Ruth and her beloved brother Philip find solace in the expanse of Tanglewoods'. There they escape into bird watching, climbing, and general misadventures with their friend Terry. But life with their Aunt is harsh and Ruth suffers from an incorrigible temper. Just when she thinks she can't take it anymore, she learns a very special secret about a very special Shepherd. When a dreadful accident hurts one they love, Ruth and Philip learn that the Tanglewoods' Secret isn't meant to be kept a secret.

This set contains all six books of the Patricia St. John series: Star of Light, The Tanglewoods' Secret, The Secret at Pheasant Cottage, Rainbow Garden, Treasures of the Snow, and Where the River Begins. In Star of Light, Hamid rubbed the light from his eyes and looked again. He was not dreaming. It was his stepfather! The man watched Kinza as a snake might watch a baby rabbit at play, waiting for the moment to strike. And for one breathless moment Hamid was sure that he would reach out and snatch her away. Hamid does not want his little blind sister, Kinza, to be sold to a beggar by their stepfather, so he decides to rescue her. Together they escape from their mountain village to a town where there may be a new home for Kinza. But this is only the start of their adventures. Will Kinza be safe? What will happen to Hamid who dares not go back home? Set in North Africa, readers will be delighted by yet another of Patricia St. John's exciting, freshly edited novels. In The Tanglewoods' Secret, Ruth and her beloved brother Philip find solace in the expanse of Tanglewoods'. There they escape into bird watching, climbing, and general misadventures with their friend Terry. But life with their Aunt is harsh and Ruth suffers from an incorrigible temper. Just when she thinks she can't take it anymore, she learns a very special secret about a very special Shepherd. When a dreadful accident hurts one they love, Ruth and Philip learn that the Tanglewoods' Secret isn't meant to be kept a secret. In The Secret at Pheasant Cottage, Lucy has lived with her grandparents at Pheasant Cottage since she was a little girl, but she has dim memories of someone else. Who was it? What are her grandparents hiding from her? Lucy is determined to find the answers, but it turns out to be harder than she expected. In Rainbow Garden, Elaine feels miserable and left out when she leaves her home in London to stay with the Owen family in Wales. It's only the little secret garden that she finds at the end of the rainbow that makes staying there seem worthwhile. And then something happens that changes everything. In Treasures of the Snow, Annette and Lucien are enemies. After Annette gets Lucien into trouble at school, he decides to get back at her by threatening the most precious thing in the world to her: her little brother Dani. But tragedy strikes. Annette is so filled with rage she sets out to alienate and humiliate Lucien at every turn. As Lucien seeks to repent and restore, light floods both of their dark hearts and Christ proves that He makes all things new. In Where the River Begins, a confused and misguided younster stays with a Christian family while his mother is institutionalized. They help him discover the source of the nearby river and the source of the Christian life.

Narrates nearly fifty episodes illustrating key Christian teachings, from the existence of God through faith in immortality, and provides explanations of the lessons to be learned, Scriptural passages, prayers, and points to ponder

Anyone who has read Patricia St. John's books already knows how her stories come alive, and this account of her own life is no exception. Her powers of description make the story leap from the page and the reader is transported to far off places and times; and the people and the things she describes can almost be touched, smelled and seen.Patricia was not just a gifted story-teller, though; she was also a deeply committed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose spiritual journey began when she was only six years old. 'My name is Patricia, ' she prayed, 'and if You are really calling me I want to come and be Yours. ' Out of that small beginning there issued a river of life and light and blessing that went on increasing right up to the end of her life. Although she always thought of herself as 'an ordinary sort of girl', her life was extraordinary because of her supreme love for Jesus Christ.The life portrayed here is not that of the self-conscious saint, concerned only with her own saintliness. On the contrary these pages offer us an inside view of someone utterly human, prone to mistakes and failures like the rest of us, yet suffused with the love of God and a contagious joy and peace that was like the bubbling up of a perpetual fountain.

In a Time to Read, Mary Ruth K. Wilkinson and her daughter, Heidi Wilkinson Teel, have compiled a helpful guide to children's books. More than bibliography A TIME TO READ also includes essays on the nature of children, families, literature and story--and how these hold together in a Christian life, reflecting Mary Ruth's 30 years' experience teaching a literary and Christian approach to children's books.

Lucy has lived with her grandparents at Pheasant Cottage since she was a little girl, but she has dim memories of someone else. Who was it? What are her grandparents hiding from her? Lucy is determined to find the answers, but it turns out to be harder than she expected.

