Wow, what a wonderful experience it’s been reading through the Fruity Friends Collection with my children! Fruity Friends is a 9-Book Boxed Collection full of vibrant, relatable characters and a powerful biblical message. The colorful, paperback books fit well inside a sturdy box and packaged easily enough for a 3-year-old to access. Each book focuses on one of the nine fruits: Love, Kindness, Peace, Gentleness, Goodness, Patience, Faithfulness, Self-Control, and Joy. The beginning of each book introduces a character (my daughter’s favorite was Patti Peach, The Fruit of Gentleness). It tells a story about that character and their experience with the fruit of that lesson. At the end of each story, a prayer can help the reader pray about incorporating that fruit into their own lives. The entire 9-Book Collection can be purchased through the Fruity Friends website for $74.99.

When we first received these books, my youngest daughter couldn’t wait to open the box and start reading! We began with Stella Strawberry, The Fruit of Love. We snuggled up on the couch and read it through at least three times before she remembered that we still had eight more books to read! I appreciated the simplicity of each story. The message was straightforward and easy to understand for my 3-year-old but even included plenty of opportunity for expansion and further discussion with my 8- and 9-year-old children.  Several pages of the stories include bible verses that relate to the text. I mostly read these books to my youngest, but on occasion, my older two children would sit with me and help explain the concepts to their little sister. We were able to bring out our Bible, look up the verse, and connect what it says in the Bible to what Stella Strawberry was learning. We also were able to discuss real-life experiences and how these nine fruits can empower us to make the choices that God would have us make. I think my favorite part of these books was the prayer included at the end of every story. Sometimes, my daughter would grab one of the books, bring it to me and flip straight to the prayer page. She enjoyed sitting in my lap, putting her little hands together, bowing her head, and listening as I read the prayer for both of us. It was a memorable experience, and I am grateful to these books for creating those moments for us.

The Fruity Friends stories are short and easy to read. I would say they are ideally written for ages 3-6; however, if you are looking for something to spark more in-depth conversations with children ages 7-10, these books are still a great resource. I used these books as an evening “cuddle time” book. As we were settling down for the night, we’d pick out a couple and read them together. I would also recommend these books for helping children through challenging life experiences. For example, one night, my oldest son was having difficulty controlling his emotions and wasn’t making the best choices. I happened to be reading “Adam Apple, The Fruit of Self Control” to my daughter and invited him over to hear the lesson as well. This sparked one of the best conversations we had about the nine fruits- because he was able to connect his behavior and what Adam Ant was also experiencing.

These books are well-made and serve multiple purposes in our household. The paperback books are well-constructed, and the sturdy box helps to preserve them, but with three children, one on-the-way, and five animals in the house, I would love to see a hardback option from Fruity Friends in the future.

I recommend this book collection to any parent who is looking for a positive, biblical message, memorable characters, and opportunities to grow and learn more about the nine fruits with your child. We will keep them on the shelf for years to come and refer back to many of the prayers as they become applicable to our lives.

-Product review by Danielle Lenz, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December 2020