Thank you Bohlen Group for sending us this book to review!

Extravagant Graces is written by Jeanette Chaffee, a survivor from the TWA Flight 840 that had a bomb detonate in mid-air. She goes into detail with her story and how she believes that a guardian angel was among the passengers to spare the structure of the plane and many of the lives within it. Upon sharing her story over the years, she has chronicled twenty-two other stories that defy luck and show God's grace in the midst of chaos.

There are two plane crash stories and two stories of martyrdom. Many people are familiar with the five missionaries who were speared to death by the Ecuadorian Acua tribe in 1955. Not only does this book retell that story, but it goes into details about the lives of the widows and how the Auca tribes people heard the musical score from the 2005 movie, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, before it was even released!

In the 1960s Phyliss and Phil Masters went to Dutch New Guinea to reach out to the cannibal Yali tribe. After converting several tribesmen, including the shaman's son, there was some hostility. This cost Phil his life in 1968. Amazingly, Christianity still thrived within the tribe and when a plane crashed nearby later that year, the only survivor was a nine year old boy that the tribe took in as an attempt at peace.

Not all of the stories are heavy hearted, like the one of Shirley Dobson leaving her hometown of thirty years to move to Colorado Springs. Her husband, James Dobson, joked that she left drag marks from California all across the Rockies. By their faithfulness, their ministry has flourished and is still going strong today!

Thank you Yekra for granting us digital access to review this film!

Christopher Rush was born with muscular dystrophy and what he lacked physically, he made up for it intellectually.  In fact, he was able to converse with doctors when he was only nine months old.  His physicians told his parents that he would be  "no more than a dishrag, and dead by the age of two."   Chris lived life to his fullest and as a kid he became to poster child for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  He got to meet and inspire famous people including Ronald Reagan, Tony Orlando,  and Jerry Lewis.    

Not letting his disability getting the best of him, Chris graduated with honors in high school, college, and even when receiving his law degree.  He also became the first person with muscular dystrophy to become scuba certified.  Despite his doctor's grim prognosis, Chris lived to be thirty years old.

Wanting to give back to others he developed the Go Far program.  While not easy, it is doable if anyone puts their mind to it like Chris did.

Thank you James Samuel Gutshall for sending us a copy of your book to review!

Sweet Gentle Rain is a collection of poems and short stories that the author has written and gathered together since the mid 1980s.  In 2006, he received a trophy from the International Society of Poets for reciting his poem "Breakers" in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Inside this twenty-seven page book, you'll find poems about thankfulness, hardships, wonder, searching, time passing, grandkids, and annoyances. 

Some of the poems are light hearted while most of them are thought provoking.  Almost all of them are spiritual in nature and give thanks to God, our wonderful creator.  Each of the poems are accompanied by photographs or paintings.  All of them are fitting, but some of them are higher quality than others.   

As a mother of three, my favorite poem was "Ladybugs and Squirrels" talking about the curiosity and short attention span of his grandson, Nicholas.  My ten year old daughter enjoyed reading this book as well.  Sweet Gentle Rain can truly be enjoyed by young and old alike.  There is one alcoholic reference in the book and sadly it contains a grammatical error on page 19, "And drank way to[o] much wine".

 Sweet  Gentle Rain  is self published through Xlibris and is available online for over  $18.  I find that price too steep for my liking.  Fortunately,  the kindle version is more reasonably priced at $3.99.  

Thank you Romans 12LLC for sending us a sling backpack!

Romans 12:12 says "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer"

That's an awesome verse worth  memorizing and living by.  Romans 12 LLC aims to uplift and remind Christians to Hang On Pray Everyday® with useful products and attire.    On their website HopeinaBox.com you can purchase t-shirts, hats, backpacks, mugs, greeting cards, and blankets.  The prices are very reasonable too.  You can purchase a bookmark for 99 cents and red t-shirts are on sale for $4.99.  There are various styles of baseball caps  from $15 to $26.  

It's safe to say that they have something for everyone available on their website.  The sling backpack I was sent seems to be of good quality.  Apparently it's kid approved as my daughter has claimed the backpack as her own.  There are various H.O.P.E. in a box bundles available that range from $20 to $50.  The shipping rates are from USPS and go up if you need it sent priority or express.  

Thank you Bohlsen Group for sending us this book to review!