In Where the River Begins, a confused and misguided younster stays with a Christian family while his mother is institutionalized. They help him discover the source of the nearby river and the source of the Christian life.

In 1964, at the age of three, Tim Bascom is thrust into a world of eucalyptus trees and stampeding baboons when his family moves from the Midwest to Ethiopia. The unflinchingly observant narrator of this memoir reveals his missionary parents’ struggles in a sometimes hostile country. Sent reluctantly to boarding school in the capital, young Tim finds that beyond the gates enclosing that peculiar, isolated world, conflict roils Ethiopian society. When secret riot drills at school are followed with an attack by rampaging students near his parents' mission station, Tim witnesses the disintegration of his family’s African idyll as Haile Selassie’s empire begins to crumble. Like Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Chameleon Days chronicles social upheaval through the keen yet naive eyes of a child. Bascom offers readers a fascinating glimpse of missionary life, much as Barbara Kingsolver did in The Poisonwood Bible.

A chambermaid in the house of Tremeshton, Faris Shayhan well knew torment, despair, and trepidation. To Faris it seemed the future stretched long and desolate before her-as bleak and dark as a lonesome midnight path. Still, the moon oft casts hopeful luminosity to light one's way. So it was that Lady Maranda Rockrimmon cast hope upon Faris-set Faris upon a different path-a path of happiness, serenity, and love. Thus Faris abandoned the tainted air at Tremeshton in favor of the amethyst sunsets of Loch Loland Castle and her new mistress, Lady Rockrimmon. Further, it was on the very night of her emancipation that Faris first met the man of her dreams-the man of every woman's dreams-the rogue Highwayman of Tanglewood. Dressed in black and astride his mighty steed, the brave, heroic, and dashing rogue Highwayman of Tanglewood stole Faris's heart as easily as he stole her kiss. Yet the Highwayman of Tanglewood was encircled in mystery-mystery as thick and as secretive as time itself. Could Faris truly own the heart of a man so thoroughly enveloped in twilight shadows and mysterious secrets?

In a world where fantasy and faith collide, meet Gary and Shelli in an arena where misadventure meets mercy. Catastrophic events have become the new norm for Shelli as she merely raises an eyebrow to edge of bizarre life incidents. Gary believes that adults are just older kids. He doesn’t keep his crayons inside all of the lines (if you know what I mean). In fact, when Gary is coloring pictures with the grandkids, Shelli has a new house rule: all individuals, including Gary, must remove all crayons from all nostrils after playing ‘walrus’ and especially before answering the doorbell. The grandkids have a saying that has been passed down to them: “It ain’t an adventure ‘til someone falls in!” ......Shelli keeps ‘Fire and Rescue’ on speed dial. Buck Tanglewood is an adventurer, treasure hunter, hero, and friend—as well as Gary’s alter ego. When mild-mannered Gary and Buck’s personalities blend, something always seems to break, blow up, or burn down.

When 13-year-old Eric Parrish comes across glowing mushrooms in the woods behind his house, he's sure there's a scientific explanation. But when they start encroaching on the town—covering the football field and popping up from beneath the floorboards—Eric knows something's seriously wrong. Not that much else is going right: his parents are fighting, his little brother Brian is a little pill, and he's had a falling-out with his football team—over a pig. Then a runaway girl from a nearby boarding school warns Eric that the fungus could portend the town's doom and leave it in rubble—just like the village that inexplicably disappeared in the exact same spot over 200 years ago. Eric, Brian, and Mandy set out to solve a very old mystery and save the town of Tanglewood.

When Elaine leaves her home in London to stay with the Owen family in Wales, she feels miserable and left out. It's only the little secret garden that she finds at the end of the rainbow that makes staying there seem worthwhile. And then something happens that changes everything.

Ruth and her brother live in the English countryside with their while their parents are away. Ruth's temper, a Gypsy boy and a series of adventures help her to see her need of the Great Shepherd. Set in England, the story is an adaptation of Patricia St. John's children's novel "The Tanglewood Secret".

In the winter of 1853 the "Tanglewood Tales," a series of stories like the "Wonder-Book," was written. The introductory chapter has some interesting observations on the adaptation of the classic myths to children. This work belongs to a special class of books, those in which men of genius have retold stories of the past in forms suited to the present. The stories themselves are set in a piece of narrative and description which gives the atmosphere of the time of the writer, and the old legends are turned from stately myths not merely to children's stories, but to romantic fancies.

Hamid does not want his little blind sister, Kinza, to be sold to a beggar so he decides to rescue her. Together they escape from their mountain village to a town where there may be a new home for Kinza.