Exodus Rating

Here's the hard truth about this life. Good doesn't always triumph. Justice isn't always served. People don't always change for the better. Life isn't clean, and we can't make it clean by blotting out all the sex, language, and violence that might come before our eyes. Likewise, we can't make things better by numbing ourselves to evil. 

It's a delicate balance, and one that requires discernment (a favorite word of Christian critics, I know, but a good concept.) There are plenty of people who use "clean" movies and books to absolve themselves of the very real evil in their own hearts. And it's to this kind of tendency we want to speak.

If we surround ourselves with an artificial "clean Christian" world, one where there are only happy endings, only inspiring acts of courage, only proper and elegant words, we're not only denying the truth about the world, but inventing our own. And it's one which doesn't show us how badly we need a Savior, or how much He really loves us.

So don't be the kid who covers his eyes during a game of hide-and-seek. The fact that you don't see evil doesn't mean it stops existing. Evil must be faced head on. Sometimes that means reading a book that's messy.

There's nothing wrong with having a tolerance level, nothing wrong with knowing your limit or having a standard. Tragedy happens naturally to children all the time, but that's no reason to force them into reading something inappropriate. People grow at different rates, and common sense should be exercised. Discernment, we recommend. Hiding, sheltering, cowering, and ignoring we do not.

This will look different for every person. We've given you some tools to help you navigate literature, and it's our hope you will do so in a spirit of honesty and love, not censorship and fear. 

1-Star Rating | 2-Star Rating | 3-Star Rating | 4-Star Rating | 5-Star Rating

Our five content concern categories, otherwise known as FLAWS

F = Fighting/Violence
L = Language
A = Attitude
W = Worldview
S = Sex

Review by Lauren Shearer
Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. You can read more of her reviews here.
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54 Items found Print
Active Filters: Outside of a Dog Booklist, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Trade Paperback, In-Stock Books & Materials
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.26
Anna Hibiscus
by Atinuke
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 1st-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
Ant and the Elephant
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
Bear That Heard Crying
by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock & Helen Kinsey
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.79
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.79
Billy and Blaze
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Birthday for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Patricia Polacco
from Putnam Juvenile
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.94
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Patricia Polacco
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
Chanticleer and the Fox
by Barbara Cooney
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
1959 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.79
Cowardly Clyde
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke
Deluxe from Chicken House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49
Dragon Rider: Griffin's Feather
Dragon Rider #2
by Cornelia Funke
Deluxe from Chicken House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49
Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 1st-6th grade
$6.79
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
Flora & Ulysses
by Kate DiCamillo
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
2014 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Frog Went A-Courtin'
by John Langstaff
from HMH Books for Young Readers
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.79
Ginger Pye
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Animal Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
1952 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
Half Magic
Half Magic Quartet Book 1
by Edward Eager
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49
Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 3
by Lewis, C. S.
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.04 $5.60 (3 in stock)
House on East 88th Street
by Bernard Waber
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.79
How My Parents Learned to Eat
by Ina R. Friedman
from Sandpiper Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.79
King's Equal
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
Knight's Castle
by Edward Eager
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79
Last Battle RUC
Chronicles of Narnia Book 7
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
1956 Carnegie Medal
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64
Light Princess
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Sunburst Book
Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
$8.49
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe TOS
Chronicles of Narnia Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.19
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from PaperStar Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade
1990 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.94 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
by Bernard Waber
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.79
Madeline's Rescue
by Ludwig Bemelmans
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction, Rhyming Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1954 Caldecott Medal winner
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$7.64
Magic by the Lake
by Edward Eager
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.60 (2 in stock)
Magic by the Lake
by Edward Eager
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79
Magician's Nephew TOS
Chronicles of Narnia Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.19
Middle Moffat
Moffats #2
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
1943 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
Moffat Museum
Moffats #4
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
Moffats
Moffats #1
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.49
More All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #3
by Sydney Taylor
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.01
Prince Caspian
Chronicles of Narnia Book 4
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.04
Rufus M.
Moffats #3
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
Saint George and the Dragon
by Margaret Hodges & Trina Schart Hyman
from Little, Brown & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 2nd-3rd grade
1985 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
by Evaline Ness
from Henry Holt and Company
Allegorical and Moral Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1967 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
by Evaline Ness
from Trumpet Club
Allegorical and Moral Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1967 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.20 (1 in stock)
Silver Chair
Chronicles of Narnia Book 6
by C. S. Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64
Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
2004 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
Time Garden
by Edward Eager
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79
Voyage of the Dawn Treader RUC
Chronicles of Narnia Book 5
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49