Homeschool Review: Read for the Heart

Today I'm writing my LAST post for the 2010-2011 TOS Crew. I love that I'm ending the year on such a high note, I think for me personally, regardless of whether or not I homeschooled, as a book-loving Mommy, this has to be one of my favorite products I've gotten to review all year. 

I was so excited to get to review Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson. I've read several books written by Sarah's parents (Clay and Sally Clarkson) and I've loved every single one! So I was anxious to read a book written by their daughter.

Read for the Heart is, at it's heart, a book of books. The "meat" of the book is reviews and recommendations of hundreds of books sorted by topic. But this book is so much more. Sarah writes, much like her mother, in a personal, friendly style that makes you feel as if you're sitting down to tea chatting with her about her favorite books. She includes numerous memories and personal anecdotes on why a specific book or certain genre is so meaningful to her.

This book is written from a distinctly Christian worldview. Books were chosen with Christian beliefs in mind, and it is noted if a book includes things that might be objectionable to some Christians (taking the Lord's name in vain, for example).  At the beginning of each chapter (category), Sarah includes information on why this category is important to include in your family/child's reading, and also the things she took into consideration in deciding what to include.

Sarah makes no claim to have provided an exhaustive, all-inclusive list of great books. Most of these are books that she and her siblings have read and loved.

This is a book that I will turn to over and over again as my children grow. I can turn to it for ideas to suggest to the grandparents for birthday and Christmas (and while I thought we had all the picture books we could possibly need, there are SO MANY great sounding ones in this book, I know I'll be adding several of them to Little Bit's wish list come Christmas time). As we study various time periods in history, this will be a great resource since the history chapter is categorized by time period so I can quickly turn to the time period we're studying and find appropriate books (each book review includes recommended age range to further simplify the process). 

I was sent this book by Apologia. In addition to Read for the Heart, which is available for $17.00, they provide many other great Christian homeschool resources from books for parents to Science and other Curriculum. 


Visit this TOS Crew blog post to read more reviews on this product.

Disclaimer: I received the above mentioned product in exchange for writing an honest review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.