Many Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th and Easter on a Sunday in late March or Early April.  What if our traditions were proven to be wrong?  Patrick Cavanagh is Putting Tradition on Trial using astronomy and ancient Greek texts as evidence against an Easter Sunday resurrection.

I recently did (and highly recommend) a Bible Study called The Life of Jesus Christ Love. Life. Message. Mission. with my small group at church.    It's a great study that's easy to read and one of the chapters had a nice day by day break down of the last week of Jesus' life on earth.   Most Christians accept that the Last Supper was on a Thursday and that he was captured later that night and put on trial and to death on Friday.   Traditionally, Christians believe and celebrate Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday.  

While united in celebrating Easter, Christians have often contemplated the year of Christ's death. Many believe it's either 30, 31, or 33 CE.    Using astronomical calculations of the full moon in 14 Nisan, Patrick Cavanagh suggests that Christ died on Tuesday, April 15th in 32 CE and that by late Friday (approximately 72 hours), the women were informed that He had risen.  These are some pretty bold statements and the author makes a compelling case for them by providing Greek text and the works of Josephus to analyze key dates and how they all piece together.  

Putting Tradition on Trial continues to assimilate other historical events like the births of John the Baptist and Jesus in 3 BCE and Herod's death in 1 BCE.  Most people believe that Herod died in 4 BCE.  The book also mentions how the former pope Benedict stated his beliefs that Jesus birth had to be sooner than the currently believed timeframe of 5 or 6 BCE.  Since I'm not Catholic, I usually take statements from the pope with a grain of salt.  

Thank you St. Martin's press for sending us a review copy of this book!

CNN is doing a six-part series titled Finding Jesus and it discusses prominent figures and relics associated with Jesus and Christianity.  Finding Jesus: Fact. Faith. Forgery. is the companion book written by David Gibson and Michael McKinley.  The book covers John the Baptist's role and remains, The James Ossuary, Mary Magdalene's roles and remains,  the Gospel of Judas, the True Cross, and the Shroud and Sudarium.  

Each chapter discusses the relic or person's history, significance and authenticity.  According to the book, early churches were required to possess a relic in order to be considered credible.   The black market for Christian relics thrived then and it's still alive and well in the twenty-first century.  There are many verified hoaxes when it comes to bones of supposed prophets.  While some churches unknowingly acquired pig bones, other churches like one in Bulgaria, has a bone  from a Middle Eastern man.  Could it really be from John the Baptist?

The James Ossuary is another hot topic for several reasons.  Since Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin, how could Jesus have a brother named James as the ossuary claims? The Catholic author(s?) suggests that Jesus had step brothers from a possible previous marriage of Joseph's.  The relic itself is a bit questionable since the inscription has two different authors and writing styles.   While the ossuary is genuine, the inscription on it could very well be fake.  The forgery was taken to court, but the accused forger was acquitted.

The gnostic gospels are brought up on two occasions with the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Jesus' Wife.  The Gospel of Judas paints the relationship of Jesus and Judas in a different light and shows them working together on the betrayal instead of it being one-sided as the other gospels proclaim.  The gospel claiming that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife is just as sketchy with many words and context missing from the text used to base this argument on.   While that argument isn't very convincing, the book suggests that Mary Magdalene could have been the woman who had demons expelled from her, and possibly the adulterer that Jesus pardoned.  

Thank you Bender/Helper/Impact for sending us this movie to review!

When I was growing up, I used to watch a show called The Hitchhiker which featured a hitchhiker (gasp!) who opened and closed each show, but did not star in the random thriller story in between.  The shows often revolved upon mankind's depravity and sometimes had supernatural plots.  Since I have not seen the original WWJD movie, The Hitchhiker television show is the closest comparison I can make.  

WWJD: The Journey Continues has the same drifter from the original movie, but the main story is completely different this time around.     The movie begins with the drifter catching a ride to a random location.   Meanwhile a young man promises his mother in her final moments that he would take care of his brother.   His adopted brother's prison sentence is nearly finished. Later that night, a church in the midst of being renovated in a rough neighborhood gets robbed.  The pastor, fearing for the lives of himself and his wife, abandons the church and  suggests they hire a pastor with no family to worry about.  Cue in the young man who happens to be a pastor and his parolee brother.  As luck would have it, the pastor's brother is  a carpenter when he's not breaking the law. 

