It may have been the old fashioned cover with all those happy children, or the subtitle, but the fact is, I grabbed a copy of the Penderwicks from the library even though it’s a 2005 copyright: our read-aloud selections are almost never beyond 1950! It took me a while, however, and some research online, before I inserted the CD into the van’s stereo, and not without some trepidation. Needless to say my personal experience with contemporary children’s materials has been… bumpy at best. But this one promised to be different. By the second chapter, we were hooked. Four sisters and a dog? My girls loved that. A professor dad? With lots of Latin phrases? I loved that. I found pro life themes all over, in references to their loving, deceased mother and other positive references to large families. The story revolves around the family's summer spell in a rented cottage located in a wealthy estate with breathtaking, manicured gardens. The sisters' personalities emerge real and believable: in our conversations about the book we discussed things such as Skye's decision to learn Algebra over the summer, or our desire to read Jane's Sabrina Star stories. I am delighted to recommend The Penderwicks for family reading. Jane Birdsall’s writing will undoubtedly improve your young readers’, or listeners’ as in our case, writing. It’s like if someone, while captivating them with a simple yet profound story of family and friendship, is able to exemplify to them all of the good writing skills we’ve been trying to instill in them for years! We can't wait for the sequel, coming out next month. And I just love the fact that the author, 42, had never written anything until this. Her writing, to us, had a crystalline quality. And a National Book Award to boot! The CD audio version was read carefully and with very well-done character voices.

This is a fascinating and very readable history of Ancient Egypt - suitable for family reading or independent reading from mid-grade school and up. The first chapter describes the rediscovery of Ancient Egypt in the late 18th and early 19th century. This is a particularly fascinating account because it describes the amazement of the first Europeans (at the time of Napoleon) to view the great monoliths. The author briefly relates the history of the deciphering of Egyptian Hieroglyphics which, of course, have provided the text of the history of Egypt which comprises the rest of this book. We found the tale engaging and fascinating.

The only disappointment we had was that there is no mention of the Bible, of Moses, or of the Hebrews enslavement in Egypt. This may be simply because this is a secular text, but it must be partly because the details of how (and when) exactly the Hebrews fit into Ancient Egyptian history is not precisely known.

This is a meditative book, divided into a six week program of daily readings and meditation ideas, based on the Passion of Christ. Ideally, and Dubruiel suggests this, this book would fit in perfectly with a Lenten reading plan. However, the book can really be started any time. In addition to individual use, the book is well suited for a small group, as it contains discussion questions at the end of each section. These questions could be used individually, to help you get as much out of the reading and meditation as possible, or in a group.

As a busy mother, I really like books that I can read a little bit at one sitting and then put it down. I tend to get snatches of time, rather than long bits, and so the length of these chapters and the amount of material covered was just right for me.

If you are looking for a book to help you meditate on the cross, if you need something to help you work on some particular suffering you are dealing with, or if you just simply want to enter into the passion more deeply with Christ, than I think this would be an excellent book for you.

The book covers:

• God's unique purpose and mission for you.
• How to overcome the evil that you have suffered at the hands of others.
• To find God's presence in difficult times.
• The keys to unleashing the power of the cross in your life.

Click here to download a free study guide on the publisher's website.

Three Other Reasons to See Prince of Egypt: racially truthful, stealthily pro-life, realistic portrayal of sin
I admit, our family went to see The Prince of Egypt because of William Donahoe's recommendation. The Catholic League plugged the newly-released animated picture on the story of Moses in its newsletter as well as in an Internet message. So we joined my family at Christmas in a rare trip to the theater, along with my dad (who was going to see it because Chuck Colson had recommended it).

When we emerged from the theater, all of us agreed that there was more reason to like this film than the facts that a.) it was completely clean b.) and it was not by Disney.

I had been told of the technical perfection of the animation and special effects. This is true - the film is stylistically executed by DreamWorks with the perfection of any Disney movie. The parting of the Red Sea is spectacular. It has its share of chases, escapes, and comic moments, with strong female characters and funny animals. The story is simple to follow - so clear that my toddler son burst into tears when baby Moses had to leave his mommy to be adopted by a strange lady. I had expected all these things.

But I wasn't expecting any more than an exercise in clean filming of a token Biblical story to please the Christian market. Prince was more than that. Here's three reasons to go see the film that have nothing to do with the political battle over children's movies.

First, Prince is racially truthful. This is the first Biblical movie I have seen in which none of the characters - none - were Caucasian. Personally I am tired of depictions of our Biblical fathers and mothers that insist on giving them fair skin and sometimes blue eyes. Both the Hebrews and the Egyptians in Prince have the bone structure and skin color of their races, which I found refreshingly (not politically) correct. Aren't the Jews and Africans sometimes right when they accuse American Christians of making the Gospel into "a white man's story?" Certainly these are the images we usually give our children. Prince was a definite step in the right direction.

The filmmaker's choice to tap the heritage of the black community in using a music style inspired by Gospel spirituals was wise and effective. For its audience of children, it provided a further link between the Biblical characters and the African heritage. The Hebrew songs - particularly the children's hymn which heralds the day of Israel's freedom - were wonderful touches. My personal favorite was "Through Heaven's Eyes," the song of Jethro, Moses' future father-in-law, done in Arabian style.

Second, there was the undercurrent of a pro-life message. The catalyst of Moses' transformation from a selfish prince of Egypt who never looks twice at his servants to the deliverer of Israel is when he discovers that his "father," the Pharaoh, commanded the slaughter of the infant Hebrew boys. His father justifies this as population control: "the Hebrews were too numerous." Moses, who can't imagine being related to slaves, begins to feel compassion first for these countless baby victims, whom he narrowly escaped joining. A sense of the enormity of the crime is overwhelming in different parts of the film. While not explicit, a pro-life message comes through. The last line of the film "Deliver us!" became for me a personal prayer for an end to our nation's holocaust.

Third, the movie shows clearly the effects of the most deadly of sins - pride. This film underscores the fact that the bulk of the plagues upon Egypt were the result of one man's selfishness and unwillingness to change - the Pharaoh Rameses. What makes this moral tale so believable is that the film explores the character of the hard-hearted Pharaoh in his boyhood friendship with Moses. "Don't be the weak link in the chain," Rameses' father tells him, unfairly punishing him for things he didn't do. The fact that Moses truly loves his foster brother and has compassion for his internal struggle even as the two face off as adults raises the caliber of the storyline. Moses begs Pharaoh to yield for the sake of the Egyptians suffering from the plagues, but Rameses, tormented by the sores and pests of the plagues himself, remains bitter and unyielding. He has lost the ability to feel compassion for anyone else. When he announces that the slaughter of Hebrew children will begin again, he brings down the plague of the death of the first-born upon himself. Faced with unwittingly causing the death of his young son, he temporarily agrees to let the Hebrews go. The stark portrayal of the effects of mortal sin has probably never been rendered to this depth in cartoon form before.

Having seen the movie, I would nominate it for an Academy Award. And along with William Donahoe and other Christian leaders, I can now say that I certainly hope that the movie industry makes more movies like Prince of Egypt (how about a sequel?). If you go to see Prince of Egypt, you'll "send a message to Hollywood," but you and your family will enjoy yourself as well.