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Set sail on a stormy sea with Jonah and His Amazing Voyage as your young children learn about Bible stories in this light-hearted set from the Bible Adventure Club series.

Each kit includes a hard cover full-color picture story book, activity book, read-along audio cassette, interactive CD-Rom, and parents guide. The picture book is a simple retelling of the story of Jonah to appeal to younger children with bold, colorful, and cartoon-like illustrations. The audio cassette is a dramatized version of the story with original music to listen to while reading along with the book. The activity book includes fun facts, projects, mazes, and more. The interactive CD-Rom includes an animated story, original song, coloring book, word search, matching, puzzles, quiz game and light up puzzle (a scrambled puzzle that lights up when the squares are in order.). Some activities offer different levels of play.

Because of the light-hearted approach and the types of activities, this kit is designed for younger children. My five-year-old and eight-year-old daughters have enjoyed listening to the story many times as well as playing the many creative learning activities on the CD-Rom. Since there are a variety of activities on the CD-Rom and in the activity book, a wide range of younger children can enjoy this kit. Jonah and His Amazing Voyage is just one from a series of Bible Adventure Club kits. Other kits include Other kits include Creation:God's Wonderful Gift, Jesus:the Birthday of the King, Noah and the Incredible Flood, and David and his Giant Battle.

There are also other interactive games on the website www.bibleadventureclub.com

This weekend we rented Journey into Amazing Caves (an IMAX film). It's a beautifully filmed documentary that traces a group of scientists' explorations into caves in the Grand Canyon, ice caves in Greenland and underwater caves on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The scientists are searching for "extremophiles" - bacteria and other small creatures that survive extreme conditions and may be useful for medicines.

Just the natural beauty of these remote places is absolutely breathtaking. But watching the "making of" gives you an even greater appreciation as you realize the challenges and dangers of "extreme photography". Wow.

My children saw this before I had a chance to. I heard them from the other room going ... Woah... Woooah.... Wooooooah... as the team kayaked down a beautiful river.

The movie references the website of one of the team members who also works as a teaching assistant and put this website together for her grade school class...Nancy's Expedition Diary (I especially liked the Q & A in the "Ask Nancy" part.)

We love these kinds of documentaries that "work" for a wide age range and help spark an interest in science while providing some real substance. I have to admit that it was quite delightful the next day to see my 8 year old daughter out in our cold, snowy backyard digging into our sandbox and pretending she was a scientist "out exploring."

Young David has grown up in an isolated cabin with his father (since his mother's death when he was only four) in a beautiful mountain setting. There, his father has given him an excellent but unusual education - he is fluent in several languages, knows a great deal about science and nature and plays the violin beautifully. His father has sheltered him from all evil and taught him only what is good and beautiful.

One day he and his father pack their belongings and head back toward civilization. The father, deathly ill, dies on the journey and David finds himself in the care of a well-meaning elderly farm couple. They and most of their neighbors have a very difficult time understanding the golden-hearted David, who makes friends with the lonely and forgotten of the town and soothes many hardened hearts with his beautiful music. David becomes wrapped up in a fairy tale and a mystery which figure heavily in the plot.

Parents may see this story as an embodiment of some of the most fundamental ideas of the homeschool movement. Some will no doubt find it a little sappy. It might make an interesting contrast to the book North to Freedom by Anne Holm, whose character, also called David and of approximately the same age, makes a transition from the evils of a prison camp into a much more beautiful world.

In this, her latest book in the "Young Life" series, Mrs. Mohan introduces young readers to Mother Katherine Drexel (canonized in October 2000), the first American born, Catholic born saint.

Katherine Mary Drexel (Katie) was born to a wealthy Catholic family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1858. As a child she had everything she could wish for - a beautiful playhouse with "carpets, child-size furniture and even a full kitchen." Her parents and her teachers (the sisters from the convent nearby) instilled in her a love for Jesus, and especially the Blessed Sacrament. She struggled with many things familiar to families today - such as trying to understand why she had three sets of grandparents (her own mother died just after Katie was born and her father remarried). The story (which is the style of a first-person narrative - i.e. from the viewpoint of Katie herself) provides warm and personal details about the developing spiritual life of a child which provide an excellent example for young readers in counting their blessings and using their talents for good.

Katie and her two sisters lost their parents when they were still young ladies. Left with a vast fortune, they had to make decisions about suporting charitable organizations. Katie became interested in Missions on American Indian Reservations. Eventually she founded an order of nuns - the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. During her lifetime she "opened, staffed, and directly supported nearly sixty schools and missions" and dedicated her life to helping Native and African Americans throughout the United States.

This book includes the story (along with a picture) of two children who prayed to Mother Katherine Drexel for a cure for their little sister. Her miraculous cure was accepted by the Vatican as a true miracle in the investigation process for her canonization. The book also includes many charming black and white photos of Katie and her family, a chronology of her life, and a glossary.

Besides the worthwhile story of a great American saint, the book gives us a glimpse of life in 19th century America. Although many particulars of a Catholic family life are familiar to us today, evidence of the Victorian era are present in instances such as how the nurse explains to the children that their new little sister was brought by angels who visited their mama and papa during the night. The story is charming and gives the reader the feeling that they are really getting to know Mother Drexel very personally. Although I was disappointed with previous writings of Mrs. Mohan (I believe it was because I found the stories too terse, too brief) I thought this story was quite nice and I also appreciate the numerous black and white photos which make for an attractive and appealing book.