The pastor's brother is not saved and it shows with his quick temper and wanting to pick fights with some trouble-making brothers who vandalize the church. The young pastor has a tight deadline to get the church up and running and financially stable.  Everything is on track until there is a robbery in the church and the pastor's brother pays the ultimate price.  Fortunately, he accepted Christ in his last moments of life.  

Thank you Thomas Nelson for sending us this book to review!

The world can be a pretty depressing place with natural disasters, murders and needless deaths occurring everywhere on a daily basis.  Turning on the evening news shows more bad news than good.  It doesn't take much for anybody, Christian or not, to lose heart with all of the negative media we're bombarded with.  

Dr. David Murray writes about ten ways Christians can be a joyful believer in a gloomy world.  To back up his claims he provides both Biblical and scientific anecdotes.    The foundation verse of this book is Nehemiah 8:10: "...for the joy of the LORD is your strength." No matter how down in the dumps we are, we can always call upon the Lord's strength.   Another verse referenced is Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."   How true is that verse?  Dr. David Murray suggests that Christians meditate on it daily.  I agree with him.  Not only can it improve our outlook on life, it can strengthen our bond with God and improve our physical and mental health. After all, happiness is 10% circumstance, 50% genetic and 40% choice.

Other suggestions from the book include forgetting the negative things and focusing on the positive influences in our lives.   No matter where we are: at church, at home, or at work.  We are to be biblical examples of being thankful, forgiving, praying, and celebrating diversity.  There is no sense in constantly reflecting on past mistakes, we are to live in the here and now and make the best of it.   The Happy Christian also tells us that we should actively praise people and to pray before criticizing people.  The healthiest balance of criticism to praise ratio is 1:5.  This is especially true in marriages and in the work place.  Positive workers have proven to be better performers.  Marriages last longer if spouses know that they are loved more than they are criticized.

Even though I consider myself pretty happy and laid back in general, I enjoyed my time in this book and learned a lot from it.  The Happy Christian is a great book for any believer who can use a little morale boost.

Thank you Cartoon Network for sending us this DVD to review!

As the name suggests, Uncle Grandpa is a very odd show.  I'm not even sure how to describe it other than it being "face palm" funny.  The main character, Uncle Grandpa, helps kids by taking them on adventures to solve their problems.  While he does have the ability to replicate himself and conjure up items from thin air, he often makes things harder on himself than necessary.  

Uncle Grandpa is often accompanied by his friends Belly Bag (his fanny pack), Pizza Steve, Mister Gus, and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger.  Whenever Uncle Grandpa's  RV needs that extra boost, Giant Realistic Flying Tiger happily helps out with his rainbow flatulence.  

The Good Mornin' DVD collection features twelve episodes and runs for 132 minutes.  Here's a list of the episodes in this collection:

Thank you Bender/Helper Impact for sending us a DVD of this movie to review!

Confessions of a Prodigal Son was successfully Kickstarted in the spring of 2013.  The fundraising goal was a meager ten thousand dollars and Nathan Clarkson, the lead actor and project lead, raised $13,835.00 to make it a reality.  While the low budget aspect is hard to hide, the story told is timeliness and teaches about God's love, forgiveness, and redemption.  

Many college age kids are tired of being told what to do by their parents.  As a preacher's kid, Sean wanted to escape from his father's (Kevin Sorbo) shadow. Instead of attending a Christian college to become a pastor, he desired to go to a public college and do his own thing.  Sean's parents relented and paid for two years of college and promised to pay the other half if he didn't squander the funds and keep a grade A average.

Getting an A in his English class will be no easy task as his teacher is very strict and not very tolerant of Sean's chronic tardiness.  Sean is going to have to get his partying under control and figure out what he wants in life and what his goals are.  Not only does he need to do this for his own good, but he has to write a paper about his life story.  He still doesn't know what his is, all he does know is that he wants to be free and not told what to do by anyone else.   

Thank you Shore Fire Media for sending us a digital copy of this symphony!

Nobuo Uematsu is a world renowned composer who is best known for his compositions for Final Fantasy I-IX.  He has worked alongside others in arranging music for Final Fantasy X, XI, XII, and Chrono Trigger.  In his band Earthbound Papas (and The Black Mages before that), he puts a heavy metal spin on his songs.  For a more classical touch, the Distant Worlds CDs give an orchestral rendition of his Final Fantasy works.  A majority of the songs don't stray from the game soundtracks, but there are a few medleys and a playful swing rendition of the chocobo theme. 

