Review: Resurrection Eggs: The Easter Story for Children by Randal Lee Walti

This is not quite a book review, but I'd like to review something relevant to Holy Week, which is coming up.  Resurrection Eggs:  The Easter Story for Children by Randal Lee Walti, is actually more of a teaching aid for parents and Christian Education leaders.  The kit is composed of 12 hollow plastic eggs which contain objects inside that are relevant to the Easter story, and a booklet containing information on how to use the eggs.  The kit is produced by Family Life Today, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ. 

I bought my set of Resurrection Eggs over a decade ago when I was still teaching Sunday School, and they captured the attention of the students in the program.  There were other teaching leaders who were quite taken with idea of the eggs that they utilized them in the programming for other fellowships such as the youth/high school and even possibly the college and career groups.   My set is contained in a Styrofoam carton, such as the ones that can be found at the grocer's, but current sets are packaged in more durable plastic containers. 

This past week, I've had the opportunity to look at a few other sets belonging to others, and it is interesting to compare how the sets have changed over the years in packaging and construction.  The shells are of a firmer plastic than many of the hollow eggs that are sold in dollar stores, but it is still a good idea to open these objects gently.  The booklet recommends that you squeeze gently at the seam between the two halves. 

I saw a set sold at Walmart in the United States just over a week ago, and it was bilingual, for use in English and Spanish.  It also appeared to have some change in the content of some of the eggs; I saw a rooster in the set, which is not an item contained in the set that I have.  I did not open the packaging, so I don't know if other items had been changed since the original came out.  I tried looking online to find out more information about this, but haven't been able to discover much about it so far. 

My set is an English version and the copyright date inside the booklet is 1999.  The booklet gives a few hints on how to use the eggs, and includes a brief blurb/explanation/description that can be read as each egg is opened.  There are Scriptural references for each section.  Some of the blurbs work well as a devotion.  There was one that was rather brief as it only covered the narrative.  For the egg containing three nails placed in the arrangement of a cross, however, there is a more substantial explanation.  It had about two and a half pages describing humankind's problem with sin, our need for a Savior, and how Jesus is able to save us.  Towards the back of the booklet, there are a couple pages containing hints how to present the Gospel to children and in leading them to Christ.  There is also a chart with 16 more ideas and corresponding Scriptures that could also be included in making additional eggs.  The rooster is included in this chart in my booklet, which makes me wonder if the changes between the older and newer sets were made simply through switching items from the original roster with the ones that are on this chart.  I don't know if the current sets include booklets with similar information which is contained in the one I just described.

The Resurrection Eggs have been very useful for me in presenting the Easter story to children, both in Sunday School, and with my own children.  I keep them stored in one of my kid's rooms, and they know that the set is there.  We have been using them for storytime for the past week or so, and the kids are the ones who are asking for the story.  The author of the book encourages people to adapt the blurbs and descriptions to suit their needs, and I found this to be especially true, depending on the audience.  Smaller children might not be up to listening to the entire description of the blurb.  When I first started using the set for my children, I only covered the basics of the narrative, but as the years pass by, I have started to include more information.  One of my kids is now old enough to understand the idea of prophecy and I am able to talk about how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies if the content of the egg allows me to expand on that topic.  I also volunteer as an English as a Second Language teacher at our church.  We are planning to use the eggs in our programming.  I have heard of people using the eggs as part of their Easter Egg hunt, although I haven't personally done that myself yet.

I have found this teaching aid to be particularly versatile, and it has been fun to use, for myself and for my children. 

Review: Knitting Beyond the Edge by Nicky Epstein

Today, while walking around a local mall which was having a sidewalk sale, I found a discount bookstore.  I did the usual, which was to peruse the crafting section for cheap knitting books, and to my surprise, I found Nicky Epstein's Knitting Beyond the Edge for about 2/3's of its usual price.  I've probably already blown the budget for yarn and other related knitting paraphernalia for the month, but I really couldn't pass up on purchasing this book, so I need to make a mental note to go on a yarn diet for the next little while.  Anyways, this book is third in the series about knitted decorative finishes that also includes Knitting Over the Edge which I reviewed in January earlier this year, and Knitting On the Edge.  However, I think that the copy that I found is actually the first edition of Knitting Beyond the Edge; there are two different covers for the title when I searched for information about this book on Amazon.  My copy features a brown jacket with a gorgeous intarsia design (the Belle Epoque Jacket mentioned below) on its cover and the copyright date in this book indicates that this edition was published in 2006. 

