This is my second ebook from the very cute author Siena. Absolutely love the way she’s been doing this. I enjoyed reading this as an individual and as a parent to my kids. This book is based on bringing awareness to kids on why we walk so that it causes no harm to planet earth and how we do not contribute to the global warming by choosing not to take the vehicles that send out emissions.
Siena goes to school by walk with her father daily. She initially talks about the varied types of clothing they wear according to the season. Her dad pulls a red wagon that carries Siena’s bag and at times her. The wagon also has winter wear,, doesn’t that sound cool.
On their way to school father and daughter play a game on spotting squirrels and mostly her dad gives up even though he spots them first.
As she grows up, Siena is curious why as to they walk and there are many others who come by cars and buses to school. That is when her Father let’s out an important lesson for all of us that the exhaust from the vehicles hurt the planet which we should be preserving for the next generation. By walk we make sure we do not contribute to the bad deed of harming the planet.
A simple storyline that emphasizes the need to preserve planet earth for the next generation.
About the Author
Siena is a young author from Canada who loves long walks and enjoys being with her dad. She chose to write out their little adventures as books anonymously.
Illustration
Shannon Willvers is a Canadian illustrator, who loves drawing digitally and also enjoys watercolors. This book is made equally enjoyable to read because of the cute illustrations that support the story
Princess No Knots LOVES her long golden hair as much as she LOVES her bath time, but she does NOT love having it brushed. When her flowing locks end up in knots, the King tells her they will have to be cut and takes away her crown. Enter a world of determination, sprinkled with a small dose of magic, to find out if the strong-willed Princess finds a way to get back her crown, keep her name and save the hair she so loves. A must read rhyming picture book for any parent who struggles with the dreaded ‘hair wash’ night!
Review
I think it’s a universal behavior that kids hate when their called for brushing their hair. The blurb got me hooked and so did my little bub who fell in love with the cover.
Who doesn’t like princess stories? Especially if it’s going to involve a sprinkle of magic and fairy appearances.
Princess no knots that’s how she loves to be called loves her long golden hair. You could even compare hers with Rapunzel for the length. As much as she loved her hair, she hated brushing it. And especially after bath time, it’s a chaos as she shouts to not have her hair brushed when it’s wet as it resulted in her hair looking like Spaghetti and peas.
The King being unhappy takes away her crown saying he would return when she turns true to her name Princess no knots. Dejected she stays up for long that night, a miracle happens.
Does she become princess no knots as she loves to be called? Does she get back the crown? What was magic that happened? Read the book go know more.
I loved the illustrations that supported the story and so did my daughter. The rhyming words made reading even more fun. While she has just started to read me reading it out go her through pretend play made story telling much more fun.
I’d definitely recommend to fellow parents who have kids between 4-7 ages.
Max is an ordinary boy, except that he can turn into a monster when he burps…
Max and Peregrine are volunteering at an old people’s home, when strange things start to happen. One resident is walking on the ceiling, one is riding their wheelchair through walls, and Reggie says his marmalade is haunted (no one listens). Can Max and his friends work out what’s happening to protect his family and the local community?
Things aren’t looking good: the Marmalade Ghost is turning into a sticky Godzilla, Max falls out with his (joint) best friend, and then just when it can’t get any worse, someone kidnaps Max’s cat, Frankenstein…
Time to ‘Protect and Do Good Stuff!
Review
Apparently this is the second book in the series is what I got to know. But im reading this first. And upon completing I’ve come to a conclusion that id have to pick up the book number one and will eagerly await the book number three.
So usually when you read a book series it is always a good practice you start from the beginning. This is just to make sure that we get to know the plot the characters or any previous happenings. But reading the second book first I don’t think I missed something majorly but maybe much more deeper understanding of the characters.
The book aimed at middle graders but id say is a fun read for me as a parent as well. Though my kids aren’t middle grade they did enjoy when I narrated it. The humour here and there made it an enjoyable read.
