Kaden was able to bring a new biography series, called Kingdom Files from Barbour Publishing on our last camping trip. The two we received to review was, Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus?.
Kaden is a huge fan of non-fiction and reading the Bible, so this was absolutely perfect for him.
This biography series written by Matt Koceich, is for kiddos 8-12. They are sure to capture the hearts of their readers and take them deep into the story behind several key Bible figures. You will find other titles in the series like:
Who Is Jesus?
Who Was Daniel?
Who Was David?
Who Was Esther?
Each of the books are divided into three sections. The Fact File is the first section and is where we view the basic facts and a photo of the person in the
biography. We learn who the person is, their occupation and where and when they
lived. You also get a mini timeline and brief Stat outline.
Next, is the Action Files.... the
meat of each of the books is here, where you get the Bible story that is associated with the person your reading about. The illustrations are also fun and simple, they added a lot to the story. Another extra that we enjoyed reading and thinking about was the Clues you will find throughout this section. These clues truly helped you think about a topic
or an event you just read about. Kaden and I had some pretty amazing conversations while reading these. I also found that these little gems brought the readers attention back to the Bible if they were off in imagination land while reading the story.
The last section in the book is the Power
File. Basically, these are the short lessons to be used during or after reading each of the chapters in the story.
We decided to read one after each chapter, even if we did a few a day. It reiterates what the character learned and how the child
can apply these golden morsels to their own life experiences. Kaden was able to relate and recognize a few times that God must have been nudging him in the past while we were working through this section. :) The Power-Up always ended with a really great memory verse from the Bible.
Next, is the Action Files.... the
meat of each of the books is here, where you get the Bible story that is associated with the person your reading about. The illustrations are also fun and simple, they added a lot to the story. Another extra that we enjoyed reading and thinking about was the Clues you will find throughout this section. These clues truly helped you think about a topic
or an event you just read about. Kaden and I had some pretty amazing conversations while reading these. I also found that these little gems brought the readers attention back to the Bible if they were off in imagination land while reading the story. 
So, what did we think? We truly enjoyed these books and I think they are spot on for that age group. These are easy readers and would make excellent gifts for Christmas, Easter baskets and birthdays. Kaden and I both agree that we found it refreshing that the stories stuck true to the Bible. I agree with Kaden that usually the story of Jonah is about him running from God and then he found himself in the belly of a whale. But, there is so much more to the story. Kaden related to Jonah, he said he would have probably ran away from God too. We discussed this in depth..... and he said he would be worried about being a good enough prophet. He agreed that he thought the people of Nineveh probably wouldn't listen to Jonah. Let me just say that by the end of the book Kaden felt differently and even thought of ways he too could be like Jonah. Out of the two books we received, this one was our favorite. But, I will say that before we read Who was Mary, Mother of Jesus? I asked Kaden who was she? He simply replied the mother of Jesus. After reading her story, we had a deeper understanding of who she was. She was the mother of all mothers, faithful, strong, protective and humble. We walked away with a different picture of Mary in our mind and a lesson on letting go of worry and fear.
Kaden and I look forward to adding to our collection soon, make sure you Connect with Barbour Publishing on Social Media.
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