Final Symphony combines endearing medleys from Final Fantasy VI, VII, and X and weaves them into an original symphony that spans an hour and thirty five minutes in length.  There are eleven tracks ranging from three to eighteen minutes long.  The digital album is available on iTunes for $9.99 , and only the seven tracks that are less than ten minutes in length can be purchased individually.  Because it exceeds the physical CD length limit, the digital format is convenient.  Tragically, a lossless FLAC option is not available at this point in time.  I sincerely hope they offer it in a lossless format in the future, as the quality of the recording is quite high, and would really benefit from this.

Even in the inferior mp4 format, this symphony sounds very good.  The London Symphony Orchestra provided the musical talent and the recording was done in the famous Abbey Road recording studio.  The music was inspired by compositions from Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu and re-arranged by Jonne Valtonen and Roger Wanamo.  The recording is done in a way that clearly works to the strengths of the classical format, and is fitting to an audiophile audience.  The dynamic range is very good, even dramatically so at times.  This is best listened to in a quiet setting, as the dynamics can sneak up on you if you are playing it too loudly to overcome background noises.

Thank you Disney for sending us a copy of the movie to review!

Even though Tinkerbell is in the title of this movie, she isn't the main character.  She does make a few appearances though.  Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast focuses on a fairy named Fawn, an animal fairy who specializes in  the wildlife surrounding Pixie Hollow.  Because of her love for animals, Fawn often gets reprimanded for bringing potentially dangerous strays into the fairy village.

After a recent scolding from the queen fairy, Fawn stumbles onto a unique creature that she has never seen before.  Vowing to think with her head and not her heart this time, she studies this unusual animal that likes to make rock towers.  She wins its trust when she helps remove a thorn from its foot and a friendship between them is born.      

While Fawn fully trusts this unusual creature, the guardian fairies wish to send it away because of a legend about its involvement in a deadly storm that is starting to brew.  Is this creature the source of the problem or the solution?  Can the fairies come to an agreement and work together?  You'll have to watch the movie to find out since I don't want to spoil it for you.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this DVD to review!

Penguins live a simple life, believe the world is flat and nothing exists beyond the icebergs surrounding them. Jasper is a young penguin that doesn't conform to their beliefs. One day he sees a huge cruise ship which disproves the theory that only penguins exist. Jasper, unfortunately, does not succeed in his attempt to show this to the other penguins. In doing so, he is shunned.

While being tasked to watch his brother, Junior, Jasper loses sight of him. He later finds him making his way towards the cruise ship. Junior boards it followed by Jasper. While onboard, they meet nine-year old Emma and a cat named Lucifer. Together, they all vow to help the Kakapo parrot retrieve his stolen eggs from a passenger named Doctor Block and his helper Rolf. Can these four misfits work together to save the eggs from harm? Can the penguin brothers and Emma each earn their parent's respect? You'll have to watch the eighty minute DVD to find out.

While Jasper: Journey To The End Of The World is family friendly and earns its "Family Approved" seal on the front of its case, I did notice a couple of issues.  There is a scene where the Kakapo parrot falls down a laundry chute and into a washing machine.  Emma shouts OMG, spelled out.  In another incident the parrot says "Oh ca ca."  Last but not least, there's a margarita reference in the end.

Thank you No Starch Press for sending us this book to review!

After our ten year old finished JavaScript For Kids (highly recommend this book BTW!), our seven year old wanted to try Ruby Wizardry.  Not only is the programming language completely different, the formatting is as well.  This book is laid out like a story with snippets of code and complete ruby scripts woven throughout.

Ruby Wizardry teaches the basics such as variables, symbols, arrays, strings, loops, conditionals, case statements, opening/writing/adding to files,  and more.  The first chapter is dedicated to downloading and configuring the Ruby interpreter to correctly associate .rb files.  

Some of the code will need to be typed beforehand in notepad (or notepad++) and renamed as a .rb file while other bits of code will  need to be executed directly in IRB (command line interpreter).  My son got confused at times and occasionally typed code in the wrong program.

Adult supervision is strongly advised for younger kids to make sure they are "getting it."  Many scripts are playful including a text maze game, a monkey counting script, and a password checker.  Like all programming languages, a single typo can break the whole program.  A second set of eyes may be needed when helping your kids debug their programs.  A computer science degree isn't required to help locate spelling errors and the book's code examples are easy to understand.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this DVD to review!

