YWAM - C.S. Lewis Book Review

YWAM Publishing has long been a favorite in our house for finding good books when it comes to people in history.  We own quite a few!  But their equally as popular Christian Heroes series is new to us.  When the opportunity came up to review Christian Heroes- Then and Now, C.S. Lewis, Master Story Teller, by Janet and Geoff Benge, I knew it would be a good fit for us.  After all, three of my kids are C.S. Lewis crazy people.  In a nice way, of course!  We were also given the chance to use the C.S. Lewis Digital Unit Study Guide as part of this review.

C. S. Lewis. You know him, right?  Literature teacher.  Author of over 30 books.  Christian writer who believed that the story of Jesus Christ was the "truest of all stories."  

This 180 page paperback book tells his story.  Written for kids ages 10 and up and containing 17 chapters, it is a fairly easy read, but filled with fun facts and exciting stories.

How have we used this book?

For sheer pleasure reading, of course!  My 14 year old son eagerly agreed to be the first to read it. More like ran off with it before anyone else could claim it!  Because we added it to his daily Bible time, he was assigned to read one chapter a day.  Getting him to agree to that schedule was difficult, and I think in the end he cheated and finished it with several chapters in one sitting.  Every day following his reading he would join me in the school area to tell me about what he read.  Not because I asked him to, but because he couldn't wait to share what he had learned.

Things like-

• C.S. Lewis spent his early childhood in Ireland.
• He met his wife through letter writing, and eventually married her to keep her from being deported, though they eventually fell in love.
• Despite what you have heard, he had a precarious friendship with JRR Tolkien.  

It was fun to see him get so excited about what he read!  One of the things that we liked the most is that one of the stories he had heard about C.S. Lewis was also in this book, but with much more detail.  THAT I am not giving away so you will have to read it for yourself!  He has since passed the book on to his 18 year old sister and she is now reading it, with our 22 year old next in line.  

As far as the Digital Unit Study goes, because we were using this as an additional Bible assignment, we did the study loosely, much of it orally together.  Each chapter has 6 questions for review.  The first question is vocabulary related, then a fact question about the text read, 2 comprehension questions, and finally two open ended questions for opinions.  The first three questions are geared for younger students, while the next three require a little higher understanding. In hindsight, especially for an older child, I will have them do any other study guides on their own in a notebook, to be graded.

Also included in the study guides are applicable Bible verses, essay questions, creative writing assignments, hands on project ideas, and audio/visual projects, as well as art ideas. If you want to explore even deeper, there are community links, social studies notes, and even reproducibles!  They are so complete that they could easily be incorporated into unit studies. 

  

With 35 additional Christian Heroes books, many with study guide available, I am confident you will be able to find one that fits your school course work, or just tickles your fancy!  We have already made a list of the ones we want to read next, with Nate Saint in the lead.  Who would you choose?

Our Review Crew reviewed many other titles, including some from the Heroes of History series, so make sure you pop over and take a look!