Introducing apologetics to our children at an early age has been a priority in our family, so I was extremely excited to review Dino Dave's Adventures in Apologetics- Book 1, the first book in a series of apologetics books for elementary students. Teaching our children that the Bible contains truth, not fictional stories, and providing them with historical, scientific, and archeological evidence to support it is vital in equipping our children to defend their faith.

Dino Dave's Adventures in Apologetics- Book 1 by Dave Woetzel is an 86-page paperback book from Genesis Park. It sells for $9.99. The second book in this series will be available in August 2022.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, each containing a lesson using actual events and experiences from Dino Dave's life. The theme of the chapter is written under each chapter's title to aid parents and teachers who wish to expand on the lesson. The list of topics, as listed in the table of contents, are as follows:

• Dinosaurs show us how big and strong God is.
• The stories in the Bible actually happened, so people lived at the same time as dragons.
• Bigger and healthier animals living in the past teach us about God's good creation.
• The great flood of Noah's day explains things we see on Earth today.
• A bell found in coal helps us understand the flood and God's punishment for sin.
• There is a difference between a person and an animal, what the Bible calls a soul.
• God has preserved His Word, the Bible.
• The soft tissue in the dinosaur's fossils reminds us that we should evaluate all things by the Bible.
• God has a purpose for each person He made and for each organ inside us.
• The Bible is God's Word, and we can trust what it says about the future.
• The sun, stars, and planets help us understand there is an all-wise Creator.
• The Biblical truths help us understand the fossils.

Each chapter is five pages long and contains several colorful pictures with the text. At the end of each chapter, the book provides five questions with answers to check for understanding and generate further discussion.

I read this book in our homeschool with my 7 and 11-year-old sons. It was a wonderful book to read and discuss together. The short chapters made it easy to include in our day, and the colorful pictures were fun, informative, and engaging. The text seemed more appropriate for younger elementary students, with frequent references to the reader as "boys and girls." The depth of information and vocabulary was also suitable for this younger age group. The questions at the end of the chapter seemed most appropriate for younger students as well, but parents could expand on the questions for older students. This is why I appreciated knowing the lesson focus before reading the chapter. Older students, especially students who have had previous apologetics lessons, may find that this book repeats information they have already learned.

The Genesis Park website has more information for those interested in digging deeper into several of the topics introduced in this book. Readers can also sign-up to receive a newsletter with updates.

I really like how this book appeals to the younger elementary student. Dave mentions in the author's introduction that younger students enjoy Bible stories but have trouble seeing them as real. Dave Woetzel wrote this book to help show students real events, history, people, and adventures that all support the events recorded in the Bible.

One caution I would like to mention is that there is a picture of a mummified body on page fifty-seven. This picture may be scary to children. It is in the upper right corner, and I was able to cover it up by folding that corner down, but it could also be cut out without losing any text from the book.

After using this product in our home, I think it would be a powerful addition to early apologetics training for young elementary-age students either in the home or in a classroom. It provides a colorful and engaging starting point in apologetics. This book can be used alone or added to another Bible or apologetics curriculum. It would also work well alongside an elementary science program or as part of a family Bible study time in families with primarily younger children.

-Product review by Sarah Roth, The Old Schoolhouse® July 2022.