Elijah Goes to Cleveland Review & Giveaway & Fun Facts About Cleveland

 

Disclosure: I am working with The Children's Book Review and Mark Darden. I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I will receive a small stipend for my review. All opinions are my own.

Have you ever been to Cleveland? It is not a place that I have visited although I have been to a few cities in Ohio. Today I am sharing a picture book with you that takes us virtually all over the city of Cleveland. The book is Elijah Goes to Cleveland by Mark Darden and illustrated by Anh Bui. 

Navigation History and How-To for Middle Grades

 

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

Do you have a good sense of direction or are you one of those people who always gets lost? I tend to have a pretty good sense of direction. When I do get lost I can usually call my husband and he will pull out a map and find where I am and how to get where I want to be or use my GPS. Steve loves maps. When we were first married he would drive me crazy. I would print out directions when we were going somewhere but instead of reading me the directions he would try to tell me the directions from the map. Unfortunately he is not as quick as needed in the map reading when I'm driving. Because of Steve's love of maps, Hazel became interested in maps at a young age. Of course there are places that are not mapped out like the forest. What happens when you get lost there? Today's book is a book to give the reader skills to not get lost or at least know how to find one's way and what tools one might need when exploring. The book is How to Go Anywhere (and Not Get Lost) by Hans Aschim and illustrated by Andres Lozano.

Exploring Japan with Books & Activities

 

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

Since Monday was Memorial Day and I spent the weekend with family and friends I didn't do my multicultural post this week. Today I am going to share some of the resources I have to explore Japan. I know Japan will be a popular country to look at this summer with the Olympics being held in Tokyo. We will start with All About Japan by Willamarie Moore and illustrated by Kazumi Wilds. 

Amazing Places -- Travel from Home with this Multicultural Children's Book

 

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

One thing I love about books is how you can travel the world with them. Today's book is one that will take the reader around the world and let them learn about amazing places everywhere. The book is Barefoot Books Amazing Places by Miralda Colombo and illustrated by Beatrice Cerochhi. 

Books that Make Imaginations Soar for Ages 2 - 8

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

Today I am sharing some fun picture books that are for ages in the range of 2 to 8 and they make your imagination soar. The first book is Pop! by Jason Carter Eaton and illustrated by Matt Rockefeller. 

Doodles, Creations and Calm for Tween Girls and More

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Some of the links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

School is out for summer as of Wednesday!! I know this summer I will hear at some point: "I'm  bored!" Today I am going to share two books that are perfect for those moments for crafty tweens and others. The first book is Create! A Girl's Guide to DIY, Doodles & Design by Ashley May. 

Exploring the States with a Personalized Book & More!

Disclosure: I See Me! Inc.  gave me a copy of this book 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.

This summer we are exploring the states of the United Sates. It was part of our homeschool curriculum this past school year, but I thought we should do more than what she had been doing in school. We have been enjoying some items we already reviewed, but want to extend our lessons all summer. In the past month we had a couple of birthday parties for younger girls. I asked Hazel what we should get and she immediately said a book from I See Me. Hazel loves the books we have gotten from there.  When we were shopping for the gift I saw the perfect book for our USA exploration. It is My U.S.A. Road Trip by Jennifer Dewing and illustrated by Barbara Bongini. This is a photo book so you can have the child's face put into the pictures!

Traveling with Books

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Do you enjoy traveling? Ever wonder what it would be like to raise children in another country? Want to teach your kids about the world and other cultures? Or perhaps you have a big trip coming up and need to figure out what to pack? Well today I am sharing books that do all these things. These books are for different ages. Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing a book that compared Asian parenting to American parenting. Today I am sharing a book that looks at parenting from Paris to New York. It is Say Bonjour to the Lady by Florence Mars and Pauline Leveque. 

Vacation Week Crafts - a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copies of these books 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.

This past week was Hazel's spring break. We have had quite the week and a half. The last week of school included Hazel's class's Easter play and my parents came to see her and celebrate Easter with us early. Then my sister came to go to the Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday with us. Then we celebrated with my mother-in-law on Easter Sunday. On Monday we headed to the American Girl Doll Store Boston (which is not in Boston). Hazel had saved almost enough to buy herself a doll. We loaned her the last $30 since we were going. My plan had been to take her so she could really decide which doll she wanted. Seeing the dolls in person helped her really decide which were her top picks. Some that had been top picks fell off the list in person. After a bit of thought she decided on Kit Kitteredge. She LOVES the books about Kit, so I thought this was a wonderful choice.

Maps, Culture, Cities & Towns -- Children's Book Reviews & Giveaway!!

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

 Today I am sharing some books that have various lessons around the theme of maps, culture, cities and towns. These books range for which ages they are good. We will start with Mapping My Day by Julie Dillemuth and illustrated by Laura Wood. This book is being released next week and I have an opportunity for one of you to win a copy of it!! See below.

Books to Explore Our World -- Maps Poster Book and Panorama Pops Boston 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.

We love books that help us learn about places and cultures. In case you cannot tell I am a bit obsessed with teaching Hazel and learning myself about other cultures and places. However we are not big travelers, so books are our answer. Candlewick Press sent me two great books for our family. The first to share is Maps Poster Book by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. 

