If your child hits the 8 to 12 years old range, you’ll be thrilled to find out that Tyndale House introduced a new series this month geared for this age group. Written by Brock Eastman and Shaun Stevenson, The Sower’s Secret, book one in the Parable Port series, brings readers on an action-pack and faith-filled adventure.

The story starts with Anthony and his mother moving to Parable Port, a small town filled with chaos and mystery. Anthony notices strange flowering vines infesting the area followed by some out-of-place and very aggressive orange birds. From there, Anthony and his new friends race to avoid being carried away by the fowl flock, being choked by the vines, or being thwarted in their mission to save the town by a person of ill intent. Using their knowing of the Parable of the Sower, the crew works together to find clues and their courage. Tensions rise as the heroes drop into slumber one by one.

I believe both boys and girls will enjoy the fast pace of this this story. The diverse cast also allows readers to see themselves in the characters. Each actor has distinct personalities, but they melt these together for some very entertaining banter. I especially liked a boy named Duck and his hilarious attempts to come up with a suitable nickname for Anthony and a girl named J.R., a wanna-be podcaster who provided commentary throughout the action scenes.

One of the nicest surprises with this book was the QR code at the end. The writers really thought through how to make this series attractive to kids, because scanning the code brings the reader to J.R.’s podcast, where fans can unpack the story and listen to interviews with the various characters. In addition, there is a link to download lessons related to the story, making this series an attractive resource for youth pastors. The whole package is the kind of big idea I can envision one day becoming a cartoon or radio program.

I’m excited about The Sower’s Secret, and I hope you will check it out. You can listen to an interview with the authors on BookWorthy Podcast and order the book here.

Enjoy!

Lori Z. Scott

#christianchildrensbook #parables #middlegradebooks #christianbooksforkids