Read It Again Mama!

Heave Ho! {Review and Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Heave Ho! by Jose Lucio is a fun book about a worm trying to come up from underground with a little help from his friends (and a twist at the end!). It's a book about teamwork that appeals to a wide spectrum of ages.

My Review: My first impression is that the book is printed on very high quality paper and bound nicely. It feels sturdy enough to survive countless readings with young hands, despite being a paperback. The illustrations are engaging and expressive and the story itself is very appealing. I wasn't sure if I was rooting for the worm or the opposition, but both sides showed innovative thinking and teamwork.

Kids' Review: Each of the kids enjoyed reading this book several times. It's a bit young for Jack (age 9), but he likes to read to his brother and sister, so it was a great book for that. All of the kids squealed with the twist at the end and agreed that it was their favorite part. They had fun choosing sides to root for! The animal illustrations are so fun - the kids loved them as much as the storyline. We all highly recommend this book! If you'd like to purchase this book, it is available here.

Now the fun part: The author was kind enough to provide two copies of this book for a giveaway! Enter via Rafflecopter below for a chance to win your own copy at no cost to you. :)

*We received a copy of this book from the author, but the review is purely our own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Busy Dizzy {Review}

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 04:47:00 +0000

Busy Dizzy by Dr. Orly Katz is about that little voice in our heads that makes us doubt ourselves or our abilities. The story is set in a classroom, led by teacher Mrs. Young, where various kids are plagued with being shy, embarrassed, or being afraid to lose. Mrs. Young recognizes these doubts and teaches the kids about the "Busy Dizzies", describing them as:

"...creatures that no one can see...some make you feel angry, some make you feel shy, some make you embarrassed and some make you cry...Busy Dizzies say words that JUST AREN'T TRUE! Busy Dizzies make you think there are things you can't do!"

Mrs. Young has the kids draw what they think their Busy Dizzies look like and teaches them a song to sing when they feel their Busy Dizzy close to get it to go away and get their confident selves back.

My take: I really like the concept of this book. I like that it gives kids the opportunity to give name to their self doubts and gives them the power and the tools to get rid of them in a fun way. When a situation arises, I'll be interested to see if my kids recall this story and can give name to their own "Busy Dizzy"! We read the e-book version of this book and I'm not entirely sold on the format. I have been mostly reading e-books for myself, but this is the first that I've read with the kids. I think it was a bit more difficult to allow all three kids to see the "book" at once, and there are really fun pages in the back of the book where the reader can name and illustrate their own "Busy Dizzy", but those sort of get lost in the e-book format. That said, my kids thought it was really cool that they had a book on their Kindle Fire (that, I'm not going to lie, they use mostly for Minecraft!). The intended audience of this book is ages 4-8 and I agree that it is an appropriate age range, although Jack enjoyed it as well and he's slightly older than that at nine.

Jack's take: Jack is actually the one who read this story aloud to the rest of us on his Kindle Fire. He is nine and had no trouble with any words or with the flow of the story. His favorite part of the story was the silly looking "Dizzies" - some of them look like little monsters and some of them look like exaggerated versions of their owner. As I said before, he was pretty excited to have the book on his Kindle and despite my own reservations, really enjoyed reading this story in the e-book format.

Colin's take: Colin was less interested in the story, but he is also less interested in abstract concepts like feelings and self-doubt, so this didn't surprise me. Like Jack, he did love the illustrations of the kids' "Dizzies" and the silliness of it all. They definitely made him giggle!

You can find this book on Amazon (not an affiliate link) in e-book format ($1.99) as well as paperback ($12.57). If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you can read this book for free! We recommend that you check it out!

*We received a copy of this e-book from the author, but the review is purely our own.

Miracle Miles - Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 22:08:00 +0000

Miracle Miles by Brian J. Hunt and illustrated by Luke Flowers is the story about miracles, in all shapes & forms. Miles, the smallest Cannon Commander at the Miracle Factory, is charged with saving the Factory from the evil Corbin, helped along the way by his friend Bridget. The story proves that miracles happen in many different ways and that anyone can be a hero.

The Miracle Factory has launched billions of miracles around the world. According to the story, "a miracle is the special ingredient that makes a star glow. When a star is ready to become a miracle, it falls out of the sky toward Earth. Once the star is on the ground, the Miracle Workers rush over to it and harvest out the Glow". The greatest enemy of miracles, however, is the factory owner himself, the evil Corbin. When he sabotages the factory, it is up to Miles and Bridget to save the day.

