A New Friend for Dragon -- Review & Giveaway Plus Dragon and Knight Craft Round-Up

 

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 The Children's Book Review to bring you this post.

With back to school there have been some great books coming out about differences. Let's face it when kids go back to school, they see people who are different from them in some way. It is important for kids to realizes that differences can be a good thing and that it is ok to be friends with people who are different. The book I'm sharing today is about just this. It is A New Friend for Dragon by Bianca Schulze and illustrated by Samara Hardy. 

Roar-Choo! -- Book 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 Charlotte Cheng to bring you this review and giveaway.

Have you ever felt like you were getting sick but needed to keep getting things done? Or perhaps you have a child who doesn't slow down even though he/she is obviously getting sick? Today's book is perfect for this situation. It is a fun picture book about a dragon who is getting sick but doesn't want to quit. The book is Roar-Choo! by Charlotte Cheng and illustrated by Dan Santat.

Cattitude -- Book Review & Giveaway with Cat Craft Round-Up

 

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 to bring you this post and giveaway. All opinions are my own. 

Just like people animals have their own personalities. People often say cats are aloof and want to be the boss of the house. As the owner of three cats currently, I can honestly say every cat has a different personality. I have and have had cats that love to be with people and others that are shy when we have "strangers" in the house. Today we are sharing a book about a cat and her attitude. The book is Cattitude written by Bianca Schulze and illustrated by Samara Hard. Besides my review I am sharing a round-up of cat crafts and there is a giveaway as well!

Books for Younger Kids (Birth-Kindergarten)

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. 

Although Multicultural Children's Book Day is quickly approaching I thought I would share some books that are not part of the event. These picture books are great for younger kids, but we still enjoyed them!! The first book is the perfect book to bring to a baby shower. You know the ones that ask you to bring a book for the baby's library. It is Hand in Hand by Rosemary Wells.  

Books for the Imagination for Different Ages

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 going to share some fun books that bring out the imagination in the reader and require some imagination to really understand. There is even one about letting one's imagination go wild. These books are various ages and we will look at them from the youngest to the oldest. The first book is a wordless book by Alison Jay called Bee & Me. 

The Dragon New Year Book Review for Multicultural Children's Book Day & Chinese New Year Blog Series

Disclosure: Peachtree Publishers sent 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.

Today I am going to review my second book for Multicultural Children's Book Day (MCCBD). On Monday I reviewed the first book, Endeavour's Long Journey. There I shared all the exciting things going on with MCCBD. MCCBD is a national event which  Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom created to celebrate diversity in children's books. MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media. This year's MCCBD is January 27th! The 2015 sponsors for MCCBD are: 

Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop,  

Gold Sponsors:  Satya House,  Multicultural Kids.com,   Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof,  

Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild,  Capstone Publishing, Lee and Low Books,  The Omnibus Publishing.  

Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls, Bliss Group Books, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing,  Rainbow Books,   Author Felicia Capers,   Chronicle Books   Muslim Writers Publishing , East West Discovery Press. 

Multicultural Books for Your 1st through 3rd Graders -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Capstone Publishing gave me copies 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.

Today I get to share with you some fun multicultural books from a silver sponsor of Multicultural Children's Book Day. These group of nine books are a mix of picture books and easy reader chapter books. We will start with the amazing picture books. The first book is appropriate for January since it is about a girl who cannot wait to meet the POTUS when she goes to work with her mother at the White House. It is When Penny Met POTUS by Rachel Ruiz and illustrated by Melissa Manwill. 

Virtual Book Club for Kids--Don and Audrey Wood Month

Today is the day the link party for the Virtual Book Club for Kids opens for July. Our July authors are Don and Audrey Wood. I am so excited to share with you today a wonderful book by Audrey Wood that still let's me have my Multicultural Monday theme. But first, let me explain about the Virtual Book Club for Kids. 

Halloween, Dressing Up, Pretend Play, & Friend Picture Books

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

It is hard to believe it is already October. That means we need to think about Halloween. Now I have posted in the past how Halloween is not our favorite holiday and how Hazel hates October because of the gory and scary decorations in yards and stores. When Hazel was young we found some Halloween books she loved, but not too many. Today we are going to share two more Halloween books that are fun and two books that involve dressing up, being yourself and being kind and making friends. All of these books are for kids in the age range of 3 to 8. We will start with Skelly's Halloween by David Martin and illustrated by Lori Richmond. 