The book is essentially a stitch dictionary with instructions and photographs to show knitters how to create finishes for their work.  Ms. Epstein focusses on four areas:  Cuffs and Collars, Necklines, Corners and Edges, and Closures.  Each section starts off with a photograph of a completed sample garment incorporating a design that focusses on that area.  The instructions for creating these particular garments are provided towards the back of the book.  These include the following items:  the Belle Epoque Jacket, which incorporates a beautiful intarsia design of leaves and flowers on the lapels, cuffs and hem, the Cardigan with Cabled Points, which has a peplum with an additional tier at the back, the Hooded Shawl which has cables and bobbles, and the Faux Fair Isle Jacket, which features knitted tabs along its hem and twisted loop edging in addition to the closure that is showcased in item.  There is a fifth pattern included, the Deep V-Neck Sleeveless Sweater, which is actually affiliated with the section on Cuffs and Collars.  There are pages that define terms and abbreviations that appear in the book, stitches that are used, and instructions on some of the techniques used in the book, such as making basic buttonholes, cords, knots and a rounded edge.

There are slight differences in Knitting Beyond the Edge when it is compared to Knitting Over the Edge.  Although the samples shown in the Corners and Edges section appear as swatches, the collar and neckline samples that appear in a couple of the other sections are photographed to show how they would appear on a knitted garment.  There are notes on how to use the book, on neckline variations, and on how to construct different necklines.  The book also addresses the issues of how to alter the neckline, how to fit a neckline into a given neck edge, and how to figure the number of stitches to pick up.  There is a page with information on how to adjust the edge, and walks a knitter through the process of making that adjustment using the example of adding a button band to a pattern that is written out as a pullover.   Much of this information was not provided in Knitting Over the Edge, so I feel that this is an advantage that Knitting Beyond the Edge has over the other book.  Knitting Over the Edge had swatch samples that showed how the patterns would appear, but didn't provide much help in adjusting to the weight or gauge of the yarn used for a project.

In my opinion, this book would probably be more easily used by intermediate and advanced knitters rather than by a novice.  However, beginners may still be up to the challenge of adapting these patterns to work for their projects.  For myself, I find this collection to be rather innovative and creative.  I'm thrilled to have this book in my reference library.

Review: Secretly Yours by Valerie Comer

Secretly Yours, a novella by Valerie Comer is the story of Lindsey Solberg, a chef who has returned to her hometown of Riverbend after spending a decade away from home.  She has returned home to be a support to her teenaged sister, Madison, after the passing of their mother.  Madison still lives with her father, Lindsey's stepfather, whom Lindsey considers to be a less than ideal parent.  Madison somehow railroads a reluctant Lindsey into catering the fundraising banquet that the local church youth group is hosting. 

Participating in the fundraising efforts becomes more awkward for Lindsey when she realizes that she will need to work with the youth pastor, Nick Harrison, a guy who Lindsey had a crush on during their high school days, but who had hurt her deeply in the days before he became a believer.  In the time that Lindsey and Nick have been apart, Nick has come to own a saving faith in the Lord, but has never forgotten about her or the humiliation that he put her through when they were younger.  Now, Lindsey won't give him the time of day; she is skeptical of whether he has truly changed, even though he has become a brother in Christ.  Nick decides to embark on a campaign of being her Secret Admirer, hoping to win her over anonymously at first with notes and gifts, and then eventually revealing himself to her. 

On first glance, the story seems to be about Lindsay's need to forgive Nick, and Nick's need for Lindsay's forgiveness.  However, as the plot unfolds, we find out that Lindsey has issues with seeing herself as she is: a person who is deeply loved by God.  Now that Nick is trying to court her, she becomes aware that he has surpassed her in his walk with the Lord, while her own faith has become unsteady.  Nick, on the other hand, must hold back his desire for a romantic relationship with Lindsey until things are right between her and the Lord. 

It was interesting to read about Lindsey's struggles in her faith and her difficulties in seeing herself in the way that the Lord does.  It gave the novella a little more heft in its content.  I liked the character of Nick.  I'm a sucker for men with characters of strength and patience who have had long standing crushes, as long as they don't act like out of control Neanderthals when it appears that they might possibly win the objects of their affections.   

