We are currently listening to Volume 1, which includes 12 CDs and the stories “The Swamp Robber”, “The Killer Bear”, “The Winter Rescue”, “The Lost Campers”, “Chicago Adventure”, and “The Secret Hideout”. My kids have loved them all, but so far “The Swamp Robber” has been their favorite! Each story spans 2 full CDs of audio and they sort of build upon each other, though they could easily be stand alone stories as well.
The characters are a little gang of about 6 boys called the Sugar Creek Gang, which include Little Jim, Big Jim, Circus, Dragonfly, and more. They are all school-aged little boys that any kid can relate to. Each one has a unique family situation, different personalities, and differing abilities and hobbies as well.. Intertwined in the adventures that they have are lessons in faith, good character, becoming saved, how to be a good member in a household, dealing with new siblings, and how to honor your friends, parents, and elders. I love that this incorporates character training and Biblical principles all through the series. My kids have begged me over and over again to listen to this. In fact, when we head out to go somewhere, the first question out of my oldest 2 kids’ lips are, “Can we please listen to the Sugar Creek Gang!?” and I always say, “Of course!”
Heather says
Jenn — thank you so much for the review! I’m so glad you all have enjoyed the Sugar Creek Gang CDs. 🙂
As for the Elizabeth Enright stories, one of my favorites is the second one, “The Four-Story Mistake”. Five-in-a-Row covered the first book, “The Saturdays”, so I wrote a unit study for the second book, since it is my favorite. You can use it with the book or audio! It’s here… you can bookmark this for future use:
http://www.freeunitstudies.com/free-curriculum/f/The_Four_Story_Mistake/four-story-mistake-intro.html
Even though it is the second story she wrote about the Melendy family, I usually recommend doing “Four-Story Mistake” first. I hope you get to enjoy them all someday!
And thanks again for the wonderful review. 🙂