Editor Liza Kaplan

Detailed illustrations of the stickers on the centre pages of these two books are easily peeled off and placed within the spaces of the remaining pages. If done carefully these can be used again and again giving hours of pleasure and learning. The stickers are placed at random on their pages – you have to look for them – but they are very detailed, some are really intricate, so are well worth finding and studying. Together with the few words beside them they tell the full story from the Bible.
The Old Testament stories are of Creation, Noah’s Ark, Joseph and His brothers, The Life of Moses , David & Goliath, Daniel in the Lions Den and Solomon’s Temple.

See also DK Ultimate sticker Book NT ISBN 978-1-405-36335-8 also £3.99
The New Testament stories are The Birth of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Jesus’ Miracles, The 12 Disciples, The Crucifixion, The Resurrection and Peter & Paul.

Review by Mary Bartholomew (31/01/12)

Stapled A5 Pbk.
Price: £3.99
Publisher: DK (Dorling Kindersley) from IVP
Published: 2011
ISBN: 978-1-405-36336-5

View this book on its own page >>

Read this book?

Review it! >>

Sports Fun for Messy Churches

by Lucy Moore

If you want to include an Olympics flavour to your Messy Church sessions or are planning a holiday club or workshop on a sports theme then it is handy to discover that someone else has already done some of the thinking for you!
If you were looking for a wealth of active ideas for your active non-crafty messy church children, then sadly this book isn’t really the answer you were hoping for, though there are some good active ideas in it. If however, what you are wanting is sports themed crafts or ideas for community events, or a springboard for your imagination then this is your book!
As with Lucy Moore’s other recent Messy Church books (Messy Crafts and Messy Cooks), the idea is to pick and choose ideas and build your session around them.
The book includes one complete Messy Church session based on the Good Samaritan. Other inclusions, such as the ‘energetic bible story’ about Philip and the Ethiopian official, would need some working up of other ideas to compliment it if you wanted to use it for a whole Messy Church session.
As well as sports ideas there are also a good stock of healthy eating suggestions and a Messy day by day ‘Get Healthy’ programme with a month of healthy challenges. There are also outlines for four Messy Church talks on the themes of Excellence, Respect, Friendship and Everyone’s Valuable which are all on a sports theme.
The book also includes some games from around the world and some pointers about how to organise a sports trail, a water sports day or a Messy family Grand Prix. Again, the planning has not been done for you but there are some great ideas to enthuse and inspire. I particularly like some of the prayer ideas; Jesus prayer jogging and goal prayers!

Review by Kathy Bland (26/01/12)

Paperback
Price: £5.99
Publisher: Messy Church imprint of BRF
Published: November 2011
ISBN: 978-1-841-01824-9

View this book on its own page >>

Read this book?

Review it! >>

Tiddlywinks: My Little Blue Book of Stories and Pictures

- 45 Old Testament Stories and Activities to Use at Home

by Maggie Barfield illustrations by Sonia Canals

This is a series of simple daily Bible notes for toddlers. Each day contains a Bible verse, a short retelling of a Bible story, a prayer and a simple picture to colour. Each page also contains a help guide on how to use the colouring picture and things to talk about with your toddler.
The blue book contains 45 Old Testament stories and the Green book (see below) contains 45 New Testament stories. The colouring pictures are all photocopiable (permission given); so as well as home use, this book would also be suitable for toddler groups and toddler services.
Tiddlywinks: My Little Green Book of Stories and Pictures - 45 New Testament Stories and Activities to Use at Home ISBN – 978-1-844-27636-3
There is an A4 identical version of both books available.

Review by Kathy Bland (13/12/11)

Stapled A5 Pbk.
Price: £4.99
Publisher: Scripture Union (SU)
Published: 2011
ISBN: 978-1-844-27635-6

View this book on its own page >>

Read this book?

Review it! >>

The Adventures of Peter and Leisel Book 1

- A Lesson in Courage

by Aaron Friedrick

The story of a young boy, Peter, with an over active imagination that makes him fearful. He ventures into the woods to find Leisel and discovers that the animals who live there also have overactive imaginations and are frightened of him. As the story continues he meets Timidy the squirrel at the badger’s home, visits the wise eagle and finally returns home to find Leisel there already. Interspersed with the chapters are questions for the adult to help the child understand the message and relevant Bible verses for them to read and learn. Finally there is the story of Jesus’ friends being terrified when a storm erupts on the Sea of Galilee and they cry out to Jesus to save them.
An unusual teaching aid that will need careful preparation and thought but will really help fearful children. Those who like black and white illustrations will find they express the story well.BR>
The Adventures of Peter and Leisel Book 2 – A Lesson in Obedience. In this story it is Timidy the squirrel who has a lesson to learn.

Review by Mary Bartholomew (02/12/11)

Stapled A4 Pbk.
Price: £3.00
Publisher: Day One Publications
Published: October 2011
ISBN: 978-1-846-25279-2

View this book on its own page >>

Read this book?

