Nate the Great and the Star-Spangled Parrot -- Book Review

 

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 new easy reader chapter book, and it has an Independence Day theme. It is part of the Nate the Great series. It is Nate the Great and the Star-Spangled Parrot by Andrew Sharmat and illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov. It is recommended for ages 6 to 9.

No Cats in the Library -- Picture Book Review

 

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

What do you get when a stray cat who loves books discovers a library? A fun new picture book!! Today we are sharing with you a new book (released today) based on this story. The book is No Cats in the Library written and illustrated by Lauren Emmons. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Dare to Dream Puzzle

 

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

Yesterday I felt like I wanted to work on a puzzle. I went to my puzzle pile and decided to put together Dare to Dream 1,000-Piece Puzzle by Astrid van der Hulst, Irene Schmidt, and Editors of Flow Magazine. I chose this puzzle because I thought I could put it together pretty quickly and wanted to review it today. 

Chapter Books for Different Ages

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of each of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own.

Summer has hit and now the kids are off school. Looking for something for them to read? This post is for you. It has suggestions from age 6 to 14! And there is something for everyone! Our first book is the third book in a series written for 6 to 9 year olds. It is Big Foot and Little Foot: The Squatchicorns by Ellen Potter and art by Felicita Sala.

Jumpstart's Read for the Record -- The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books 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.

Have you heard about Jumpstart's Read for the Record? Tomorrow, October 27, 2016, is their 11th annual one. It is a program that was started to address educational inequities that leave too many kids unprepared for kindergarten. They have millions of people read the same book on the same day so it is the world's largest shared reading experience. This year's book is The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach. 

Books for Younger Kids -- Back-to-School

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

As we continue our back to school week I thought we would look at some books for our younger kids. The first book is perfect for toddlers and beginning readers. It is a fun board book. It is City Block by Christopher Franceschelli and art by Peskimo. 

Summer Reading -- Chapter Book Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Last week I shared the start of my summer reading reviews with picture books and I promised to do some chapter books this week. Earlier this week I did language fun that also included some picture books. Since my chapter book reviews did not get written yet I am sharing them with you today. (Do the summer days seem to fly by for anyone else?) One book is perfect for the younger chapter book readers--grades 2-5 and the other two are for middle school grades 5-8. The first book is Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans by Gary Northfield. 

 

Learning with Lego Fun -- Summertime Fun

Disclosure: I was sent a digital version of this book free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience. LEGO^® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.

Are you trying to have some learning going on this summer? Do you want to make it fun? Then The Unofficial Guide to Learning with LEGO^®  by Danielle Buckley, Dayna Abraham, Laura Marschel, Nicolette Roux, Samantha Sopher-Caetano and Sarah McClelland is perfect for you. This amazing book has over 100 different activities to make learning and playing fun. They use LEGO building blocks in many different ways.

Summer Reading -- Fun Picture Books

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Are your kids working on their summer reading and/or summer homework? I know we are and I have to admit I find it to be a bit of a pain. The part we enjoy however is the daily reading. Hazel reads at least a book or a chapter if it is a chapter book to my parents each night before bedtime. If they are not available, she reads to me. She is loving reading from her summer reading list but she also loves to read some of the new picture books we have received. Here are four fun ones to share today. Next week we will share some middle grade chapter books and have some suggestions throughout the summer. Be sure to check back for all of our recommendations. The books today are fun books. Many of them are rather funny.

100 Fun & Easy Learning Games for Kids -- Book Review with one full lesson

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge. 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 activity has been reprinted with permission from the publisher from book 100 FUN & EASY LEARNING GAMES FOR KIDS.

Today I get to share an amazing book with you which is being released today!! It is from fellow Kid Blogger Network bloggers, Amanda Boyarshinov and Kim Vij. They are the creators of The Educators' Spin on It.  The book is 100 Fun & Easy Learning Games for Kids. 

A Big Surprise for Little Card and More-igami -- Two Fun Books

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.

Here are two new books that bring paper, cards and origami to life. The first is A Big Surprise for Little Card by Charise Mericle Harper and illustrated by Anna Raff. This book takes a little mix up and makes it fun as well as reminding the reader how fun books and the library can be!

Sharing Saturday 16-17

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

Happy Earth Day!! I had planned a post on some fun books about animals for Earth Day, but instead spent the day outside with Hazel since it is the last day of her spring vacation. 

 It is time 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. 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 the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week our features are Reading Features and Everything Else.

Word World: Be My Valentine DVD Review

Disclosure: PBS Kids gave me a copies of these DVDs free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.

