Mary Jones and her Bible (Classic Fiction)

This is one of "our" ALL time favorite books from childhood in Ceylon-Sri Lanka because we suffered from a childhood illness that our parents were told "we" would not survive past age 12. "We" survived! "We" struggled to breathe so MUCH in childhood that "we" found comfort in the author's descriptions Mary Jone's dad )the weaver's_ asthmatic breathing troubles. "We" admired Mary's EXTRAORDINARY physical fitness _BECAUSE_ "we" had _NONE_ "ourselves!"~being "branded" at an _EARLY_ age "by" our father's intellectual whits "as" NOT QUITE FALCONER-YET-BUT-ALL BRAIN+NO (as in ZERO) BRAWN! Decades _LATER_ moving to the town of Bala Cynyd in The USA State of Pennsylvania was _MAGICAL_ because BALA is straight from "our" childhood book - the second largest city - after Cardiff - in the COUNTRY Wales! _ONLY_ "topped" "by" a Canadian UNCLE-BY-MARRIAGE "nick-named" BALA!

I read this to my 11yo son and 13yo daughter as part of the SonLight Curriculum. The story is inspiring, no doubt, and educates the reader on the value of the Bible. In our Bible saturated society we are too flippant in that lesson. Since my kids are not extra-ordinary like Mary (rather ordinary) and content to sit through a 2 hour sermon, they had a hard time empathizing with her. As stated in a previous review, the author tends to lose the reader with rabbit trails that feel endless and meaningless about other characters. I hope a more imaginatve author takes this inpiring true story and weaves it into a fictional historical novel thereby spreading the word about Mary, the need to value God's word and proving that christains CAN write good books.

When the book stays focused on Mary, it is very inspiring, and a wonderful example is presented of treasuring God's Word. However, there is a tendency to drift off-topic down rabbit trails. There are several other characters that Mary encounters, like a schoolteacher, or the man she gets her Bible from, that the book will veer off after and give their entire life history, and it often detracts from the main story.I read this to my 8 and 6-year-old children, and they liked it well enough. It provided a good opportunity to discuss again how blessed we are to have God's Word easily available and to remind them that, even today, that's not true for many people in other parts of the world. I'll read this book again in the future with them and with my other children as they grow older, but it's not as good as I hoped it would be.

Typical paperback book quality, but the story contents are AWESOME. Nice addition of occasional pictures. Recommended age range: 5th grade+ for individual reading. But my preschoolers enjoy listening to me read aloud the chapters during our nap routine. Some of the city/town names are difficult to pronounce (since they are from a different country), but otherwise an easy read. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. WONDERFUL addition of missions reading to children and adults alike.

Love this book no dislikes

The story of Mary Jones and her love for God's Word produces thankfulness for having the Bible so available in all who read it. It will be one that the reader will never forget and will influence her all her life.

inspirational…good for junior high and above.

I liked this story so I shared it with a group of children in our children. I believe it helped them understand how precious the Word of God is and how lucky we are to have it.

Expensive and seemed cheaply made. But the story went down well with the owner.

Bought this for a lovely older couple from Wales, I remember reading this as a child.She loved it and said it really captured North Wales well. Delivered promptly and great condition many thanks.

Good story

It was bought as a gift

beautiful copy in excellent condition