What I thought: First, know that this book is a bit deceptive because it looks like it will be a typical length story. However, when you open it you realize that the type is somewhat small and there are a lot of words on each page. That being said, it is divided by chapters so it could easily be read over several days. The age range for Miracle Miles is seven to twelve and I think that is a accurate assessment. I think the story jumped around a bit, especially in the beginning, but overall it was an enjoyable read and had a good message. The illustrations are fabulous! Very detailed and expressive and flow with the story quite well.

What Jack thought: Jack is seven and a half and is right on the lower end of the target age range. He wasn't interested in reading this book himself, but wanted me to read it to him (I'm thinking he got a bit overwhelmed with the number of words on each page, something an older child wouldn't be fazed by). He loved the story though. He got very invested in Miles' adventures at the Factory and looked forward to me reading a chapter to him every night. Jack would definitely recommend this book to his friends!

Would you like to win a copy of this book for your child? The author, Brian J. Hunt, was kind enough to provide a signed hardback copy for me to share with my readers. Please fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter. United States mailing addresses only, please. Winner will be contacted via email on Sunday, November 24th.

You can also read more about the author at http://brianjameshunt.com/

We were provided a copy of this book by the author, but the review is purely our own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Moka Becomes a Water Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:07:00 +0000

Moka Becomes a Water Dog by Jeff Stevenson is about a very special family dog named Moka. She spends lots of time playing with her family in their mountain cabin. The book is part of "The Dog On My Feet" series and focuses on Moka's first time in the water and how her family helps her learn to love it. This book is special in that there are fun activities at the end of the book, including a word search, a maze and several coloring pages. We all loved that the book is based on a real family and their beloved dog.

What I thought: This was a fun story to read. The writing was large and simple enough for my first grader to be able to read it with some help, yet engaging enough to keep him interested. The illustrations are fun, I just wish they were a bit bigger.

What Jack thought: Jack was super excited about the activities at the end of the book. "You mean I can write in this book"? :) He was shocked!

What Colin thought: Colin fell in love with Moka. He loves dogs and really enjoys reading books with a dog as the star of the show.

You can buy this book for yourself on Amazon in both paperback and kindle version (not an affiliate link).

We were provided a copy of this book by the author, but the review is purely our own.

Haiku Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:26:00 +0000

For a small change of pace here, I thought I'd post a review of one of my daughter's books, a board book actually. Our little girl, Amelia, is seven months old and already loves to listen to our voices as we read to her. She also loves to listen to big brother Jack read his school books to her. Awww!

We received Haiku Baby by Betsy Snyder from a dear friend over the holidays. Each page features a different haiku in a nature theme. For example, rain, moon, sun, etc.

My favorite haiku is titled, "Moon", and goes like this:

in silver moonlight,
whale sings a soft lullaby-
good night, little bird

What Amelia thinks: We like to read this story close to bedtime when she is fairly calm and relaxed, that way she is less grabby at the book. ;) She enjoys listening to my voice reading the haikus and overall seems to enjoy the experience.

What I think: I love this book. I've always loved haikus, so naturally I love haikus written with children in mind. The illustrations that accompany the words are beautiful and thoughtful as well.

You can buy Haiku Baby for yourself here or see if your local library carries it.

Moses Jones And The Case of the Missing Sneaker

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:31:00 +0000

Moses Jones And The Case of the Missing Sneaker by N.T. McQueen is the story of Moses Jones and his faithful feline companion, Finkle, who go on an epic search for Moses' missing sneaker. With one sneaker on, they search the grocery store, the music store and the hardware store. I won't give away where they end up finding the sneaker, but it is in the most unexpected of places!

This book is a fun story, especially for kids ages 4-8 (in my opinion). The illustrations are bright and engaging, but the story also stands well on its own. I have to say, that for us, Finkle the cat steals the show. He is so expressive and is always doing something funny. He's a perfect companion to Moses Jones and a great accompaniment to the story overall.

What Jack liked: Jack loved this story. I know because he asked me to read it more than once! His favorite page is the very first one, where Finkle the cat is sitting on the toilet. Always stealing the show!

What Colin liked: Colin loved when Moses found his missing sneaker. I won't give it away, but Colin loved the silliness!

