Homeschool Review Crew - Susan K. Marlow Books From The Andi Series and Circle C Stepping Stones

It is sometimes difficult to provide early reader chapter books that offer more substance than nonsense just for the sake of reading, but my oldest daughter loves horses and has enjoyed other books from Susan K. Marlow, so I was thrilled to get a chance to review two titles from the new Andi Series, Circle C Stepping Stones:

Andi Saddles Up
and
Andi Under The Big Top

both from Kregel Publications and Susan K. Marlow. Kregel Publications started years ago in an effort to provide books for the Christian market, so I knew these books would be appropriate for my girls.

What is the new Andi Series from Kregel Publications

 

I received two paperback physical books to hold in our hands and read as well as two study guide downloads which are available on the website.

Andi Saddles Up is about more than the horse. Andi is finally old enough to trick ride, but her path to her dream of this style of riding has some bumps in the road. Along the way, she and her friend, Sadie will discover whether or not their friendship is strong enough to stand up against the stubborn adults in their families who are at odds with each other.

Andi Under the Big Top tells the story of a little girl who is excited to visit the circus with her family. When she arrives, she discovers a boy who works for the circus and shares with Andi that he ran away from home to be part of the circus.

The study guides are really fun with lots of different activities and fill-in-the-blanks, crossword puzzles, a maze, vocabulary words and more. The Circus one even had an activity suggestion to make stilts out of cans and ropes and some other circus animal related ideas.

It starts with a guideline for recommended use of the study guide and how to pace your reading with the activities:

How Did We Use It?

Before, when I reviewed books from Susan K. Marlow, it was super easy because I simply handed them to my horse-loving oldest daughter who also loves to read. In no time, she finished the books and told me what she thought. This time around, that daughter has progressed to being really too old to give a view of the books since they are intended for readers a bit younger than a 15-year-old. So, I introduced the Andi series to my youngest daughter. It worked out well, because during the review period happened to be many days when I was gone helping my dad who had surgery, my mom who had a knee replacement, and driving my son to robotics competitions. This meant, she had plenty of time without me there for one-on-one instruction and gave her time to sit and read. Then, I jointed her in working through the study guides, which are a pdf download from the site.

What Did We Think?

We love the Andi series and I was happy to see these two new additions to the books by the same author my older daughter had received for review in the past. It was eye-opening to see how different my two girls are. My older daughter thrived on reading and drug her feet at the thought of a study guide. My younger daughter, however, was reluctant to get started with the actual reading, but was super excited about the study guide activities. Once she began reading, she also enjoyed the story.

FIND Kregel Publications and Susan K. Marlow ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

Twitter (Kregel Books): https://twitter.com/KregelBooks
Twitter (Susan K Marlow): https://twitter.com/SuzyScribbles
Facebook (Kregel Books): https://www.facebook.com/KregelBooks/
Facebook (Susan K Marlow): https://www.facebook.com/SusanKMarlow?fref=ts

Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below: