loved this book.

This book is a wonderful tapestry of history and memory that makes for a warm, enjoyable read, despite its message: what is lost. From Native American Matapeake Indians to Baltimore's great fire, and the "second" Bay Bridge construction, the history reveals the natural resources, economy, and community values of early Kent Island, and its present reality of tract housing, expressways, and strip malls. Freedman's microcosm of Kent Island is a macro for what's happening all over the U.S. Character and charm are no more. We live in vinyl boxes and shop the same chains. As you drive around your town, have you ever really looked to see how ugly most of the landscape is? Try it. The book's images are quite extraordinary though. The author's memories and cherished photos of family and place possess an honesty that reached out for my own distinct early memories, and begged me to appreciate them. She also reinforced my appetite for finding value and beauty in simple things and ways that deserve human note and care. A few of my favorite parts of the book: Recipes Served on the Porch, My Mother's Coat, and the twelve days of Christmas. This book was personally enriching for me, and it's a wake-up call for those of us who've known a finer quality of life. We do know better. Janet Freedman came right out and said it.

Janet Freedman seamlessly blends history and personal remembrances in this charming account of family and place. Her grandmother's farm and the surrounding area are brought to life through the memories of a child, the commentary of family and friends, and detailed research. One need not be familiar with Kent Island to feel a stir of nostalgia for the simpler times she describes.
No romanticized sentiment is found here. Hardships are made clear ("the shocking cold of January linoleum" in an unheated bedroom, for example, or a coat handed down through six children), but they are tempered with descriptions of the bounty provided by land and water and the reassurance of routine. The security offered by close family ties is evident throughout.
Emphasis is placed on accurate and fond description of the region, though recent comers might be hard pressed to reconcile the dirt roads and general stores of Freedman's childhood with the asphalt and strip malls of today's Kent Island. A selection of period photographs augments the author's colorful prose, giving a visual record of structures that have fallen vicitim to "progress" and the people who helped shape this story.
Sadly, the book's poignancy is derived from what we've lost; the concept of controlled development has come too late to save much of Kent Island's appeal. Freedman's work will stand as a testament to what was and a warning of how quickly such things can be lost.

My 2 year old is fascinated with school buses. He spots them on the road when we are out and about and so I got him this book. It was an instant hit. The illustrations are wonderful- very full of detail and he loves to name all the things in the pictures. The prose is a delight to read to him, almost like a little song. So cute! We both love it. I would prefer it to be in a board book format for his age, but he loves it nonetheless.

I teach elementary English as a Second Language students. This book is perfect for a read aloud. It has a lot of vocabulary and they can join in on the parts that repeat. We loved it!

I came across this book at a booksale. I fell in love with it the moment I layed eyes on it. The storyline is really adorable. It reminds me well of "The Napping House" by Audrey Wood. My 21 month old son is so excited to see this book. He always look forward for storytime. The illustrations are very bold and artistically done. Very colorful and lively. Kids of all ages will surely love this. This is a keepsake. I have a paperback copy and I'm getting a hardcover copy as a back-up in case it gets worn out of daily repeated readings.

This is a fantastic book! My sons (age 3) love it...from the sing-song rhyming text to the wonderfully detailed illustrations. They find something new in the pictures every time we read the book. The predictable text also lets them "read" the story to me. This book is a must for any home library!

My son -- then just over a year old -- loved the library's copy of "The Little School Bus" to death, and we had to buy it (taped-up pages and all). The text has a wonderful cadence -- lots of repeating -- and fun, colorful characters. The art is witty, and a pleasure to look at (for parents), with lots of "I Spy" details to keep the child's attention through repeated (and repeated and repeated) readings. I'm surprised that I'm the first to recommend this book. It's a gem! (We now search out books with art by Pamela Paparone!)

What I like best about this book is its straightforwardness. It is not mushy nor is it unnecessarily upsetting. Rather it is an honest and clear-eyed account of a wonderful woman, her colorful family, and their harrowing experiences during and after WWII.
My 14-year-old daughter read it also and talked about it for weeks. Ms. Blaikie is her new hero. And she is one of my heroes too.

The perspective of a Jewish child growing up in the sureal world of German occupied Hungary tears at your heart. An amazing adventure of survival. Surprising, very good

I could not put it down! It is funny and sad, the life's ironies are well described. This is more than a holocoust story. Anybody, who is interested in the effect of war on children should read it. This is a feminist book in the best meaning of the word feminist. A woman's strugle for identity, which is well decribed here, is one of the most important goal of the feminist literature.

We are living in a time, when children are victims of wars. We should think about them and their future.

Evi Blakie is one of a "new" group of Holocaust survivors - the hidden children who spent their earliest and most formative years living false identities. These children began their lives when the war was over, trying to forge a new and genuine identity, trying to just to "normal" after spending their entire lives thinking war was normal. Like more recent children of war (in Rwanda, Bosnia, etc.) they must spend their entire lives trying to figure out who they are. But what makes this book so wonderful is that it not only tells a story not previously told, and not even that it is a more universal story than we would like to believe - but that she writes well - with strong language and vivid imagery that holds the reader spellbound throughout the telling - and breathless at the end.

I am a New Yorker who reads on the subway commuting to the office. On two occasions I missed my stop because I was so engrossed in "Magda's Daughter".

This book is a tale of human adaptation and resilence. When I finished the book I was in great admiration of Ms. Blaikie. She is a woman of strength and insight.

It certainly made an impression on how lucky I was to be born in the US after the war and reminded me of the immense suffering caused by the Nazis and the horrendous consequences of the Holocaust.

Thanks for such a good read. It was a pleasure to get to know Ms. Blaikie.

A candid, accessible, brilliant review of girl icons as presented in the media over the past 20 years (with nods to Barbie and a few other earlier famed love/hate icons). While so much academic writing can be abstruse and sometimes even cynical, Kathleen's book is optimistic and readable. Her call for media literacy as an antidote to negative narratives is cogent and smart. Her descriptions of work done by Real Grrls and other girl filmmakers and photographers is inspiring. Required reading for Millenial Girls, their parents, teachers and anyone else who loves media.

Ooh, Ah! the revelations that abound and resound in Kathleen Sweeney's Maiden USA! Get inspired on media literacy, as racy as it gets from Reel to Real. Discover a fecund treasure map to media awareness, which rouses us all up to the next level of empowered creativity. Kathleen Sweeney is the Goddess Durga of Media, cutting thru swaths of "Eyecon" demons and ignorance about girl identity; she is our media maven, and a media mechanic who regenerates our collective engines. Her wisdom is both fun and transformative.
Sweeney has opened and affirmed these eyes with her smorgasbord of media icons and plenty of truth serum. She reveals who and where we are in the culture of media now, and how to traverse that culture as well as to produce it. This is the "bodymindcentering" of media lit, a true hit with wit and grit to nourish us with its empowering maiden's milk of sanity. Reading it leads to media activism with a myriad of mission and means.

This gem of a book is not only important, informative, and thought-provoking--it's also clever, funny, and downright brilliant. If you have a daughter, or you are one, or you know one--or even if you don't--Maiden USA is an enthralling read. What a splendid job!

What an inspirational inside view from a free thinking woman/writer/artist/Mother.
If you want to understand the barrage of media influencing our young women and long to see girls be encouraged to take the reigns into their own hands- then this is a delightful and insightful ride- full of ideas, rich with hope- a must read for ALL of us!!!

WOW!
I just got the book!
It looks incredible!
I'm so excited to read it.
What a wonderful gift you have made in documenting all of this.