I could not decide which book to review today, so I decided to go for a "family" read aloud! Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends is a book that I picked up a couple of years ago at our state homeschool convention. I was able to attend a couple of seminars and hear the authors speak. The authors are two sisters and their brother, who wrote this book when they were 12,16, and 22. They are older now, but the message is the same. Typically, siblings today are not only NOT best friends, many times they can't stand the sight of one another. There are many reasons that I believe this is true, but truly, the important thing is that you don't allow that to happen in your family. On the back of the book, the Mally children state that the reason they wanted to write this book is because they are concerned as they "observe the way many siblings fight, argue, and miss out on the close relationship that God intends for them to have." I have found this to be very true as I observe the children that I teach at church. Sadly, these are kids from Christian families and sometimes they look at their siblings with an emotion in their eyes that I can only term as "hate" and they say cruel and cutting things to one another. Now, please don't hear me say that my kids never argue....believe me, we get our share of fights around here! However, I can say, with true gratitude to God that my kids most definitely do not hate each other. Their fights are violent, yet brief - like a firecracker that bursts and then blows away. I truly think that part of that is because we try very hard to implement the things we have learned in this book, and we try to be sure that there are no "unwanted strangers" in our lives. (You will have to read the book to find out about unwanted strangers.)
When I was growing up, my sister and I had our moments, as all siblings do, but we were friends. Our family was very close, we took regular family vacations and we hung out with other families that had kids around our ages. I have some awesome memories of those times (right, Cameron?) - we all remained close to our siblings and I think that it was because our parents made sure we spent time together. What I didn't know however, was that little offenses among siblings that are not confessed and forgiven take root and create bitterness that festers and grows. Things you don't think are all that important at the time, one day come out in a burst of "You NEVER get in trouble for anything!" or directed at the parent, "You ALWAYS take his side!" Always and never being the key words.
As my sister and I got older, for a while our friends took center stage in our lives, and though our relationship was still there and not bad, it was not as good as it should have been. This is what I don't want to have happen in the lives of my children. I want them to realize that good friends are great and they are certainly a blessing from God, but family relationships are the most important ones, until they find their spouses and create their own family unit.
This book is written for your children, yet the truths in it are very deep. Each chapter has a section written by each one of the Mally children, with three totally distinct writing styles and three unique ways of seeing each situation. It is hilariously funny and you and your kids will not be able to stop laughing at some of the situations they find themselves in. Papa Mally drew the pictures in a "comic" style and we have laughed until we cried over some of them. In each chapter, there is also a section from Scripture that really drives the point home.
This year, when I went to convention I found that they now have a companion coloring book to go along with the book, so I picked up two of those for my younger children and this summer we read through the book again and they could color along. The coloring book has larger versions of the drawings, the Bible stories, and memory verses. They loved it.
I want to wrap up by saying that as adults, my sister and I have realized the mistakes we made growing up and aside from my husband, she is my very best friend. I want my kids to be able to say that about their siblings when they are adults.
This book can be ordered from www.visionforum.com or you can check out the Mally's family website called Tomorrow's Forefathers. I'm not going to review it, but there is also a book available at both of those sites by Sarah Mally, the oldest daughter, called Before You Meet Prince Charming. It is a wonderful book written for girls ages 10-15 concerning waiting for God's best in the area of relationships. We have found that most "courtship" books are written by people who have done it wrong and they are making a change in their lives. That is great, but I found as Bryce got older and began to need a plan, many books had situations in them that were very mature for her knowledge and experience. This book is written for little girls who have not messed up, and who want to start out with God's best in mind, from the beginning. You can safely give it to your innocent 11 or 12 year old and it will not put images in their minds that they don't yet need. Bryce really enjoyed it and she is now reading it to Lyndsey, who is 10.
Enjoy and God Bless!
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