Circle C Beginnings Review

Author Susan K. Marlow, has written a prequel series entitled Circle C Beginnings.  Last year, while serving on the TOS Homeschool Crew, I had the opportunity to review one of her other books in her Circle C Adventure series, entitled Trouble With Treasure.  She recently sent the next two books in her Circle C Beginnings to review. Susan is a homeschool mom, freelance editor and teacher.  

The girls were excited to begin the next two books after remembering how fun Andi's adventures were in Andi's Indian Summer and Andi's Pony Trouble.  


In Andi's Fair Surprise, Andi wants desperately to take her pony Taffy to the 1874 California State Fair, but her older brother and mother disagree.  So what possible fun could a fair be without her favorite pony, Taffy?  Her attitude begins poorly, but she finds once she is there that the fair turns out to be very exciting.  Even though she doesn't get to keep the prize she won, she still manages to win a "blue ribbon" from her mother for her decision to give away her prize to another little girl!
My middle girls are ages 6 and 8 and they enjoy this series.  Susan writes at a level that is easily understandable for children of these ages.  When we got to the ending of the book, I quickly realized the character trait that Susan was trying to teach her young readers; generosity.  Andi learned a valuable lesson that it is better to give than to receive - and even though we are not to look for rewards for good deeds, Andi is rewarded in the end with much praise and adoration from her mother.


   In Andi's Scary School Days, Andi wants no part of school.  She doesn't want to be away from the ranch, Riley, Taffy and Coco all day.  School means wearing dresses, sitting still, sitting next to a boy who puts a lizard on her head and watching him smoosh a fly between hands. Ewww!  To top it all off, she gets sent to the corner for something she didn't even do.  She quickly finds out running away from school is not the answer and hiding in trees doesn't help either.

Once again the girls enjoyed this book and from the book they learned about humility and apologizing for wrong doings.  We also saw that it took a change in Andi's attitude for things to begin to turn around. 

Book three and four sell as a set for $9.98 on the Circle C webpage.  Be sure to check out Susan's other books in this series, as well as the Circle C Adventure series.  They are truly a fun read for children.

Circle C Beginning series Book Review

Author Susan K. Marlow, has written a prequel series entitled Circle C Beginnings.  Last year, while serving on the TOS Homeschool Crew, I had the opportunity to review one of her other books in her Circle C Adventure series, entitled Trouble With Treasure.  Earlier this year she sent me book one and book two in her Circle C Beginnings to review. Susan is a homeschool mom, freelance editor and teacher. 

The girls and I jumped right in and began the first book, Andi's Pony Trouble.  Andi wants a pony more than anything, but when she asks, her mother says that she is too young and that she must continue to ride Coco, the older pony the family owns.  She's tired of riding Coco because Coco isn't able to trot like Andi wants him to.  She spends several weeks trying to convince her family that she is resposible enough to take care of a new pony.

My middle girls are ages 5 and 7 and they enjoyed this series.  Susan writes at a level that is easily understandable for children of these ages.  When we got to the ending of the book, I quickly realized the character trait that Susan was trying to teach her young readers; contentment.  Little Andi learned to be content with Coco because Coco was a good pony, faithful, well mannered and easy to handle for a six year old girl.

So, we dived right into the next book, Andi's Indian Summer.  Andi's friend, Riley shows her an old dime novel about indians that causes Andi's brain to conjure up all sorts of wild stories about how indians capture and hurt innocent people.  One day, Riley and Andi take a horse back ride in search of a creek.  Riley gets them lost, really lost and Andi becomes very scared.  They are found by two Indian boys who try to steal Riley's horse, but swift justice is served when one of the boys' father finds all of them and make his son return the horse and apologize.  Riley and Andi are taken back to the Indian village for the evening because it is too late to return home.  It is during this time that Andi discovers the truth about the native indians that are living nearby.

Once again the girls enjoyed this book and from the book they learned about not pre-judging others who are different from us.  Andi pre-judged all indians to be dangerous and scary, but what she found was that they were normal just like her.

Book one and two sell as a set for $9.98 on the Circle C webpage.  Be sure to check out Susan's other books in this series, as well as the Circle C Adventure series.  They are truly a fun read for children.