Max becoming a monster when burping and getting back to normal when sneezing, allergic to flowers and being flown away when sneezing all events make it enjoyable when kids visualize it.
But on the other hand I must appreciate the illustrations that equally supported the story. I completed the book at one go though it span to 190+ pages.
Max and Peregrine helping out to save the parents, Frankenstein and cat kidnapped and what they face , how they overcome, the inventions of peregrine their actions taken to ‘protect and do good’ their motto is entertaining and keeps you intrigued.
Volunteering an elder home, experiencing strange things finding out whether the marmalade is haunted or no even makes you curious as readers.
A fact to appreciate that is the humour is age appropriate. Robin Bennett and Tom tinn Disburg have done a great job.
With kids having vacations during thanksgiving we often look out for a long of options to keep them engaged. Though we do have a lot of options to keep them engaged in terms of activities like craft or painting.
But reading books can be done to keep them involved and transport them to the world of imagination. How many of us read to kids before they sleep? If you haven’t done I’d urge you to start doing it and see the wonderful changes it promotes in children.
Here are two books I’d recommend reading this season.
The boy who breathed under water by Izzy Reez
A young boy lies down on his bed gazing around his room. As we know young minds are curious a thought crawled into his little busy mind.
He wanted to know how would it be if he has super powers. But he wasn’t sure which one he’d wanted. So decided to give a try to check out some and then finalize. A mysterious genie comes out just like making the whole situation magical.
He suggests tryouts of powers so that he can finalise the one the boy chooses after a time of one week. The boy decides to try out as many as he can like being invisible, being able to lift up things, being able to breathe underwater, being able to fly, being able to control with his mind, turning into animals.
Though he had imagined having these powers they came with their own disadvantages. By the end of the week he felt that there wasn’t one he chose to decide upon.
The genie appeared and gave him a valuable life lesson that as a kid him playing and pretending would be lot more fun than to have magical super powers. The boy understood the reality and immediately chose to live the moment cuddling the cat.
The book sends out a lovely message to young readers to enjoy the life at the moment. Also helps understand to be happy with whatever we have, because something that we long for and get could have their disadvantages.Having magical powers can seem fascinating but not more than their playful attitude and curious little minds that finds an idea of play and pretending.
The illustrations wonderfully support the text and makes it much more engaging.
The kind who didn’t like snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane
Who doesn’t love snow?? Those tiny white flakes bring in a lot of joy cause it’s the season of celebration. But here is a King who dislikes snow. The book brings out a lovely little story of why the King Mark hated snow and how the wizard Bertram Ebenezer Rufus Togtangle shortly called Bert made the King love snow.
Bert and his friend Broderick a bookworm had a lot of fun. Bert was friendly and helped children and people in the village. Broderick was living in Berts book of spells. He’d always wanted to read from the book nd one day he did and he turns into a big squish green bookworm.
Bert doesn’t have space to accommodate Broderick so he asks the King and he readily agrees to make Broderick the Royal Librarian and gives him place to stay in the library.
One fine day it starts snowing and King Mark gets really annoyed. Bert uses his magic spell but it makes situation worse what does he do later to make the King love snow? Read the book to know what he does.
A short read but definitely a fun one. The illustrations are bright colourful and definitely promising for young readers to keep them glued.
Loved the conversations especially the ones between Broderick and Bert. The book definitely sounds an awesome plot for pretend play.
What I loved
This story is dedicated to the volunteers of Hospital Radio Plymouth who broadcast musical messages of love to patients, families and friends whether it’s snowing or sunny. Nothing stops HRP broadcasting every day of the year.
Children always have their own way of retelling events. Their ways of explaining or telling you about an event will have the magic of imagination play a major part.
Their way of looking and interpreting things is actually a lot more different than what we adults do. The innocence combined with the imagery really makes it an interesting experience listening to them.
