Dragged Down Deep -- 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 The Children's Book Review and Michael Okon to bring you this post.

I have admitted here before, I love a good young adult thriller book! Today I get to share one with you. It is so interesting and hard to stop reading!!  The book is Dragged Down Deep by Michael Okon. And there is a giveaway at the end of this post!! Be sure to check it out.

Craft Books for Kids & Adults

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

I am still working on clearing my review shelf, so the roundups continue this week! Today we are looking at some great craft books for kids (and adults). These books range in abilities and topics. If you have a creative child in your life these books will make great gifts. We will start with the book for the youngest age 5 to 9. It is The Kids' Book of Craft Love by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst. 

What Makes Hands Beautiful? -- Book Review, Giveaway & Handprint 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 and J.F. Bierlein to bring you this post.

Do you ever think about hands? We use them all the time, and life would be so hard without them. As I thought about hands and looked at my own handprint crafts, I thought about how we use them for sensory and let's face it there are so many great handprint crafts! I am sharing a large round-up of handprint crafts and hand sensations. Think about kids playing with play dough, slime and finger painting. Or the fact that we hold their hands all the time. Our hands are truly our sense of touch and something special to us. Today I get to share a beautiful book about hands. It is What Makes Hands Beautiful? by J.F. Bierlein and illustrated by Houda Zahid. There is a giveaway and the craft round-up at the end of the post.

Banned Book -- Picture Book Review

 

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

Where do you stand on banned books? It amazes me that some people think they have the right to tell families what books their kids should not be exposed to. As a parent I feel I have the right to control what my daughter reads, what television or movies she sees, etc., however I do not think a stranger has that right. It is shocking to see some of the books that are banned. I looked up what some the most banned books currently are and found Reader's Digest has a list of mostly young adult books. We Are Teachers share a list of 30 books that include books for younger children. You may be surprised by some of the books on these lists. They include the Harry Potter series, New Kid by Jerry Craft, Strega Nona by Tomie dePaolo, Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (Hazel was just in a school

The Princess Protection Program -- Book Review

 

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

Now over the years we have loved fairy tales and princesses. We have explored fairy tales in different cultures as well as real life princesses and fictional princesses. When Hazel was young, she loved fairy tales. Now that she is older, she discusses the inappropriateness of some of them. These discussions remind me of today's book. The book is The Princess Protection Program by Alex London. It was released last week and is recommended for ages 8 to 12.

Mermaid Tales Book 18: Fairy Chase -- 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.

Have you been enjoying my reviews for Multicultural Children's Book Day? The big day is next Friday (1/29/21). You can stop by here to see the links of all the amazing books reviewed. I have shared some of the picture books with you--nonfiction and fiction as well as an easy reader. Today I am sharing an easy reader chapter book suggested for ages 6 to 9. The book itself is not all that multicultural but it is the 18th book in a series of 21 and the series itself is multicultural. The series is Mermaid Tales by Debbie Dadey and illustrated by Tatevik Avakyan. Today's book is Fairy Chase. 

Zendoodle Colorscapes -- Secrets of the Sea -- Perfect Summer Coloring Book

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

Can you believe today is the first day of summer? Our spring was very strange with the pandemic. I expect our summer to be strange too. I know I found myself needing things to help me relax. I turned to coloring. You may remember I use to do a weekly coloring book review on Fridays called Relaxing Friday. I stopped due to the number of coloring books I had and I wasn't getting any. However that changes today. Since I was scheduled to participate with the MKB Read Around the World Summer Series yesterday this is a relaxing Saturday post. Today I get to share with you a perfect summertime coloring book and it is brand new!! It was released this week!! It is Zendoodle Colorscapes: Secrets of the Sea artwork by Deborah Muller. 

Let's Read About Black Characters & People -- Round-Up of Children's Books

The other day as I talked to Hazel about current events on our walk and was telling her my plans for Crafty Moms Share, she said, "Did you ever notice that when there is a black person in a book there is just one in a group of white friends?" Oh, yes, we still have the token black person in our society of books and television shows. She even commented how sometimes the group is made up of one person of different races like in The Start-Up Squad Series. I recently read an article about how white people need to do more than talk to our kids about racism. Where we live, who our neighbors are, books we read/provide our kids, who our friends are, the diversity of the school we send our kids to all play a part in how our kids grow up and understand race relations. Now I cannot change your neighborhood or their school but I hope I can change the books in your house and your library. I asked some fellow bloggers as well as authors that are part of the Multicultural Children's Book Day group for any books, activities, and reviews they had with black people as the main characters. Today I am going to share a round-up of books shared and some others I found (on Amazon). I will link reviews and activities whenever possible. It is important that all of our kids read books that have people like them but it is also important that our kids read books with people who do not look like them. This will build their understanding and help them to grow and learn about race and culture and hopefully not be racist when they grow up. I have the books separated into picture books, fairy tales, chapter books/novels, and non-fiction/biographies. There are some separation within some of these genres as well. 

