Reviewed by Cheryl E. Rodriguez for Readers' Favorite

You will find yourself giggling through some of life's most precarious moments in Mary Huckstep’s, Mary, Mary Quite: On Raising Children (and other mind altering substances). This inspirational book is beyond cute. It is packed full of silly descriptions, which accurately, yet comically describe real life situations and identities, and laugh out loud anecdotes. Laughter is truly good medicine for the soul, so do yourself a favor and take a big dose of joy and hilarity with Mary, Mary Quite: On Raising Children (and other mind altering substances). It is a light-hearted, fun-loving look at life’s ups and downs, not to mention it is amusingly insightful.

Mary Huckstep tackles many of life’s touchy subjects, such as parenting, family living, finding yourself, and the difference between girls and boys. She portrays these subjects with truth, and a bit of twisted humor. Simply written, Huckstep delivers her stories with style and finesse. The underlying theme woven through her text is to laugh at life’s mishaps and enjoy being joyful. Every chapter is filled with an element of comedy and wit, causing the reader to laugh out loud. Furthermore, each chapter has a comic illustration that captures the essence of the author’s words. As a mom, wife and grandmother, I found myself relating to every chapter. Mary, Mary Quite: On Raising Children is full of humor, ageless wisdom, but wisdom that only comes from life experience. Can’t wait to read what she writes next.

Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite

Is it even possible to be a Christian artist and thrive? In “Gently Awakened,” by Sara Joseph, you’ll come to understand that it is impossible not to. Sara shows how the scriptures not only bring us to salvation, but direct us toward the meaning in our lives. Her illustration, taken from the book of Jeremiah, concerning the “good figs” sets the stage for creating an understanding of our need to bear the fruit that we were created to bear. She shows how Satan often tries to use the same tricks he has always used in order to derail our efforts, because by bearing our fruit we become more like our creator. Sara gives practical applications of the scriptures to help you commit to using your art in order to bear witness of Christ rather than hiding it under a bushel or abandoning it altogether. Through surrendering to your purpose in Christ, she shows how the miracles which seem to be distant and ancient stories can become a reality and the abundance which comes from God’s bounty is ours. Her book is illustrated with her own works of art throughout as a testimony to her commitment to the calling which God has placed upon her.

Sara Joseph touched a deep spot within me through “Gently Awakened.” Although I have already taken steps toward the transformation to a full time writer and novelist, there have been times that I have wondered if I am truly following the path which 40 years of faith has set before me. I have turned away from that path time and time again as I have pursued “making a living.” Sara very gently allowed me to see that the seasons of my art are moving forward, just like the seasons of the fig tree from planting, cultivating, blossoming and bearing fruit come through time as the tree is tended. Honest, inspiring and practical; “Gently Awakened” is essential reading for artists who are seeking God’s guidance for their vocation.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Watercolour Toolbox: Essentials for Painting Success by Karen Richardson is a useful guide to all painters and those who are learning to paint. The book guides you step-by-step with useful strategies and demonstrations. It speaks about problems that painters face while painting and, apart from being helpful to novices, the book is also helpful to experienced painters. The book guides you in a sequential manner and speaks about everything that a painter would love to know to improve their techniques and skills. The book covers extensively the right usage of colors, brushes, and good textures for paintings.

The book has eight demonstrations by the author which is really educational and useful. It gives useful tips to improve your techniques and widen one's perspective on how to handle the complexities of art. The examples will tell you how to avoid or fix the challenges presented while using watercolors. The tips to keep in mind before you start with the painting are very helpful. It helps you in planning your picture and how to go about it methodically. The book also tells readers about the classic design guidelines and traditional painting methods which will help them improve their craft.

I will recommend this book to all artists and beginners. The most common painting challenges faced by painters and the simple solutions offered by the author will help one enjoy painting. This 65-page tutorial is very helpful when it comes to improving your style.

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

Building Better Humans by David and Lisa Davoust is the book I wish I’d had over 30 years ago when we first found out we were going to be parents. What David and Lisa Davoust have written about raising children, who will become tomorrow’s happy, productive adults, far outweighs anything I learned from Dr. Benjamin Spock way back then. Despite its somewhat robotic sounding title, Building Better Humans is written with the love, compassion and wisdom that come with years of determining what works and what doesn’t in the challenging task of being the best parent you can be. David and Lisa Davoust establish one key principle right at the beginning of Building Better Humans: “Parents’ primary role is to prepare our kids for life without us.” Such an obvious statement, but how many parents think of that when a child acts up, is disobedient, or won’t pull their weight for the betterment of the family and themselves? Most parents are too concerned that disciplining the child will make him/her unhappy and fail to follow through on what they need to do: prepare the child for future conflicts.

In an easy to read style, with colourful illustrations and anecdotes that make you smile, David and Lisa Davoust explore and explain key areas of critical importance to raising not just happy children, but confident adults: communication, punishment and discipline, and social skills. They provide guidelines for talking to your children about dating, sex and handling money. They even address the positive and negative sides of our current technology-obsessed culture. And at the end of each chapter, they sum up their ideas in quick reference point form. As you turn the pages of Building Better Humans, you realize that so much of what David and Lisa Davoust have written is just plain common sense that we rarely take time to think through and which no schools ever teach, but should. Thank heavens David and Lisa wrote this book. Don’t raise your children without it!