This book is one such by Siena who describes winter in her city and the events that take place up there.
Named after a beautiful city in Italy, Siena is the author and the teller of the wonderful tale. She lives in the city of Ottawa, Canada.
Winters according to her can be fun making snow man, figurines and sipping a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows. But it cannot be the same for her neighbors.
The piling up of snow makes it difficult for them to lead life so they make efforts to clear them up. Siena also watches the drive ways being cleared up for easy commuting. All this from the comfort of her porch and the lovely cup of hot chocolate made by her mother.
The city graders and snow blowers work to clear off the drive ways and this is being imagined by Siena as a dance by the snow tractors. Their motion of zooming in and out to pull out the piles of snow from her point of view appears as a dance sequence. So doesn’t this do justice to what I just told you.
Children have their own way of retelling what they see. Let’s enjoy the wonderful tales they have for us to hear.
The illustrations are lovely and match up to the imagination of what Siena tries to tell us. Kudos to Shannon Wilvers.
I also would like to appreciate the thought of dedicating the book to the front line workers of the covid-19 era.
Izzy is a seven-year-old girl who lives in Ireland and loves all sport, especially Gaelic Football.
She has three brothers, David, Patrick and Robert.
Izzy plays football with her brothers on a regular basis in their back garden and dreams of playing for her county in the All Ireland Ladies Football Final in Croke Park when she is older.
One day, Izzy puts on her great grandmother’s bracelet, which is made of old All Ireland medals that her great grandmother won a long time ago, and something unexpected and magical happens, which may make Izzy’s Croke Park dream a reality sooner than she expected…………….
This book is aimed at readers from age seven onwards starting to read independently. It is based around the themes of promoting strong girls, encouraging girls to play sport and girl’s ability to play sport at a high level, while also having a fun magical theme. It is 32 pages long, about 1,700 words and has lots of lovely illustrations.
REVIEW :
A very short read picture book that sure is to be useful and be giving goals for all ages though it mentions the age as 7+.
Izzy a little girl who loves the ball and has dreams of being a good player. A book that helps you by giving the push to follow your dreams and live up your goal.
She puts on her great grandmother’s bracelet which has medals from all over Ireland that she had won. What Izzy didn’t know was that she would be transported to a magical world of future of what would her life be like if she followed her goals.
We all have dreams and aspirations but do we all live up to it or take efforts. This bok telling you the story of Izzy will definitely make you think on that point. A great book for little readers and for everyone with a dream.
About Emma Larkin
My name is Emma Larkin, and I am the founder of “Emma Larkin Books” and “Rebel in Kerry Press”. I have recently written and published my first book “Izzy’s Magical Football Adventure”, and I hope to write many more books about Izzy and her adventures in sport. As may be evident from the name of my publishing imprint, I am a “Rebel in Kerry”! This means that I am originally from County Cork in Ireland, which is known as the Rebel County, but I moved to Kerry (another county in Ireland which neighbours Cork) in 2006 and have been happily living in Kerry since then, with my husband and four children. My husband is a Kerry native and we live in North Kerry, near Listowel, where my husband is from, and is an area which is rich is literary history!
BLURB : Being small is the worst! No one ever picks me for their sports team and my feet hurt from standing on my tiptoes all the time. There can’t be anything good about being small…right?
MY REVIEW:
How does it feel when you’re being pointed at for being small.
You’re being made to stand in front for pictures, you need a stool to reach for things when kids can do it easily by standing normally. Doesn’t that make you feel sad.
That’s the case with the little girl in the book. She pretends to be sick and tells her mom that she isn’t going to school. And when her mom asks she says how she’s feeling lonely cause she is small.
She cites examples in rhyming words which makes reading the book easier.
She cannot reach the cupboards or the sink and needs a stool. She cannot even touch ball when she’s on the team. The yardsticks that measures the height always has her name at the bottom. She’s being nicknames shortie and peanut and always looking up makes her neck hurt.
