Sunday, July 20, 2014

Get to Know King David {a BookLook review}

Not too long ago, I reviewed another book in the Get to Know series, that one on the Apostle Paul.  I was so impressed that I immediately requested this title, Get to Know King David by Nancy I. Sanders.

This title is every bit as wonderful as the first one was.

From the publisher:
A shepherd and a king, David lived an adventurous life. He protected his family’s sheep from lions and bears. He fought a giant with just a sling and stone. He even spent years hiding from men who were trying to kill him. And eventually, David became a great king. But David was also a man of God. Learn more about this hero from the Bible and his exciting place in history. Discover what it was like to grow up in ancient Israel and then be a king of God’s people. King David - part of the Get to Know series - will teach you everything you need to know about an imperfect young man whom God used to do great things!

My thoughts:

I love how the book is laid out.  Twelve chapters, each in the 6-10 page range, which is a great length for early readers.  The book has great features, like definitions for the trickier words.  My kids tend to roll their eyes a bit because they know many of the words, but with the font color (green) being fairly close to the regular black color, it is also pretty easy to just skip over the words you know.  Words like grief, destroy, and grave are the ones that caused the eye-rolling.  On the other hand, there are words like lamentations or showbread, where they definitely appreciate a bit of an explanation.

The illustrations are phenomenal.  There are photos of places today (Hebron, for instance), photos of items like a shofar, maps and more.

The text covers all of David's life. One thing I wondered was how it would handle Bathsheba.  Let me quote:
But King David had a lot of wives and he wanted more.  One day he saw a beautiful woman named Bathsheba.  He wanted her as a wife but she was married to Uriah the Hittite.  So King David had Uriah killed in battle.  Then he married Bathsheba.  They eventually had a son named Solomon.
That totally works for me for the younger kids.  This book isn't only speaking of David's triumphs and the great "hero" qualities.  It addresses that he screwed up, without getting into a lot of detail that little ones don't need to know at this time.

Great series.  I'm getting Mary next.  Watch for a review in another couple of weeks.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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