The Little Lamb is a tale originally published in German by Christoph von Schmid in 1839, but has recently been rewritten by Mark Hamby and published by Lamplighter Publishing. It is hardbound in a collector’s format containing 144 pages and recommended for ages 9-14. It is available on the Lamplighter Publishing website for $18.

The tale begins with a young girl, Christina, finding a lamb in the woods while picking strawberries. She wishes desperately to keep the lamb but is faced with the decision to do the right thing and return the lamb to its owner or to keep the lamb in spite of the knowledge of what the good and godly answer to her dilemma ought to be. She chooses to do the right thing, and the rewards of her honesty are plentiful.

In the same volume as The Little Lamb was another entire story entitled The Redbreast. It was the story of a boy living with his grandfather. The boy befriends a red-breasted robin, then sells it to buy a goose for a festival his grandfather remembered celebrating with a fatted goose in his younger days. When the robin returns to the boy, he has to make a decision—to be honest and return it to its buyer or to keep his former pet. The Redbreast celebrates themes of honesty and the rewards that can naturally occur when one does the right thing. While it might be a bit more reward than any of us will see in this life, it was a fun story that my daughter also enjoyed.

My 12-year-old daughter read The Little Lamb and The Readbreast both together in one sitting. She is a fast and voracious reader, and I’m thrilled when I can find books that do not merely entertain, but also teach a Christian worldview. Lamplighter Publishing, I’m finding, offers everything I’m looking for and The Little Lamb (and The Redbreast) did not disappoint. While the characters seem to always make the right decisions, having that modeled is an encouragement and example that I appreciate.

-Product review by Adrienne Falkena, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July 2017