Best Family Ever [Karen Kingsbury & Tyler Russell]

I am so excited to offer my review of Karen Kingsbury and Tyler Russell’s new children’s book Best Family Ever. While I received one complimentary copy of the book, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own. Amazon affiliate links are used throughout this post. 

There’s nothing like a great book.

In my earliest childhood memories I have a book tucked beneath my arm just waiting for a spare moment to be cracked open and read. When my brother and sister were outside playing in the yard on a summer’s afternoon, I’d be snuggled on the couch – sometimes crying, sometimes laughing – sharing adventures with a new character. There was always just a little more time to read one more chapter, turn one more page, discover one more plot line to another story as the clock ticked further and further past my bedtime.

I have always loved stories, and even now as an adult I find incredible joy in the company of a good book. It’s something that’s spilled over into my mothering and my homeschooling and that my boys now take delight in as well. I know that one of the most precious memories we’ll share when this season of our lives transitions into the next will be the ones we spent reading aloud together.

There’s nothing like a great author.

I confess I can get a bit obsessed when I find a great author, reading all their books in rapid succession. While I have read many of Karen Kingsbury’s novels over the years, I only discovered the Baxter Family in the summer of 2017, reading 25 of the 28 novels in the course of a year.

You guys, this family has worked their way into my heart, book by book, triumph by triumph, heartbreak by heartbreak, as if they were real people. My husband teases me when I get worked up about the characters in a book, and my closest friends will tell you how crazy I’ve been about these imaginary people, but their stories are so redemptive.

I don’t want to ruin the journey for you, but John and Elizabeth Baxter, their kids Dayne, Brooke, Kari, Ashley, Erin, and Luke, their sons-in-laws and daughters-in-laws, and their host of grandkids, experience some of the most profound scandal and heartbreak over the course of their life as a family, and yet they still hold on to each other, and they still hold on to Jesus in the most faith-building, life-giving ways.

I want to read great books by great authors to my boys, and that’s why I pre-ordered the first Baxter Family kids book, Best Family Ever, the day they started promoting it. I can one thousand percent say it did not disappoint!

Best Family Ever

In Best Family Ever, Karen Kingsbury and her son Tyler Russell, turn back the clock for this precious family to allow readers a glimpse into their lives while the kids are still growing up at home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a series fan, this book absolutely fleshes out the characters I’ve come to know and love. As a mom, it gave me the gift of meaningful conversation with my boys, reinforcing principles we already teach at home through a different medium with a different voice.

Here’s what I loved:

Emphasis on Family

Throughout the entire book there is a recurring phrase, “your best friends are the ones around the dinner table each night,” that really punctuates how important family is to the Baxter’s. All the kids have friends outside of this circle, and the kids do disagree with one another and fight like most normal siblings, but they always come back to the point that their most consistent and most important form of support comes from within their family.

One of the biggest “problems” the kids face together is the impending move from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Bloomington, Indiana for their dad’s new job. It’s hard on all of them in different ways (as it would be for ANY child) but they pull through this challenge because they know that no matter what waits for them in a new city, and a new house, and a new school they will be facing those challenges as a team. They are never alone in their feelings or frustrations because their very best friends are making the move with them.

Emphasis on talking and listening to God

This point was especially meaningful to me because Kingsbury and Russell demonstrated through the characters struggles how they talked to God, and how He prompted them to act in really practical ways that resonated with my boys.

When Ashley got into a huge argument with her sisters, she runs to a quiet place and starts talking to God.

“God, I feel so left out. All day I tried to be happy, but now…now I need help.”

And like a whisper He gives her direction.

I loved that there are no magic words, no formulas, just the opportunity to listen in to a child having a conversation with their heavenly Father, and God meeting that child in a way they could understand. To me there is no more beautiful illustration of prayer for a child to experience than that!

It’s a great book, by great authors

I loved the book all by myself, and this is really the truth of it all. If my boys were not interested in reading the next one (which they are) I would still pick it up and read it. I was engaged with the story even though it takes place in an elementary school, and I cried right along with the family when the move was announced, and on their last day in Ann Arbor. When you have a great book by great authors, how can you not identify with the characters they’ve created?

Here are a couple highlights from my boys:

• Elijah recognized that “even though things can be tough, you have God and the people around you to help you through it.”
• Noah liked that Ashley (one of the main characters) was an artist (because he is one too).
• They both really hope there is another book in the series!

Special thanks to Karen Kingsbury and Tyler Russell for the opportunity to read and review this amazing book!