I found it a bit amusing to read the brief author notes at the beginning and end of the story where she supplies trivia unique to British Columbia and Canada, the province and country in which the novella is set.  It's true that knitted stocking caps are referred to as "tuques" (this may be familiar to people who are acquainted with Bob and Doug McKenzie of the Great White North comedy segments that used to air on SCTV).  British Columbia does have a graduated driver's licensing program.  I'm still trying to figure out which existing towns and cities that exist in British Columbia that Ms. Comer used as possible models for Riverbend and Castlebrook, the fictional towns mentioned in the story.  It was a novel experience for me to read something that is set in an area that I am familiar with.  This was a nice story and I enjoyed reading it.






 

Review: Countdown to Danger - with Hannah Alexander and Jill Elizabeth Nelson

The month of January saw Harlequin's Love Inspired Historical line with two stories set in the Regency era, so I made plans to purchase those two books.  However, I did pick them up from Walmart Canada, which offers three Harlequin books for $15 as opposed to buying the titles for $6.75 each.  This is how I ended up choosing Countdown to Danger, a Love Inspired Suspense novel as my third choice to take advantage of the $15 deal. 

Countdown to Danger contains two novellas, Alive After New Year, by Hannah Alexander, and New Year's Target,by Jill Elizabeth Nelson.  I have read and enjoyed some of Ms. Nelson's previous work such as Witness to Murder, which I really loved, Evidence of Murder, which takes place in the same universe as Witness to Murder, and Calculated Revenge. 

Hannah Alexander is a pseudonym for a wife and husband writing team, Cheryl and Mel Hodde.  Their biographical blurb in the book sounded interesting; apparently she was ambushed into a blind date with him by their pastor, and upon finding out that Mel was a doctor, asked him if he could help her paralyze someone.  That was when she revealed to him that she was writing a novel.  Since then, they have co-written a number of novels, one of which had won a Christy Award for Best Romance in 2004. 

In Alive After New Year, Lynley Marshall, a triage nurse, has her life threatened through a message conveyed by an anonymous note, unless her family forks over a large amount of money to keep her safe from harm.  John Russell, the new police chief with whom Lynley has developed a friendship with, thinks that something is off about the note.  There is a genuine threat against Lynley's life; the events that follow demonstrate that she is in danger, but the obvious suspects that the note seems to point to do not make sense to him.  While they are wracking their brains to discover who the real culprits are, both Lynley and John must work through issues that keep them from taking their platonic friendship to a romantic one.  Lynley, who had been through a divorce from a man who was unfaithful, is reluctant to make herself vulnerable to another man, and John, a widower, is still trying to heal from the loss of his wife to cancer and feels guilt at the thought of finding new love with another woman. 

With some mystery and suspense stories, sometimes I am able to guess who the villain is early on, but I didn't with this one, although hints are given through the pacing of the plot and the number of chapters and pages remaining after each revelation of who the guilty party might be.  The one quibble that I have with this novella is that there were some acronyms or abbreviations related to medicine or law enforcement that I was not familiar with, which may be common knowledge for those who live in the United States.   However, those items were few and far in between, so it didn't detract much from my enjoyment of this story.

In New Year's Target, Seattle detective Cassidy Ferris is shot at while going down a ski run in Aspen, Colorado.  Her rescuer is Tim Halstead, her childhood nemesis.  He's a legal aid attorney who is now situated in San Franscisco.  New Year's Target is a bit of a Romeo and Juliet story, except Juliet really doesn't like Romeo even though she is attracted to him.  Besides the personal enmity between Cassidy and Tim,  there has been bad blood between the Ferris and Halstead families since the death of Cassidy's cousin, Francine.  Francine died in a fire caused by a short in a faulty electrical box while living in a tenement building owned by the Halsteads. 

Tim has always had a crush on Cassidy since they were kids, but didn't know how to show it appropriately and ended up tormenting her instead.  Now that they are reunited as adults, he vacillates back and forth over wanting to be near her or desiring to give her space, recognizing that their past history may be something that can never be overcome.  However, they continue to be thrown together in Aspen when it becomes clear that Cassidy is not the only one whose life is being threatened; Tim's life is endangered as well.  With death threats and danger escalating against them, Cassidy and Tim must work together to find out who is behind the attacks. 

