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I've been telling my friends who've asked about this book that I've never felt enthusiastic about a science textbook until now. This beautiful book, printed in full color on thick, glossy pages is really remarkable. The author, Suchi Myjak, is a Catholic homeschool mother with a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering. She worked in a chip design group at Intel Corporation until the birth of her first child.

There are three areas in which I think this book particularly excels...

First are the beautiful watercolor illustrations by Cameron Smith. (You can view some of his works on his website at http://www.frangelico.org). These illustrations are engaging and will really help draw students into the wonder and amazement of God's creation. The text also includes a number of beautiful photographs.

Second is how engaging the book is. Now, the word 'engaging' is thrown around a lot and usually has to do with how readable and interesting a book is. Behold and See 3 is certainly engaging in this respect. But it goes even deeper to a more complete meaning of 'engaging' that involves the active participation of the student in more fully understanding concepts by use of reflective questions, games, comparison charts and meaningful (but simple) experiments and hands-on activities (like mapping the tongue and making a mini-ecosystem in a bottle).

Third is its Catholic content. Behold and See 3 exceeds my expectations in this regard. Catholic material isn't just tacked on to an ordinary text, it is naturally incorporated into the text. It actually uses ideas familiar to Catholic children from the spiritual realm to better understand science (while retaining an excellent sense of the purpose of science in helping our children get to heaven). For example, in the introduction to the Chapter on Matter, the author helps children understand the concept of matter by contrasting it with the spiritual world that we cannot see and that science cannot study. Also, religious stained-glass windows are used to enhance part of the discussion about light and EWTN is used as an example of something that uses satellite technology. The text is further enhanced by quotations from the Holy Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

After an introductory chapter that explores the idea of what science is, why we study it, some basics on the scientific method and instructions for starting and keeping a science notebook, the text covers three primary areas:

The first segment, on Physical Science, includes chapters on Matter, Force and Energy and Astronomy. In this segment, children will study: states and properties of matter, mass and volume, forces, gravity, magnetism, friction, light, sound, the Earth's crust and atmosphere, the sun, the moon, keeping time, day and night, the solar system, the stars, space travel and satellites.

The second segment, Life Science, includes chapters on Animals, Plants and Ecology. This segment covers: animal classification, animal protection, hibernation and migration, the differences between animals and man, 'wild' and 'tame' flowers, parts of plants, seeds and growing plants, what plants need to grow, plants we eat, plants and the seasons, trees, animal habitats, food chains and food webs, ecosystems and stewardship of God's creation.

The third segment, on the Human Body, includes chapters on Anatomy, the Senses and Nutrition/Health. This segment covers: body proportions, skin pigment, the skeleton, joints, muscles, the heart, lungs and breathing, circulation, the brain, the five senses, nutrients, a balanced diet, food groups, the virtue of moderation, exercise and food safety.

I'm really very, very impressed with this book. Full-color books like this are expensive to produce, particularly for small Catholic companies, but I think that the quality of this text is well-worth its price (approximately $45).

While I believe that textbooks are useful tools in the study of history, they tend to quickly lose the interest of the student if used alone. "Living books" work well when read alongside history textbooks because they bring to life the characters and events related - engaging the imagination and helping the student to more fully understand the signifiance of the people and events being studied. Beorn the Proud is such a story - an exciting, dramatic tale, full of real characters and accurate historical information. Beorn is the arrogant young son of a 9th century Viking chieftain who captures Ness, a young Christian girl from Ireland, and takes her onboard the Viking ship as a slave. While we see the Viking raids and lifestyle through Ness' Christian eyes, Beorn has no idea of how Ness' influence will change his life dramatically. The contrast presented between the Christian God and the Norse "gods" is very well-done. Ness' conversations with Beorn highlight the nobility and goodness of our "gentle" God while helping the reader see the importance of knowing their Faith in order to teach it to others.

Upper Level Books Newly Reprinted!!!

I first read Betsy-Tacy to my eldest daughters when they were about five and eight years old. How I skipped over this charming book when I was a child I shall never know, but it was as new and delightful to me as it was to them.

As the book opens, Betsy Ray is almost five years old, and is longing for a friend.

“Well, for Pete’s sake!” said Betsy’s father. “Hill Street is so full of children now that Old Mag has to watch where she puts her feet down.”

“I know,” said Betsy’s mother. “There are plenty of children for Julia.” (Julia was Betsy’s sister, eight years old.) “And there are dozens of babies. But there isn’t one little girl just Betsy’s age.”

Enter Tacy Kelly, a new little girl in the neighborhood. After a rocky beginning (due to Tacy’s extreme shyness) the girls become the best of friends – so close, in fact, that Hill Street comes to think of them as one: "Betsy-Tacy."

The magic of the story is that while it is disarmingly simple, it's not simplistic, and, while sweet, not saccharine. It’s enchanting, honest and real. Everything from the way in which Betsy and Tacy play paper dolls:

The five-year-olds were the most important members of the large doll families. Everything pleasant happened to them. They had all the adventures.

The eight-year-olds lived very dull lives; and they were always given very plain names. They were Jane and Martha, usually, or Hannah and Jemima. Sometimes Betsy and Tacy forgot and called them Julia and Katie. But the five-year-olds had beautiful names. They were Lucille and Evelyn, or Madeline and Millicent.

… Both father dolls were sent quickly down to work; the mothers went shopping; the babies were taken out in their carriages by the pretty servant dolls; and the older children were shut in the magazines.

to the death of Tacy’s baby sister, Bee:

“And I’ll tell you what tickles Bee. She knows all about Heaven, and we don’t. She’s younger than we are, but she knows something we don’t know. Isn’t that funny? She’s just a baby, and she knows more than we do.”

“And more than Julia and Katie do,” said Tacy.

is handled with sensitivity that avoids being maudlin, and genuine, affectionate humor. Maud Hart Lovelace knew little girls: their feelings, their friendships and their families.

Betsy-Tacy is the first in a series of thirteen books. (I’ve read only the first four with my daughters: Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. We paused at that point, as a friend had cautioned me that “boys enter the picture” in later books, and my girls were still quite young.) We adore the first four books.

See The Betsy-Tacy Society for more details.

Set in Palestine in the days leading up to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., this is a beautiful and powerful story of a Greek family living in the city of Philadelphia. On one of his business journeys, their father, who is a merchant/businessman, rescues a man whom Roman soldiers had left in the desert to die. The merchant's three sons have diverse reactions to this stranger who becomes part of the household, but when the Father is killed by bandits on a later journey, it seems that this stranger without a memory may have a providential role in their future.

The story illustrates the struggles of those caught up in the brutality of Roman rule, the horror of the fall of Jerusalem and touches upon the mysteries of suffering and death. While dealing with the different sorts of reactions that people have to the evils of Rome, the story does highlight - albeit in a subtle way (as good literature should) - the true paths that Christ showed us. An especially interesting contrast can be seen between the courage of the Christians before death (inspired by Christ and given his grace) with the Jews rebelling against Rome (whose motivations involved patriotism, but also hate).

The story is not overly intense, gory, or otherwise objectionable, but dwells upon serious and mature themes of death and suffering in a way suitable to teens and adults. Although the book is a sequel to The Ides of April (which is not apparent until well into the book), it could be read on its own as well.