Have you ever wondered how ponies in Equestria get their unique markings on their flanks?  My Little Pony: Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders explains the whole process.  Ponies are not born with their "cutie marks" - they are obtained when discovering their unique talent or characteristic about themselves.  It's a rite of passage that every young pony strives to achieve.  

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom are three young ponies with one thing in common:  they are all lacking their cutie marks.  They form a friendship and call themselves the "Cutie Mark Crusaders."  This DVD collection contains five episodes and spans 110 minutes in length.

Here's a breakdown of each episode:

• The Cutie Mark Chronicles - The Cutie Mark Crusaders want to find out how Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark so they ask her and learn her story along with several others.  Coincidentally, many of the Mane Six ponies got their marks as a result of Rainbow Dash's.
• The Cutie Pox - Apple Bloom steals some potion ingredients from Zecora in order to speed up her cutie mark process.  Instead of one cutie mark, Apple Bloom gets several along with new abilities that she must perform constantly.  After missing out on valuable sleep and realizing her wrong doing, Apple Bloom must confess the truth and learn patience.  
• Flight To The Finish -   The Cutie Mark Crusaders wish to carry the Ponyville flag to the Equestria games.  Can they agree on a routine?  Their friendship will be tested as they learn and cope with the strengths and shortcomings of the trio.
• Pinkie Pride - Pinkie Pie wants to be in charge of planning Rainbow Dash's birth-iversary party.  However the job is given to a visiting pony named Cheese Sandwich who is voice acted by "Weird Al" Yankovic.  They challenge each other to a goof off to see who is best suited for the job.  
• Twilight Time -   Twilight Sparkle is kind enough to privately tutor the Cutie Mark Crusaders but word quickly spreads and all of their friends want to spend time with Twilight Sparkle too.  How can they keep everyone happy?

All episodes were great and taught valuable lessons on telling the truth, keeping promises, and valuing friendship.  My favorite episode was Pinkie Pride because I totally did not expect to see "Weird Al" in this show.  All of my kids enjoyed were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the whole disc.  I highly recommend this collection to any My Little Pony or "Weird Al" fan.

Thank you Cartoon Network for sending us this DVD to review!

Adventure Time: Frost & Fire is a collection of sixteen episodes from seasons one, three, four, five, and six.  The title episode begins with Finn and the Flame Princess on a date and the Ice King gets in the way. Hilarity ensues when the Ice King and the Flame Princess duke it out.  Not only was this fight entertaining to watch, Finn experienced a pleasant dream that he wanted to experience again.  To make that happen he sends fake letters to both parties and waits for the battle to take place.  While he gets to see them fight again, and experiences a variation of his original dream, Finn regrets his actions and attempts to make things right. 

Other than the title episode some of my favorites include Jake the Brick where Jake wants to experience the collapse of an old beat up shack, by being one of its bricks.  Since being a brick is pretty boring, he entertains himself by narrating the nature around him.  Little does he know that Finn is broadcasting his rambling across Candy Kingdom with the help of a walkie-talkie.

I was pleasantly surprised to find another gender reversing episode  with Fiona and Cake in The Prince Who Wanted Everything.  Lumpy Space Prince takes the lead role in that episode.  Since season five or six have not come out on Blu-Ray or DVD yet, many of these episodes were new to us.  There are some classics thrown in like Memories of Boom Boom Mountain that explain how Finn and Jake met.  

While the list price is under $20, it can be yours for less than twelve dollars on Amazon.   There is close to three hours of entertainment (176 minutes) to be had in this DVD collection.   While this DVD can provide hours of entertainment for people of all ages, make sure you're okay with fart jokes before letting youngsters watch this show.    Despite the juvenile potty humor, there are redeeming qualities and good lessons to be learned from this series. 

Disclaimers:

Thank you Leap Trade for providing us with credit on your website to trade/purchase a game!
Although Leap Trade does advertise with us, it does not influence this review of their service in any way. 

Many of us have games laying around that we no longer play or want anymore.  While GameStop is convenient for trading them in, they give you very little money for them.    If you're not in a rush to sell your games, Leap Trade will give you  more credit for them than Game Stop and Amazon.

There is no cost to join the site and after joining,  you can buy Leap Trade credit at a reduced price for a limited time. The game prices are competitive and updated every couple of weeks.  There is a forum to suggest pricing changes if needed. 