Are you ready for Valentine's Day? We have several ideas but have not begun to make them. However we have taken some time out to put us in the mood and watch Word Wolrd: Be My Valentine on DVD. 

Children's Book Reviews

Disclosure: Penguin Kids and Penguin Random House gave me a copy of these books free of charge for this review in return for an honest 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.

Penguin Kids has some fun books recently or soon-to-be released that I want to share with you. The first is perfect for a preschooler and/or emerging reader. It teaches the concepts of in and out, over, under and around, and on and off in a very fun manner. The book is In! Over! and On! (the Farm) by Ethan Long. 

Super Why: Cinderella and Other Fairytale Adventures

Disclosure: PBS Kids gave me a copy of this DVDs 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 excited to share this new Super Why DVD with you. It is being released next week and you can pre-order it now.

Super Why: Cinderella and other fairytale adventures has five fun fairytale adventures on  it. The first and last are both from Cinderella. In the first the Super Readers use their special powers to help Prince Charming find Cinderella and in the last they help Cinderella stay after midnight and dance more comfortably. They also help Snow White, the Prince and the Pauper, and the Boy who Cried Wolf. For those that have not watched Super Why, their special powers are Alphabet Power, Spelling Power and Word Power. In each story one of the Super Readers has a problem and they are brought into a story where a character has a similar problem. They help the characters by finding letters, spelling words and changing words in their stories.

Avoiding the Summer Slide with Free Programs

Before I get into today's post, I have to share with you what made me so proud of Hazel yesterday. She had decided she wanted to get her hair cut. She was not sure what she wanted to do, but mentioned the possibility of donating it again. With it long it gets tangled very easily and she hates brushing them out. Well at the hairdresser she decided she did want to donate it and got a cut similar to mine. She was very excited this morning to brush her own hair and put her own barrettes into it.

Creating a Cozy Reading Nook -- Decals Tree Product Review

Disclosure: Decals Tree gave me a wall sticker and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the wall sticker for your convenience.

In Hazel's bedroom there is a little nook between her closet and what may have been another closet at some point with a window. I have always wanted to make it a reading nook for her. I wanted a cozy spot with some fun pictures to help her imagination go wild. She fell in love with bean bag chairs at the Whole Foods play area near us. So we got her one at Target and moved her fluffy rug over there. Then Decals Tree offered us any wall sticker on their site for $50 or less and are offering a giveaway of the same thing to one of my readers. 

Chinese New Year Math and Literacy Unit Review

 Disclosure: I was sent this unit to review free of charge from Kid World Citizen. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Do you know that the Chinese New Year starts on Thursday (February 19) this year? If you are looking for a fun unit that uses a Chinese New Year theme to teach PreK, Kindergarten or First Grade some math and literacy, this packet is perfect for you. The packet am I talking about is Chinese New Year Math and Literacy Unit ~ Holidays Around the World (CC Aligned) by Kid World Citizen.

Sharing Saturday 15-1

Happy New Year!! Welcome to the first Sharing Saturday of 2015!! This New Year's Eve was the first time we really celebrated with Hazel. We counted down to 8 p.m. with her and let her have noise makers, jump on bubble wrap, wear hats and drink sparkling cider. She loved it!! Did you have a fun New Year's celebration? If you want ideas for celebrating with kids, make sure to check out last week's Sharing Saturday. There were some wonderful ideas shared. Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week and a very special thank you to all of you who come to see what others are up to. For this week's features I picked nine non-New Year's posts to share. I hope you will check them out!

Features

WordWorld: Kooky Spooky Halloween DVD Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVD free of charge and is supplying the one for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the DVD on NCircle Entertainment's site for your convenience. You can also find their DVDs at local retailers!

I am so excited to share this DVD with you today. Now before I share it I want to make sure you know a couple of things:

1. I really do not like the scary part of Halloween. I like taking Hazel trick-or-treating, and seeing the young children in their cute costumes.
2. Hazel is scared easily and does not like the scary parts of Halloween.
3. Hazel is learning to read and sound out words at school this year.

Now knowing those three things, I have to say this is one of the best Halloween DVDs for her. She has been asking me to watch WordWorld. When we first saw it on television she was in the Waldorf School and we were already breaking the rule of no media and I was not about to introduce words to her as well. Then when she switched schools, we could never find it on any of our PBS stations. So I jumped at the chance to review a WordWorld DVD. It being a Halloween one scared me a bit seeing how even The Wiggles: Wiggly Halloween frightened her a bit last year in parts. However, the WordWorld Kooky Spooky Halloween did not frighten her at all. She loved it and so did I.