Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers by Douglas Bond surprised me in multiple ways when we received the pdf of the e-book to review a few weeks ago. For one, this isn’t just a cute little kids’ picture book for your iPad. Nope! It’s a meaty 242-page chapter book full of informative, yet creative storytelling designed to peak an older elementary age kid’s interest in the ways of hymnody. It surprised me in it’s ability to grab interest, both mine and my younger daughters. The storytelling aspect is an important one to me and I like this. It also surprised me in that it is the first book in a whole series about Mr. Pipes. I like that very much and would love to get my hands on a complete set.
So what am I even talking about anyway? Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers comes from Christian Liberty Press,the publishing arm of the Christian Liberty Academy School System. This book was first published in print in 1999. You can still buy it in print form for $9.89. The eBook that you see here is available for $8.79.
The little write-up of the book from their website says, “This first book in the series by Douglas Bond tells the story of two teens who, while on vacation in England, are befriended by an elderly English gentlemen called Mr. Pipes. Through this relationship they learn about famous British hymn writers. They also learn about the value of traditional worship and praise.”
I love that Mr. Pipes takes two very “modern” kids through some detailed Christian history in the nuance of fictional liberty to grab our attention and remind us of some very important truths. The author covers some hymn writers that are fairly well-known as well as some of the more obscure ones. There are illustrations scattered throughout in a nicely done manner and each chapter, which covers a different hymn writer, includes the music score to one of their hymns.
I like what Christian Liberty Press has done with this series and I’m looking forward to taking a closer look at more of their books for my kids.
Be sure to check out what the rest of the TOS Homeschool Crew had to say about Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers right here!
Disclaimer: The product was provided for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received. All thoughts are my own. I keep a proper disclosure statement available here.
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