We all loved this book and look forward to more adventures with Moses Jones and Finkle the cat. You can purchase a copy of your own here on Amazon (not an affiliate link).

We were provided a copy of this book by the author, but the review is purely our own.

Still alive...

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

and still reading! Having our third child really threw me for a loop for a while even though she is a very easy baby in general. I will be working to get caught up here in the next week or so. We even made it to the library yesterday and the baby didn't make a peep until we were almost out the door. I think she liked it there!

Summer Reading Programs

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I used to love participating in the local library summer reading program as a kid and now I'm so excited that my kids get to have the same experience. Especially since Jack is a new reader, I'd like to encourage him to keep reading this summer and not "lose" any of his reading skills before he starts first grade this fall.

I've been searching for different programs to choose from since it seems that many bookstores also get in on the action these days. The following is a list of programs that I've found out there - hopefully one of them fits with your family!

Barnes and Noble - This one is aimed towards kids in the first through sixth grades. All you need to do is download the reading journal on their website and record eight books that your child reads this summer. In return, your child can choose a free book from a predetermined list aimed at their grade level. *The link takes you to the program from last year - need to keep checking back to make sure they are offering the program again in 2012.

Scholastic Summer Challenge - This program is aimed towards kids of all ages. This program runs between May 1 and August 31. Parents can help their child log into the website and enter their daily minutes read for a chance to win prizes and help set a world record - there's even an app to log minutes read on the go! I highly recommend downloading the Family Participation Guide - it contains detailed instructions as well as a reading pledge, reading log and fun coloring pages.

Pottery Barn Kids - This is another program aimed at kids ages 10 and younger and runs between 5/17 and 8/22. Visit the website to download the booklist, progress tracker and certificate of completion. Bring your progress tracker to your local store by the end of the promotion period to receive a free book!

Your local library - Don't forget to check out your local library's summer reading programs - most will have them. I've linked to our local library, it looks like they have an entire summer's worth of events planned to keep kids engaged.

If all else fails, you can implement your own summer reading program! I found several good links on Pinterest for downloadable reading trackers and more. You could offer an incentive for minutes read or books read, perhaps a trip to the park, ice cream shop, alone time with Mom or Dad (for those families with more than one child - always a challenge to give one-on-one time!) - really the possibilities are endless.

I hope you find a program that works for you and have as much fun this summer reading as we do. I plan to have Jack read to his new baby sister - I think she'll enjoy hearing his voice and he'll feel like a big kid. :-)

Earth Day Book Review and Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:12:00 +0000

In honor of Earth Day (April 22), we picked out a fun book to read to celebrate. We picked Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel.

The premise of the book is a town covered in trash and other gross stuff when Michael Recycle crashes into town superhero style to change their ways. He teaches the townspeople about the importance of recycling ("...before all your trash reaches up to the moon!") and teaches them what they can recycle. The text and photos also indirectly refer to having rain barrels and gardening - other eco-friendly practices.

What I thought about the book: Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is definitely aimed at younger children (I estimate ages 4-6) as it introduces the concept of recycling, but doesn't go into great detail about the benefits and just briefly mentions the types of things you can recycle. I also kind of wish it addressed reusing, but I guess that's a whole other book. ;-)

What Jack thought about the book: Overall, Jack enjoyed the book. He said his favorite part was when Michael Recycle crashed into the town dump...headfirst and with a colander on his head. :-) He also liked the last few pages where the author discusses other common eco-friendly practices (using less water, reducing paper usage, composting, etc.) and we were able to have a nice conversation about which of those things we already do and which we could do next.

What Colin thought about the book: Colin was not super interested in this book until we got to the page where the townspeople had a celebration of their newfound eco-friendliness and "covered the town with green toilet paper". I thought that part was odd (condoning decorating with dyed paper products), but they did mention that when they were done the rolled up the paper to use again. Anyway, Colin asked me to read that part at least five times before I was able to move on with the book and he was still talking about it two pages later.

You could buy this book, but wouldn't it be more fun to win it? Enter the giveaway via Rafflecopter below for your chance to win this book!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Consignment Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 04:29:00 +0000

Hitting up a local consignment sale tomorrow - very excited! Books aren't the first priority, but you better believe I won't pass up a great deal. :-)

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 04:25:00 +0000

The obsession with dinosaurs continues...

Today we read one of the books that was included in our Blue Bag from the library, How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night by Jane Yolen.

