Books with author J. Michael Smith

When the Blish family decided to move from California to Grandpa and Grandmas farm in northeast Wisconsin, the children thought it was the most boring place in the entire world. Emily, Anthony, and Margaret wanted a real adventure. No adventure could be found until they met Mr. Pippin. He sent them on many wonderful make-believe adventures. When tragedy struck Mr. Pippin, he left them with the greatest adventure of all. What was the mystery he was hiding? What was this medallion all about? Why did they have to find it? Would they ever be able to reach it with all the dangers lurking around every corner?The Blish children begin to learn the lessons of faith and trust in God as they travel through this new adventure. They wanted to have the kind of faith that their parents and grandparents had, but it was hard for them because they were just kids. Now, on their own and relying on the examples set by their family, they put to practice what they had learned.When the time came for the children to confront the enemy, they were ready to trust God for help.

A bully, who spends a lot of time alone, drawing, is visited one night by one of his drawings that comes to life. This "Vision" then makes him live a day in the life of the other kids he bullies until he learns the lesson of empathy. He then turns his life around and becomes friends with the kids as he helps them with certain problems in their life.

Although famous for breaking the Nazis' Enigma code, the teams at Bletchley Park were also engaged in breaking the codes of all Germany's allies, and among them the machine ciphers of Japan. Drawing on files that were only recently declassified, Michael Smith tells the engrossing story of the British and Australian cryptographers - John Tiltman, Eric Nave and Hugh Foss - who broke the Japanese diplomatic and military codes.

When Grandad died, eighty-three people went to the funeral. A lot of them cried.Jessica, Colin, Sasha and Tom thought of the good times they'd had with their Grandad. They knew they would miss him a lot."He had always wanted to be cremated," said Grandma, "and his last wish was to have his ashes scattered in his favourite place..."This beautifully illustrated full-colour picture book for children aged four to eight tells the story of four children who embark on an adventure to find their Grandad's favourite place - but they are faced with plenty of challenges on the way.Told with gentle humour, this is a charming story for children and an ideal resource for parents or counsellors to read with a child as a way of broaching issues surrounding loss or bereavement.