Today I want to tell you about a fun (and true) story that I think the kids in your life will love. I’ve been reading a book called Welcome to Hawksburg, written by brother and sister team Alyssa Noel and Ben Shipe. The Shipes are a part of a missionary family who are living and serving in Tanzania, East Africa.
Without the distractions of American entertainment, the Shipe children established their own town (or is it a hamlet or country… you’ll have to read about it in the book!), which they named Hawksburg.
Hawksburg evolved and developed over time and included businesses, governments, inventions, criminal justice, a newspaper, the Olympics, and more. And Alyssa and Ben documented their whole experiences in this super fun book, Welcome to Hawksburg.
I absolutely love to see children using their imaginations to play and create together, which is why I love this book! I started reading it to my boys, and they soon developed their own town called “Boydsburg,” in which they quickly had a popcorn business, a lemonade stand, and original currency. Boydsburg has been a really fun experience for them this summer, and I give the credit to their getting it started to this wonderful book.
So, read it to your kids or your grandkids or your nieces and nephews or neighbors. Watch their creative juices start to flow and their imaginations grow as they have fun together. Make sure to tell them about the fun times you had pretending when you were young. (My brother and I made a library, a petting zoo, and a cookie business. So many fun memories!)
GIVEAWAY! We are giving away 1 copy of Welcome to Hawksburg to a Gingham Apron reader. To enter, just leave a comment below! We’ll choose a winner on Friday, August 6th, 2021.
Looking for other great books to read aloud this summer? Here are a few of our favorites. Just click on the images.
Would love to win this book. Thanks for sharing you God given gifts.
Sounds like an awesome book!! My daughter loves to read!
The Shipes are wonderful friends of mine. We grew up together, and I even had the privilege of being a citizen of Hawksburg! I’m so happy that this book is getting the attention it deserves!
Thank you so much leaving this comment, Hannah! It was so good to hear from you. How awesome that you actually were a citizen of Hawksburg! That’s amazing.
I look forward to your devotions and praise you for your joyful spirits
Sounds like a great book to get creative juices flowing! Love your cookbook and your posts and your love for God and family! Keep up the good work! Families need godly direction and you all are doing your part! Thank you!
I would love to win this for my 6 grandchildren to share. They are together all the time and sounds like they could get some great ideas from this book on creating a real fun new town. Plus I could offer to babysit and they could share all with me and it would keep them very entertained.
Lovely!
I love reading books and cookbooks that are about family history and their stories. 🥰❤
My granddaughter would love to read this book. Her parents will begin homeschooling her this year after 4 years in a Christian school. Her retired teacher grandpa is going to assist. Grandma is going to teach her cooking and sewing. We’re excited!
This is going to be so wonderful. You will make so many lovely memories this year!
I had the privilege of homeschooling 4 of my 5 children and now my daughter is homeschooling her three. Good, wholesome books are always in high demand since they all love to read! Thank you for your inspirational website.