Virtual Book Club for Kids & Giveaway--Room on the Broom

As I mentioned in my introduction post, the March Author for the Virtual Book Club for Kids is Julia Donaldson. Now before she was picked, I had not heard of Julia Donaldson. Now I am so glad I have. We love so many of her books. I will be posting multiple books throughout the three weeks. This week I am sharing one of Hazel's favorites, Room on the Broom.

For those that do not know what the Virtual Book Club for Kids is, I have joined a group of amazing bloggers who pick an author each month and each blog picks a book (or more) by this author and posts a craft or activity to go with the book. Then we all host a blog hop so you can share a craft or activity to go with a book by this author. The wonderful bloggers are:

Toddler Approved - Rainy Day Mum - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo - The Educators' Spin On It - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom - Mommy and Me Book Club - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child - Smile Play Learn - Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - Coffee Cups and Crayons - Having Fun at Chelle's House- Love, Play, Learn - Juggling With Kids - Motherhood on a Dime - Growing Book By Book

- This Reading Mama - Fantastic Fun and Learning

This month is extra special because The Gruffalo Brand has offered two of her most loved books,  The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child. Both of these books have been adapted into two award winning animated films. You can purchase the films at this link. And you can see the trailers for both here. To enter the giveaway for the books, you must be a resident of the United States and over 18. Then you can simply enter by following the Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more Gruffalo Giveaways make sure you visit the following blogs:

• Royal Baloo is giving away a copy of The Gruffalo Book and Movie! 
• Toddler Approved! is giving away 2 Gruffalo Prize packs! 
• Playing with Words 365 is giving away a copy of The Gruffalo Book and Movie!

Now onto our book. First I will say Hazel often goes around with her little broom between her legs telling me she is flying. Needless to say why we love this book! This story is about a witch and her cat going out for a ride on the witch's broom. However she keeps losing things in the wind: her hat, her hair bow, her wand. Each time she loses something, they land and look for it and each time a new animal comes out with it and asks if there is room on the broom for them. Then she ends up with herself, her cat, a dog, a green bird and a frog.

Our first broom is a piece of pine tree branch we found in our yard. It got rather full with just the witch and cat but you can only imagine with all four animals.

Well the weight of all the creatures on the broom split the broom in half and the witch's half flies off into the clouds while the other half falls. The witch ends up meeting a dragon who loves to eat witches with fries.

I borrowed our dragon from our Irish Cinderella we posted the other day.

The dragon says this once he will have witch with no fries and is about to eat her when out of the lagoon comes a black covered creature with four heads. The dragon has never seen such a scary creature before and the creature claims the witch as its. The dragon apologizes and leaves as fast as he can. Then the bird flies off the creature and the frog jumps down and the cat finally gets off the dog. The witch is so happy to have been saved by her friends. She needs to make a new broom and tells them all to find something to add to the brew. They end up with a designer broom with a proper space for each of them.

We did not make the designer broom, but we did make a sample broom with a stick and some yarn. I made her some peg dolls for the animals and the witch.

Now the exciting news is there is a film coming out soon for Room on the Broom. You can check out the Facebook page for this film and the Pinterest Board. Plus The Gruffalo Brand has a Room on the Broom page with a trailer to the film, all the different versions of the book, and an activities section including finger puppets to make out of paper and word activities!

Now it is your turn to share a Julia Donaldson book or if you do not know her books, check out some of these other posts so you can decide which one to read first!

Michaelmas & Fighting Your Inner Dragon

I almost forgot to announce the winner of the Show Me a Story Giveaway! The winner is Rondah. Rondah, you have 48 hours to email me back to claim your prize. Congratulations!! Thank you to everyone who entered!

Source

Last year I learned about Michaelmas. It is a Christian Festival celebrated at the Waldorf Schools. It is on September 29th each year. In the Catholic Church it is known as the Feast of St. Michael or All Angels Day. For more information on the Catholic Feast visit here.

All About Vietnam -- Book Review & More!

 

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

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month. All month long I will try to share books, crafts, and activities to help celebrate this fun heritage. Today I get to share the newest book from one of my favorite series about Asian countries. It is All About Vietnam: Projects & Activities for Kids: Learn About Vietnamese Culture with Stories, Songs, Crafts & Games by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc and illustrated by Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong. It is a middle grades reading level but can be shared with younger kids if you do the reading!

