The Heart Changer is the debut book from a SchoolhouseTeachers.com teacher – Jarm Del Boccio, Author. It is a charming book for middle elementary readers or older. We received a digital copy of the book in exchange for this review.
We all want our kids to read quality books, don’t we? Encountering big ideas or difficult situations in a way that allows them to explore these things from different perspectives than their own is much easier when using good books . But it often feels like it’s the ‘royal we’ behind the motivation and we aren’t too convinced our kids have an ‘all in’ perspective when it comes to reading the quality literature we really want them to sink their teeth into.
Our family of readers might be much like yours.
I have one kid who could easily read 500 pages a week of just about anything. However, she still struggles to discuss what’s been read or to analyze genres, plot, character, or other aspects of literary analysis. So expecting deep thought or big ideas in her book reports is just not happening right now. But, I’m confident with more opportunity & practice, she will soon be able to eloquently read, write, and discuss great literature. The Heart Changer helped her take a step in that direction.
On the other hand, my son enjoys reading, and can talk about anything, albeit his logic in connecting ideas is rather humorous sometimes. He tends to enjoy non-fiction, how-to style books. A good, fiction book is often difficult for him to relax and enjoy. So, again, book reports become a challenge when it’s difficult to stay focused on a story because of all the creative ideas it may stir up. Creative distraction really needs to be re-packed into creative focus for this kid. It’s a daily endeavor.
So, when I agreed to do the book review for The Heart Changer, I was in a bit of a panic. Sure, it’s easy enough to read. The book has an engaging storyline. It expands on history is such a way that it comes alive for the reader, and it does an excellent job of communicating biblical history and stories in a new and creative way. Reading the book was a really enjoyable experience…even my son settled into reading it all the way through in just a few days.
Inside I was cringing…
How do I get this kid to write a book report and how do I get that kid to take the next step toward better literary analysis?
So, I did a bit of research and decided it was time to create a few new book report templates to freshen things up a bit. The Heart Changer was the perfect opportunity to try them out!
After Reading The Heart Changer
After reading the book, each child did a series of book reports focussing on different ways of doing book reports and considering different aspects of the book. The teacher’s guide that comes with The Heart Changer was the first stop. It allowed each kid to answer questions as they read through the book. It was a great way to capture some reading comprehension and set the stage for the other book report styles.
I first tried the classic book report, which was so painful for my son. I’m a firm believer that classical does not have to mean boring. I was on a mission!
The next book report I asked my son to do was a ‘Problem & Solution’ style book report. After defining the characters and setting, he set out to identify a problem and discuss how the problem came to be, and how it was resolved. Then, after considering the whole story, decide if there were other ways that the problem could have been solved. Finally, the report asked how the reader might have solved the problem differently.
My son loved this style of book report! He is a natural problem solver, so giving him just one aspect to concentrate on, and asking his opinion were all that was needed to inspire him to create a pretty thoughtful book report.
For his final book report, I thought it might be fun to let him get creative. I decided to see how he might promote the book in a fun, creative fashion. I have seen Facebook profile templates for character study and things like that, but I wanted something a bit more true to life this time. It all came to me while he was eating breakfast and reading one morning.
I’m pretty sure if your family serves boxed cereal even occasionally, you will have found your kids reading the cereal box. So I decided that’s what the next book report would be. Create a cereal box that tells all about the book in such a way that a kid (reading the cereal box) would want to buy it! Genius!
So he grabbed the templates, typed up the information and set out to create the best cereal box advertisement he could think up!
The Impact Of The Heart Changer
So, the Heart Changer was an excellent book to just read and enjoy. Everyone in our house enjoyed relaxing and reading it. It was also a perfect book to use to explore Middle East history & geography.
Most importantly, it was an excellent book to delve into character and feelings about difficult issues. The conversations about right vs. wrong, how and why we are loved, and how to treat others. And let’s not forget the idea of how difficult it is to love when you have been hurt by someone. Now those are the types of discussions we want to have with our kids, right?! The Heart Changer is a perfect book for middle elementary-aged readers and up to explore and discuss their ideas and feelings about these issues Your family will be blessed for reading The Heart Changer and maybe, just maybe, find out that book reports don’t have to be boring.
