Friday, April 9, 2010

The Terrestria Chronicles - A Book Report


I never liked doing book reports when I was in school. However, it probably had to do with the kind of books I was reporting. I have been looking forward to this book report since I first opened "The Sword, The Ring, and The Parchment", book one of the Terrestria Chronicles by Ed Dunlop. As part of the TOS Crew, I received this and book 2 "The Quest for Seven Castles" in exchange for my honest review.

The Terrestria Chronicles are about a boy, Josiah Everyman. In book 1, follow Josiah's journey from slave to Argamor, the evil one, to Prince Josiah son of King Emmanuel, King of all Terrestria. Learn with Josiah what it means to be a child of the King. With castles, knights, and a dark enemy, this book does not lack excitement. What could be better than an exciting book to keep kids' attention? One that really illustrates and helps them understand the salvation message. The book includes a glossary of terms. That was helpful even for me. The words in the book were not difficult, but they used a lot of terminology that referred to knights and parts of castles that I was not familiar with. The readers learn about salvation AND learn vocabulary, all while having fun. Do you see yet why I loved these books?

Book 2 starts one year after Josiah was rescued. Up to now, Josiah has been living and learning at the Castle of Faith. King Emmanuel has decided that it is time for Josiah to go on a quest. He must journey to 7 castles: The Castle of Virtue, The Castle of Knowledge, The Castle of Temperance, The Castle of Patience, The Castle of Godliness, The Castle of Brotherly Kindness, and The Castle of Charity. Josiah will face many dangers and trials on his journey, but in the process learns many important lessons. The names of the castles kind of give away the lessons, so I won't bore you by listing them again.


In all, there are seven books in the series. The books are written for ages 10 and up. We chose to read them together as a family read aloud for reviewing purposes. That way, I could really know the content of the story and see my boys' reactions. I can definitely see a difference in how they responded to the book. My 7yo enjoyed the stories, but didn't really "get the point". My 11yo, however, really seemed to grasp the concepts. It was always fun when we would get introduced to a new character. All the characters have very significant names, Sir Faithful for example. Every time we got to a new name, my 11yo would pause and try to figure out if it was a good name or a bad name. This was another source of good vocabulary for him.


The Terrestria Chronicles are available as a complete series for $47.99, or you can buy the books individually for $7.99 each. There is also a companion study guide available (that I think I'll be ordering) for $5.99. The one study guide covers all seven books. You can also print some free coloring pages here. It is important to note that this series is best when the books are read in order.

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