Books for Families of All Christian Faiths
by Arnold Ytreeide
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
DANA
Hello!!!! Our family of 4 young children just finished Jothams Journey and loved it!!!! Can you please tell me the ideal order of reading the next books?
(see answer below)
ROBYN
We have been reading your books for years and have loved every one! Each time a new one is released there is much rejoicing in our house.
JASON
We started reading all your advent books years ago with our sons. We have made it through all of them and will re-start the journey again next year with Jotham's Journey!
The Jotham of Jericho Dynasty
Let Jotham's Family take Your Family on a Journey through the New Testament
Through the eyes of fictional characters in the midst of nail-biting adventures, you and your family can travel through the entire New Testament. You'll experience the events and characters of the gospels and epistles as real people living real lives and encountering the truths of the real Jesus.
Along the way you and your children will come to understand the many ways in which life two-thousand years ago was very different, and the many ways in which people then were exactly the same as people today. You'll gain an appreciation for what it really means when scripture tells us that Paul went to Antioch or Peter stayed with a tanner. You'll be there when Jesus is born, when he's resurrected, and when his church is founded and goes through its growing pains.
All of this is delivered to you packaged in adventure stories that have both children and adults begging for "Just one more chapter!"
When you're done with each book, challenge your kids to read those same stories in the Bible, or even better, read along with them. Suddenly, the places and people in scripture come alive.
Best for ages 7 and up, though parents can easily read around parts that might be scary for young or sensitive kids.
The first four books (Advent) can be read in any order, and families often rotate through them from Christmas to Christmas. After that, the books should be read in order.
Book #1: Jotham's Journey - A Family Story for Advent
From the Gospel Accounts of Christmas
The disobedient one finds Jesus. The journey begins when ten-year-old Jotham (JAW-thum) discovers he's not as grown up as he thought after he gets mad and runs away from "home" -- a goat-skin tent in the middle of herds of sheep somewhere in the Hills of Judea. When he finally returns, the tents are gone. In his search for his family he encounters a fool, a priest, an innkeeper, and the deadliest thief in Judea, Decha of Megiddo. Eventually his journey takes him to Bethlehem, where he witnesses the greatest birth in all of history.
Book #2: Bartholomew's Passage - A Family Story for Advent
From the Gospel Accounts of Christmas
A slave finds Jesus. Ten-year-old Bartholomew loves being the son of a fisherman in the small village of Terichae. He can make friends with anyone. But the Romans have other ideas, and soon Bart is ripped from his family and sold into slavery. A fool and a Roman soldier help him escape, then hide him in the monastery of Qumran. There he stays until his friend Jotham is lost, and he joins the search - a search that ultimately leads to Bethlehem.
Book #3: Tabitha's Travels - A Family Story for Advent
From the Gospel Accounts of Christmas
A refugee finds Jesus. Ten-year-old Tabitha loves being a girl, but hates that boys get to have all the fun. She talks her way into a trip with her father to search for a boy named Jotham, but when the Romans arrest and drag her father to prison, she's left all alone in the wilderness. With the help of a priest, a cook, and a Roman dignitary, she finds herself helping a pregnant woman in Bethlehem one dark and scary night.
Book #4: Ishtar's Odyssey - A Family Story for Advent
From the Gospel Accounts of Christmas
A Gentile finds Jesus. Ten-year-old Ishtar loves the lavish life of a prince in Persia. But one night he sees a strange star and is forced to join his father - a Magi - on a long, dirty, dry, and dangerous caravan to the west. Instead of private swimming pools and banquet tables, he must now endure stinky camels and bowls of mush. But along the way he meets new friends - Jotham, Bartholomew, and Tabitha - and hears of a God who puts all his token gods to shame. He then meets that God himself, in a manger in Bethlehem.
Book #5: Amon's Adventure - A Family Story for Easter
Mt 26-28, Mk 14-15, Lk 22-24, Jn 17-21
Thirteen-year-old son of Jotham and Tabitha, Amon (uh-MON) is so smart that he knows his father's stories about being present at the Messiah's birth thirty years before are fantasies. But that doesn't keep him from plotting a rescue when his father is falsely accused by the High Priest and sentenced to death. Helping him carry out that plan is Tamar, daughter of Bartholomew, now a disciple of Jesus. Though Amon rejects this Jesus fellow as the Messiah, he can't help but recognize the truth after he sees the temple veil split in two, hears the blubbering confession of a Roman soldier, and confronts that Messiah in the middle of an upper room. Designed for Lent, but can be read any time of the year.
