Moses. The book is different, however, because a couple of main characters are experiencing all of the events
you would normally find in Genesis
through Exodus in the Bible.
Set in medieval times, the main character, Leinad, must wholeheartedly
serve his King while under great opposition from the world around him. You
watch him struggle to understand why
he, a humble farmer, is being called by
the King to do such serious and courageous work. You see him escape from
the total destruction of a people after
warning them that destruction is coming. You see him end up in slavery after
believing the King had better plans for
him. You see him gain the respect of the
leader and be pulled out of slavery. You
see him battle with feelings of wanting
to help free the other slaves.
So many stories of the Bible are covered in allegorical fashion. The most
exciting part for me was when my children would say, “Hey, that reminds me
of Noah building the boat while everyone laughed at him.” Or, “Wait a minute. That sounds like Joseph gaining
respect and not being a slave anymore.”
Or even, “Mom, Moses didn’t think he
was the right person for the job, either!”
I had to only mention once to my eight-and eleven-year-old children that they
should listen for things that remind
them of Bible stories. They took over
making the connections!
The second book, Kingdom’s Hope,
takes you on a journey from Moses
to Malachi; and the third book,
Kingdom’s Edge, takes you from Jesus to the
Tribulation. The fourth in the series,
Kingdom’s Call, takes you from Jesus’
crucifixion to Paul’s conversion, while
the fifth book, Kingdom’s Quest, focuses on Paul’s journeys. And the final
book, Kingdom’s Reign, goes from the
second coming of Christ to the end of
the age.
Each sequel is just as exciting and
riveting as the one before it! Each book
has approximately 3 1/2 hours of listening time on three CDs. The quality of
the audio is outstanding, with two very
talented narrators taking on the parts
of all the characters. There is even an
original score of music that adds much
to the drama of the narration.
I hesitate to give an appropriate age-level for listening. If your children are
old enough to hear the “good, bad,
and ugly” from the Bible, they are old
enough for these books. Obviously, the
Bible contains some graphic scenes of
war, sickness, and death, as do these
stories. No matter what age you feel
is appropriate for younger children to
hear them, I believe teens and adults
will find them just as interesting. Think
along the lines of The Chronicles of Nar-nia and you will find these books to
reach a similar audience.
One important fact to note: the
books do not contain any magic, wizardry, fantasy, or mysticism. Some
people may find them offensive simply
because they take stories from the Bible
and change them to fit the characters
of the books. I, however, took the attitude of listening simply for enjoyment
and asking my children to compare the
characters from the book to the great
characters of the Bible.
Through our discussions, we were
able to talk about how the simple characters in the book were able to trust
God and work mightily for Him. I feel
like listening to the CDs helped my
children make connections. In other
words, they were able to see that Bible
characters aren’t the only ones who are
able to trust God and follow Him. My
children very clearly saw that others
can manifest those qualities too. I obviously don’t recommend these books as
a substitute for the Bible, but I highly
recommend them for enjoyment!
—Product review by Cindy West
UltraKey 6: The Ultimate
Keyboarding Tutor for
Bytes of Learning
1.800.465.6428
www.bytesoflearning.com
Teaching my kids to type properly has
been a goal of mine since we decided
to homeschool especially since my
background is in business education.
It seems like all the programs I have
looked at in the past were either geared
towards very young kids or they were
geared towards older students. I have
been searching for one product that I
could use with both of my students
even though I have one in third grade
and one in eighth grade. I really wanted a program that they both could use
but it would teach them at their own
level and pace. This is exactly what we
found when we received a subscription
for multiple family members to UltraKey 6: The Ultimate Keyboarding Tutor
for Macintosh and Windows to review.
UltraKey begins each student with
an introduction to the program with a
video that explains what they will learn.
This program is recommended for ages
eight and up, but it does say that with
practice even students as young as six
can use the program. After viewing
the introduction video, students are
given a typing assessment test that is
used to set their individualized ability.
The individual goal of each student is
designed to increase their typing speed
also known as words per minute (wpm)
and accuracy. Once the assessment is
completed and the goals are set, the student can begin working in the Lessons
®
