"This author's creativity doesn't stop at just having the story told...." Come read more about Smoothie Rock-A-Teller!!

Review done by One Mommy

Looking for a new children’s book?  How about one that retells a Bible story in a unique and fun way?

I’d like to suggest Smoothie Rock-A-Teller on the Whopper Stopper by Dr. Gerald Mittmann.  This 52 page children’s book is actually the first of a series of nine books where rocks retell Bible stories from their point of view.   In this book Smoothie (That’s the rock’s name!) tells the story of David and Goliath.  It is a creative twist in telling a favorite Bible story of many kids!

The author’s creativity doesn’t stop at just having the story told through the rock’s point of view.  He also has his rock character use very descriptive names for every day objects, like “baa-baa-mini-cloud-walker” instead of sheep.  This book is written for ages 4-10, and I can see where this would entertain a child and perhaps even help hold their interest.

The book is very versatile, however, and I was able to read it to my 2 and 3 1/2 year old, using the actual words, like sheep, so they would better focus on the story itself and not get mixed up with the descriptive language.

When I first read through the book  I was drawn to the colorful images that filled the pages.  My children also thoroughly enjoyed Gregory Cannone’s illustrations.Not only did the illustrations help both my preschooler and toddler better understand the story, but my daughter was able to retell the story later just by looking at the pictures.   As a former language arts teacher, I love anything that helps comprehension skills develop.

Don’t feel like reading all 52 pages at once?  The book is divided into five short chapters, each with a few questions at the end to further engage the audience and promote reading/listening comprehension skills.  If you can’t get through the whole book in one sitting, these questions can also help a child refresh their memory on what happened previously in the book.

The list price of the book is $12.99.  You can find it here on Amazon or at Deep River Books.

**I received a free copy of this book from Bring It On! Communications for review purposes.   I was not monetarily compensated in any way for this review.   All opinions are my own.