the good and the beautiful library review #1

​Here is our first in a series of reviews on books from The Good and the Beautiful Library! Some of the books in their library are reprints of classic literature (with an emphasis on the golden age of children’s chapter books from the 1920’s-1960’s), while others are contemporary works by writers who create wholesome and appealing characters and stories. We have been truly blessed by our literary adventures with TGATB! (Opinions of Essie are marked with “S”, while Mom is “K”). 

Treehouse Town, Books I & II by Jenni Phillips
Treehouse Town Parts of Speech Game
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S- I like the book because there are a few really good mysteries, especially the light in the woods. The characters were cute, and they loved to explore new treehouses. The characters were kind, got along well, and never fought with each other. I would like it if the books were even longer, that way I could read so much more about the characters. I like to re-read the books and pretend to make adventures with the friends. The artwork was pretty.

The Treehouse Town game was fun. I got better at nouns and verbs and adjectives.

K- Treehouse Town is filled with mysteries, friendship, and a celebration of creativity in the most Christian sense—using one’s God-given gifts to “pay it forward”. The illustrations are simply stunning. I have watched my daughter read and re-read these books many times. It was so nice to read a story which featured characters who were all homeschooled. The game was a perfect introduction to parts of speech and certainly made these concepts stick!

My only recommendations for improvement would be that I think TGATB should consider expanding the Treehouse Town universe with additional volumes and also making paper dolls available for imaginative play (complete with paper treehouses, of course ;-). We didn't want the adventures to end with Book II! Here's hoping for future volumes of Treehouse Town stories...

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Luke & Lily of the Lighthouse, Books I & II by Maggie Felsch
Luke & Lily Compound Words Game

S- I enjoyed how they made adventures. Lily had to be patient with her pumpkins. She is good at sharing, and she got happy when she shared. Luke treats his sister kindly when something bad happens. He helped his sister when he went on an adventure. The artwork was cute.

The Lighthouse game was nice. I learned how to spell some words.

K- It was so nice to see stories with siblings having such a positive relationship with one another and to see children navigating challenges in an admirable way. The gentle little world of the lighthouse was captured well in the charming simplicity of the illustrations.

The Lighthouse memory game was fun; my daughter was comfortably reading the level 2 TGATB books by the time we got Luke & Lily, but it was still much enjoyed. While she could read the compound words, piecing them together with their matching card strengthened existing spelling and phonics skills.

​How did we incorporate the sets of books and games into our day?
My daughter would read a chapter or two out loud to me at a time, and then we would play a few rounds of the corresponding game. At that pace, it took us a few weeks to get through both books, and so the skills presented in the games got plenty of reinforcement on each reading day. (We generally did this during a down time in the afternoon).