Bartholomew's Passage: A Family Story for Advent

by Arnold Ytreeide

Book Overview

The highly anticipated follow-up to Jotham's Journey Bartholomew's Passage is an engaging story that guides families through the Advent season. Young Bartholomew's adventures start when Roman soldiers destroy his village and disperse his family, continue through his enslavement to a tyrannical master and his escape with his new friend Nathan, and end with a reunion with his family in Bethlehem. Along the way Bartholomew makes a new friend, a young...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0825441730
• ISBN13: 9780825441738
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Kregel Publications
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.5" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

a great story

My 8 year old son really enjoys this book and can't wait until the next night's chapter. He says it is so exciting, he can't wait to see what happens next. We read Jotham's Journey last year, and he enjoyed it as well. I highly recommend these books.

Family Advent/Christmas Tradition

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.

Great book for Advent

Bartholomew's Passage is part of a collection of stories that follow the adventures of Jotham, Tabitha, and Bartholomew as they make their way to Bethlehem to see the birth of Jesus. Each book is self-contained and tells a small part of the story each day during Advent, followed by a small devotion. Each child faces a different hardship; Bartholomew sees his village attacked and taken captive, leaving him without a family and trying to survive in Roman-occupied Jerusalem. He faces trials and experiences joys during his travels and meets Tabitha and Jotham along the way. These stories try to capture the experience of life at this time while still helping families see how God works through good and bad times and ultimately has a better plan than the plans we make ourselves. We started this series with Jotham's Journey a while back, picking up a copy of Jotham's Journey and Tabitha's Travels. We didn't pick up Bartholomew's story at the time, not knowing that the books would temporarily be out of print. As soon as this was re-printed, we jumped at the chance to add this to our collection. The books are well-written, tell a great story, and help us focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas to start with. If you want a nightly story and devotion for Advent, do not hesitate to buy one of the books in this series. -- For those with younger children, you may want to pick up Jotham or Tabitha first. I found Bartholomew's Passage to be a little more intense than the other two stories, though not graphic.

Family Devotional for Advent

I cannot say enough good things about this book! It is part of a trilogy. Each section is exciting and ends like a cliffhanger making your older children want you to read more. Sometimes the adventures are even a little scary. Each section also ends with a brief devotion section and Scripture. These books are hard to find, so if you find one, grab it!

Exciting Family Adventures!

This is the first year that we have read BARTHOLOMEW'S PASSAGE as a family for Advent devotions. We read JOTHAM`S JOURNEY, by the same author, two years in a row, and really enjoyed the way the two stories intertwine! You can enjoy BARTHOLOMEW'S PASSAGE without ever reading JOTHAM`S JOURNEY. Both stories stand on their own as an exciting adventure set in the time just before the birth of Jesus. As both stories allude to the other, you will enjoy alternating a different book each year. Along the way, you'll learn about the way that the Bible was copied and stored, the tyranny of the Romans over the Jewish people, and culture and daily activities of people in Bible times. The story of Bartholomew is very exciting! There are some parts that are brutal or violent, so I would rate this as a "PG" story and not read to very young children that might be scared of "murderous slave-traders" and the like, at bedtime. After an exciting story chapter is read (always with a "cliffhanger" ending!), there is a short "lesson" or devotional following. I think the devotions are even better this time, than in JOTHAM'S JOURNEY. The author, Arnold Ytreeide shows a spiritual maturity, and an insight into the spiritual development of kids that is outstanding. Instead of "God will always keep you safe", we learn that sometimes bad things do happen, but, God will be there with you through the hard times. The devotional goes down easy because the story is so good! The story, itself, is about a boy that is taken away from his family, and sold as a slave to a cruel master. He is saved by a monk from Qumran and the two must escape from Roman soldiers. Bartholomew's adventures take him from the Dead Sea to Bethlehem, where he helps a man and a very pregnant woman find a place to spend the night. Many good morals and family values are shown along the way. The kids keep begging for one more chapter--which I usually oblige. We don't read this "every" night during advent like the book says to. We read when there are no Christmas or school activities scheduled for that night, then read ahead a little (because we may get behind again), but usually end up with the final segments on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The story culminates with the birth of the Christ child and a happy ending all around. Through these Christmas devotional books, our family experiences a very rewarding month of read-alouds each December. What a wonderful way to keep Jesus at the forefront of the season! Thank you, Arnold Ytreeide!