Book #6: Amon's Secret - A Family Story of the First Christians
Acts 1-9
Amon and the believers in Jerusalem begin organizing this new church they call The Way. Many questions face the apostles, and to help them find answers, they turn to Amon and his clever ways. But High Priest Caiaphas and his favorite prosecutor - Saul - are determined to hunt down and even kill those who stray from strict Jewish law and tradition. Being a believer becomes ever more dangerous, and Amon fears for the future of the church, until Saul insists that Amon accompany him to hunt down Jesus followers - on the road to Damascus.
Book #7: Amon's Mission - A Family Story About Spreading the Good News
Acts 10-12 + Epistles
It's three years later and Amon is now sixteen, ready to start building his life. But the church seems to have other ideas as he is continually called on to help this or that apostle, or go on this or that journey. A series of disasters and miracles lead him places he never wanted to go, to do things he never wanted to do - or thought he could. Despite the distractions, he is determined to complete his mission, if only he can get past Rhoda and her scowl!
NOW AVAILABLE!
Book #8: Ethan's Torment* - A Family Story of the Gentile Inclusion*
Acts 13-15 + Epistles
It's tough to know who you are or who you can be when you have a famous father. And Ethan's father, Amon, is about the most famous Jew in all of Jerusalem. So when Amon announces that his thirteen-year-old son, Ethan, will be going on a journey with the apostle Saul, Ethan naturally hides in a storeroom. It's just a short trip, his father promises - just up to Antioch and back. It will be good for him. But the short trip turns into a long journey when Saul and Barnabas are sent to spread the news about Jesus to places on Cyprus, and up into Galatia. Ethan's hopes of soon returning home are constantly dashed as they meet opposition from the Jews wherever they go, and must fight for their lives at every turn of the road. This book is already written and has begun its journey through the publishing process, for release in late 2025.
Book #9: Eliana's Quest* - A Family Story of the Westward Expansion*
Acts 16-21 + Epistles
Eliana is Amon's second child, and his only daughter. She's not only tired of being the child of famous parents - she can't scratch her head without some old Jewish woman judging her - she's also tired of being cooped up in a tiny house in Jerusalem. So when some of the other women decide to accompany Paul on his next mission, she talks her parents into letting her join them. Seeing the world is one thing, but Eliana begins to think Jerusalem is a pretty good place to be when she faces angry mobs, long walks on dangerous roads, and sea voyages full of perils.
Book #10: Enoch's Penance* - A Family Story of The Seven Churches*
Acts 22-28 + Epistles + Revelation
There isn't a place in Jerusalem where thirteen-year-old Enoch can't find some fun - and some trouble. As the son of the famous Amon, and grandson to the famous Jotham and Tabitha, Enoch feels like God created the whole world solely for his enjoyment - until his father, says, "Enough!" It's time for Enoch to grow up, and Amon knows just how to help him do that: a missionary trip with Paul. After all, it's sort of become a family tradition. So leaving his friends and frolicking behind, Enoch follows "Old Plodding Paul" from one side of the world to the other. His father had always told him there was more to life than fun, but on this journey he finally comes to understand what that means, and what it means to be a part of the Jotham of Jericho dynasty.
* Working title, subject to change prior to publication
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Mike Danford Adventure Series
"There's Nothing Wrong with Doing Right"
Seventeen-year-old Mike Danford and his best friend Josh Roberts live for adventure, especially if they can help someone else, discover something new, or stop some bad guys in the process. So whenever a dangerous and impossible job needs done, they figure out a way to do it - usually by inventing and building some new machine. Of course, it's never easy, so disaster and death are always just around the next boulder, cloud, predator, or meteor. Good thing they have faithful friends, great parents, and a God big enough to help them when they're in trouble!
MOST READERS RECOMMEND READING THIS SERIES IN THE ORDER WRITTEN
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"One Christmas I didn't tell the kids a new Mike and Josh book had been released and wrapped it up. It was the gift of the year! Our college-attending daughter even joins us on FaceTime when we read.....so fun! Our kids constantly remind each other that there's nothing wrong with doing right."
