Have You Ever Heard of the Kingdom of Thrim?

This past week my children and I have been adventurers in the Kingdom of Thrim. We’ve visited the home of a dollmaker, gotten an aerial view of this magical place, and have even painted dolls of our own, all without leaving the comfort of our home.

The Kingdom of Thrim, by Janis Cox, is a tale about a God-fearing gentleman named Yoj, a renowned dollmaker who is known far and wide for the beautiful dolls he creates. Eventually a man named Serge convinces Yoj to move to a new town called Shadowland, where he will make a great deal of money doing what he loves best- dollmaking. Yoj agrees and leaves his home in the Kingdom of Thrim to pursue what he believes will be a fulfilling life. Soon afterward, however, Yoj realizes his folly in not going to God about this decision first. 

I won’t go into any more detail. In order to find out what happens, you’ll have to read the book!

This picture book and the extended activities included were a perfect fit for our homeschool style. We read the book together for the first time on Tuesday, and the journey began! The author included a treasure trove of ideas which are wonderful to do as written, or are a great starting off point for coming up with your own ideas.

After reading the story, the kids decided that they wanted to put on individual plays using paper dolls that they created. My little ones had a wonderful time watching their older siblings put on shows for them.

The following day, the kids designed and produced their very own Monopoly-style board game replacing properties with their very own ideas for shops. This took them quite a while, but they had such fun with it that they didn’t even notice. 😉

Next, they painted their own original dolls that they would like to create someday. I would have loved for them to use watercolor like the beautiful illustrations in the book, but unfortunately we only had tempera, so tempera it was!

The last day of this unit the children drew aerial maps of how they envisioned the kingdom to look. Afterwards, they made lapbooks to create special memories for this fun week.

One of my favorite moments was when my 10 yr old suddenly exclaimed, “Mom! Yoj is joy spelled backwards!” I didn’t even notice it until she pointed it out, but what an awesome name for the main character because he is the perfect example of those who find joy in doing God’s will.

We had a lovely time learning about Yoj and the Kingdom of Thrim this past week. I highly recommend it to anyone who has kids and is looking for a fresh way to introduce character issues. I know we’ll be enjoying this book for years to come!

 

Disclosure- I received a complimentary download of this book and the extended activities in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.