Review it! >>

Puzzles, Quizzes and Other Stuff

- 101 More Things to do With Children and Young People

by Tirzah L. Jones

Having found Crafts, Crafts and More Crafts a useful addition to my bookshelf I was really pleased to see a new book by Tirzah Jones.
Here is a great selection of code breakers, crosswords, word searches and quiz questions. This book would be a fantastic timesaver for anyone working with children and young people in a Christian setting.
Each quiz or crossword has a page of its own which can be photocopied. There is also a handy CD to accompany the book which contains all the material for those who prefer printing to photocopying.
Sadly there is no index, which makes searching for material on a theme a little tricky. I found myself turning to the answers page to find suitable code breakers to use. Perhaps it would be easier to choose your themes around those used in the book! As well as those focussing on a particular story there are also general quizzes covering New Testament, Old Testament and the whole Bible. These worksheets would be a handy resource for any church youth group, Sunday school, children’s group or family service leader. Lots of fun and well worth having in your collection!

As noted we were unfortunately unable to include an index due to space, however to solve that problem we have made them available on the website as downloads - Publisher

Review by Kathy Bland (08/10/11)

A4 Paperback
Price: £10.00
Publisher: Day One Publications
Published: 2011
ISBN: 978-1-846-25277-8

View this book on its own page >>

Read this book?

Review it! >>

Creative Ideas for Advent & Christmas

- 80 Seasonal Activities for Use With Children

by Jane Tibbs

This is without doubt the best collection of children’s advent and Christmas resources that I have come across. How refreshing it is to have such a good mix of old favourites and interesting new ideas. With 80 activities to choose from, it will be a book that I will use year after year.
Whether you are a parent, church leader, teacher or children’s worker; this book is the only resource you will need to give some inspiration to your advent preparations this year. I have found myself thinking “Ooh!”, “Wow! And “Brilliant!” whilst turning the pages of this book.
I could list some of the ideas but then you might not bother reading the book, which would be a shame. Categories for ideas include those for your community, crafts, prayers, party games, worship at home, decorations, ideas for counting down, cooking and special saints. There are also a number of sample liturgies for advent services and a good collection of useful templates for stars, angels, holly leaves and the like.
If you would like to start a posada or lead a Christingle service, if you want to hold a Christmas tree or nativity scene festival, if you need prayerful ideas to help you and your family prepare for advent, if you are looking for advent themed party game ideas or if you could do with some craft or cooking inspiration then look no further.
This is a comprehensive advent manual for children and families and I recommend it wholeheartedly!

Review by Kathy Bland (05/10/11)

Paperback
Price: £8.99
Publisher: Barnabas imprint of BRF
Published: September 2011
ISBN: 978-1-841-01856-0

View this book on its own page >>

Read this book?

Review it! >>

On the Farm - Rainbow Colouring Books Illustrations by Ruth Hearson
ISBN: 978-1-846-25302-7 Price: £2.50	Published: September 2011
More Information about this book >>

Looking Forward to Christmas With Timothy Bear - 18 five-minute Stories and Assembly Outlines for Advent and Christmas by Brian Sears
ISBN: 978-1-841-01623-8 Price: £7.99	Published: Autumn 2009
More Information about this book >>

Parachute Fun for Everyone - 50 Parachute Activities for Telling Bible Stories, Teaching and Worship by Renita Boyle
ISBN: 978-1-841-01702-0 Price: £6.99	Published: 03 March 2011
More Information about this book >>

The Life of Jesus - Look Inside the Bible by Tim Dowley
ISBN: 978-1-859-85823-3 Price: £6.99	Published: 22 July 2011
More Information about this book >>

Wipe Clean Activity Book 3 (and Book Four) Text by Juliet David, illustrated by Marie Allen
ISBN: 978-1-859-85289-7 Price: £2.99	Published: 17 June 2011
More Information about this book >>

Amazing Bible Word Searches for Kids by Richard & Ruth Spiering
ISBN: 978-0-736-92961-5 Price: £5.99	Published: March 2011
More Information about this book >>

The Ultimate Bible Quiz Book by Douglas A Jacoby
ISBN: 978-0-736-93051-2 Price: £7.99	Published: 01 January 2011
More Information about this book >>

Anyone Can Tell a Bible Story - Bob’s Guide to Storytelling – With 35 Great Stories by Bob Hartman
ISBN: 978-0-857-21007-4 Price: £10.99	Published: February 2011
More Information about this book >>

Jumbo Bible Activity Book 3 by Tim Dowley Associates
ISBN: 978-1-859-85236-1 Price: £5.99	Published: Spring 2011
More Information about this book >>

Messy Cooks - A Handbook for Messy Church Catering Teams by Jane Butcher
ISBN: 978-1-841-01814-0 Price: £5.99	Published: March 2011
More Information about this book >>

Messy Crafts - A Craft-based Journal for Messy Church Members by Lucy Moore
ISBN: 978-1-841-01816-4 Price: £6.99	Published: Spring 2011
More Information about this book >>

Wait Till You See the Butterfly - and other short stories for boys and girls by Doreen Tamminga
ISBN: 978-1-848-71101-3 Price: £7.50	Published: 2011
More Information about this book >>

Relive Easter by James Hamilton
ISBN: 9-990-00040-9 Price: £19.99	Published: 01 January 2010
More Information about this book >>

Assemblies for Spring and Summer Festivals - 36 Ready-to-use Ideas for Key Christian Festivals and Other Special Days by Martin Cox
ISBN: 978-1-841-01701-3 Price: £8.99	Published: 2010
More Information about this book >>

Browse the archive:-

All books reviewed in this section, indexed by title:-
A B C D E F G I J K L M N O P R S T U W X Y 1 3 5 7