The premise of the story is several pages of different dinosaurs displaying bedtime stalling behavior (demanding a piggyback, moaning & crying, stomping their feet, etc.) and the author asking, "does a dinosaur..."? And answering, "no, a dinosaur...(gives a kiss, turns out the light, etc.).

A dramatic dinosaur

What I thought about the book: Overall, I loved the premise of the book. The author shows many of the common stall tactics that can make bedtime a challenge for moms and dads and shows how the dinosaurs don't do those, but instead they do things to make bedtime go much more smoothly. The photos are large and engaging. I loved that the dinosaur names are somewhere on each page (sometimes on their bed or their rug or wall) - inevitably Colin is going to ask me the name of the dinosaur and I'm not going to know. I better get it right because he's going to remember when he asks me again!

What Jack thought about the book: Jack enjoyed listening to the story, but really it is below his interest level. He's not into dinosaurs like Colin is and the overall subject matter is just a little young for him. He loves to listen to almost any story though and he loves when Colin likes something so he was a good sport. :-)

What Colin thought about the book: Colin loved it! He loved the large, bright illustrations of the dinosaurs "being naughty" - it cracked him up. He also tends to love sing-songy books and this fits the bill.

This book is part of a whole series of "How do Dinosaurs...". After reading this one, I will definitely check out other dinosaur books by Jane Yolen especially if Colin's dinosaur obsession continues.

You can likely find this book at your local library or on Amazon for anywhere between 22 cents and approx. $10.

I'm on Twitter!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:24:00 +0000

Finally! Should have done it a long time ago.

Follow me @ReadAgainMama

The Blue Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Maybe this is common at everyone's library, but I've never seen it before and I'm so excited that I have to share!

Our library has these book kits called "Story Express Kits" that are basically multi-media collections that revolve around a single theme. They consist of several books, a music CD, a DVD and toys or action figures. All of the items are neatly contained in this handy blue bag, complete with a laminated card listing the bag's inventory.

I chose the dinosaur themed bag this time due to Colin's still rampant love of dinosaurs (just recently he told me he wants to name his baby sister "diplodocus"). I really wish I had the camera handy when the boys opened the bag because their faces were priceless! Who knew a bag from the library could thrill them this much? The dinosaur bag contains:

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp
Dinosaur Roar!
Dinosaur! (couldn't find a link for this one)
Dinosaur Bones
Ten Little Dinosaurs
Wee Sing Dinosaurs (music CD)
Dinosaur (DVD)
a Allosaurus
a Parasaurolophus
a Styacosaurus

The boys were totally thrilled that there were toys in the bag. We had to break out the dinosaurs and put in the DVD immediately, while they also thumbed through the books. We'll be reading and posting reviews of the books all this week.

As previously mentioned, the library has several Story Express Kit themes to choose from. I stopped at dinosaurs, but I also saw "colors", "alphabet" and "cars". I'll have to pay more attention next time and note what the other themes were.

The way the process works is that the library keeps a binder of laminated cards that describe the theme and contents and when you find one you like, you take the card to the circulation desk and exchange it for the bag. A great thing about this process is that you know when you choose a theme card that it is actually available since they keep that card out of the binder until the bag is returned. No last minute disappointment!

I look forward to reading these books to the kids this week and even listening to the dinosaur songs on our daily commute to school. The only challenge thus far has been making sure that the "library dinosaurs" go back to sleep in the blue bag when they are done playing with them. I'm paranoid that we are going to lose them and I'm going to have to buy the library new ones!

I imagine ours is not the only library with these story kits - I highly recommend that you ask about it next time you go to your local library. If you do, let me know. I'd love to hear about it!

Hello Again & Book Haul

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I finally went to the library that is closest to our new house (almost a year later - ha!). I've been putting it off because I thought it was too much of a drive & it's hard to mix a library trip with a grocery store trip.

Well, I should have gone a long time ago because it really is a nice library! They even have a cafe that serves ice cream sourced from a local shop - how can you beat that? They have a large children's section and it seems like they have a lot of events and story times for children. I will have to keep that in mind this summer when I have all of the kids home with me and we're looking for something to do to escape the heat.

I'm really glad I was able to scope it out without the kids today. It gave me a chance to walk around and check it out without any distractions.

Without further ado, here's what I came home with:

I actually got three books for me as well. I've been mostly reading books on my Kindle, but the free books available have been getting kind of tired for me so I was happy to reserve some books at the library and have them waiting for me on the shelf with my name on them. :-) Oh, I check out The Sewing Bible several times a year - I love this resource! I really should buy it one of these days...

