Homeschool Friday - Jax's Tail Twitches

Homeschool Friday is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know that showcases books my family reads during homeschool and provides a mini-review for each.

Jax's Tail Twitches (Good News for Little Hearts)

By: David A. Powlison

Illustrated By: Joe Hox

Publication: October 1, 2018 by New Growth Press

32 pages

Genre: Children's, Animals, Picture Books, Christian, Manners

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--Everyone gets frustrated when something important to them goes wrong. In Jax’s Tail Twitches, the whole Squirrel family ends up out of sorts when acorn gathering doesn’t go according to plan. Although Papa, Mama, Jax, and Caspian Squirrel all get angry, they also learn about the power of saying sorry, seeking forgiveness, remembering God’s words, and praying together. Edited by David Powlison, Jax’s Tail Twitches ends with a special section that guides parents in teaching children how the gospel of Jesus Christ changes how we respond when life goes wrong. Also included is a tear-out page of Back Pocket Bible Verses that will help children and adults remember to turn to God for help when they are angry.

I absolutely love the Good News for Little Hearts series. There's always a Scripture where a book dedication usually stands. Jax's Tail Twitches features Psalm 103:8, "The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love," but it is at the back of the book. Jax's Tail Twitches is 32 pages long, but of course, it isn't an AR book so finding an exact book level for reading purposes would just have to be a guess, but I would put these books on par with the Berenstain Bears which ranges from a level-2 to a level-4. Either way, this is a book that I've read to my kids, not a book that my kids have grabbed for supplemental reading purposes (at least so far).

The book starts with Jax and Caspian waking up and racing to be first to the kitchen. Caspian trips Jax and laughs. So Jax starts the day off in a bad mood. His father comes in with an armful of acorns and discusses the year's supply. The family goes about their day collecting acorns to store up for the winter, but as kids do, Caspian gets bored and playfully throws an acorn at his brother. Jax is not amused and retaliates. Caspian is playing, but Jax is angry. At the same time, there's another squirrel family that stops by to visit. The dad of that family picks up an acorn, and Papa asks him about his own tree providing for his family. He thinks of this tree as a community tree. Papa corrects him using the squirrel handbook, but Mr. McNuffle is surprised that Papa wouldn't want to help his neighbor. As the men begin to argue, no one notices that baby (toddler?) Jolie jumps into the bag of acorns Papa has been collecting which bursts and acorns go flying everywhere. All the family's hard work goes rolling down the hill. At the same time, Mama realizes her dinner is burning back in the treehouse. The family goes racing home.

Now everyone is angry. Mama blames Papa for distracting her with his argument. Papa blames Mr. McNuffle for not being a good neighbor and following the squirrel handbook. Caspian notices that Dad's tail is twitching in the same way that Jax's does and comments about the acorn not falling far from the tree. Jax looks around and sees that everyone wanted something they didn't get. Papa is the first to apologize, setting a good example in humbling himself. He tells the family how the Great Book (Bible) says that anger doesn't produce the right and good life that God wants us to have. They all discuss what happened and how anger led to poor decisions. The squirrels go to God in prayer to ask for forgiveness and help. The each go around the room noting what they did wrong and asking each other to forgive them. Papa writes two verses down on a piece of paper to keep in his back pocket. Jax notes that as soon as his tail begins to twitch he's going to ask God for help in the future. The family goes down to gather their spilled acorns and make things right with the McNuffle family. Mr. McNuffle asks for forgiveness too, and they share warm apple crisp Mrs. McNuffle brought over.

At the end of the book is a section to parents about helping children with anger. And then finally, there are six "Back Pocket Bible Verses" that you can pull out and give to your child/children for when they are angry. James 1:20, Psalm 46:1, Ephesians 4:32, Exodus 34:6, 1 Corinthians 13:4, and Romans 12:21.

Picture books that teach about Biblical character in a way that children can understand and apply in their lives are among my top favorite books. This entire series is great. Jax's Tail Twitches gets 5 Stars. I especially have one child that struggles with anger, and this book does a great job of showing how it seeps out to everyone it touches, and how personal responsibility is needed to fix it. Have you or your child read Jax's Tail Twitches? What did you think? Let me know!