And what does mommy say to her in return to cheer her up.
Mommy says she could be the last one to get wet in rain, be the lowest in playing limbo , can squeeze herself into the photos, can sit even on the tiniest couch,has a lot of legroom in flight and can climb anywhere without bumping her head.
She encourages the kid that she has so much to offer and not to be upset with her height. The girl gets cheered up and goes to school happily.
We all know it makes us feel low when we are ridiculed for physical appearance. This book teaches how the kid could overcome such situation when you get such positive vibes from your parent.
A kid needs that kind of a positive push from us to go ahead towards their goal. These are all small stepping stones that should not hinder our journey.
A wonderfully written story in a cute rhyming manner to make reading fun and to emphasize the importance of the fact that being small is not so bad after all.
We do know that girls especially feel very conscious of their looks and this is one book that boosts your moral and gives you that self confidence to go ahead in life.
I loved the illustrations that support the text. Vanessa has done a great job.
MY RATINGS:
Title : 4/5
Plot :4/5
Cover :4.5/5
Writing and presentation : 4.5/5
Overall :4.5/5
BOOK DETAILS:
Publication date:14 Apr 2019
Publisher:Mascot Books, Inc.
Language:English
ASIN:B07QMP49BN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lori Orlinsky is a 5′ 1″ (on a good day, with heels and big hair) writer, marketing director, and mom who lives in Chicago. She was inspired to tell this story after her own real-life experiences raising two little ladies. She wishes this story was around when she was growing up.
Latoya can’t wait to go downtown with her mother! She has been saving her money in her piggy bank so they can afford to go downtown. What adventures will they have when they go downtown? Find out in Latoya’s Downtown Day!
MY REVIEW:
How often do we sit down with our kids and talk to them about our early childhood days? Do we have the time? Now with technological development, kids are always with gadgets that they lose interest in our talks.
Latoya’s downtown day is warm read that portrays the relationship between a mom and her daughter, Latoya. Do children use piggy bank these days? Let’s see what Latoya does.
The book begins with her coming home with her mom after a shopping trip. They live in a multistoried apartment where they would have to climb more than flight of stairs to their home. Once they reach they lie down on the sofa and take to the floor when they hear gunshots. His describes life in Chicago’s public housing.
Latoya usually keeps the remaining amount from her shopping amount in her piggy bank. The piggy bank was the one that belonged to her mom. Her mom sat down to tell Latoya the story of how she and Latoya’s grandma would go to downtown.
Latoya’s mom would also save the pennies from shopping trip in piggy bank and when it was full, they could afford a trip downtown. A typical day at downtown would include a visit to stores trying cologne until they feel dizzy. They would have lunch at Billy burgers and then return home on the way where mommy would fall asleep in arms of grandma, that was a typical downtown day for her.
So when Latoya’s piggy bank was full she informed her mom and was eagerly awaiting her downtown day, the next day. Mom took her to Sears tower, which was much taller than their apartment. She describes about how she could see the whole town. They have a meal at Billy burgers. And then post meal, her mother takes her to her special place. She is taken to a library where she sees a sea of books. She gets her a library card where she can use it to borrow books. They come home and Latoya falls asleep, dreaming about books, taking her away from the frightening gun shots.
A wonderful book that gives you an insight of family traditions, a typical day of life in Chicago public housing, the bond between mom and daughter. Completing the book gives you a warm feeling. SO can we sit down and talk to our kids about the traditions we followed and continue following them.
MY RATINGS:
Title: 4/5
Cover :4/5
Plot: 4/5
Writing and presentation: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Patricia Moore fell in love with picture books when she taught preschool. The children’s favorite author was Dr. Seuss. His books held their attention. When she became a parent, she would create stories for her children. That started her writing picture books for children. Patricia has four picture books available on Amazon, and one coloring book. Her best known picture book is The Angel With One Wing.
That Madras Mom 