For the kids, I brought home:

Hello Baby! by Lizzy Rockwell
Rick Is Sick by David McPhail (for Jack to read)
Jack and Rick by David McPhail (also for Jack to read - can't believe I'm writing that)
Carolinda Clatter! by Mordicai Gerstein - this one came with a CD
Ogres! Ogres Ogres! by Nicholas Heller
Danny and the Dinosaur (DVD)

Farm Alphabet Book

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Colin and I have been on our own this week while Jack visits his Grammy and Poppa out of town (he comes home tomorrow!).

We had fun the other night playing his new Super Why! ABC Letter Game - I just used the letter recognition cards since the rest were a bit above his current skill level. Since I can rarely get Colin to sit still to listen to an entire story, I decided to incorporate the Farm Alphabet Book by Jane Miller into the game.

To incorporate the book into the game, whenever Colin would pull a letter card and find the same letter on the board, we would look up that letter in the book and read that page. So if Colin selected a 'b', we found the uppercase 'B' on the game board, then read the 'B' page out of the book. It really worked out well and was fun.

This book was published in 2000 but the photos make it seem much older. There is a page for each letter in the alphabet, complete with a photo and a description. While the book's contents are aimed at young children, there is no sing-songy text or even any rhyming.

That said, Colin seemed to enjoy learning facts about the farm and farm animals. One of his favorite pages was 'I' for Incubator.

He said, "I'm cold, Mama. I need an incubator!". Hearing him say a big word like incubator was entertaining in itself.

He also liked 'S' for Swan. He kept asking my what the baby swans were called. (Everything is "just a baby" around here these days).

What I thought about this book: Overall, I liked it. The photo quality isn't great, but many of the letter words are animals, which is always a big hit in our house. Many of the animal pages talked about the real names for the mama, daddy and baby animal (stallion, mare, foal for example). It was interesting to have Colin argue with me, "it's not a mare, mama, it's a mama horse!". ;-)

What Colin thought about this book: We read it again at bedtime after the game was put away. At the end Colin said, "that was a good story, Mama!". I think it gets his seal of approval. :-)

Fall Book Series: The Biggest Pumpkin Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:45:00 +0000

Have I mentioned that I love Fall? The weather is cooler, we've already made a visit to our first Harvest Festival of the year and I splurged on Starbucks Hot Cocoa mix from Costco. We've also read some really great Fall themed books, including The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll.

This book follows two mice, a house mouse and a field mouse, as they unknowingly care for and nurture the same pumpkin. They both have their own idea for the pumpkin - the house mouse wants it to win the grand prize at the town pumpkin contest and the field mouse thinks it would make a great jack o'lantern. In the end, they have both contributed to making it the biggest pumpkin ever and get to both enter it in the contest and carve it.

What I thought about the book: It's a great story overall. It's really fun in the beginning to see the two mice care for the same pumpkin and anticipate them finding out about each other. The illustrations (by Jeni Bassett) are fun and engaging. It's not a long story, but there are a lot of words on each page. I think it's ideal for kids age 4 and up, but if I were reading it to a younger child I think I would just skim the story and kind of make it up as I went along and it would still be good.

What Jack thought about the book: Jack thought it was a pretty good story, but he wasn't overly enthused about it. He said his favorite page was the last page that shows the pumpkin carved into the biggest jack o'lantern ever. (I think he also likes seeing his name in print, haha!)

What Colin thought about the book: Well, true to form, I could barely get Colin to hold still long enough to listen. He did manage to catch the part where the mice spread manure over the garden though, imagine that. Jack asked me what manure is and of course them Colin wanted to see the poop. Sigh. He also really loved the part where it took one hundred mice on motorcycles to drag the pumpkin into town. Something about mice on motorcycles really cracked him up.

We got this book as a hand me down from a friend, but you can pick it up at your local library or on Amazon, where ranges in price from 97 cents to $4.99.

Fall Book Series: When Autumn Comes

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:29:00 +0000

You may recognize this book from my Book Haul post from Saturday. With the light rain and cooler weather tonight, I thought it would be great time to bring this book out.

I had some stiff competition from a certain toy catalogue that showed up in our mailbox today.

Finally, after some convincing, we got down to business.

