Faithful Homestead

We’ve been enjoying a new to us series of books from Author Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books, the Mattie Richardson’s Horses in History Series. For this review we received four books;Appaloosy, Dusty’s Trail, Golden Sunrise, and Day and Night.

The books are written by a former homeschooled student, Mattie Richardson, for children ages 8-14. These chapter books vary in length from 60 pages to 140 pages.

It’s no secret that history is a favorite subject in our home and homeschool, so when given the opportunity to review four books about four periods in American history from the perspective of a horse, I was intriqued.

Dusty’s Trail

Dusty’s Trail is based on the Pony Express and the dangerous and exciting experiences the horses and riders endured to make sure the mail made it through. At one point, Dusty and his rider Levi were attacked by Indians and Levi was thrown from Dusty’s back.

Golden Sunrise

Golden Sunrise takes us to the Alamo with the beautiful, well-trained golden Palamino horse, Cheyenne.

Day and Night

We go back in time to the Western Theater of the Civil War with Day and Night. Day and Night is told from the perspective of two bother horses that were as different as Day and Night.

Day and Night also has a 98 page Enrichment Guide that goes along with it, helping the reader/student to dig deeper into the history lessons and the story. The vocabulary words that might be unfamiliar to the reader, back stories to the events in the story, even a recipe for Hardtack are included in the Enrichment Guide.

Appaloosy

Appaloosy takes us to Oregon and Idaho for the Nez Perce Indian War and the development of the Appaloosa Horse. Appaloosy was written by the author at the young age of 13.

About the Author

Mattie Richardson, formerly known as North Dakota’s teen author since she began writing at the age of thirteen. She works as a full-time journalist and part-time musician and writes as often as possible. In addition to writing, she wants to encourage young people to also express themselves as authors.

What Did We Think?

History told from a horse who has no bias to one side or the other is a great story for sure. So much of what we read in history books is swayed one way or the other. The books were quite enjoyable to read. I also like that the books cover different periods of history.

Connect with Appaloosy Books on These Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Appaloosy7/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/appaloosybooks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppaloosyBooks

I hope you will take the time to read some of the reviews from other members of The Homeschool Review Crew by clicking on the banner below.

Blessings,

Jennifer

This latest review is unlike any I’ve ever done before, it is a Personalized Cartoon made just for Hannah from CrossTimber – Name Meaning Gifts. Your Amazing Name – Personalized Adventures for EVERY name!is really a personalized adventure just for Hannah to enjoy.

More About the Amazing Name Video

The video starts out with showing Hannah’s artwork right away. We follow her artwork from the barn to the cartoon house where we meet Benjamin (Ben) the pencil who is our host for the show. Looking around the room there are numerous personalized items including a toy box, pillow, and sign all with Hannah’s name on them.

Ben draws a rocket ship on Hannah’s drawing so that he can prepare us for takeoff on the adventure to find the meaning of Hannah’s name. Upon takeoff they fly to the moon and are introduced to the stars who have all been named.

The story continues with talking about how important names are. The very first job God gave Adam was to name all the animals. The star also said that God knows all our names.

Upon flying back to earth, Ben lands at Mr. Owl’s Tree where he learns about the significance of names. Mr. Owl introduced Hannah and Ben to the original Owl to Jack “The Owl of all trades”.

Hannah learned that names have various origins and that her name originally came from the Hebrew language. She also learned that God promises that he knows each of us before we are born.

Hannah’s personalized video is 28 minutes long. She truly was surprised to receive a personalized video. It was so fun to watch her response when I showed it to her the first time. She just couldn’t get over the fact that her artwork was in the video and that there was a personalized letter that I wrote her. She was also pleased to see that her photo was also included, talk about making a girl feel loved and important.

The entire cartoon is a wonderful story of how important each of us is to the Lord. Important verses from the Bible are introduced througout the story which demonstrate His great love for us and that he knows each of us by name. It was so fun to watch Hannah’s reaction to knowing how much she is loved by her family and by God. (Even though we tell her this often it was different hearing from another source.)

Quotes From Hannah

That’s the picture I drew! Mom that’s my picture.

I just want to watch it again it is so fun!

I love it, love it, love it!

She has watched the cartoon so many times she surely must have it memorized by now. Ha. This would make a neat gift for the special someone in your life.

Amazing Name Giveaway from CrossTimber

CrossTimber is even offering a FREE giveaway, enter for your chance to win an Amazing Name Personalized Video. (Giveway is provided by CrossTimber)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Connect with CrossTimber on these Social Media Links:

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/crosstimber

Click on the banner below to read the reviews from other members of the Homeschool Review Crew to see what their families thought about the Personalized Name Gifts.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Quinton and I have had added a couple of fun new books to our reading library from the Goldtown Beginnings Series :from Kregel Publications:

Jem Strikes Gold

Jem’s Frog Fiasco 

These early chapter books are written with children age in mind, however, younger children would certainly enjoy having the books read to them. They can be enjoyed by the entire family but boys will especially be drawn to the adventures of young Jem Coulter and his life during the California Gold Rush.

If you’ve been following along for very long you might remember that we have reviewed other fun books from author Susan K. Marlow; Circle C Stepping Stones Booksand Circle C Milestones: Thick as Thieves.

More About Jem Strikes Gold

Jem Strikes Gold is based during the 1859 California Gold Rush. Jim, his little sister, Ellie and his Pa each have claims but they’ve sure never made it rich. In fact, all the gold that Jem has ever found only fills his gold pouch about half full.

Jem and Ellie help the family out by delivering Mama’s pies to the miners every Saturday for extra money, but that isn’t as easy or pleasant as it should be. The mean, Will Sterling, makes everything that Jem does less pleasant whether it’s delivering the fresh baked pies or the laundry that Mama works so hard to wash for the miners and Will’s family.

However, things start to turn around for Jem when his Pa’s friend Strike-It-Rich Sam, brings back a gold colored dog from one of his trips. No matter how much Ellie and Jem begged though Mama wasn’t letting them have the dog, at least not until the dog protected Jem, Ellie and the precious pies from Will. When Mama heard the story of how the pup had saved the day, there was no way she could say no anymore. Jem even has the perfect name for the dog, Gold Nugget.

More About Jem’s Frog Fiasco 

Jem and Ellie are so excited to get to keep Gold Nugget, their new dog. However, they soon find out that keeping a dog fed is quite a challenge when their family has a hard time keeping the people fed. Jem decides he needs to find a job to help pay for meat scraps. Mr Sims the cafe owner gives Jem the perfect job; he will pay him 5 cents for each frog he brings into the cafe.

Jem and Ellie finish their pie deliveries and head to the pond. However, they soon have a big fight and Ellie storms off. Jem is sure she went home so he decides to keep froggin’. Later when he gets home though Ellie is no where around.

Search and search as they might Pa, Mama and Jem couldn’t find Ellie. Strike-it-rich Sam suggests that Jem should take Gold Nugget and see if he could find the missing girl. Gold Nugget saves the day and does find Ellie in an abandoned “coyote” hole.

What Did We Think of the Books?

We have enjoyed all the books that we’ve read to date from Susan K. Marlow. She does a wonderful job weaving life lessons into age appropriate books that captivate the kids.

Connect with Kregel Books on These Social Media Links:

Facebook: https: https://www.facebook.com/KregelBooks
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CircleCAdventures/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kregelbooks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KregelBooks

I hope you will read the reviews from other members of The Homeschool Review Crew by clicking the banner below.

Blessings,

Jennifer