The game price is the final price to your door as shipping is included.  The United States Postal Service shipping labels are paid for by the seller and it's very reasonably priced at $3.50.   Tracking is included and easily accessible via Leap Trade's website.

Thank you Alpha for sending us this book to review!

Having read many translations of the Bible cover to cover, I'm still amazed by how much I have yet to learn from this divine book.  The Idiot's Guides: The Bible gives the back-story of each book of the Bible including its author, origin,  location, key verses, and characters.    This book is 346 pages and is broken down into five parts: Understanding The Bible, The Old Testament, History Between The Old and New Testaments, The New Testament, The Apocrypha.  

This book isn't meant to be a replacement for the Bible, but it is a nice compliment and it tells you the key verses and themes in each book. You won't find heavy theological breakdowns as the commentary in Ezekiel doesn't begin until chapter three.  This is an Idiot's Guides book after all.  ;)  I did find the play by play break down of Song of Solomon insightful though.  

There are colorful illustrations for all of the books and many of them have helpful maps too.  Each book has a highlighted verse quoted from the HCSB translation; you'll have to crack open your own Bible to read the rest of the key verses though.  

I appreciate the explanation and history of the Bible, its canonization and the Apocrypha's account.   There are helpful timelines for the chronological order of the Old and New testament books.  I may try reading the Bible in chronological order next time!

Thank you Affirm films for sending us the Daniel Plan In Action DVD set!

While I haven't done any serious dieting, I have tried to stay active and pay attention to what I eat.  After watching the movie Fed Up, our family has cut back on our sugar intake.  The Daniel Plan has five foundations that have a good chance of transforming your body for the better if they are in place.  These include:

• Faith - Relying on God's power
• Food - Eating natural food in proper proportions
• Fitness - Regular workouts  
• Focus - Don't give up!
• Friends - You have a better chance of success if you have accountability partners 

Pastor Rick Warren is one of the founders of The Daniel Plan and is featured on the first DVD with his sermon of The Five Habits of Healthy People.  He goes more in depth of the five foundations and uses Bible verses like Philippians 4:13, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Romans 12:2, Ecclesiastes 4:9, and Ephesians 4:22 to back up their diet program.  While I am all for taking care of my body/temple as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with pastor Rick Warren that it is not a sin if you don't exercise.  Is it a good idea to exercise?  Yes, and the ones on the second disc are pretty good.  

There are four exercise routines and they focus on cardio, abs, upper, and lower body.  Each session is thirty five minutes long and you're bound to break a sweat.  There are lower and higher impact workouts to follow if you need less or more of a challenge.  I must say that after completing these workouts I was feeling muscles I have long forgotten about.  You'll want to have a set of light weights handy for two of the sessions. if you don't have a set of weights available you can use a couple of cans of soup as a light weight replacement.  

I enjoyed the upbeat and remixed praise songs in the background.  If you like them there is a soundtrack CD available for $9.99,  or you can buy the deluxe DVD plan that comes with it and a third workout DVD.  (I was sent the two DVD version so I cannot comment on the third disc or soundtrack).

Thank you No Starch Press for sending us this book to review!

My oldest daughter is 10 and has a knack for math and an interest in game development.  When I heard about the release of JavaScript for Kids, I knew it would be right up her alley.  I was right.  After completing the seventeen chapters, she's still cracking open the book and tweaking her code.  I like how the book has challenges at the end of the chapters to encourage the kids to take their coding skills to the next level.  If you're not an IT major, you can download the code solutions from their website.

This 309 page book is broken down into three parts: Fundamentals, Advanced JavaScript, and Canvas. In parts one and two your kids will learn about syntax, comments, variables, strings, booleans, arrays, objects, HTML, loops, conditionals, prompts, functions, ODM elements, jQuery, animations, and time outs.  The last section focuses on the canvas element and drawing objects like squares, arcs, circles, and later controlling them with keyboard input.

There's definitely a lot to learn in this book and I like how they made it fun to put these concepts into practice.  Throughout my daughter's learning adventure she has created a text based Hang Man game, a random insult generator (what kid can resist that?), a treasure hunt game with a map, and the final program was a Snake game.

The Notepad++ editor that this book recommends is free and will catch some, but not all syntax errors.  Debugging broken programs takes just as much (if not more) time to fix than they do to write.  Sometimes the show stopping errors are typos, other times it's a misplaced space or semicolon.  Fortunately, my computer science major husband was able to catch some of the errors in my daughter's programs when I couldn't find everything.