When Autumn Comes by Robert Maass is a book that uses real photos and simple words to show the beauty that is Autumn (yes, I'm biased - it's my favorite season). It shows people painting fences, fixing roofs, putting up storm windows (ha! a totally foreign concept for us), beautiful red & yellow leaf piles prime for jumping and much more.

What I love about this book: I can't say it enough, but I love the photographs. The book was originally published 21 years ago, but the photos actually don't look too dated. (Side note: when I looked at the copyright date I thought, "oh, that wasn't too long ago". Umm, yeah, it's been 21 years. I'm old.) I love that the book progresses in photos and words from the very tail end of summer to the first frost of winter. The many fun colors for little ones and great conversation starting photos for the older kids makes this a great book for all ages.

What Jack loves about this book: Jack can't help but love autumn because of my enthusiasm. His favorite page, however, is one showing the first snowfall of winter. It shows a family walking out on a snow covered dock to the river. He said, "Mama, why are they walking out into the ocean?!?". We had to stay on the page for a while.

What Colin loves about this book: Colin absolutely loves the page with the "pumpkin people". I don't know if it's the phrase or the photo that cracked him up more, but he wouldn't stop laughing. If you go to Amazon, this is one of the pages they show you in the preview.

I paid a whole 25 cents for this book, but you can buy it at Barnes & Noble on-line for $8.09 (plus, it looks like some sellers are charging only $1.99) or from Amazon for $8.99, but it also qualifies for their 4-for-3 promotion. Honestly, I don't think I could bring myself to pay that much though. I would definitely try my local library first.

Book Haul!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 23:57:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I won a book giveaway from Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves and received the books pictured below:

Jack was super excited to get books in the mail and wanted to read the Babar book right away. I know Colin will love By the Sea too. It was really fun to win a blog giveaway!

Today we went to the book sale at the local library and picked up these books:

All of these books only cost $7.75! The kids books ranged in price from 25 cents to 50 cents each and the one book I bought for myself cost a dollar. As you can see, we picked up quite a variety. Some fall books, some Christmas themed, some new, some old. The older women in charge of the sale doted on Jack while he was picking out books & paying for them - it was so cute and he just ate it up.

When I buy books in bulk like this, I usually put most of them away at first and give the kids one or two new books a week. This is a great plan especially when the weather is poor and the kids are restless.

With this haul I think I could do my own giveaway!

Where to Get Children's Books

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:30:00 +0000

I thought it would be fun to share where we get our books. Maybe you will get a few new ideas and maybe you can share your ideas with me. I'm listing these in order of preference.

Library
Our local library is a great resource for children's books (and audio books, e-books & movies!). Most (all?) libraries have a website now where you can put items on hold, renew checked books & even pay overdue fees (guilty here). We find it more fun to go in and choose books on the spot though. It's a great way to discover new books and old favorites all in one place. Best of all, library books are free!

Hand Me Downs
Another free resource is friends and family with older children. We were lucky enough to receive large shopping bags full of books from a good friend whose children are older than ours. Some of the books were over their age range, but we just held onto them (in some cases, still holding onto them) until they are ready for them. We've also brought home a few books from Grammy's house, mostly the Bernstein Bears series that Jack loves (he calls them "the dancing bears"), but we really like to leave most of them at Grammy's house for the kids to discover. Don't forget to share the love, though, and hand down books to younger friends when you're finished with them. We have quite a few baby/toddler books that we need to hand down and/or donate.

Library Book Sales
Our local library has a book sale at least a couple of times a year. Children's books generally sell for anywhere between five cents and a dollar. The books are usually in well-loved condition, but this is a great opportunity to stock up. There is usually a flier at the front desk when a sale is coming up or you can check the library website under "Events".

Local Used Book Stores
This one is tricky. Our favorite used book store carries children's books, but generally frowns upon children in the store (I base this on experience, not store policy obviously). Also, in my experience, prices vary from store to store. Sometimes we get a great deal, other times we don't.

On-Line Retailers
I buy so many things on-line these days, including books. I like Amazon's 4-for-3 deals, especially for gifts. Even better if you can get free shipping.

Brick & Mortar Stores
Are there any local booksellers around anymore? I've purchased books for the kids at Barnes & Noble on occasion and Target (impulse buys), but I think the last time I bought a book from a local bookshop was when Colin was a baby and I was visiting my hometown. Sad.

Where do you get your children's books? Any experience with eBay, Craigslist or Etsy?

