Grace's Bookshelf for Age 8

In honor of Grace's eighth birthday today, I want to share with you some of her favorite books. Honestly, the favorites have not changed a whole lot this year, so the list has several repeats. We do spend a lot of time in chapter books.

1. The Jesus Calling Bible Storybook by Sarah Young

2. The Whatever After Series by Sarah Mlynowski
Abby & her brother find themselves in the middle of fairy tales and have to find their way out without completely ruining the story.

3. National Geographic Kids' Just Joking
This is the first in a series of kid-friendly joke books. We have 1 & 2.

4.The Princess in Black Series by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale

5.Better Homes & Gardens' New Junior Cookbook
An ideal fit for young cooks and bakers.

6. Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

7. The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts

8. Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish

9. The Junie B Jones Series by Barbara Park

10. The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels by Ann M. Martin.
A childhood favorite of mine revisited with a fresh graphic novel approach.

Looking for more?

• Grace's Bookshelf for 7 Year Olds
• Grace's Bookshelf for 6 Year Olds
• The Book with No Pictures
• Grace's Bookshelf for 4-5 Year Olds
• Grace's Bookshelf for 3-4 Year Olds
• Iggy Peck
• Grace's Bookshelf for 2-3 Year Olds 
• Grace's Bookshelf for 1-2 Year Olds

Hope

My word for the new year is Hope. Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.. However, much like love, I have learned in my life that hope is more than a feeling. Instead, it is a decision. It is faith. It is believing in a greater plan and a greater purpose. Jesus came to the world to offer hope. Without it, the world is a dark place indeed.

***

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint."
-- Isaiah 40:31

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."
-- Romans 5:13

" Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is."
-- Jeremiah 17:7

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."
-- Desmond Tutu

"Pain is real. But so is hope"
-- Unknown

"Hope is a waking dream."
-- Aristotle

Book Releases: January 2017

Releasing this month:

• Bohjalian, Chris - The Sleepwalker. (1/10)
• Corry, Jane - My Husband's Wife. (1/31)
• Eriksson, Caroline - The Missing. (1/1)
• Gardner, Lisa - Right Behind You (Quincy & Rainie, #7). (1/31)
• Gardner, Lisa - The 4th Man (Quincy & Rainie, #6.5). (1/3)
• Harper, Jane - The Dry. (1/10)
• Hopkins, Ellen - The You I've Never Known. (1/24)
• Hurwitz, Gregg - The Nowhere Man (Evan Smoak, #2). (1/17)
• Jackson, Tiffany D - Allegedly. (1/24)
• Lescroart, John - Fatal. (1/24)
• McVeigh, Jennifer - Leopard at the Door. (1/3)
• Paige, Danielle - Dark Side of the Rainbow (Dorothy Must Die, #0.8). (1/31)
• Patterson, James - Hidden (Mitchum, #1). (1/3)
• Patterson, James - Private Delhi (Private, #13). (1/12)
• Perry, Thomas - The Old Man. (1/3)
• Preston, Douglas - The Lost City of the Monkey God. (1/3)
• Swanson, Peter - Her Every Fear. (1/10)
• Taylor, Brad - Ring of Fire (Pike Logan, #11). (1/10)
• Woods, Stuart - Below the Belt (Stone Barrington, #40). (1/3)

2017