Room on the Broom Movie and Book Review

Book

Today I get to review one of our favorite books and the DVD made based on the book. Now NCircle Entertainment sent me a copy of the book and DVD for me to review. All opinions are my own. The book is Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. Now Room on the Broom was one of Julia Donaldson's books we shared in March. We really loved her books and learning about her through the Virtual Book Club for Kids. Now one of the things we love about Donaldson's books is they usually rhyme. Rhyming makes books fun to read and hear.

In this wonderful story, the witch and cat go for a ride on the broomstick. The wind picks up and carries off the witch's black hat. They go to the ground and look for it, but cannot find it. Then a dog comes out carrying it. He asks if there is room on the broomstick for him. The witch says yes, and the three are off again. This time the witch holds onto her hat, but she loses the bow in her hair.

The witch keeps losing things until she has gained two more animals who want to ride the broomstick.

The frog who is the last addition is so excited he hops and the broomstick breaks in two. At this point the witch is riding in the front of the broomstick and all four animals are in the back. The animals half drops down and the witch continues to fly on her half.

The witch is followed by a dragon who loves to eat witch with french fries. The dragon catches her.

Just as the dragon is about to eat the witch, a four-headed creatures comes out of the lagoon. The creature scares the dragon and tells him that the witch is its.

The dragon leaves the witch alone and escapes the scary creature as fast as he can. Then the four-headed creature becomes the four animals and they clean the mud off themselves. The witch pulls out her cauldron to make a new broom and tells all the animals to find something to put in. Then the new broom comes out with a perfect spot for all of them.

I got all the characters and cut-out props from Making Learning Fun. They were patterns for felt board pieces to tell the story. We cut out the pattern pieces and put them on popsicle sticks, so Hazel can do it as a puppet show. The cauldron with the netting (filled with some candy) was sent by NCircle DVDs. Making Learning Fun also has headbands to have a class act out the rhyming story and play dough mats to learn letters! You can also get other activities at the NCircle Website.  And you can get even more activities at the Room on the Broom Website. (See picture below for samples.)

DVD

Now for the film!! The Room on the Broom film sticks pretty close to the book. It fills in some places so the story flows better on the screen and it shows the dragon hunting the witch. This part scared Hazel a bit even though she knew the story, but she is easily frightened and does not like to see scary things on television (in books she usually covers scary pictures with her hands or asks me to). We however loved the film. We watched it as soon as it came. She was so excited to get it.

The characters in the film look very much like the ones in the book and it is a wonderful way to see the story in action. We really enjoyed it!!

Now the nice part of this story is the witch is nice and cares about the animals. Hazel is not afraid of witches since her exposure to them for the most part has been this book and the book Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. In both the witch is very nice.

Now NCircle has allowed me to offer a copy of the Room on the Broom DVD to one of you, my fabulous readers!!  The suggested retail price is $9.99 and came out on DVD August 6th.  You can also check out the trailer and more information about the film here. And their Facebook page! To enter the giveaway, just do the Rafflecopter! Good luck!! And if you do not want to wait for the 26th to find out if you are the winner, you can go buy your won copy here (including a downloadable version) or here (as well as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Announcement: Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party (and Giveaways)

Please join us for our Multicultural Children's Book Day

Win 1 of 12 Book Bundles! Giving away Book Bundles every 6 minutes!

Twitter Party

Friday, January 27th

9 pm to 10 pm EST

Hashtag: #ReadYourWorld

We will be discussing the state of children's book publishing and giving away diversity book bundles every six minutes! We invite EVERYONE to join us: authors, publishers, parents, caregivers, librarians, KidLit lovers. You don't have to be an author or publisher sponsor to join us! Let's talk about our favorite multicultural and diverse children's books, authors, and illustrators!

How do you join the Twitter party? Just use hashtag #ReadYourWorld to find us. When you tweet, use the hashtag so everyone can find you!

Register below to be able to win!!

Chinese Tea Party -- Tea Parties Around the World

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.  

Now a series of Tea Parties Around the World would not be complete without looking at Chinese tea. Let's face it, the China is where tea began. January seemed like the perfect time for us to look at China since we were looking at the Chinese New Year already. I will admit writing this post has been intimidating me and I keep putting it off. How can I do the long history of tea in China justice? I have decided just to share with you my references and what we enjoyed as we looked at China and the history of tea. 

A Different Kind of Princess -- National Princess Week Resources and 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.