Sharing Saturday 15-21

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! This week there were so many great ideas!! People are kicking into summer mode and I know this is a busy time around my house. How about with you? This week's features are Summer Plans & Travel, Art & Crafts and a few of my favorites. These are only a sampling of what was shared. Be sure to go back to last week's party to see even more great ideas.

Sharing Saturday 15-11

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! Once again I am amazed to see such creative ideas. If you have not had a chance to check them out, you definitely need to. They are so inspiring!! The features are just a small sampling of what there is. This week's features are Party Foods, Kites and Easter, Raising Girls, Art, Lessons and Crafts.

Math Lesson: Math Books Perfect for Homeschoolers and Summer Vacation

Do you have an Octonauts' fan at home? Make sure you enter my current giveaway for the newly released DVD.

Since I have not done a math post in awhile I thought I would share a few of the great math books I have found recently at my local library. There are many new ones out there and I promise to share more soon as well.

 The first one is a great book for any homeschooler wanting a fun way to introduce some geometry. Shapes in Math, Science and Nature:Squares, Triangles and Circles by Catherine Sheldrick Ross is an amazing book to really learn about three basic shapes. It is full of information and activities to explore circles, triangles and squares and as a former geometry teacher, I highly recommend this one. It even includes some of the geometric constructions where only a compass and straightedge (with no measurements on it) are used. The grade level recommendation for this one is fourth through ninth, but there are definitely some activities younger children could do it in it.

If you are trying to introduce some algebra here is a book for you, Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra by David A. Adler. This book introduces the concept of a balanced equation, a variable and solving the equation while keeping it balanced in a fun way. In order to do this, a child must be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Since it has a theme of a haunted house, it also would be fun to read and introduce around Halloween.

Are you doing any traveling this summer? Here is a perfect book to teach math while traveling or about traveling. It is Travel Math by Pia Awal. This book introduces time and distance calculations, as well as calculations with things like population size, mountain height, temperatures, etc. The math involved is recommended for fourth grade and up.

So those are my recommendations for today with more to come. For more Math Lessons, check out:

• For the Love of Geometry 
• Finding Shapes and Patterns Everywhere! 
• Math in Nature 
• Number Importance and Number Sense 
• Egyptian Math--Pyramids 
• Pi Day 2013 and 2012
• This Plus That: Life's Little Equations
• My Math Pinterest Board

Happy Family Times #24

Have you done something fun with your family this week? Kelly from Happy Whimsical Hearts and I are collecting all the ideas in hopes to inspire all of us to have more quality family time! Please share yours below!

This week Hazel and I went to visit one of my sisters in Connecticut. My sister lives two blocks from a public beach. You can see the ocean from the street in front of her condo. It is beautiful there. She also works four 10-hour days and often has Tuesdays off. So we headed to Connecticut on Monday. We stopped in West Hartford, the town I grew up in and met up with some of my friends and then met my sister at her place after work for dinner and sleep. Hazel was so excited to be there. My sister left her a plastic lei on her bed. We had to decorate it on Wednesday.

Tuesday morning we woke up, had breakfast and walked to the beach (after the ran stopped). Hazel was the only one in her bathing suit since our plan was to go for a walk, let her play and then have lunch at the condo and head to my sister's sailing club to swim in the pool.

At the beach, Hazel had a blast playing with the sand and water. She made sand cookies and served them as well as sand soup. She had a pail for each of us of the soup. We went home for a quick lunch and to change into our suits and headed to the club for a swim. Hazel had so much fun in the water, however she was very clingy to both of us. She did not want to use the floaties and noodles, etc. to show us what she learned in swim lessons. Oh, well. We had fun!

I heard from Hazel:

"I wish our home was as beautiful as this." (My sister's living situation is temporary, but Hazel loved it.)
"I don't want to go home. I want to live with my aunt."

Needless to say we had a great time!!


Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.

~ please link up (family time oriented giveaways are ok, but please no Etsy shops)
~just crafts will be deleted since this is to share family times ~ use our button so others can join the fun

Button Code:

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/HappyFamily-003-1.jpg" /></a>

~ we'd love for you to follow us Crafty Moms Share and Happy Whimsical Hearts
~ check out our Happy Family Times Pinterest board where we will be pinning some of our favorite ideas

Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Some Simple Crafts

Well Monday, Hazel and I had an adventure. The picture above is from part of our location. Feel free to comment with your guess. I will share its whereabouts in another post. We went to the town I grew up in and visited some friends of mine. One of my friends I have known since we were six months old. She traveled about two hours to meet us for the day. I will share the details of our adventure another time. We ended our day by traveling to my sister's for a sleepover. Again, I will share the details for another time--probably next Happy Family Times. Well last Sharing Saturday We Made That shared a Wave Sensory Bottle. I loved the idea and had all the supplies so I made one to keep Hazel busy for our over two hour car ride.

My sister left a pink plastic lei for Hazel on her bed when we got to her apartment. Hazel loves it and wanted to decorate it today. So we made some tissue paper flowers for it. I cut with my scrapbook scissors some tissue paper circles. Then we stuck half a pipe cleaner through the center of several of them (2 or 3) and curled the top so it would stay. Then we used the stem to wind it around the lei. What do you think?

Ok, that is what we have been up to. We are having a relaxing catch up day today. Hope you are enjoying your day! Don't forget to guess where Hazel is in the top picture!!