Andi's Fair Surprise
ISBN 978-0-8254-4184-4
Susan K. Marlow - 2011
Christian Fiction - Chapter Book - Ages 6-8
Kregel Publications
a division of Kregel, Inc.
P.O. Box 2607
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
1-800-733-2607
http://www.kregel.com/
Recently I received a copy of Andi's Fair Surprise, by Susan K. Marlow. We really liked the book and are thinking about getting more books from the Circle C Beginnings series. I remember growing up with a variety of horse books around. They were all good, but a lot of the stories were about boys and their horses. I remember wishing I could find a series of stories about a nice little girl and her horse. If you have a darling daughter, niece, or granddaughter that loves horses, you'll want to check these out. Let me share a bit about the book we read and the series.
Andi's Fair Surprise is a delightful story about a 6 year old girl named Andi Carter and her trip to the 1874 California State Fair. Andi is growing up in the Wild West of the late 1800s. Andi wants to take her foal, Taffy, to the fair to compete for a blue ribbon like her brothers. Unfortunately she and her foal are too young to compete so Andi tries to find something else to make the trip worthwhile. Andi has to get dressed up and ride a train, for hours and hours, and she doesn't want to "bounce and slide around all day"--she's so sure this is a long and pointless trip. A fancy hotel room, great food, spending money and a special entry ticket help Andi realize that the fair trip might not be too bad after all. Andi even ends up winning a prize--one that she's told she absolutely cannot take home. Life's not fair. What to do? By the end of the trip Andi grows up a bit and learns a few things. Andi gets to be a blessing to another little girl, and she receives a prize she wanted badly. Best of all, Andi finds out how much her family loves her.
This is a great story about growing up and learning about the unfairness of life. Andi finds out how to make an unfair situation a blessing to someone else. The story is filled with fun illustrations of Andi and her journey. The story is 10 chapters long and easy to read. At the beginning of the book is a "New Words" vocabulary section. At the end of the book is a "Peek Into The Past" which describes state fairs during the time period of the story.
Other books in the series include:
- Andi's Pony Trouble
- Andi's Indian Summer
- Andi's Scary School Days
- Andi's Lonely Little Foal
- Andi's Circle C Christmas
To order these cute easy-reader chapter books click here . The books are a very reasonable $4.99 plus $2 shipping and handling if purchased individually. Books 1&2 or 3&4 can be purchased for $9.98 plus $2 shipping and handling. Or, for the best deal, order books 1-4 for $15.96 and $3 shipping and handling.
Free, age-appropriate learning activities to go with the books can be found here.
You can also find cute free coloring pages of the illustrations in the books by clicking the logo below
Sign up for the Circle C Beginnings Ezine here
Andi's adventures continue in the Circle C Adventures series which includes:
- Andrea Carter and the Long Ride Home
- Andrea Carter and the Dangerous Decision
- Andrea Carter and the Family Secret
- Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers
- Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure
- Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth
click the pictures below.
We received one Circle C Beginnings book to read and review. We really enjoyed Andi's Fair Surprise. My daughter thought the age range was appropriate, and the vocabulary used was easily read and understood. She liked the "New Words" section at the beginning of the book--"because then you know the words when you see them in the story". The story was fun, and the website activities, coloring pictures, and other information were fun to check out also. She now wants to read the rest of the Beginnings series and move on to the older Andrea series. We really liked the illustrations in the stories too--such a cute little girl!
As the mom of a horse loving daughter I'm really excited to see this series geared to girls. We have not read the next series but look forward to finding them in the future. I also felt that the layout, illustrations and vocabulary were quite suited to readers of beginning chapter books of the suggested ages. This was a fun book to read and review. I hope you get a chance to check out some of the links I've provided to see samples from the books as well as the related activities. Great author, great pictures, a new favorite series!
Other Review Crew members also received other books from the series. To see more Crew reviews on these books click here.
As a member of the TOS Review Crew I received Andi's Fair Surprise free from the vendor in return for an honest review of the book. I received no further compensation. Opinions and observations are my own. I am not obligated to provide a positive review.
1 comment:
Howdy and thanks for the GREAT review of Fair Surprise! And wow . . . even a plug for the older series (which I wrote first, by the way). Folks at homeschool conventions were always asking, "But where are some books for my younger readers?" Kregel was gracious enough to let me write those this year! Sure wish I had these books for my DD when I was homeschooling. Oh, wait! Now I have them for my 9 grandkids. :-)
Have a great day and thanks again!
Susan
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