Christian Book Notes

Pickett, Cheryl. Creation Inspirations. Washington Township: Brighter Day Publishing, 2009. 154 pp. $12.99. Purchase at Amazon at a discounted price.

Introduction

Cheryl Pickett has published more than 150 newspaper articles in addition to writing for business and promotion.  she published her first book, Publishing Possibilities in January 2009.  Later the same year she published Creation Inspirations.  She feels that her life’s work is now to point children to the glory of God through His creation.  You can read more about Cheryl and check out her blog/book website at CreationInspirations.com.

Review

I must confess that I received this book a couple months ago and my wife immediately confiscated it and never returned it!  To be honest, I completely forgot the book until we went to our local zoo.  I asked my wife where the book was and she told me that it was in our homeschooling cabinet.  Sure enough, it was in the science section!  So, I took it back!

Cheryl includes twenty-five different animals in this edition of Creation Inspirations ranging from an aardvark to a wood duck.  Each “bio” on the animal consists of four scientific sections:

• What do they look like?
• Where do they live?
• What do they eat?
• More interesting stuff–trivial fun facts about each animal

and two inspiration sections:

• A new view–a devotional-like segment that brings the creature back to the Creator.
• A Bible verse–can be used for meditation or memorization.

You can see the kangaroo sample here.  Sprinkled throughout the book are fun little activities that reinforce the learning about the animals.

Recommendation

Not only is this book a must own for homeschooling families, it will help to bring God back into our local zoo’s.  (Apparently, people don’t like when you wear a “Darwin Lied –Genesis 1:1″ t-shirt to the zoo.  You should see the looks I get!)  Now that it is winter, I cannot wait to get back to the zoo and use this book with my children to learn about God and the animals without trying to sound as though you are skirting the issues and driving a square peg through a round hole.

Creation Inspirations can help any child share about the Creator when writing reports for school.  Be warned though, this book is not just for children.  Parents will get a kick out of many of the “more interesting stuff” information.  I look forward to more volumes in the series and once you check it out you will, too!