We've all had a special teacher somewhere along the way, maybe even many special teachers. Those wonderful men and women do so much more than teach us to read and write. A great teacher also inspires his students to become more than they thought they could be. The Teacher's Gift ($16.95) is an endearing children's book about just such a teacher. She enters a gift shop one day near Christmas and shares a sweet secret with the shop owner about all of her pearls?the students she has taught and prayed for throughout many years of teaching and now into retirement.

The Teacher's Gift is delightfully written and beautifully illustrated, making it a wonderful story for children and adults. As homeschooling parents, we all know the important impact that we make on our own precious pearls. Loving and teaching our children every day plants seeds in their hearts that we pray will carry them on a wing and a prayer to the very throne of God as they grow and learn. I thought this book was an excellent reminder of the sweet relationship between teacher and student, and the value of our prayers for our students. The only thing I would change is perhaps a mention of how those prayers and that love through the years had impacted a student in a positive way. I plan to read this book again on discouraging days as an excellent reminder of why we choose to homeschool and what we hope to build into our children's lives!

-- Product review by Dr. Anne Margaret Wright, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December 2005

The Teacher's Gift
By Sherry DeBray
Illustrated by Tommy Cauthen
Seacoast Publishing
334-270-7918

PO Box 26492
Birmingham, AL 35260

The Teacher's Gift is a heartwarming story inspired by a retired schoolteacher's visit to Mrs. DeBray's little gift shop. This story was especially touching to me since I was a schoolteacher and I, too, remember each of the faces of the young children who gave me the ornaments I hang on my Christmas tree. Funny, my children are always asking about these mysterious children since I've been "just a mom" since they were born. They have a hard time picturing me as a teacher. They do love to hear the stories, though. This book also reminds you that, this Christmas, a teacher could be hanging up an ornament from years past as she lifts you, her former student, up in prayer. The gift of prayer is priceless! Lastly, this book reminds us that our students are grains of sand and that with God's special touch they will become a pearl.

-- Product review by Stephanie D. Scarborough, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January 2006