Institute in Basic Life Principles

Well, here is a fascinating look at history! Published in 1978, this book recounts the story of a Christian missionary who grows upset when, after having paid a native to plant imported pineapple trees for him, his pineapples are all stolen by the natives and he gets none. Eventually, after many years, the missionary discovers how altering his own thoughts and behaviors can help him grow closer to God and, as a nice side benefit, get him some pineapples.

That's all nice. The not-nice part is show more the inadvertent message of this book, which is that in the 1970s many of us considered people who were of different cultures to be so inferior to us that we didn't even credit them as sentient beings. Here's the worse example: Our narrator threatens the natives with the closing of the mission-run health clinic if the pineapple thefts continue. When the thefts don't stop, he closes the clinic. A quote: "Then they let their sick babies die. They couldn't care less. Life was cheap over there."

In my opinion, books like this are very important! Nothing shows the real history of a culture like the current writings of a time. This book is insulting, demeaning, and condescending. We see this clearly in 2015...but in 1978 we thought this book was a wonderful message of God's way of working in our hearts.

We've come a long way in my lifetime. And this book actually has two good lessons for us to learn now. show less

Useful animal and nature information, but the connection of other animals' behavior to human character traits in Scripture is sometimes somewhat strained.

Useful animal and nature information, but the connection of other animals' behavior to human character traits in Scripture is sometimes somewhat strained.

Full of beautiful watercolor illustrations, this book is in 3 parts. Part 1, The Ways of the Eagle, describes the bird, how it develops and how it lives. Part 2, The Warnings of the Eagle, tells the story of a wary eagle and a cunning trapper. Part 3 offers lessons on how to gain victory over sinful habits, drawing from scriptural references to the eagle. While the 3rd portion of the book is presented on an adult level of understanding, parts 1 and 2 are excellent in-depth studies of the show more eagle for primary-grade students. show less