Twelve stories centering on the adventures of two orphaned brothers who escape a polluted city ruled by an evil enchanter to seek their exiled king in the place where trees grow.
David R. Mains has been dedicating himself for spiritual growth development programs that disturb ordinary presumptions. During the year 1967 he built an experimental church in a Teamster’s Union Hall in West Chicago. Some church-planting specialists proclaimed that it can't be done but then with a few supporters, the church has grown from only 27 until 500 for ten years.
Mains' system is advanced that he joined together worship with arts and media. He implement a system to service planning focusing one concept making the entire worship communication into just a single but valuable idea. Lay people were invited and brainstorm sermons and he firmly incorporated that each sermon should include practical ideas so it will be integrated with everyday living as Christians.
During the year 1977, Mains replaced his uncle John D. Jess as Director of a national radio broadcast, The Chapel of the Air. He then started to use religious media that would boost spirituality on every listener.
Mains transformed broadcasting as a service to the local church rather than competing them. He then began to train a team to do on-air voices which includes his wife, Karen Mains.
Several experts again warned him that such a service can’t be done but then he was thrilled when the first Spiritual Adventure he implemented had reach 7,000 participants.
Mains has been a Christian communicator and his passion was always for the local church to experience the living presence of Jesus Christ. A pastor once gave him a gratitude for putting his own personal agenda to serve for the good of the local church.
Now, Mains resigned from the broadcast and created Mainstay Ministries which dedicated to help church leaders and its people by several growth tools and training seminars. He established Team Sundays where every church goer would experience a life changing Sunday. His goal in Mainstay Ministries was to help pastors be effective in preaching.
Visit David Mains Mainstay Ministries the - Sunday Solutions. He also put up several resources for pastors called Sermon Series and Sermon Coach. He also established a mentoring ministry for men and women called Hungry Souls.
These classic allegorical tales are ones I grew up reading, and they continue to be meaningful to me now as an adult and someone who can share them with the children around me. I have just taken my Wed. night Bible class of 1st - 3rd graders through this book and they all became fans. It is easy to draw out Biblical truths from each chapter that can be applied for young ones and grown ups alike!
The 12 chapters tell the story of Hero, a young man who escaped with his brother from the wicked Enchanted City. Taking refuge in Great Park, his world is changed by those who love and serve a King he has never seen. He lives with funny old Caretaker, who can control the weather and create new life, and his gentle wife Mercie. Hero struggles because he cannot see the King and does not understand this love all around him.
Other stories involve Princess Amanda, a girl who has the uncanny gift of seeing. But gifted ones can still fall prey to temptation and see disastrous consequences. We also learn about a juggler whose count is different than those around him, the baker who loved bread, two noisy knights, and a girl named Dirty. Each one is meaningful, entertaining, and challenging for the readers.
We are taking off on the second book in this series, "Tales of the Resistance," next in our class, so be watching for its review in a couple months!
Just finished another reread of this book and found more than ever to love within the pages. It moved me to tears and touched me in completely different ways than it had before. What a treasure!
NOVEMBER 2017 EDIT:
I taught this book to my class again - by this time a whole new group of youngsters! - and they loved it more than ever! I continued to be moved myself, and am so thankful for these stories.
I just finish my sixth or seventh read of this book (most of them having been five or more years ago), this time having read it with my 6-yr-old brother, and we both felt sad while reading the last chapter because we were almost done. While I have appreciated the stories contained in this family book more each time I have perused them, this read (slower, because of reading it aloud) has shown me a whole new depth to the book.
Though not strict allegory, the stories in here reflect our lives as believers so well. The lessons are poignant, true, and beautiful. The characters glow with life as I see them live out the truths I've always known. Ah, if only I had the mastery of words this story does, then I could say how much and why I love it!
We are greatly looking forward to the next one, though we scarcely dare hope it can be so good.
I just finished reading this one to my kids, and it was especially fun because I can remember so vividly having this read to me as a child. Seeing the pictures and hearing the drum beats and remembering Hero's scar and Merci's kindness and the juggler and bread maker and Princess Amanda - i don't think there's a single read aloud (including Chronicles of Narnia) that stuck with me as strongly as this one. As an adult, I was pleased to see how rich and faithful but also well imagined the allegories were, how many important parts of the gospel are touched upon by story. I love this book!
Highly recommend for age 7+, although my 5 yr old listened along at times and it was fine. Powerful allegory of The True Kingdom and its coming restoration.
This book hits home. It makes you realize that you are special in the Kings eyes. There is a story about a girl who dances too much who is led by an image in the mirror. This hit home to me because I used to be as good as the people in the excersize movies. But after breaking away from this I danced before the Lord.
It brings tears to my friends eyes who see that their lives involve in this book.
It is fictional but thats alright. I love the pictures along the sides are frames made of the story articles.