I found the villain to be a little bit over the top and one dimensional when we finally discover who this person is.  However, with the limitations of a novella, there isn't room for more development of this character.  We get exposed to much of this person's evil all at once for the climax of the story, although we read allusions to it earlier on.  What I really liked about this story was the romantic tension between Cassidy and Tim.  I liked the quick pacing and development of this story, and between Alive After New Year, and New Year's Target, I enjoyed the latter more, although the former was a good story too. 

Review: Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings

It has been a couple of weeks since I've looked at Regina Jennings, Caught in the Middle, so my recall of the book may be a bit spotty.  It's the story of Anne Tillerton, a widow who is eking out a living as a buffalo hunter, and Nick Lovelace, a businessman whose company is connected to building and constructing railway lines.  You might say that this novel has a bit of a reverse plot of Beauty and the Beast, where the beast is a rough-and-tumble female who doesn't do dresses and can shoot with a gun better than many of the males surrounding her.   Nick is the polished society figure. Although he is acquainted with hard back breaking work connected with railway construction, he has assumed more responsibilities in running the company from an office, which now requires him to dress in a suit these days.  Anne and Nick go way back; Nick's sister used to be friends with Anne, and he knows about the unfortunate history that led to Anne's widowhood. 

The pair meet up again when the train that they are travelling on get held up by bandits, and Anne saves Nick's life with her sharp shooting skills.  To show his gratitude, and also because he feels an obligation to an old family acquaintance, Nick offers his help to Anne, should she need it while she is in town.  Anne doesn't really aim to collect on this favour until she finds herself becoming an unwilling foster mother to a baby who had been abandoned by his mother.  Because of her own personal past, she cannot allow the baby to be uncared for, so while she tries to track down the father of the child, she accepts Nick's aid in childcare arrangements, and his provision of temporary work in his office so that she can earn money.  It is difficult for Anne to receive help; her life experiences have left her ill equipped to trust people and she definitely has difficulty in trusting God. 

At first, Nick finds it alarming to be obligated to assist Anne because he fears what the rest of society will think about Anne's appearance and the nature of their relationship, which at this point, is that of family friendship.  In fact, throughout the book, the challenge for Nick is whether or not he would choose to do the right thing by the Lord and to his neighbours, in spite of the pressures to not do so.  As the plot unfolds, these choices become harder for him; the situation with Anne is just the starting point of circumstances that require him to decide whether to live out his faith or be the type of man who spouts out religious rhetoric, but not carry it out in his life.  In a way, both Anne and Nick need to deal with the issue of trusting God.  They both need to walk by faith, but obviously in different ways because their situations are different.  Nick's background is one of privilege and good fortune, whereas Anne's past is one filled with neglect and abuse. 

The one thing that I found a bit whiplash inducing was the suddenness of Nick's realization that he was in love with Anne.  Up to that point, it seemed as if he regarded Anne as an inconvenience because of the questions and rudeness that he was bombarded with over the presence of Anne in his office.  For me, personally, there weren't enough moments that convinced me of his attraction to her before, although there were enough hints to show that he found her intriguing, but not in a romantic way. The transition from simple friendliness to romantic pursuit was a bit jarring with its suddenness.  However, once Nick decided that he loved Anne, he really did go after her in a romantic way.  He probably did need all the time that was allotted to this in the plot, though, in order to break down the walls in the heart of a woman who couldn't trust men because of her past.

Nick's circumstance in being challenged to do the right thing regardless of the cost spoke a lot to me and was thought provoking.  Likewise, Anne's challenge to trust God in spite of the circumstances was another thought provoking idea.  I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more from Regina Jennings. 

Review: Undeniably Yours by Becky Wade

Becky Wade's Undeniably Yours is a novel about a rich girl who meets a poor boy.  More than wealth is separating them; the stigma of boss and employee connecting romantically with each other is a source of concern for the two of them. 

Meg Cole is under a lot of stress.  With the passing of her father, she has become the head of the family business, Cole Oil, and numerous other business endeavors.  Meg is no business woman.  She had been happily working as a museum curator in Tulsa, returning to Texas only because of her family obligations.  She is trying to reduce the scope of her responsibilities so that she can concentrate on Cole Oil, and this means that she must lay off people and close down or sell the other businesses.  One of these is Whispering Creek Ranch.  Bo Porter is in charge of the ranch which is located on the family estate.

