Tales from the Circle C Ranch ~ A Crew Review

Many of you will remember back in March when we reviewed the book Thick as Thieves. Arlene and I recently had the opportunity to review another great title from Circle C Adventures written by Susan K. Marlow. Our most recent venture into the world of Andrea Carter was to read Tales from the Circle C Ranch. This book is a collection of short stories based upon questions sent to the author about other books in the Circle C series. Also available is a cute, yet educational, lap book (printed or ebook form,) Andrea Carter's Tales from the Circle C Ranch Learning Lapbook from A Journey Through Learning that goes alongside Tales from the Circle C Ranch 

Arlene grabbed the book and disappeared to her room as soon as possible after we received it. She had really enjoyed reading Thick as Thieves, and was hoping this book will fill her in on some of the background of Andrea Carter’s past. I just want to take a moment and say that I also really enjoyed reading all of these books by Ms. Marlow that we have reviewed! She also wrote Badge of Honor, which we reviewed quite a while ago.

As a parent, I know it can be difficult at times to choose quality books for your young readers. We have found these books by Susan K. Marlow to be wholesome and fun to read. The characters face real problems, where they need to make a decision about the best path to take. I am encouraged that this newest addition to the Circle C family keeps up the tradition of choosing to follow God and obey your parents without sounding preachy.

Inside this 150 page softcover book are sprinkled a handful of pen and ink style drawings portraying Andrea and her young life. Tales from the Circle C Ranch is an overall satisfying book. I imagine those who have read all of the Circle C Beginnings and Circle C Adventures books are ecstatic to read about the in-between parts.

Arlene really wanted to do this review on her own, alas, I had to include all the technical things, but I saved the bulk of the review for her. She also made our graphic, hope you like it!

Here is Arlene’s review:

This book is not like the other Circle C books, because it is not one long story but a book of short stories. Ms. Marlow wrote these stories to answer questions that readers sent her about events that are mentioned, but not told about, during and between books. These stories are chronological and the first one starts the autumn before the first book of the Circle C Beginnings and the last one takes place just before the last Circle C Adventures book. 

These stories (there are 11 in all) cover everything from 1. how Andrea first got to wear overalls, despite what society (and Aunt Rebeca) said, and how it helped her overcome the sadness of losing her father 2. Buying a birthday gift for her mother, despite of only having 12 cents, 3. A visit from her least favorite aunt, and the tragic ending of her Aunts gift, 4. Her first taste (literally) of snow, and helping choose a Christmas tree, 5. Her brother Chad’s crazy horse, that proved to be not so crazy after all, 6. How she raced in public for the first (and last) time, because of her brother’s injured horse, 7. How her two oldest brothers defended the honor of their sister Katie, with less tragic results then might be expected, 8. How she stole her friend  Cory's snake, and in the process first met Miss. Hawkins her brother’s future wife, 9. How she recovered from being held hostage, and gave Virginia her first riding lesson, 10. When she went to Washington territory to visit her friend Jenny Grant, and overcame her fear of large bodies of water, and 11. How she got rid of her sister’s evil courtier Jeffery Sullivan, after many failed attempts. It is a wonderful read no matter where you are in reading the other books in any of the series. At 150 pages the book may seem long but the stories are short. However they are no less fun and make great read aloud or bedtime stories. 

I concur! This book would make a great addition to your Circle C book collection. At only $7.99 plus shipping, why not get your copy today?! 

Even though Arlene, who recently turned 15 is a little old for lapbooks, we wanted to share just a little about the marvelous resource that it is. It includes basic instructions for making your lapbook out of folders (just in case this is your first time making one,) and then has a section relating to each of the 11 short stories. For each section, there is a page of additional information, such as what little girls actually wore in the late 1800’s or the three main types of saddles. Then there is something to cut out and attach to your lap book. Some of these are mini books, others are for writing things down. At the end there are four of the pen-and-ink style drawings from the book for you to color yourself. This lapbook would make a great addition for any family who loves to learn about the West.

To hear what all the other Crew reviewers thought of this book, and to see those who children used the lapbook, click the link below.