Sigh. Oh I don't know how many stars to give this book. I wanted to read it b/c I thought it'd be a simple way to learn about the history of some of the great hymns.... in a children's story format. But the story seemed forced, the dialogue unrealistic, and at times, it was..yawn.. boring. I wanted it to work. It could have worked. But the author made the conversations so stilted, the children's characters saying things no child would ever say.. I liked the narratives about the hymn writers,(and so it gets two stars for that) but unfortunately they were enmeshed w/campy-corny-make-me-cringe dialogues, and so it was a tedious read. Unfortunately these Mr Pipes books are often required reading for some on-line homeschools. They should really find something else! I don't think I'll read the other book Mr. Pipes and Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation. I wanted to, but I don't think I could stay awake long enough... (yawn) ( )