Blog Tour for "Bethlehem's Baby" by Sheila Deeth plus Review from my 4 year old Grandson

Ten Things you May not know about Bethlehem’s Baby

If you’ve been following this blog tour you probably know Bethlehem’s Baby is the sixth in the Five Minute Bible Story^TM Series, by Sheila Deeth, published by Cape Arago Press. You may even know it’s the first New Testament entry in the series, and the first to be released on Smashwords—just think, now you can read five-minute Bible stories on Nooks and Kobos as well as computers and kindles. You’ve probably guessed Bethlehem’s Baby’s got something to do with Bethlehem and Christmas too. 

But here are ten things you may not know about the book:

     

     1.       The title contains two words because all the other books in the series have two-word titles. After Genesis People, Exodus Tales and Joshua’s Journey, my publisher suggested Psalm Stories for the stories based on psalms. I liked the alliteration, so I tried to repeat it with Bethlehem’s Baby.

      2.       I was going to write Battling Judges next (based on the book of Judges), but my publisher thought it was time I tried my hand at the New Testament. I think he was right—it’s made an enjoyable change of pace for me, and I loved doing the extra research.

      3.       I started writing five-minute Bible stories in college after reading Tolkein’s Silmarillion, but they’ve been through lots of iterations since then.

      4.       The stories take five minutes to read aloud because that’s how long we were given in church for children’s sermons. It seems to fit well with the attention span of fidgeting kids gathered in front of the congregation.

      5.       Some of the five-minute stories are based on 100-word drabbles included in my illustrated Christmas gift book: Christmas! Genesis to Revelation in 100 words a day.

      6.       The grandfather complaining “What’s that noise?” and the little boy wondering if God told the priest off for talking too much are based on my granddad and my sons.

      7.       I learned about the sort of food Jesus would have eaten by reading and reviewing another book, At Table with the Lord, also published by Cape Arago Press.

       8.       It’s important to me that my children’s stories sound authentic, so I do a lot of research into time and place, as well as reading the Bible, before starting each story.  It takes more like five days than five minutes per tale when you include the editing, formatting and rewriting as well.

      9.       I suspect it took my publisher more like five days than five minutes to research and find all the illustrations for Bethlehem’s Baby too. This is the first illustrated book in the series.

      10.   Bethlehem’s Baby is the first of four books that I’ve been working on this year. The other three are Nazareth Neighbors, Galilee’s Gift and Jerusalem Journey. I want to do a book on Acts as well, but I haven’t thought of a title for it yet.

I hope you’re enjoying the tour, and I hope you’re enjoying the book. Don’t forget to look for more in the series, already published and coming soon...

Bethlehem’s Baby:

Meet the Emperor Augustus’s advisors, the quiet research student helping wise men study stars, the shepherd whose granddad keeps complaining, an Egyptian fisherboy, a Roman soldier, and more in this set of 40 5-minute read-aloud stories based around the events of the Christ Child’s birth in Bethlehem.

Purchase links:

Amazonkindle: / Barnes andNoble nook:

Kobo: / Smashwords: 

Find out more about the Five-Minute Bible Story^TM Series on the publisher’s website: http://capearagopress.com/Five-Minute.html

Connect with Sheila at:

Sheila Deeth: http://about.me/SheilaDeeth

Blog: http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheila.deeth

Fan page: https://www.facebook.com/SheilaDeethAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheiladeeth

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2853735.Sheila_Deeth

Today I have special reviewers on my blog, and I want to give them a warm welcome. My daughter Arline, and her son Nathan. Nathan is 4 years old, and agreed to do a review for us. When Sheila asked me to be part of her tour, I told her that I was swamped, but, if she will not mind that they will do it for me. She agreed immediately. Here are their thoughts of this great Series.

My 5 Star Review

I have received this book from the author for an honest review.

A great book with new insight into some of the stories I always wondered about.  Nathan loved the stories, although some words were above his understanding, and it took time to explain it to him. I will recommend this book for children from 5 and up, for greater interaction and feedback with and from the child. He enjoyed the quick 5 minutes read and was very inquisitive. 

Well written and informative the stories were quick and well researched. It is a book I can recommend to parents with small children, and of course for grown-ups. A great way to read the Bible and teach them about the Love of the Father, and the greatest gift He could give us, His Son.

Thanks for the opportunity to review this book.