We owned this book growing up, and I LOVED it. I identified with Amanda even more than I had with Lucy in Lewis' books. Rereading them now, there were a few things I'd maybe articulate differently than the authors, but I'm impressed all over again with that illustrator. (The text of the story seems to think Mercie has to be young to be beautiful-- but the images of Mercie as an old woman are LOVELY.) And so much resonated even more strongly. That juggler. Love.
This was my favorite series when I was a kid after the Chronicles of Narnia. I love it even more as an adult. The stories move me to tears because they fill me with a longing to live in a community like Great Park. They remind me of simple truths about the character of God that I don’t hear very often. Worth rereading over and over again.
I remember loving this book and its sequel when I was growing up, and though I’ve kept them all these years, it’s been a long time since I’ve read them. Rereading them with my kids, it holds up, illustrating truths from Scripture in a beautiful allegorical story. I had to pace it since they kept asking for one more chapter, and I’m looking forward to revisiting the sequel with them next.
I am not particularly fond of fantasy or allegory tales but realize that they have an important place in literature and many enjoy reading the genres. In Tales of the Kingdom you have a story told allegorically; and it is a mixture of fantasy, present time, and historical characters and behaviors.
It deals with orphaned children, an orphanage, a park (a land of wonderful living), dragons, and destroying fires as well as a good king and evil enchanter. So for my mind that prefers stories more realistic, it is a vastly different read and taxes my interest quotient even though it is primarily for children. My thinking is that young children (prior to grades 4 or 5) will be confused and frightened by the imagery in the construct of the story as well as the fearsome characters.
However, much can be gleaned from allegorical stories and the contrast between good and evil. In the first chapter of Tales of the Kingdom story I found it to be beautifully written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the author's style of presenting the boy, the evil Enchanter, and the boy's entrance into the light of the land of growing things. The Caretaker sounds like a jovial character who will lead the boy to Merci. The first chapter promises good writing for the remainder of the book. And I find it capturing my attention much more than I previously thought possible.
On into the story, the boy (Scarboy and later named Hero) faces his greatest enemy which is the same for everyone. (Can you guess what that might be?) I enjoyed the lively character of Princess Amanda. So I believe I'm won over with this unusual read for me and I recommend the book based on the author's writing style, my enjoyment of reading, and the fabulous illustrations,
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from BookCrash Publicity on behalf of the authors to facilitate this review. Opinions are solely my own and are freely given.
I stopped short of reading the last couple of stories in this book. It was recommended to me by a co-worker who really enjoyed the series when she was younger. It's a book of tales about Scarboy, later called Hero, who escapes from the Enchanted City into the woods outside, a place called Great Park ruled by the King. There he meets various friends of the King like Mercie, Princess Amanda, and the blue-clothed Rangers.
Although I liked a few of the stories, such as the one about the juggler who was worried that he would get in trouble for hearing a different rhythm inside, I found that overall it was too much allegory for me. In a truly allegorical story, I can't quite seem to appreciate the story for what it is and not try to decipher it in my head as I go along, which is distracting. I can see how the tales might appeal to kids, though.
I absolutely love these books. I have all three and they are signed by the author. My kids have really enjoyed the stories and I have enjoyed discussing the meaning behind the stories with them. Some of the meaning will go over younger children's heads but there are enough beautiful colored pictures to keep their attention. The story lines depict so many areas of our own walk with God and it's encouraging to watch how the characters develop and change. They are set up in short story form but each story gives a larger picture of the whole. Very uplifting read.
This trilogy is a delightful allegory written for children that teaches Biblical truths in wonderfully creative ways through the art of storytelling. The Mains' use of imagination is incredible and your children will not be disappointed. There are many lessons within each story - that will delight children of all ages.
This was assigned as a part of our homeschool curriculum - with mixed reviews from other readers. It took a few chapters to get into it, but the second half of the book was Fabulous allegory. I was totally not expecting my tears at the end. We are SO LOVED by The King!
i read this with my nearly 5 year old daughter recently and we both really enjoyed the stories. they are related but not necessarily sequential, and each one reinforces the central allegory that helps even young readers grasp a helpful visual of the love of God.
A synopsis of the short stories in Vol 1: spiritual truths about a larger story. (5 stars)
This is the first of the three volume “Kingdom Tales” series, each of which has twelve fantasy short stories. The stories are connected to a larger story about a city ruled by an evil Enchanter who has usurped the throne from the true King, and who is now in exile. But the true King will eventually return and bring about the Great Celebration, restoring the city into Bright City. While this larger narrative has clear allegorical qualities that Christians will immediately recognize, the stories aren’t strict allegories, but function more like religious fables, drawing on important spiritual truths about faith and serving the King Jesus Christ.
The short stories all function separately and often involve different characters. But there is a frequently returning character, Scarboy, who is an orphan boy. Over the course of the series he escapes from the Enchanted City with his brother Little Child, and eventually becomes Hero in the service of the King.
