Really enjoyed reading this with my children. It was such an inspiring book and we loved the details and illustrations.

This book is a simple retelling of the Bible story about Rahab, the Israelite spies, and the conquering of Jericho. The details are based on the bible story, but the author does a great job of gentling this story for children. Rahab is depicted at a young woman who makes the wrong choices so is not sure why God would speak to her or want her to help him, instead of saying that she was a prostitute. The Walls of Jericho come down, but there are not fatalities of blood and gore. I liked that the message was still there though. This is a good addition to the Called and Courageous Girls depicting an unlikely hero. The illustrations are well done, with bright colours and they started a few discussions between my grandson and I. The text is not too much to cause children to lose interest in the story, but enough to tell the tale. Overall, my grandson enjoyed this story and wanted to know if this book was at the church in the library. He wanted to share it with his Sunday School class as they has learned about Rahab recently. I recommend this story to Christian families, Christian schools, or Sunday Schools.

This is the story of Rahab from the Bible. I found this a good book for children to learn the courage and true belief of one of the women in the Bible. Rahab does not have an easy life, 2 Israelites come and tell her they are going to take Jericho. The King of Jericho is not happy to hear they are there and Rahab decides if she will follow the Israelites God or the King. She decides to hide the 2 men and keep them safe. She is reward when the men return. It is written in such a way children can understand it. There are illustrations in the book. I recommend this for any Sunday School and children 5+.

A retelling of the Bible story about Rahab, the Israelite spies, and the conquering of Jericho.

Just about all of the details in this are biblically-based. There’s one imagined scene of Rahab playing hide-n-seek with her siblings as a child. (Which quickly segues into the story of her hiding the Israelite spies later in life.) The authors do a very tactful job of maneuvering around Rahab’s profession (she was a prostitute) and say that she made bad choices about what she did and who she hung out with when she grew up. It helps little readers get the gist of Rahab being an unlikely hero, while still being “safe.” The scene with the wall of Jericho falling down also brings that to life better than any song or Sunday school demo can. But it is also kept “safe” (there are no fatalities or anything shown). I really like the way these authors and illustrator are putting together this series. They bring to life women of the Bible who often get glossed over during Bible story time and do so in memorable but biblically solid ways, and always are a feast for the eyes. Highly recommended to Christian families, Christian schools, or Sunday schools.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An unintentional hero: Rehab's story.
A short story the kids will find intriguing and they'll like the pictures that come with it.
Who knows they might actually pick up a bible and check it out for themselves. Even though, it was short and a quick read it was really good. so when you get a chance, pick up a copy and enjoy.

This is a children’s book on the biblical story of Rahab. It is a book that is a part of the series called “Called and Courageous Girls Series” published by Harvest House Publishers and it is the first book in the series that I and my family have read. The writer Rachel Spier Weaver and illustrator Eric Elwell has given us a beautiful book. I personally enjoyed the artwork and so did my daughters (I read this book to them and got their feedback).
Overall the writing was understandable for little ones. I appreciated the fact that the book was written in a manner that is appropriate for children which is important given the nature of Rahab’s occupation. Yet it also let readers know that Rahab strayed in her ways. The book shows us that Rahab’s action in saving the spies was an act of trust and allegiance to the God of Israel.
Again a well done book. I do think readers might have to explain to young ones that the beginning of the book about a young Rahab playing with her younger sister and older brother isn’t part of the Bible but the author taking license to be creative. I bring this up since my kids pointed out that this incident wasn’t in the Bible! Good on the girls for their discernment but we also had a discussion about the story of Rahab itself as taught in the Scriptures.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Harvest House Publishers and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

It takes courage to follow after God and do the right thing.

Rahab is the unexpected hero in the Old Testament that helped Israel take down Jericho. Rahab had heard the stories of Israel and their God and wondered if God could love her. Could his promises be for her as well. Rahab had great courage in knowing what the right thing was among the evil in her city.