Bo, an ex-marine, is the manager of the horse ranch, and knows that Meg means to get rid of it.  He persuades Meg to give him six months to turn the business around so that it becomes profitable.  He knows that Meg has every intention of closing the place down, even after the six months are up.  He is also aware of the attraction between Meg and himself, but refuses to use it to convince Meg to keep the ranch operational.  In the meantime, Meg becomes aware that spending time with Bo gives her peace from all the turmoil from the other areas of her life which threaten to overwhelm her.  She wonders at the attraction between them, but is reluctant to act on it because of a previous relationship that causes her to mistrust all eligible men and her own judgment about people.  Bo slowly chips away at that distrust; however, circumstances arise that causes Meg to question whether Bo is using her for her money, just as the person from her previous relationship had.      

I loved this story.  It was romantic.  Bo is sigh worthy material.  The man is honest, honourable, handsome, and besides being a horse whisperer, he can also charm crying babies.  Becky Wade writes with humour in her style.  The babysitting episode made me smile.

I also liked that both protagonists were believers who earnestly wanted to listen to and follow God.  I found it interesting that Meg knew a fair bit of Scripture about her identity in Christ, and was able to see Bo as an equal, disregarding how the rest of the world saw the disparity in their socio-economic circumstances.  However, she wasn't able to translate that knowledge of how God saw her into accepting herself; she seemed to be constantly insecure about her looks, body image, and abilities.  As a female who is no longer in the bloom of my youth, I can relate to the struggle that Meg has in seeing herself as an acceptable person in a society that prizes physical attractiveness and worldly success as high measures of worthiness.

Undeniably Yours is the first installment of the Porter Family saga. The following two novels in the series, Meant to Be Mine, and A Love Like Ours, covers the stories of Bo's brothers, Ty, and Jake, respectively.

Review: Knitting Over the Edge by Nicky Epstein

One of my favourite activities is checking out the bargain tables at bookstores for knitting books.  Occasionally, gems will turn up that are too good to miss.  Recently, the Chapters/Indigo book chain had a huge discount for Nicky Epstein's Knitting Over the Edge.  It was priced about 75% off from its regular price.  However, it was so close to Christmas and I hadn't gotten that far with my Christmas shopping.  So I hinted (well, if you define hinting as taking a picture of the book with a cell phone and showing it to a significant someone) that this would make an absolutely wonderful Christmas gift. 

On Christmas morning, I was delighted to find this book under the tree.  In fact, since then, every time I glance at the book, I feel excited.  The book is about a decade old already; it was originally published in 2005, but it contains a lot of knitting patterns that could be used and adapted for decorative borders.  In this way, it is rather like a stitch dictionary/encyclopedia for edgings.  This collection contains over 350 patterns, categorized into the headings of Unique Ribs, Cords, Appliques, Colors, and Nouveau.  At the beginning of each of these five sections, a photograph of a sample garment that utilizes these edgings is shown.  Within each section, there are photographs showing samples of the knitted borders along with instructions on how to create these edgings.  Towards the back of the book, instructions are given for making the photographed garments that were shown at the start of each category.  The patterns are for a rib and bobble sweater, a cord and circle scarf, an appliqued rose capelet, a floral wrap, and a coat.

The blurb inside the dust jacket claims that novice knitters as well as experienced knitters will be able to carry out the instructions provided by this book to make these edgings.  I would agree that a novice knitter may be able to find a number of patterns that they will be able to use easily, but in my opinion, many of these patterns may be more comfortable for an intermediate knitter.  However, a novice knitter might be inspired to try their hand at cabling and intarsia just by viewing all the lovely possibilities.  Also, because the book is a stitch dictionary, a knitter will need to play around with a bit of math and gauge so that the patterns can be adapted into whatever projects they will be utilized for.

I love looking at the examples of ribbing, fringes, cording, flora, loops, bobbles, cables, ruffles, flaps, intarsia, lace, and shapes.  I am floored by the ideas that the author has come up with.  The book is a source of inspiration for making unique creations, and that's what excites me.  This is a book that I am glad to have as part of my reference library.