Preservationist

Preservationist
by
David Maine
audio CD with a full cast
unabridged 6 1/2 hours

This novel takes the many-times-told tale of Noah's Ark and adds wit, grit, and perspective to the telling. Noah, his wife, his sons, and their daughters all speak. Maine postulates how Ham, Shem, and Japheth found wives and how the animals might have made their way to the ark with the help of Noah's daughters-in-law. He describes the offal stench of the ark. Seasoned actors, and my favorite young audiobook reader, Jenna Lamia, relate what Noah's family might have been thinking (and smelling) on the ark. He wonders with Noah's family at the sign of the rainbow. He guesses how the families were scattered to multiply the earth after the flood.

I very much enjoyed this presentation and recommend it to adult listeners. Listeners do not have to be Jewish, Christian, or Muslim to hear this story. God (Yahweh) and religion are discussed, but not in an evangelic or offensive way. God just is. I do not recommend this novel for children. Sex (rutting), drinking and other adult themes are discussed in a matter of fact, earthy way that some parents may object to, but that I found to be appropriate as Noah and his family escape from the evil of the pre-flood world. Life back then was more basic and in touch with nature, so the coarse, folksy telling of this tale makes perfect sense.
I recommend this book and audio presentation for all public libraries in the U. S.

God Gave Us Love

God Gave Us Love
by
Lisa Tawn Bergren and Laura J. Bryant
Children's Fiction. Bible lesson. Ages 3-7.
Books in this series are:
God Gave Us You
God Gave Us Two
God Gave Us Christmas
God Gave Us Heaven
God Gave Us Love

Some titles in this series have David Hohn instead of Laura J. Bryant as the illustrator, but the style is the same throughout.

A polar bear cub, Little Cub, and her Grampa are spending time together outside. Grampa gently explains to her that God wants us to be kind and loving in the same way that God is kind and loving to us. Even when Little Cub and her brother and sister are not behaving, God still loves them and so do Mama, Papa, and Grampa.

The pictures show some opportunities for Little Cub to be loving or NOT loving: when otters annoy her; when she is tempted to hit her little brother and sister with snowballs; and when the little siblings are getting in her hair. They also show Grampa, Mama, and Papa being nurturing throughout the story.

This would be a good book for a grandparent to read to a grandchild during a quiet time. It might be a book to buy for Valentine's day and read any day of the year to remind us all of God's love.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Treasured: Knowing God by the Things He Keeps

Treasured: Knowing God by the Things He Keeps
by
Leigh McLeroy
Adult nonfiction. Bible study/devotional.

I wasn't sure what this book was going to be about from the title. The author started by describing the things left to her in a box by her grandfather then said God treasures certain things as well. She uses this as the launching point for this Bible study or devotional book that is arranged in 13 chapters. Each chapter mentions an object from a Bible story and an object from the author's life that reminds her of that story. The chapters are all quite short, so if the reader is between Bible studies or doesn't want a yearlong devotional book, this is a book that would take two weeks to read as a daily quiet time book. It might be appropriate as a vacation book since it is compact enough to fit in a backpack or suitcase. There is a discussion guide in the back, so it can be used in a group setting or for individual study. Men or women can read the book, but the examples from everyday life in today's world tend to be more female-centered. If a pastor decided to use this book to preach a 13 week set of sermons it would probably be well received. He could include in the bulletin a picture of an object from each chapter. Say, a picture of an olive branch for the Noah's ark chapter, a picture of Joseph's coat of many colors for the Joseph-in-the-well chapter.
Miss McLeroy creates parallels between the Bible and her life, making it a cozy, personal book, but one that encourages the readers to also contemplate how their lives and Bible stories can be compared. I would say: read this book, then pass it along to a friend or family member who could benefit from 13 days of Bible contemplation.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

God Gave Us Christmas

God Gave Us Christmas
by
Lisa Tawn Bergren and David Hohn
Children's Fiction, Bible Lessons
ages 3-7

Books in this series are:
God Gave Us You
God Gave Us Two
God Gave Us Christmas
God Gave Us Heaven
God Gave Us Love

I see that amazon.com has the author listed as Lisa Tawn for one of these books and Lisa Tawn Bergen for the others, so if you can't find a listing, maybe this is why. I also see that some books in this series have David Hohn as the illustrator and some have Laura J. Bryant. One of them must have started the series and the other replaced the first illustrator. I noticed this because of the words on the cover, but the style and polar bear characters are the same throughout the series.

Little Cub and Mama are polar bears living way up north with Papa and the twin cubs. Little Cub wonders what Christmas is. She thinks it has something to do with presents and Santa Claus. Mama takes her cub on a long tour of the wintry landscape, showing her how all creation declares God's majesty. She explains that God sent Jesus to be the light of the world on that first Christmas day. Jesus is a present for all the world, even grumpy bears. The affection and tenderness of the mother/daughter relationship as Mama gently instructs her child comes through on each page.

I love otters, so as a special bonus I enjoyed the second-banana otters who cavorted in the background throughout the book but didn't say a word.

This book could be used at home or in church to remind children about the true meaning of Christmas.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.