A Cool New Children's Author ... Two New Children's Books For Your Shelf

(Penny and her Grammy)

I grew up in a family of readers ... my husband grew up in a family of readers. We though for sure we would raise a daughter that we would love to read. However, reading in our house with her is going down that different path. Penny is eight, but reads on a Kindergarten level. With Neurofibromatosis there are so may struggles in life, but some of the biggest come in the early years with school. Reading is worse then having teeth pulled for our daughter. She enjoys being read to and Audio Books, but you say it is time to read to her and you would like I wanted to pull teeth out of her mouth.

It is really hard to find books as well that she will sit through . I know what type of books she should be reading at her age however sadly we are not there at this time. What is really great though is when you find a book that your daughter loves and connects with. I recently came across the first book by, Dominic Lodato by accident.

MUSTARD MAYHEM is on of those books that you find yourself reading without your child just because it is that darn cute!  It also just so happens that are family loves condiments and mustard is one of my little girls favorites. This book is only available in hard cover right now, but the hard copy is so worth it. The pictures are so bright and cheerful. The characters just seem to jump off the pages at you. Personally, I want to hug the little brother. Anyway, I do not want to give the whole story away, but it is a about a older brother that loves his hot dogs. Of coarse her has to have them with mustard on them, but when he goes to get he mustard it is gone. What follows is big brother going around asking his whole family if they have seen his mustard. No one has ... but right after little brother walks into the scene and that is where the fun begins! 

I love this book as it is just so cute ... maybe part of it is because I was the little sister

Night after night of this book I knew I had to get Mr. Lodato's second book. Now, while we are NOT having another baby in this house ...  my daughter has had to get use to me babysitting two younger ones. I say babysitting, but it is no longer that these two have captured me and my husband's heart and them along with their parent's are a part of our family. However, she has been use to being the one and only in this family so she has never had to relate to a sibling or things that go along with having a sibiling. But still the same I wanted the book ...

I THINK MY LITTLE BROTHER IS AN ALIEN is about a big brother that is pretty sure the little brother his parents brought home from the hospital has to be a Alien. Again, the pictures are brilliant and so colorful. The book is so funny and I am sure a lot of children can relate to having a little "alien" brought home from the hospital.

These books are so super cute ... don't miss out on this great author! Dominic Lodato is truly a fantastic writer and I hope he is busy writing some more books!

You can find both of these books on Amazon and two of his other books here:

http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Dominic+Lodato&search-alias=books&field-author=Dominic+Lodato&sort=relevancerank

RATING: Five Stars



I received this product on a promotional discount for my honest review and they are 100% my own opinions. I received no compensation for this review and I am not required to give a positive review. I am also not associated with the seller in any way.



 

RESURRECTION EGGS ... A REVIEW

Two years ago, I heard about Resurrection Eggs for the first time – and I thought it was a neat idea, but Hannah seemed too young to understand the Resurrection of Christ, even with the visual aids that the eggs supplied. Lat year, time got away from me and we were working on our home school project THE DAYS LEADING UP TO EASTER (I really liked doing this last year and even thought about redoing it). This year, I I saw the book The Story of the Resurrection Egg's BENJAMIN'S BOX and decided it was time to revisit doing the Resurrection Egg's.

There are numerous ways to use Resurrection Eggs to help teach your children the story of Easter.  They sell them at almost all Christian book stores or on-line, at Amazon, or you can make your own (our set is pictured below along with our review).  You can also make your own and fill the eggs with visual aids from the actual story from the Bible or from any number of Easter books. Next year ... if I can possible remember in time I would like to make a set for two little cuties I know!!

