Gift a Feast: A Feast of Snacks Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: Gift a Feast sent me a Feast of Snacks free of charge to review. They are also offering one to one of my readers. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease but receive no compensation.

Are you looking for the perfect gift for someone who does not really need anything? Perhaps a gift for Mother's Day, for a graduate or an end of the year gift for a teacher? Want something different from the norm, then this review is for you!! I have the pleasure of sharing with you Gift a Feast and reviewing their A Feast of Snacks gift and down below you can enter to win one. If you order one of their gifts on their website you can choose the gift wrap. Gift a Feast has a variety of gifts including sweets and savory treats. All the gifts are food items from the San Francisco area. So each gift is a taste of San Francisco. The gifts are wrapped beautifully. The papers are gorgeous. I let Hazel open them and she did not want to rip the paper so she could use them for crafts later. Our gift was in pink flowered paper. Here is a picture of it before it was mailed. Isn't it gorgeous?

Emus and Hippos!! Book Reviews

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today we are sharing two fun and educational animal books from Candlewick Press. They are written in the same style as Grandma Elephant's In Charge and Big Red Kangaroo which Candlewick Press sent previously to me to review (and we bought one as a birthday gift for one of Hazel's friends because we love them so much!). These books tell a story about a particular animal and/or group of animals as well as have aside facts about the animal.

The first we travel to Australia to learn about emus, with Emu written by Claire Saxby and illustrated by Graham Byrne.

Heather Has Two Mommies Book Review: What Makes a Family?

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Lately there is so much talk about families. There are the debates over same sex marriage and almost everyone at some point will meet a child with two same sex parents. As an avid supporter of equal rights for all, I believe it is important to help children see that this is all right. We do not want to ostracize a child because of the make up of his or her family. I know we have all heard those embarrassing stories about when a child first noticed someone who is different from them. How they are prepared to deal with differences will help make these stories non-embarrassing.  Today I get to share the perfect book to help prepare children. The book is Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Laura Cornell. This is a new edition of the book.

Sharing Saturday 15-17

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am amazed by all the great ideas! These features are just a sampling of the posts shared. I hope you will go and check them all out! This week our features consist of  Gardening and Bees, Booking Across America, and Some Favorites. 

God's Amazing World! Book Review for Earth Day

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Ideals Books. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

This year for Earth Day I thought I would focus on the holiday in a different way. There are so many ideas floating around for crafts many using recycled materials and others looking like the planet. There are also all the ideas to help protect the earth. Many people talk about the reasons why we need to do this, but I am going to give you another--a religious point of view. In Genesis 1:28

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

 God gave us dominion over the creatures of earth. He gave humans the job of keeping the earth. To teach this lesson, I found a great book called God's Amazing World! written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Melanie Florian.

Our Recent Doll Finds

I have not shared our doll finds lately and we have quite a few. We will start with our newest doll. Hazel really wanted to spend her Easter money on this doll at Target last week. She was on sale for $19.99 so I let her. Meet Ginger...

Hazel's Science Center

Last week I chaperoned Hazel's class field trip to Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire. It was a fun place for the kids to learn even more about the ocean and really end their ocean unit. They ended it the next day with watching Finding Nemo. Hazel liked the science center better. The time at the science center began with a demonstration/class for the kids. First an employee presented about tide pools and the animals found at different levels of the tide pool and then they divided the kids into two groups to have some hands-on experience with the animals.

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #26

Welcome to the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop! The Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place where bloggers can share multicultural activities, crafts, recipes, and musings for our creative kids. We can't wait to see what you share this time! Created by Frances of Discovering the World through My Son's Eyes, the blog hop has now found a new home at Multicultural Kid Blogs. 

Sharing Saturday 15-16

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am blown away by all the great ideas! This week our features consist of  Earth Day & Mother's Day Features, Art Features, Toddler Features, and Other Features. 

Ladybug Girl Teaches Empowerment and Imagination: Book Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of these books free of charge for this review and are providing the book for the giveaway. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you discovered Ladybug Girl by Jacky Davis and illustrated by David Soman? Last month we shared some ideas for a birthday party themed around the Ladybug Girl book series. After the fun we had last month with book themed party ideas, this month Penguin Kids sent us the original Ladybug Girl book and asked us to come up with some ideas to go with it. Of course they sent us more than just the book. 

Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories Book Review

 Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Hazel loves exploring the world. She loves learning about different cultures. Since her father does not like to travel or spend the money to travel, we explore from home. We try recipes from other countries, listen to music from other countries, read books about other countries and we love to read stories from other countries. Tuttle Publishing sent us Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories retold by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran and illustrated by Nguyen Dong and Nguyen Thi Hop.

Anna and Her Rainbow Colored Yoga Mats and Sophia's Jungle Adventure Yoga Book Reviews

Make sure you enter the Earth Day Giveaway we are co-hosting!! You have until midnight Tuesday EDT.

 Disclosure: Kid Yoga Stories gave me a copies of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own, and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you tried yoga with your children yet? Hazel loves it--though we do not do it often. We have had the pleasure of reviewing three of Giselle Shardlow's books and Hazel loves them all. Thus far we have reviewed The ABC's of Australian Animals, Luke's Beach Day, and Hello Bali! Today we are sharing two more. It was a beautiful day here finally so we tried some yoga outside! The first book is Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats by Giselle Shardlow and illustrated by Paul Wrangles. (Please note that the photos are of Hazel attempting to copy the pose in the books. They are not all correct, but she is on her way to getting them.)

Sharing Saturday 15-15

Make sure you enter the Earth Day Giveaway we are co-hosting!!

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am blown away by all the great ideas! This week our features consist of Spring/April Features and Other Features. 

Welcome to the Neighborwood and River Story Book Reviews

Make sure you enter the Earth Day Giveaway we are co-hosting!!

 Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copies of these book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own, and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

With the Earth Day Giveaway going on, I thought we would stick to some Earth Day themed books. Today we are going to share two books that are perfect for learning about the environment. 

The first book is River Story by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by Bee Willey. This beautiful book takes the reader to the start of a river. "All rivers have a beginning..." the book begins. The book takes the reader through the different aspects of a river. It shares where the river slows down, what the river is like in a city and where a river ends. 

Nursery Rhyme Fun with Book Reviews

Make sure you enter the Earth Day Giveaway we are co-hosting!!

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copies of these book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own, and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Now if you have been reading Crafty Moms Share, you know we have a thing for nursery rhymes. In particular Hazel LOVES Hey, Diddle Diddle. Yes we have a nursery rhyme quilt, have dressed as the dish and spoon for Halloween, had a nursery rhyme birthday party and have just about every version and spin off written of Hey, Diddle Diddle (and yes there are quite a few). Well Candlewick Press added two more nursery rhyme books to our collection. 

Earth Day Book Reviews and Giveaway

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales Press gave me a copies of these product free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own, and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. They are also providing copies for the giveaway.


Today I am joining with a group of bloggers to do an Earth Day Giveaway. There are three prize packs and the information for the giveaway is below. Today I am lucky enough to review two of the books that are in the third prize pack. Hazel loves both of these books! The first book is Just Like Me, Climbing a Tree by Durga Yael Benhard. This book was released to celebrate Arbor Day which is April 24.

Simple Cloth Daisy Doll Book Review

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Disclosure: Search Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

So just before Christmas Hazel informed me she wanted a soft doll that looked like her so she could sleep with it. Now I have all of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving, so it was out of the question. Then I received a copy of Simple Cloth Daisy Dolls by Wenche O. Steensen. I knew I would make her a doll so I could write a proper review of the book.

Sharing Saturday 15-14

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am blown away by all the great ideas!! With this weekend being the beginning of Passover and Easter Sunday, my feature topics are: Passover, Easter Eggs, Easter, Spring, and a couple of favorites. Be sure to check these out and go back and see the many ideas I didn't have room to feature this week. There are many more inspiring ones!!

A Seder Dinner: Exploring Passover

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

As a Christian I have only been to a Seder Dinner twice in my life. The first was as a child and the second was as an adult. Both were held at churches. I have always been fascinated by it. Perhaps it is because of the Last Supper being a Seder Dinner. Our exploration has brought with it many questions from Hazel with things like why don't we do this if Jesus did, but that is another story. My goal for this year was to look at what is involved with a Seder Dinner. We of course first looked at books like we always do.

Exploring Italy

By Map of Italy-it.svg: F l a n k e r 
(File:Map of Italy-it-2.svg) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

This month we have chosen to explore Italy. Hazel really enjoys exploring a country each month. We explore by reading books about the country and stories from the country, listening to music from the country, cooking and trying food from the country and making crafts. I chose Italy this month since we are going on our own and Steve is Italian. I figured it would be fun for Hazel to learn more about where half her ancestors come from plus Steve and his mother tell her a bit about Italy and Italian all the time. We started with some books from the library about Italy.