Abigail and the Big Start Over

Laura Wifler

Bethany has created a delightful series that helps young readers connect their faith with their everyday life. Abigail’s adventures are fun and relatable, delivering valuable lessons for all kids and making this series a great one to add to your bookshelf.

Caroline Saunders

While plenty of books for kids this age have ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys,’ Bethany McIlrath has crafted real-world characters in real-life settings who exhibit both vice and virtue and desperately need God’s grace for a fresh start. Honestly, that was my favorite trait of this book—how all the characters demonstrate their need for grace, from Abigail to her new friend Flora, to their irritating classmate Greg, to Abigail’s mom. This engaging book will help kids honor others, seek to understand others, extend grace to others, and grow in grace themselves.

“My 8 Year Old's Favorite Book!”

I received Abigail and the Big Start Over compliments of The Good Book Company in exchange for my honest review.

Abigail and the Big Start Over is the debut title by author Bethany McIlrath and the first book in the Abigail series. The book introduces readers to a young girl named Abigail who recently moved to a new city and school. This season for Abigail's family is called the Big Start Over. Abigail is eager to make friends and longs for stability amidst all the changes.

It took me a while to get around to reading my copy of the book because my eight year old daughter immediately grabbed it upon its arrival and read it in three days. She then thanked me for her favorite book. When I finally had the chance to read Abigail and the Big Start Over, I could see why it was her favorite! The book includes lovely illustrations that are appealing to young girls. It also includes characters and situations that are relatable.

The book does a wonderful job of simply presenting the gospel message and concludes with a sweet message from the author reminding readers of God's unending grace. A neat addition to the book is its book club discussion questions making this a fun read for young girls and their friends.

If you know of a young girl looking to read a sweet, wholesome, Christ centered story, I highly recommend Abigail and the Big Start Over.

“Down to earth. Kids will have no trouble relating to Abigail.”

Nine-year-old Abigail feels like her life is starting over after moving and having to attend a new school. Kids will relate to Abigail and the circumstances that she finds herself in, all the while learning about God's love for us and how we can depend on Him. I would highly recommend this book.

“Solid read!”

Lastly, is this book for older kids and pre-teen. It’s a novel like book so it’s more of the text and less of illustrations but as I have checked it, it’s a solid read. This story revolves on Abigail, a Christian girl, and how she navigates her new school and meeting new friends (or enemies for that matter). It’s a relatable story for young readers to enjoy with characters that probably kids will identify in real life. If your kids are ready for long books, this probably is a good starting point complete with characters they can relate to and situations that are relevant to them.

https://delightinggrace.wordpress.com/2024/05/18/may-quick-review-childrens-book-edition/

“Great option for young readers”

It's hard to keep up with kids' chapter books to know what they are reading. I love that The Good Book Company is providing Christian-themed chapter books for young readers that I can trust won't have any questionable content.

Not only that, but these books are engaging to the kids and relatable to the things they will encounter in their life. My 7 year old was very excited to read this book and really enjoyed it. I love that there are questions we can talk about together as well. We haven't gotten to that part yet, but it's great to have facilitated discussion that I can engage with my daughter and the books that she reads!

Definitely recommend!

“My 11 yo friend loved it!”

"It was funny and when I started reading it, I wanted to keep reading. It taught me that no matter what I can always start over.

She moved to a new house and different school. Kept messing up and did wrong things but at the end she talked to her mom and told her all she had done wrong and her mom said you can always start over."

“Wholesome and Fun”

This a shortened version of my review. You can read my full review at https://www.lifeisstory.com/childrens-books/abigail-and-the-big-start-over-bethany-mcilrath-and-katie-saunders/

This is the first installment in a new chapter book series. Bethany McIlrath wrote this story from Abigail's point of view, and she represented a child's perspective and reactions to things in a convincing way. The story is cute and upbeat, while also dealing with realistic life challenges, and there is lots of humor throughout. The art from Katie Saunders also enriches the story, since there are lots of expressive illustrations throughout the book.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this, since Christian children's novels can be really preachy, but this was great! The author incorporates Abigail's church experiences and thoughts about God into the story in a very natural way, and through this, she represents the lives of her readers. The different life situations and conflicts in the book are very realistic, and the message about grace comes across clearly through Bible teaching and Abigail’s experiences.

This book is ideal for Christian families who are looking for cute, engaging chapter books aimed towards elementary-aged girls. The story and characters are wholesome and fun, and the book teaches an important life lesson without getting too preachy. I would recommend this for kids to read independently, and for parents to read aloud to their kids. However, this will definitely appeal primarily to girls, not only because of the feminine cover design and female main character, but also because the boy characters in the story appear in a mostly negative light. Since Abigail resolves conflict with a boy from school before the end, I hope that he will become a recurring character and add some appeal for boy readers. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I look forward to future books in the series.

I received a free copy from the publisher, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

“love a chapter book for my avid reader”

Abigail and the Big Start Over by Bethany McIlrath

When I saw that the good book co was coming out with this series I was so excited to read this with my daughter. She is an avid reader and its sometimes hard to find books she will enjoy while making sure the content is appropriate.

Abigail and the Big Start Over is a sweet telling of a girl named Abigail as she starts over at a new school. I loved the character of Abigail. All the events that transpire are relatable to kids today and you see how Abigail responds in a biblical manner. I truly enjoyed this book and we are both looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to the Good Book Co. for this copy for my honest review.

“Great chapter book for homeschool!”

📗 Abigail and the Big Start Over is a sweet book about a 9-year-old girl and how she handles the ups and downs of moving to a new home and a new school. It is fun story of how Abigail learns about Jesus' grace as she faces new adventures. It is going to be an AWESOME addition to my 9-year-old's reading curriculum this year!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

“Perfect for younger girl readers”

This is book #1 in the Abigail series targeted for girls ages 7-10, approximately.

From the back cover: Meet adventurous, creative Abigail, and discover what it means that Jesus’ grace never runs out!

👧🏻 I appreciate this series is rooted in God’s Word and feature characters who love Jesus, that have real life struggles and emotions. While being challenged, Abigail learns all about God’s grace!

👧🏻 I gave this to my 11 year old daughter. She enjoyed parts of the story but her overall thoughts were the story was too young for her. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I tried! I do consider her reading more advanced so keep that in mind if you have an advanced reader, this may be a bit too simplistic of a chapter book to keep them engaged.