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Review: This Was John Calvin by Thea B. Van Halsema

In the last few years, much has been published about John Calvin, the great reformer of Geneva.  Even so, this fifty year-old biography by Van Halsema is still one of my favorites.  It’s interesting, easy to read, full of information, and balanced.  Calvin’s complex life is neither glorified nor romanticized, nor are his faults exaggerated.  […]

Review: Story Bible for Older Children by Anne De Vries

   Here’s a  two-volume story Bible I recommend to all families, whether they know the Bible well or not, whether they ‘believe’ in story Bibles or not, and whether their children are beyond such things or not.         The Story Bible for Older Children by Anne De Vries comes in two 300+ page volumes, one […]

Remembrance Week Review: The Lonely Sentinel by Piet Prins

  When impetuous Dirk, a Dutch grade four student, unwittingly antagonized a Nazi sympathizer on the way home from school, he and his older brother Frans were saved by their father’s long-lost friend.  The boys delivered many mysterious messages between him and their father throughout that cold winter. As their family’s windmill became home to […]

Remembrance Week Review: The Sweet Potato

Join a grandfather peeling potatoes for a family gathering as he relives scenes from his Dutch childhood.  At first he had been happy, well-fed, and secure, sailing wooden-shoe boats in puddles and working in the potato fields with his dear father. Then, in 1940, life changed.  The streets were full of dark uniforms. Trucks roared […]

Homeschool Crew Review of a Phonetic Reader: What Am I?

        What Am I? A Collection of Short Stories   is a beautifully illustrated phonetic reader and the third TOS Homeschool Crew product we received from Marie Rippel.   Earlier we looked at the Beehive Reader 1 (now called Cobweb the Cat), and All About Spelling: Levels One and Two.    What Am I?  is […]