The story is brought to life with colorful illustrations and a yearning to know God and his great love for his people. Love takes great risk and because Rahab took that risk, she became a family line to Christ himself. Her story tells the kindness of God and a better way. A lovely story to read along with elementary age children as your learn together what courage means.

A Special Thank you to Harvest House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This is a great book series and I thoroughly enjoy the concept behind it. I loved previewing the newest edition in the series, regarding Rahab. The authors handle the sensitive nature of Rahab's profession in an age appropriate way and illustrate her courage and dependence on God in a beautiful way. Highly recommend to parents and their children - Male or female!

Review: I received this book as a free e-copy from Netgalley. Aside from some of the formatting issues with being an unpublished book, I really enjoyed this story. The art work was beautiful. The way the author handled her profession was also very kid-friendly. I would definitely recommend this book to friends or family.

I normally wouldn't pick up a picture book like this, as I don't have a lot of interest in Bible stories or Christian literature in general. But the cover kind of drew me in, and I thought it might be interesting to read about a historical heroine. I'd never heard of Rahab or her story, so I went into this one completely ignorant... and I think my experience serves to highlight a few problems with this book.

To begin with, the book assumes the reader has knowledge of the story. That's probably not a good assumption to make, especially with a children's book. I'm guessing Rahab was a prostitute or something, given the euphemisms used, and the vague authors' note at the back. But most of that is pretty much glossed over in favour of the story about the two Israelite spies. Rahab spots them outside the city walls and immediately says, "They look like Israelites." Apparently, everyone in Jericho knows who these Israelites are, and the reader is supposed to know, too. They have a god who performs miracles, so naturally He's the talk of the town.

Now, the next part of the story is where it gets tricky for me. The two Israelite spies appear at Rahab's door and basically tell her that they're there to scout out the land in preparation for taking it over. Rahab thinks this is hunky-dory and decides to help them hide. Now, I don't know about you, but that seems like kind of a treasonous act to me. If some colonial power shows up at your doorstep and tells you they're going to take over, why would you help them? I mean, maybe there's a reason, but this book doesn't explain it. Later, the book talks about Rahab needing to choose between the "evil king" or the "people of God". Unfortunately, this is the first mention of the king of Jericho being evil. Was he? I don't know. I don't know if all kids reading this book would know, either.

Anyway, Rahab decides to stand with the Israelites, and makes a risky deal with the spies. When the Israelites invade, she and her family will be spared.

The Israelites come and make a bunch of noise that knocks down the walls (never mind the supposedly evil king; the city has some infrastructure problems if a bunch of shouting guys with horns can cause their walls to collapse). I was not a fan of this part of the book. I don't know what the final version will be like, but the ARC has three repeating spreads of the walls falling into rubble with the words CRACK!! POP!! BOOM!! on each one, each in a different font. (It's almost like the book decided it wanted to be a graphic novel for a moment.) Rahab and her family somehow aren't crushed by all the falling masonry and her spy friends rescue them.

The next part of the book reads as pretty ridiculous to non-believers:

Because of her courage, God made Rahab a part of the greatest story on Earth: She became the great-great-great-great-great-grandmother to Jesus.

I don't know how you get made the ancestor to someone who won't be born for over a hundred years. That's just... My mind ties in knots just thinking about the logistics. Did God have this starting line-up of ancestors for Jesus ready to go? Did He swap them in or out based on their actions or faith? This part just seems kind of silly, and it serves to further distance the book from less religious readers.

The ARC is very rough, with certain blocks of text being repeated on some pages (as if the layout artist couldn't decide where the words should go). I'm also not sure if that collapse sequence is going to be three spreads long in the final version, or if that was more experimentation. The illustrations, however, are fairly nice. I can't really complain about those.

Overall, this book is a little too reliant on previous knowledge of the Bible and a Christian worldview to be appealing to more secular audiences. That's a shame, since it's always nice to read stories about women who lived in the past.