I think this was my son's favorite book this past year.  It is a simple version of Pilgrim's Progress that remains in the original language.It was way above my son's reading level, but he did not have a hard time following the story because of the vivid pictures.  A friend of mine would not read the book because some of the pictures are pretty dark; keep that in mind if that is a concern to you.  I thought is was worth it for the spiritual understanding and discussions that my 6 year old and I had at the start of his first grade year.  We will revisit this book and move on to other versions. 

Click on the book and it will take you to Rainbow Resources, my favorite homeschool store where you can get a copy.  Let me know if you like it.                                                                      

Have you read Velvet Elvis?  I have been skimming it as I was looking for a quote for a review that I am writing about the Nooma videos, which I truely enjoy and love the purpose for which they were written and the conversation that it born from watching them.  Velvet Elvis is Bell's writings in the same form as the writting for his videos and as all "post-modern" type books they force me to go outside my very comfortable cultural Christian box that I am sitting inside with my secure view of all things Christian including who God is.  The biggest thing that I am learning is that God is bigger then my conception of Him.  And that I want to be about Him and about loving others because I love Him. 

I am fully persuaded that God is who He says He is and thet the Bible is God's Word for us so that we can know Him.  It gets confusing sometimes when you read Rob Bell, Brian Mclaren, or something on The Ooze and then you go to the ultr-conservatives like Vision Forum or NGJ and then who is correct and how to we do this Christian life together with different views but a giant love for the same God?  I have a lot more wrestling to do and praying and trusting that God will continue to guide me to know Him better and deeper. It is a lot.

I got this from one of the blogs I read on my bloglines list.

1. One book that changed your life -The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
2. One book that you’ve read more than once - Dandelion Cottage (This is from my mother's childhood collection. I am not sure how many times I read it, but I will make sure my daughter has the opportunity.)
3. One book you’d want on a desert island - Bible
4. One book that made you laugh - Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller (first section of chapter 11) If you know me, I probably read it to you and laughed out loud while doing so.

Letters from A Nut cracks me up too, I think I got it from Scholastics while teaching. 
5. One book that made you cry - The Surrendered Wife (wait, maybe that one made me laugh) Just kidding, of course.  I remember crying while reading  A Child Called It and Dorrie, the Girl Nobody Loved
6. One book that you wish had been written - How to get anything done in One Day (I was going to say one hour; but that would be pushing it a little, don't you think?)
7. One book you wish had never been written -  
8. One book you’re currently reading - No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read - The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian McLaren. (I finished A New Kind of Christian and am frankly still working that one out and chewing on it, I do want to read all three though)

A couple weeks ago I looked at all my books that I started and had not finished and there were 13.  I really enjoy reading and sometimes do not make the time for it! Instead, I sometimes sit in front of the TV and watch something I don't really want to watch! How crazy is that?  So I decided to take a book to the living room and sit with my husband and read during that time. If there is a show I want to watch, I can read during commercials.  I have finished 4 of those books in the past three weeks. If I keep at it, I may make a decent dent in the books I have been collecting, sound familiar?

The Pressure's Off by Larry Crabb

"Larry, there's a new way to live.  You've been alive with my divine life for five decades.  For most of those years, you've been living a cheapened version of the old covenant; you've been living the Old Way of following the basic principles of the world to make life this life work better.  You've been decorating the dark space you've chosen to inhabit and trying to pretend it's home.  My Spirit is now speaking to you through your disillusionment with this life-your brother's death, your cancer, your mother's Alzheimer's, the relationships that have turned sour, family heartaches, so little reality in your interior world.  He's telling you, on my behalf, that real joy in this present age never depends on the better life of blessings and that it's both foolish and futile to value your satisfaction above knowing me.  Realize this: Pursue the latter and you'll find the former."

pages 68-69

I recommend this book.  I have found this and several other books by Larry Crabb to be eye openers in my walk with the Lord.