Review: Barbour Publishing

Barbour Publishing sent us two books from the Kingdom File Series: Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? Both books will prove a wonderful inclusion in our home library -- both for homeschooling and simple enjoyment reading.

The Kingdom File Series presents a variety of books which explore the life of a Bible character. Jesus, Daniel, David, Esther, Jonah, and Mary all have titles of their own so far in the series.

This review focused on two of those famous people from history pictured below:

Each case your student investigates focuses on one important Bible character and the book is divided into three main sections: 

• Fact File: This short section contains key information about the specific Bible character that God called to do big things for his kingdom. 
• Action File: The largest section in the book, this lays out Bible events which show your character in action. 
• Power File: This is where you'll find valuable information and memory verses to help you see how God is working in your life too. 

I had my two boys: ages nine and ten read each of these two books. They read it completely on their own and actually finished it in ONE day. They really devoured it and didn't complain about it much at all! After watching them breeze through it, I decided to allow my seven-year-old daughter to give it a try. She is currently part-way through the back. She's moving considerably slower, but seems to be enjoying it as much as the boys did.

Here's a picture of my younger son reading the book while eating his breakfast:

My boys both seemed to enjoy the book. However, they both made a specific statement that they did not like the Power File part of the book. This made sense to me. The Fact File is short and sweet. No one could not like it. The Action File was exciting as it was the "main section" of the book that told the story. The Power File is more like a devotional section at the end of the book and was a bit boring to them, understandably. If I use this again, I'd have them sprinkle those (like one a day) and not sit and read them in one fell swoop. 

I also read the majority of this book and found it very easy and entertaining as well as, of course, educational. This is a book you can read by yourself, with your child, or as we did, allow your children to read it on their own. While we only read Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? by Barbour Publishing with the Kingdom File Series, I have no doubt that their other titles would be just as good as these are. 

A strong recommendation from our family. You will love having these in your home library. If you want more information, you can visit Barbour Publishing on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. We need more quality materials in our homes and this is one that won't let you down!