The Unofficial Start of Summer -- Let's Look at the Ocean

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

Can you believe it is already Memorial Day Weekend? This year is going to be very different for many of us. Are you heading to the beach? I know here in Massachusetts the beaches are opening however there are very strict rules when there. Many are also only for residents. Masks are required at some and no groups over 10. Social distancing is a must. I took a walk with my father this week on the beach. I was at Cape Cod helping my parents out for a few days. It wasn't really beach weather so it wasn't very crowded. I'm glad not to be there this weekend. Instead I am going to share a book about the ocean! It is Ocean! Waves for All by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by David Litchfield. 

Fun Facts about Macaroni and Cheese & Crafty Weekends Link Party

Did you know today is National Macaroni and Cheese Day? To celebrate I thought I would share some fun facts about the All-American comfort food and have two link parties! One for our normal Crafty Weekends and one for your favorite mac and cheese recipes!

Spring Board Books Round-Up

Disclosure: We were sent these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are our own.

So I decided to share with you some board books today that have been sitting on my shelf. Since one of them is about spring I figured I better hurry up. Although it is just feeling like spring here, we are half way through it on the calendar. These books range in ages from baby to 3.

Regency Era Doll Dresses -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Last summer Hazel was given a hand-me-down American Girl Caroline doll. She was estatic. Now Caroline was retired a couple of years ago, so all of her clothes and accessories are only available on places like eBay and they are rather expensive for the most part. The only outfit I have gotten for her was the one with the Spencer jacket and hat. Hazel loves it. Otherwise she has Caroline's meet dress. Now Caroline is one of the historical Beforever dolls. She is from 1812 and the daughter of a shipbuilder in New York. Her era is the regency style era. I searched for some regency style patterns. The first one I made is from a pattern from Vanessa Knutsen. I found the pattern here, but it is available from Knutsen on Pinterest (page 1 and 2). The instructions are a bit vague, so you have to have some sewing knowledge to make it. I added soem lace trim to the neckline and sleeves. 

Doll Crafts & Finds -- a Crafty Weekends Link Party

We had another busy week, but I found some time to make some crafts for Hazel's dolls. We are currently on a Harry Potter kick so a few are related to that story as well as a new quill pen for Caroline and a new Nanea style nightgown. Hazel would like to get Nanea and Luciana, but doesn't want to wait until her birthday or Christmas (basically the same things) or until she saves the money, so we are working on some clothes and trying to use her other dolls as them. I am also going ot share the some new doll finds we have found. Let's start with the quill pen. I found Felicity's quill pen and inkwell on ebay. Hazel fell in love and wanted one for her Caroline doll. Instead of spending the $25+ on it, I decided we could make one.

Crafty Weekends -- a craft link party

I had big plans to review a fun craft book with you tonight, but life got in my way. Since I want to provide the best review I can (and as honest as I can) it will wait a week. Sorry!! However, it is time to see what you have been creating! Thank you to everyone who shared with us last party. Below are a few of the features from our party. I am sharing some party features, some various craft features and bag features. Please remember for your child-oriented crafts, activities, lessons, etc. Sharing Saturday is going on!!  I can't wait to see what your latest creations!!

Snoopy Play Date

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Hazel LOVES Peanuts®!! She cannot get enough books out of the library to read the old comic strips and we take out all the DVDs as well. She also watches whatever she can On Demand. Therefore it is no surprise she wanted to have a Peanuts® or Snoopy Play Date. (She wanted a Snoopy birthday party, but didn't want to wait that long!) I showed her the many Peanut products at Oriental Trading and she got so excited!! Her absolute favorite thing is the Color Your Own Peanuts® Snoopy Playhouse.

Summer Craft Supplies -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these products free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Looking for ideas of things to do with your kids on those bad weather days this summer? Or perhaps just some things to keep your kids using their creative juices and crafting? Now I am sure you know about Oriental Trading and their fun party supplies and perhaps even their various craft kits, but do you know they also sell craft supplies? Hazel and I checked out their craft supplies together and picked some out to share with you. We chose some basic supplies like paints and washi tape as well as some things to use the paints and washi tape on like frames, a tray, diy journal kits and diy rubber ducks. We have been having fun with all these craft supplies as well as some we already had. 

Sharing Saturday 17-26

It is hard to believe it is Independence Day Weekend. Do you have plans for the Fourth? We are going to kick off the holiday with 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.

Mermaid Dioramas -- Crafty Weekends Craft & Link Party

Mermaids seem to be everywhere this year. Of course with a young daughter mermaids are always in at our house. We have had a lot of fun with mermaids over the years. I bought her the mermaid Valentine kit at Paper Source this year and put it away. I liked the Valentine kit versus their every day mermaid craft kit because of the colors. Of course it is no longer available, so if you want to make these buy the every day one. We had fun putting together a few of them.

Crafty Weekends Link Party

This has been one of those weeks where life has gotten in the way of what I want to do. Therefore I do not have a craft or craft product to review with you, so we are going straight to the party. However I am looking for some participants in a USA postcard swap.

Slimed DIY -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Leisure Arts sent me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.  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!

Have your kids jumped into the slime wave? Hazel discovered slime a few weeks ago when one of her classmates was looking for some buyers of slime her older sister made. This was right after I had heard about the blisters and burns some kids experienced, so I decided the only way she was having slime was if we made it so I knew exactly what was in it. Enter Leisure Arts. They just published a new book called Slimed DIY.