Bartholomew's Passage: A Family Story for Advent (Storybooks for Advent)

We really enjoyed reading this for Advent. We had just completed a homeschool study of ancient Rome so it was the perfect segue. Until now I didn't fully grasp that Israel was ruled by Rome at the time of the birth of Jesus. I'm surprised that there weren't more reviews complaining about the content. I'm fine with it because we study a lot of history, but I think some families might find it disturbing. For example, the boy is taken into slavery and when he accidentally spills something he is ordered to have his hands cut off and he only narrowly escapes. My kids age 11 and 6 tolerated the suspense just fine and didn't seem to be bothered by it. Some of the devotional sections at the end of each chapter were a little annoying, like I just wanted the story to speak for itself, but other times they brought up some really good food for thought.

We really enjoyed reading this book as a family- it's another fun perspective of the Christmas story- just like the rest of the series. It might be a little scary for children under 5.

This book is the 4th book of this series that we have read during an Advent. Like the other 3, the story is engaging, insightful, and a true delight. While there are some "scary" elements (like when he becomes a slave and almost has his hands cut off), I didn't feel like it was too much for my kids. Even when a character does die, its not overly graphic, and is only there to further the story in a realistic way. Each chapter has a brief meditation that connects to the reading. I often just read these without stopping to discuss them. I think the questions are good to have in the brain, something to ponder afterwards. Very good read for the whole family!

My children absolutely love these series. They beg all day to read the next days chapter and often want to read ahead. These stories are very entertaining and always have a good lesson to learn. Good for all ages. My 18 year old down to my 1 year old all love our nightly reads of these series before Christmas. It’s one of our best traditions! Parts of the story literally gave me goosebumps and made me tear up! The author ties in characters from bible times and true events into the story. Love love love!!

My family and I read these books every year. It's one of our favorite Christmas traditions! The author is a master storyteller, leaving you in suspense after every chapter, and helping you to prepare the right heart fit Christmas. We've now gotten our relatives and church hooked on this awesome series, along with his Easter series. I can't express how much I recommend reading this book. You will get hooked!

We read this to our three young children (ages 10, 8, and 5) nightly during Advent. It is set up so that a portion of the story is read each night, with the final outcome on Christmas morning. Each reading takes about 10 minutes. They love it so much that they get their chores done and are ready for bed so that we can read each night's passage. Each night ends with a cliffhanger, and they can't wait to see what happens, only to have a new cliffhanger the next night. This is one in a trilogy of books (Jotham's Journey and Tabitha's Travels). It was out of print until this year, so I'm glad they brought it back. Hopefully Tabitha's Travels will be released next year, so we can rotate the three books, reading from a different one in a cycle of three years. This really helps divert the mindset from being all about toys and "stuff" kids want in the period leading up to Christmas, and gives great family time. I have given this book to two other families, both of whom became hooked with Jotham's Journey last year, and they have made it a part of their family tradition during the Advent/Christmas season.

My family loves this advent book series. It does have some more intense moments for littles so you may want to read ahead of time to see what is best for your family. My three year old handled it well as we explained things and it was all happy in the end.

We love reading these stories for Christmas and Easter. This is our 3rd story (we've read Jotham & Amon). Our boys (12 & 8) LOVE them and they are so filled with meaning and can be used to look in to Scripture for the true meaning of Christmas and Easter.

We have used Jotham's Journey and Tabatha's Travels in previous years as our Advent story but fancied a change this year. This one is every bit as good as the others. There are a few "scary" bits when our heros are in danger but it all ends up happy in the end at the stable as you know it's going to! I bought the kindle version of this book and it's fine, I know some children's books are a bit lacking on an ordinary kindle (not a Fire) but with all the illustrations being line drawings this was not an issue.

Great stories preparing you for Christmas. We have done 1 if these from the series two years in a row now and it is such a great family time. Stories are well written with exciting twists and amazing intertwining if characters from the bible. Looking forward to another one next advent

This is the 3rd book of the series, and we truely enjoyed Bartholomew’s adventures. Lovely way to prepare our hearts for Christmas.

My kids 8 to 15 loved it, and the adults, it is such a captivating story. They were thrilled when they recognised characters from the previous book.

Wonderful!! These books are so good to read as a family during advent.. I highly recommend it! We loved the characters and it was so fun to see a return of the friends we made in the first book in the series. Definitely a keeper!