Jotham’s Journey is A Storybook for Advent.  It is divided up into chapters for each day and week of Advent. It even has a yearly calendar in the back that tells you what day to start each year, all the way up through 2078.  In the beginning of the story, Jotham ends up running away from home, hoping that his family will come looking for him, and they do; but after finding clues that a jackal has dragged something/someone off, they fear their son is dead, and they uproot their tents and move on….Jotham being left behind.  This book carries him on the journey of a lifetime, all through the land of Israel, to find his family.  There are many dangers that Jotham must face, including people like Decha; but along the way he will meet people like Zechariah with his baby son, John; Elizabeth; Salamar and the other wise men who are earnestly searching for the new King; and even the angels who announce that the Messiah has been born.  Jotham’s story is like a first-hand account, as if you are right there with him through the whole story of Christmas, living every moment before and during.  Will Jotham find his family?  The conclusion of the story is very powerful….

Bartholomew’s Passage is A Family Story for Advent.  It too has chapters divided up by the days and weeks of Advent, so as to break it up into bite-size chunks.  This is one book that would definitely be good to read in our family right now, as Jacob has been studying about the Romans in history….it might help his history to come alive even more.  This is the story of Bartholomew, a boy whose town is attacked by Roman soldiers; in all of the confusion, Bartholomew loses track of his family.  The Romans capture Jotham, and all seems lost as he is made a slave, and he hears that his parents were shipped off to Rome to become slaves themselves.  Bartholomew is rescued by Nathan, though, and so begins his journey across Israel to find his family.  As he journies, he will meet people such as Cornelius, Dorcas, Rabbi, etc. He will also face many dangers, including the danger of being captured again by the Romans or worse yet, by the evil Decha of Megiddo.  Will Bartholomew find his family?  Again, this book too ends in a very powerful way.  The story is just written in such a vivid way, as to make you feel you are making the journey right alongside Bartholomew.