A princess needs to be strong and brave among many other traits. Even the storybook princesses, however today I am going to share some atypical princesses that emphasize being strong, brave, intelligent and more. The kind of princess that makes a good role model for our children. The first princess is the Hamster Princess or Princess Harriet. I have shared with you the first three (book 1, 2, and 3) books of this series and the first book is one of our prizes to get you started on this amazing series by Ursula Vernon. This series plays off the classic fairy tales with its main character being a hamster who is a princess who likes to fight evil. The first book is a play on Sleeping Beauty; the second Twelve Dancing Princesses; and the third Rapunzel. 

The Mystic Princesses and the Whirlpool -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from PJ LaRue. 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.

It is January and that means Multicultural Children's Book Day (MCCBD) is approaching!! This year I am honored to be a co-host of this amazing event!! The MCCBD team’s mission to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media.

The King Cake Baby -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Keila Dwawon sent 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.

It is here!! Today is Multicultural Children's Book Day (MCCBD)!! Have you checked out the link party yet to see all the amazing multicultural children's books out there? I saved one review for today!!

In case you do not know yet, the MCCBD team’s mission to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media. 

The Book of Untold Stories -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

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

Today I am going to share the first of many multicultural children's book that I am reviewing for the 9th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day. On January 28, 2022, I will be co-hosting Multicultural Children's Book Day and you can visit here to see all the books reviewed and share your own reviews! Today we are sharing The Book of Untold Stories: Fourteen Prompts to Spark the Imagination by Sherri Maret and illustrated by Thomas Hilley. This book is recommended for ages 5+.

Preparing for Michaelmas

Yesterday I shared a bit about the story of St. George and the dragon Now Michaelmas is viewed as a celebration of the harvest as well as the slaying of the dragon. Waldorf Schools like to focus on slaying your inner dragon. I will share a few more dragon books with you and also go check the posts at Seasons of Joy on Taming the Inner Dragons, so far she has done Guilt and Responsibility,  Fear of Failure, Fear of Success and Anger.

• Saint George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges is the story of St. George and the dragon. I found it a little above the level for Hazel's understanding and will not read it to her. However for older children it would be great.
• A Book of Dragons by Hosie and Leonard Baskin gives summaries and a picture of various dragons throughout history including St. George and his dragon. I will read this summary to Hazel.
• The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie dePaola is a cute tale about a knight and a dragon who go to fight one another and have a few issues. In the end they open a restaurant together.

I'm still waiting for three more dragon books from the library. Hopefully I will get them by Saturday. I will let you know if they are any good if I do.

I also have Hazel's things ready to reenact fighting the dragon. We have her sword (inflatable, but traditional Waldorf would be wooden), a yellow cape, a crown and of course a dragon. I just told Steve maybe we would make him a dragon costume and have him dress up as the dragon. Hmmm, come to think of it we have a dinosaur/dragon costume in Hazel's dress ups. I wonder if it will fit him. We'll see if he will go along with it.
Michaelmas is also about the harvest and food is very important. Blackberries are often served due to an old Irish folk tale of Satan landing on blackberry brambles when he fell from heaven and he returns each 29th of September to spit on the fruit of the plants he landed on and of course his spit makes the fruit inedible after that date. (Source)

Source

I think I will try this recipe for Harvest Apple Soup. I'm not sure Steve will like it but it sounds like something Hazel and i will love. We will also make dragon bread as I described yesterday. Our plan is to make it with our huckabuck bread recipe from our parent/child class last year. Then since none of us really like blackberries, I think I will serve either a raspberry tart (I have one in my freezer that we need to use up) or an apple pie.

A Simple Fall Craft Hazel Made from Mostly Natural Things from Walks

There are many recipes available on line for bread, stew/soup, goose, and pie. The tradition of goose has to do with paying quarterly rents in England and for Michaelmas you gave a goose with your rent. (Source) Here are a few:

• Michaelmas Harvest Bread on Copywriter's Kitchen
• Michaelmas Pie on Irish Culture and Customs (Michaelmas Pie always involves blackberries)
• Michaelmas Dumplings on The English Kitchen
• Potato Soup on April's Homemaking
• St. Michael's Oatmeal Waffles on Catholic Culture.org
• Curried Vegetable Soup from the Earth Mom on Lancaster Online

I also plan to make some salt dough to make some dragon and autumn decorations.  Last year I shared a pretty good round-up of dragon crafts if you are interested. Depending on how Hazel is feeling, we will see what we get done. You could also do a harvest or fall craft. Above I shared a simple natural (or mostly--we used fake leaves) autumn wreath. Hazel just glued some things onto a paper plate that I had cut out the center. Most of the things were found on nature walks.

Well, I hope that gives you some ideas on celebrating Michaelmas! Enjoy!!