Fall Book Series: Dinosaurs' Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:26:00 +0000

Nobody is going to throw something at me for reading a Halloween book in September, right? Since it's officially Fall (my favorite season), we've dug out all of our Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving books and are enjoying them despite the 90 degree temperatures outside.

Dinosaurs' Halloween by Liza Donnelly is about a young boy and his dog who dress up like dinosaurs and meet up with an unexpected friend for a night of trick-or-treating. They run into some bullies who try to steal their candy and take off their masks, but they get a big surprise when they try to take off one of the masks!

What I love about this book: The story flows, but is simple. There's not a lot of text, which is okay because it leaves room for dialogue about what is going on in the story. Jack's school just did a lesson on bullying so we were able to talk about that and reinforce what he learned and what he would do in a similar situation.

What Jack loves about this book: Jack liked the story & the twist at the end. He also loved the last couple of pages, which have pictures & information about real (and made up!) dinosaurs.

What Colin loves about this book: Colin had zero interest in this book. I'm sure we'll read it a few more times this season, though, so he may change his mind yet.

This book was published in 1988 and is now out of print. A quick search proved that it can still be purchased on-line, both in used and new condition. We picked up this book at a local library book sale for probably ten cents. The target audience is baby-preschool, but based on our experience it is more appealing to children that are at least age five.

Slow Food Challenge Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:33:00 +0000

Here's the post where I finally make the meal. :)

I made the Crunchy Chicken Tenders, from page 196 of The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine. The recipe isn't much different from what you'd expect in a chicken tender recipe, basically cover the chicken in flour, dip in egg & cover with breading. The difference here is that the egg and the breading mixtures pack an extra nutritional punch.

The egg mixture includes Missy's "Orange Puree", which consists of yam and carrots (this is the puree that Jack couldn't keep his hands off yesterday). In order to puree the yam & carrots, you first have to boil the heck out of them. I was worried that would leach out any beneficial nutrients, but the puree was still bright orange when done, so I don't think that's a real concern. I recommend using the boiling water in the puree rather than fresh water though. Photos of the puree are in yesterday's preview post here. I was also concerned that the puree and the egg wouldn't mix together well and actually stick to the chicken, but it did.

The breading was Missy's "Better Breading", which consists of whole wheat bread crumbs, ground slivered almonds and wheat germ. I couldn't find wheat germ in the store, so I substituted ground flax seed that I already had on-hand. Here's a pic of (most of) Better Breading:

The chicken tenders turned out beautifully.

Also, in the time it took for the chicken tenders to bake, I whipped up a quick half pint jar of strawberry jam. I had a container of strawberries that were just about past prime & I didn't want to waste them!

What Jack thought: Jack loved them! He even knew the "sneaky" ingredients and it didn't phase him, probably because he loved the orange puree so much yesterday. He ate two good sized pieces of chicken.

What Colin thought: Well, Colin only ate half of a piece of chicken. This is about typical for him though. At least I know he got a bit of extra nutrition in that half piece than in a questionable store bought or fast food chicken nugget.

What I thought: I thought the chicken was delicious. The breading stayed nicely on the chicken pieces and tasted just like regular breading. I kind of wished I could taste the almonds though. I think next time I'll won't grind the almond so fine. I will definitely make this chicken again.

I also like the concept of the book and the book itself. Like I said yesterday, I want my kids to like fruits & veggies in their raw form, but in the meantime, I don't want mealtime to be a battle. The purees/mixtures don't seem to take much time to prepare & they can be stored in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer. I could easily see myself spending a couple hours on a Saturday making purees for the week. A couple of recipes that I look forward to trying are Breakfast Cookies (uses ricotta cheese and a whole wheat flour/wheat germ mixture) and Brainy Brownies (uses whole wheat flour/wheat germ mixture, ground rolled oats & raw spinach/blueberries).

If you want to know more about the book, check out their website or pick up the cookbook at your local library.

Natural Network Blog Hop: Slow Food Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Today, September 17, Slow Food USA is inviting you to be a part of their $5 Challenge, and the Natural Network Blog Hop wants to kick it off and invite you to join us! The challenge is to take back the 'value meal' by getting together with family, friends or neighbors to enjoy a meal that costs no more than $5 per person (the cost of the average fast food meal).

