My children and I enjoyed reviewing an advance reading copy of this book - written for children ages 8-12 - as bedtime read together a last month, learning a bit about how real detectives solve cases, strengthening the kids' logical thinking, and encouraging them to boldly share faith with others.
I was particularly interested in Forensic Faith for Kids because it is written by a former atheist and real-life detective - J. Warner - and his wife - Susie Wallace - who have been training young people in faith for over a decade. I thought my children would find it interesting that one of the authors of the book is a cold-case detective who has been featured on Dateline, Fox News, truTV, and other crime-related televisions, and I was right about that.
I also suspected there would be an energetic faith basis shining throughout the story, since, typically, converts to Christianity have contagious faith. Again, I was correct. Without question, the Wallaces main intent in Forensic Faith for Kids is to share their faith with others and teach readers to do the same. They did so well!
Enjoyed by All!
All three of my children and I enjoyed reading and chatting about Forensic Faith for Kids - a 134-page softcover book - together.
My 11-year-old said:
Forensic Faith for Kids is a good book that children who like to be detectives can enjoy. It begins with a team car wash, where a corgi named Bailey shows up. One of the kids from the car wash brings Bailey home and, then, to their detective club.
Meanwhile, a girl and her friend are at a youth group and talking about if Jesus was really God, because their acquaintance Marco said Jesus might not be God.
The young detectives bring these two cases - Who Does Bailey Belong To and Is Jesus God - to their detective club. The leader guides them through the cases. Some things they discover are:
- what unreasonable faith, blind faith, and forensic faith are
- how to gather evidence
- how training can be frustrating but lead to success
- the importance of being thorough, alert, and detailed
- how to organize thoughts
- how to communicate
- how to find truth
They keep getting steps closer to solving Bailey's case, but, then, find out they're stuck. Meanwhile, they go to Marco's to talk to him about Jesus. They bring Bailey there and accidentally solve the case.
Sometimes the truth is hidden in plain sight!
I enjoyed this book and would like to read other ones in the series!
My 12-year-old (who liked the illustrations like on the page pictured) said:
I, as a book lover, thought this book was good, because it has an interesting storyline. I had a theory, which was proven false, that the author may have been trying to point the dog towards being Marco's, but, then, it would be someone else's. But - spoiler alert! - I was wrong. I looked forward and realized it was Marco's. I think it would have been more interesting if it wasn't.
I liked how the two cases were connected, and I enjoyed the story. It was entertaining. It taught me about corgis. It didn't do much for my faith, because I have already done a lot about my faith. It did help me think about doing apologetics though.
I would like to state one small point that bothered me a lot, because I am crazy about myths and fantasy. In the story, they say Viking myths had elves riding dogs and corgis are small. Elves in Viking mythology are like seven feet tall. So, maybe they meant Celtic or Irish elves which I am not as studied in. It drove me crazy to have this in the story.
I thought the illustrations were the right style for this type of book.
I would recommend this book to families who have members who are interested in detective stuff and apologetics. We read as a family, but you could read it on your own, too. I was tempted to, but I knew I would spoil it for everyone and that would not be very kind. (I've done that before!)
My 8-year-old (who liked the corgi like on the page pictured) said:
This book was okay. I liked guessing how to solve the cases and predicting them. It was easy to predict. When my mom was reading us the book and would stop, I'd say, "More!" I wanted her to read more to see if I was right.
I did not know much about corgis before. I did know a lot about God. I thought it was kind of weird, but connected to do the two cases together.
I would recommend this book as a read to self and skip ahead (giggle) so you can see what happens! Spoiler alert: It is Marco's box. I thought that at the beginning of the story, and, then, looked ahead and knew.
With an easy to follow story, CSI Assignment boxes that featured Bible verses, Detective Definition boxes to help teach about solving cases, boxes with tools for "Your Detective Bag", engaging illustrations, and a strong faith message, Forensic Faith for Kids is well-designed and worth our time.
Online Fun, Too!
As you can tell, my children and I enjoyed the book Forensic Faith for Kids. So, I was excited to see that there are loads of corollary materials to go along with it online at Case Makers Academy.