Volume 1 describes how Scarboy escapes the Enchanted City, where orphaned and handicapped children are enslaved. In the Great Park he discovers the wonderful truth about God’s kingdom. One of my favorites in this volume was “The Baker who Loved Bread”, which describes the King’s Baker who bakes the King’s Bread, but withholds this bread from poor and needy people, thinking he is doing a service to the king by doing so. When he beats a person whom he believes to be a thief about to steal his bread, he discovers that he has actually harmed the King himself, and learns an important lesson: “Love for the King is measured by one’s love for his people. So the Baker fed the hungry and fed them well – lest the One he loved the most should starve.” This concept is very clearly based on Christ’s teaching in Matthew 25.
Here's an overview of the twelve stories from Volume 1: 1. The Enchanted City – Scarboy and his brother Little Child escape from the Enchanted City and find Great Park, where they are welcomed by Caretaker and Mercie. 2. The Orphan Keeper’s Assistant – The Orphan Keeper’s Assistant goes to the Great Park to hunt escaped orphans and outcasts and bring them back to the Enchanted City, but as an outcast herself discovers that the Kingdom is also for her. 3. The Apprentice Juggler – The Apprentice Jugger follows the advice of a beggar, who is actually the King Himself, and discovers that when he follows the rhythm of inner timing approved by the King, he finds his own place in the Kingdom. 4. The Faithless Ranger – Hero discovers that not all who say the King’s Name are true rangers, but only those who do the King’s will, as a Ranger who sets fire to the Great Park is banished to the Enchanted City. 5. A Girl Named Dirty – The King Himself helps a filthy girl who lived with pigs to become Cleone, the clean one. 6. Hero’s Quest – The King gives Hero a quest to face his greatest enemy, which he discovers is his own fear. 7. The Baker Who Loved Bread – The King’s Baker who withholds bread from the orphans and outcasts discovers that by so doing he actually harms the King. 8. Sighting Day – The children of the Kingdom play a wonderful game of seek-the-King, and Hero finds that believing comes before seeing. 9. Two Noisy Knights – Farsighted Sir Bumpkin and shortsighted Sir Pumpkin learn that the kingdom is not about noise, but power, and that they are to be content with their own place in the Kingdom. 10. Princess Amanda and the Dragon – When Princess Amanda loves a forbidden dragon and keeps it as a pet, she is in danger of losing and betraying the Kingdom. 11. Fire in the Forest – Amanda’s weakness leads to fire in Great Park, which can be quenched only by the greater power of the King. 12. Trial By Fire – Despite her crimes, Amanda is received again by the King as a princess, and Hero is commissioned to be a King’s man to live in Enchanted City and help restore the Kingdom.
It’s somewhat hard to tell how successful these stories on their own apart from the underlying spiritual truths they are communicating, because in most instances the moral and message is quite transparent, although in the case of a few tales it is obscure. Overall the message about serving and honouring the King Jesus Christ comes through loud and clear, and it was this deeper meaning that made the stories especially enjoyable for me.
The concept is like the Narnia Chronicles, although arguably not with the same degree of success or imagination. The Narnian stories can also function on the level of stories alone, but I suspect that those who don’t appreciate the deeper meaning behind the Kingdom Tales will find it hard to enjoy them as stand-alone stories for their own sake. But even though the world isn’t as fantastic as Narnia, Christian families will find themselves appreciating the Kingdom Tales of the Mains for similar reasons, because of their spiritual depth, and how they lead to a greater love for the King and His Kingdom.
Tale of the Kingdom, by David and Karen Mains and illustrated by Zhivko Zhelev, is the 30th anniversary edition of the story. It is book 1 in The Kingdom Tales Trilogy. This is a wonderful chapter book for elementary age children that follows Scarface and his brother after the death of their mother and escape from Enchanted City. They go to the forest and enter Great Park where they become members of the community, meet a lot of interesting people and learn valuable lessons. This is a wonderful story for children that tells the story of different people who are all looking for something and how they obtain it. The messages in the story are so good. Some of the messages are: It is not good enough to say the God's name, we much follow God and do things the way he wants us to. God can find something beautiful in all of us, even when we are not beautiful. It is important to be truthful. This is a great story for children. There is a lot of action and contains things children enjoy, such as juggler and dragons. I would highly recommend this book for families. Especially those that like to have special family story times. I received a copy of this book from BookCrash, this is my honest review.
Title: Tales of the Kingdom Author David R. Mains Awards: Golden Medalion Award
Summary: The Tales of the Kingdom is a story told in vignettes in which a pertinent moral is disclosed to the reader. The story revolves around two brothers who escape from an Enchanted City after the death of their mother and must find the courage to find a King worth serving. A wonderfully powerful and creative story.
Review Application: This story series would be appropriate for 3rd-grade students and up. I would suggest linking this story to the skill focus of "Theme" in literature. Each story has a moral principle around which the story is developed. The whole of the book encapsulates these different themes as the story moves foward. An excellent opportunity to teach theme with many isolated chances to practice the skill within the overall development of the story.