Jo's Special Gifts -- Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Mariam Shapera to bring you this review and giveaway. All opinions are my own.

Do you know anyone with autism? According to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 36 children are diagnosed with autism as of 2020. It is getting diagnosed more often. In 2000 the statistic was 1 in 150. It is also four times more common in boys than girls. (Source) I teach and have taught many students on the autism spectrum. I also have friends who kids' have been diagnosed with it. In fact, the only time I have had a guest blogger was my friend sharing her own experience as the mother of an autistic child. Today I get to share a very special picture book about a boy with autism and some of his behaviors, characteristics, etc. The book is Jo's Special Gifts by Mariam Shapera and illustrated by Lorna Humphreys. 

Eliza Dee's Universes -- New Picture Book Sharing the World of a Girl with hEDS

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Did you know April is Autism Awareness Month? Today we are sharing a book by an author with autism as well as night-blindness and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). She wrote a picture book sharing a bit of what it is like to have these "invisible" disabilities based on her own experiences as well as to get kids imaginations going. The book is Eliza Dee's Universes by Rebecca Finch Vitsmun and illustrated by Victoria Mikki. It is recommended for ages baby through 12. 

New Picture Books that Teach Various Lessons

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

This week there are some great picture books coming out. I am sharing three of them today. Each has its own message/lesson. We will start with The Boy Who Said Wow by Todd Boss and illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. It is recommended for ages 3 to 8. 

ART -- Book Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I am working with Kate Foster and The Children's Book Review to bring you this post and giveaway.

Over the years I have shared several wordless books. Books without words or with only a few words help develop children's imaginations. It can make story time really interesting and a wordless book's story can change each time. We have shared some of our favorite ones as well as new ones we reviewed. when we were at the Waldorf School it was suggested not to read young children books with words until kindergarten. Today I get to share another one that is very unique. It is Art by Marin Darmonkow.

Picture Books that Teach Kindness & Understanding

 

Disclosure: I am working with The Children's Book Review & REED Foundation for Autism by sharing these books with you. All opinions are my own.

April is Autism Awareness Month. I have a close friend who has a son on the spectrum. It is through them that I truly became aware of autism and what it is. Her son is highly functioning, but I know the difficulties he can have. When he was young I was one of the only people she allowed to pick him up from school besides herself or her husband. I feel blessed to have learned more about autism from him and I feel blessed to share these two amazing books with you. These books come from the REED Foundation for Autism. Inside each cover jacket it says: "The 'One Big Canvas' book series is an initiative of the REED Foundation for Autism. The series will feature a growing number of titles, characters, and storylines centered on understanding, accepting, and demonstrating kindness to all." The REED Foundation for Autism is committed to providing individuals with autism the opportunity to learn, live, work and thrive at every stage of their lives. For more information, please visit https://www.reedfoundationforautism.org.

The Girl With More Than One Heart -- a Middle Grades Novel about Dealing with Loss as Well as a Sibling on the Spectrum

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am sharing a book that is suggested for grades 3-7. It is touching and such a real life story. It deals with death, a sibling with autism and being a 13-year-old and all life brings with it. The book is The Girl with More Than One Heart by Laura Geringer Bass. 

Kids Like Us -- Young Adult Novel Review

Disclosure: Macmillan Publishing sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am sharing another book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for way too long without sharing it. It is a young adult novel that delves into the world of autism.

Religious Books for Different Ages

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I am sharing some various religious books for different ages. Two are for kids and two are for adults. This is really just a mishmash of a round-up, so I hope there is something here for everyone. Our first book is a book of prayers from different religions and cultures. It is Talking to God: Prayers for Children from the World's Religions by Demi.

Sharing Saturday 17-42

It is time again for Sharing Saturday! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. So glad you joined us!!

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop.

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. 

Dearfoams Slippers for Autism Awareness -- Product Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent this pair of slippers to review free of charge from Dearfoams. 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. They are also providing a pair of slippers for the giveaway.