Indeed, there are:
These digital components are all provided FREE and could well make enjoying the book into a full-blown study for a child, family, youth group, or co-op class.
Truly, Case Makers Academy offers a bevy of resources which can engage and focus children and their parents and teachers.
No Worries for Catholic Readers
As anyone who reads here regularly is aware, I am a grateful Catholic who is hardly shy about sharing my faith. I am also a big believer that all Christians needs to know, love, and understand one another, working together for Christ regardless of denomination.
That said, I had one reservation before reviewing Forensic Faith for Kids: Despite the obvious expertise and trustworthiness of the authors (which I knew would make the book a good one), I wondered if there might be a pronounced anti-Catholic bias in it. For while I have no problem using non-Catholic materials with my children, and have, many times, witnessed fruit through doing so, I also like to be careful about using too many materials with anti-Catholic bias. For, frankly, I would rather spend time uniting in Christian faith rather than explaining to my children ad nauseam all the different divisions.
In fact, I truly believe the evil one seeks to divide - families, communities, Christians - and, I aim not to partake in such things when I can avoid doing so.
Thus, I did my due diligence, looking about online for indication of bias in the book, and, not finding anything that convinced me one way or the other that Forensic Faith for Kids had anything but a general Christian point of view, I took a chance, and decided to review the book - reading it with my kids just in case.
I am happy to report that my precaution of reading the book together with my children in case of bias was unnecessary, but also fruitful. Fruitful because reading Forensic Faith for Kids alongside my children was enjoyable and edifying. Unnecessary because I did not need to spend any time explaining divisions among Christians to my children while reading the book.
Rather, we focused on the fun of the story, the logic of the process the young detectives used in it, the way the Bible can help us to understand and share our faith, and the ideas the book provided for how to investigate and share truth.
Indeed, there are:
- brief videos to go along with each chapter of the book
- printable training activity sheets (which are typically puzzles and games)
- a printable Academy Notebook with fill in portions to help highlight key points)
- an Adult Leader Guide which tells you how to prepare for presenting the chapter, highlights key concepts, and offers discussion questions.
These digital components are all provided FREE and could well make enjoying the book into a full-blown study for a child, family, youth group, or co-op class.
Truly, Case Makers Academy offers a bevy of resources which can engage and focus children and their parents and teachers.
No Worries for Catholic Readers
As anyone who reads here regularly is aware, I am a grateful Catholic who is hardly shy about sharing my faith. I am also a big believer that all Christians needs to know, love, and understand one another, working together for Christ regardless of denomination.
That said, I had one reservation before reviewing Forensic Faith for Kids: Despite the obvious expertise and trustworthiness of the authors (which I knew would make the book a good one), I wondered if there might be a pronounced anti-Catholic bias in it. For while I have no problem using non-Catholic materials with my children, and have, many times, witnessed fruit through doing so, I also like to be careful about using too many materials with anti-Catholic bias. For, frankly, I would rather spend time uniting in Christian faith rather than explaining to my children ad nauseam all the different divisions.
In fact, I truly believe the evil one seeks to divide - families, communities, Christians - and, I aim not to partake in such things when I can avoid doing so.
Thus, I did my due diligence, looking about online for indication of bias in the book, and, not finding anything that convinced me one way or the other that Forensic Faith for Kids had anything but a general Christian point of view, I took a chance, and decided to review the book - reading it with my kids just in case.
I am happy to report that my precaution of reading the book together with my children in case of bias was unnecessary, but also fruitful. Fruitful because reading Forensic Faith for Kids alongside my children was enjoyable and edifying. Unnecessary because I did not need to spend any time explaining divisions among Christians to my children while reading the book.
Rather, we focused on the fun of the story, the logic of the process the young detectives used in it, the way the Bible can help us to understand and share our faith, and the ideas the book provided for how to investigate and share truth.
I would recommend Forensic Faith for Kids to any family that has children who enjoy mysteries and would like to strengthen their ability to communicate truths about God to their friends and family members.
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Sixty-five Homeschool Review Crew families read Forensic Faith for Kids and some went all out with the digital resources on Case Makers Academy, too.
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