Slow Food USA says that slow food shouldn't have to cost more than fast food, and they're right! If you want to join in, you can sign up for the challenge over at Slow Food USA. If you're a blogger, join us by sharing your favorite slow food meal ideas and linking up with to our Natural Network Blog Hop at the bottom of this post!

Here's where I confess that I didn't make a 'slow food' meal tonight (we had homemade pizza but used pre-made dough, canned tomato paste & pre-shredded cheese). I went to the market today armed with a list, but somewhere between the house and the market, I lost the list and had to do my best without it. As such, I forgot some key items for my kickoff $5 challenge meal. We'll head out again tomorrow & try again.

Tomorrow, I will be reviewing a recipe from the cookbook, The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine. I recently purchased this book because my youngest has been boycotting most fruits & veggies for a while now. I'm not a big fan of sneaking nutrients in or tricking the kids into eating healthier, but the reality is that my youngest is likely not eating a very balanced diet right now. I'll continue to offer fruits & veggies in their whole form and will be ecstatic if he eats them, but I will also give "sneakiness" a try at the same time.

While Colin napped today, Jack helped me make the first puree. Here are a few photo previews (clickable):

Jack loved the puree by itself. I let him have one spoon full and then he licked the bowl when I was finished bagging it all for the freezer. Clearly, he's not the one boycotting the healthy stuff!

Recipe review to follow! In the meantime, let me know if you plan to join the challenge & what you will make.

UPDATE: Click Here for recipe review.

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New Look!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 06:01:00 +0000

I hope you love it as much as I do! Big thanks to Seventeen Stone for the new blog design. Check out her Hyena Cart shop here or her Etsy shop here.

She does great work and is a dream to work with.

In other news, you can now subscribe free via email or RSS feed and "like" my Facebook page. ----->

I'm working on some great updates and will be posting again soon. :)

Leonardo the Terrible Monster

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:27:00 +0000

Just in case Jack does not look sufficiently enthused, I have to emphasize to you that this is quite possibly the best loved book that has been in our house for a long time. So good, in fact, that we had to pay a fine at the library because we held onto it way too long! I ended up buying it (the kids were happy to open that package!) and we've read our own copy several times already.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster is about Leonardo, who is, admittedly, a terrible monster. He doesn't seem to be able to scare anybody. This leads him to try to find "the most scaredy-cat kid in the world". There's a great page in here showing Leonardo doing "research" - posters on his wall, balled up pieces of paper overflowing the trash, a cup of coffee. His "research" leads him to Sam, who he does, in fact, scare! Well, it turns out that Sam has some other reasons for crying (a huge list, actually). It's at this point that Leonardo decides that he'd much rather be a good friend than a scary monster (although he reserves the right to scare Sam on occasion).

What I love about this book: The illustrations are huge (the book is large too), which makes it an easy book to read to two kids. There aren't a ton of words on each page, which makes it easier to hold Colin's attention. It has a great message (friendship and empathy) but is funny and appealing at the same time.

What Jack loves about this book: His hands-down favorite line in the book is when Leonardo wants to find the most scaredy-cat kid in the whole world and "scare the tuna salad out of him". Cracks him up every time!

What Colin loves about this book: He loves the different expressions that Leonardo makes & he loves the part at the end when Sam chases after Leonardo. He also just loves talking about who is who and what they are doing.

Did I mention this book is written and illustrated by Mo Willems (Knuffle Bunny anyone?)? Enough said.

Run to the library to check this book out or buy it here. Well worth the $9.99.

P.S. Totally unrelated, but this is the first photo I've published on the blog that I took in manual mode on my camera. Trying to break my dependence on the auto functions! Not the best photo, but it's a start.

Slacking...and a great website

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:55:00 +0000

I have to admit that I've been slacking on this blog. The kids and I still visit the library almost every week, lugging home a huge pile of books. We read them like crazy and I have great visions of posting the reviews here, especially when the kids really fall in love with a book. In fact, we currently have seven books just itching to be reviewed...

In the meantime, I wanted to share a great website I found. It's called Jacketflap.com (click here). It's a website that "is a comprehensive resource for information on the children's book industry". I've found it to be a great resource to keep up-to-date on newly published children's books as well as not-so-newly published books. You can search their database by title or even your child's age range. The site also has it's own blog reader, so you have access to over 700 blogs...all about books! Some are writers' blogs, agents' blogs, publishers' blogs, etc. all about the children's book industry.

Let me know if you check out the site & send me a friend request!