My REVIEW OF:  The Story of the Resurrection Eggs BENJAMIN'S BOX (by: Melody Caslon)
This is the  story about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The young Jewish boy, Benjamin tells the story of Holy Week from his perspective. As he encounters Jesus through the week, he collects items for his treasure box that his grandfather, a Shepard present in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, had given him. His grandfather had included "hay" from the manger of baby Jesus.  We follow Benjamin on his journey through Jerusalem, as he wants to see who Jesus really is! At the end of the story child both young and old will be delighted to learn the good news!
This is a wonderfully written book with beautiful pictures illustrated by Jack Stockman.
I give this FIVE STARS ... if you buy just one Easter book ... make it this one!

MY RATING: FIVE STARS

Here is where you can get the RESURRECTION EGGS:

http://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Booklet-Stickers--Tells-Easter/dp/1602006512/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459262686&sr=8-1&keywords=resurrection+eggs

MY REVIEW OF:  12 Resurrection Eggs with  Religious Figurines Inside (Sold By: Resurrection Eggs)
One of my favorite things about this set is they come on a hard plastic egg case. Not a Styrofoam one that will get easily torn up through the years. The Set comes with it's own book telling the story of Easter. The eggs are meant to help children learn the story easier by small trinkets that goes along with the story. Each egg is a different color and holds a trinket to represent the day leading up to Easter. the trinkets include: a donkey, silver coins, the cup, praying hands, the whip, the rooster, the crown of thorns, the nails in the cross. the spear, the linen cloth, the stone and finally one empty egg. There is also a small booklet included to tell the story of the Resurrection Eggs (both in English and Spanish). These Resurrection Eggs follow very closely with the book Benjamin's Box. Some critic's will say the egg's do not completely match the story .. it may be off a tad, but not so much you can not figure it out on your own! And some Catholic's will say there is a part of the book that does not go along with their religion ... it is a few small words. You can switch them out or skip them. This story and using these eggs are something to beautiful if you are raising your child up in the religious world to miss.


MY RATING: FIVE STARS

Here is where you can get BENJAMIN'S BOX book:

http://www.amazon.com/Benjamins-Box-A-Resurrection-Story/dp/1576731391/ref=pd_sim_21_16?ie=UTF8&dpID=511MQFT8PQL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR158%2C160_&refRID=11MVQS8BDYQCBZ753YJR

SILENCE ... BOOK REVIEW

WHEW! This was a whirlwind of a read. It is classified as a: YOUNG ADULT book, but I found it to be a great read at worth REVIEWING. It is one of those books that you don't want to believe that "these things" happen, but in all reality we know they do. It doesn't make it any easier to read about, but the author Natasha Preston as done a great job with it and makes our heartbreak for the main character Oakley.

The underlying "secret" of this book is a dark subject. Unspeakable things that have happened  within the family. Oakley is clearly a girl who is haunted by something in her past, but we don't know what that was for much of the book. The hints were subtle and that made the reveal that much more shocking and upsetting. The  twist to this story was the fact that Oakley doesn't speak. At all. For that matter, she has virtually no communication with anyone of any kind. Though she has a cell phone that she could text on she still finds herself not able too. We find Oakley making a friend he Cole and although they become inseparable she still can not find a way to communicate with him. Every night he sends her heartfelt texts. She writes messages back to him, but will never push send. Cole is relentless in standing by her side.

This book will make you sad for Oakley ... cheering for Cole ... and hating the person who took the ability for Oakley to speak since age five.

As a mom I can not come to grips with the knowledge that parents ignore situations like this. That they do not see it or rather cover it up. Her parents seem like the All-American family that you would want, but that is what makes the book even better. You will find yourself hating and loving them all at the same time.

I read this one on my KINDLE and was offered it for FREE for a honest and fair review. As with all my other items I review this does not sway my opinion. I was offered nothing else in return for writing this review.
Ms. Preston has written a for other  books in follow up and I will be reading them as well.

You can get your FREE copies if you are a KINDLE reader too. Offers change frequently so please check when ordering.

http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Natasha-Preston-ebook/dp/B009SV1YCU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1459000145&sr=8-5&keywords=Silence+a+book MY RATING: FOUR STARS

MY RATING: FOUR STARS