You may have read the wonderful post by my good friend, Scarlett. If you did not, please do so. It is so moving and will help anyone be kind and helpful to parents with an autistic child. Well I was contacted by a company representing Dearfoams. Dearfoams has an amazing program going on right now. For every pair of slippers ordered from dearfoam.com this month, they are donating $1 to Autism Speaks. They are willing to donate up to $3,000. Now Autism Speaks is a charity Scarlett holds dear and near her heart. As a result, it is one I hold dear and near my heart as well. So I hope you will go over to Dearfoams and check out their great slippers. They have many fun styles for the summer.

Now they sent me a pair of the Summer Fur Slides in blue for Autism Awareness month. They gave me a few choices, but I liked the blue ones for the month. After all we are lighting it up blue this month. They are so comfortable and soft. They are fun and can be worn outside since they have a rubber sole.

Can you see yourself out by the pool in these? Talk about comfort shoes!! It gets better--they are machine washable!! So if they get some dirt, water or food on them, you can throw them in the washing machine for easy care.  Let's face it, as moms we need everything to be machine washable.

My only complaint, which is more about my feet than the slippers, is that I have slightly wide feet and slightly high arches, so they fit a bit tight. I think the fur straps will stretch over time though so that complaint will go away. (However my issues with all shoes will not as a result of my feet--this is why I tend to be in socks or barefoot at home.)

Now I have been affected by autism as a teacher as well as a friend. I consider Scarlett's children like family. I am on the emergency contact list for her son's school, because I am one of the people she trusts with him in an open space. He is what we call a bolter. Now Hazel LOVES to chase him and they play chase all the time, but it can be difficult in an open space. He knows with me to hold my hand, and he is such a sweet boy. My biggest struggle with all of this is trying to explain his behavior to Hazel. He has a very hard time understanding people's emotions. So when he is running away from Hazel for a game of chase and she is laughing is the same to him as when he is running away and she is crying and/or screaming at him. For awhile I used the excuse that he was younger than her, but I knew that would not work forever and thought it was time to try to explain a bit more.  Hazel now knows he has a disability. She understands disabilities since she has seen people with different ones. I am not sure she completely gets the lack of understanding emotion cues, but we are working on it. She at least knows if he is doing something she does not like, to come get me or Scarlett to help her. How I deal with Chickadee is to do my best to mimic Scarlett. She is so amazing with him and I just try to copy what she says and how she says it.

This past weekend we had my nephew visiting. Steve and I took him and Hazel to the Science Museum in Boston. Hazel was being her typical slow eater self and the boys had finished lunch. I suggested Steve take our nephew to the gift shop since our plan was for him to choose a birthday gift there since his birthday is a month away. Well a mother and a boy came over and asked if they could sit at our table while it was just me and Hazel. The boy noticed my soda bottle and asked where I got it. He had a cup for soda, but had not seen the bottle. I could tell from how he was speaking and acting he had a slight disability and his boldness definitely made his mother uneasy. I answered him and told him the truth was we didn't know there were cups or we would have gotten those. His mother seemed to relax as I acted like it was completely normal conversation. It is moments like this that I understand more about how Scarlett says our behavior is supportive and how easily it can be to not be supportive. Yes, the boy at the museum reminded me of Chickadee (just in a few years). So I try to remember when I'm out not to judge people by their child's behavior. You do not know what they are going through. Just a friendly reminder.

Now onto our giveaway!! If you want to wait and see if you can win a pair of these fun Summer Fur Slides, enter below. Please follow my Giveaway Rules! Or if you cannot wait (and want $1 of your purchase to go to Autism Speaks) head over to Dearfoams and order your pair!

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Autism Awareness--Guest Blogger

Today I am going to do something I never do! I am having a guest blogger! My good friend is going to talk to you about her own experience of discovering and coping with her son's autism. My friend's son often plays differently than other children his age.  One of the unique things he does involves lining items or toys up, something that is common in children with Autism.  The pictures below depict some of his "creations" that my friend has randomly stumbled upon throughout the house. Now my friend is an wonderful mother and person and I am always so amazed with how she deals with what life has thrown her way and she does it with grace and style. So without further ado, here is my first guest blogger post.