Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends

Title: Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends
Author: Sarah, Stephen and Grace Mally
Major Themes: Bible Study, Family Life
Synopsis: Three siblings have written a book to help brothers and sisters learn to love each other more and get along better.

Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends is one of those books that I heard about many years before I actually got my hands on a copy. I remember my sister-in-law showing it to me, maybe as far back as 15 years ago, but I never read it until about a year and a half ago I started reading it to my children. I used it as part of our morning routine, sort of as a devotional to start the day. After we finished it, I decided to read it again, hoping maybe we would get more out of it the second time through. We have finally finished it for the second time now. I don’t know if the book had anything to do with it or not, but our children are much closer to each other than before.

The three Mally children have worked together to write this book. Each chapter contains a section written by Sarah to start out, then some thoughts from Stephen, and is wrapped up with some words from Grace. Throughout the entire book are stories from the Mally family’s life to illustrate points that are being discussed. Some of these stories are very funny—even the second time through! We also enjoyed Stephen’s definitions, such as Mistakes—The first one usually made is opening your mouth. The self-evaluation quizzes at the end of each chapter are very thought-provoking.

This book discusses why families have a hard time getting along together, and how to find the root of relationship problems. Various ways to build friendship between brothers and sisters are discussed; I especially appreciated the chapter on praise. There is a lot of encouragement to do ministry as a family, as well, with practical pointers on how to do it.

If you want your children to get along better, this book is a helpful resource. As a mother, I learned a lot, too! The Mally children have done a superb job in putting this book together.

No warnings!