books | The Angel Forever

Category Archives books

Tuesday Tales – Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys

Posted on June 11, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My boys are growing up and with that the reality that they are both able to read on their own. While this is a huge milestone for my kindergarten kiddo, he is my “baby” and it is hard to let go at times. Some of my favorite memories with the boys are curling up and reading favorite books with them. I was the new mother that had a pile of my teacher books ready to introduce my son to Eric Carle, Laura Joffe Numeroff, and other favorites from teaching and my childhood.

It has been a while since I have read with NHL. As an almost ten year old, he spent much of last summer reading about the wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter with TechyDad. When reading alone, my Aspie tends to prefer reading non-fiction books. While it is great for him to read about science, math, people, places, and things of the world – the educator in me wants to expand his horizons. Of course, I will not push too hard and we just search for new fiction books that will keep his interest.

While at the Albany Children’s Book Festival in April, we met author Julie Gardner Berry. Although it may not have looked like my son was paying attention to her, he was listening. Ms. Berry took time to talk to him. She was explaining the premise of the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series of books. She pointed out that the main characters in the book are a group of boys. In addition to this, the boys get into some trouble and have to do a lot of problem solving. As I mentioned in my post from the Festival, NHL selected the first of the Splurch Academy books to get autographed and purchase.

I also think one of the items that sold NHL was the illustrations by Berry’s sister Sally Faye Gardner. Not only are there comic book style illustrations within the book by Gardner, they truly are interactive. Many times the story heads right into the pictures with Cody Mack, Headmaster Farley, and the other characters.

NHL and I finished The Rat Brain Fiasco (book 1) and are well into Curse of the Bizarro Beetle (book 2) right now. It seems that he does best with fiction books as a read aloud and I am not upset with this. It is nice to be able to spend time with my big kid and read. We are able to talk about the situations that pop up. We can discuss the social scenarios that happen with the boys and even some of the teachers at times. I have a feeling we will be ordering more of the Splurch Academy books soon. We are in luck too since there are now four titles available.

As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Disclosure: None really since we bought both of the books on our own. Thanks to meeting Ms. Berry and reading her books we wanted to share our experience with the Splurch Academy books.

Categories:
books Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Dig into Reading in New York

Posted on June 4, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a child, I loved going to the library with my neighborhood friends to take out books to read. This was the time when I could read what I wanted, when I wanted, and relax. There was a summer reading program, but to say that it has grown up over the years would be an understatement. Last year, the New York State Libraries told elementary aged children to Dream Big. This year, the theme is Dig into Reading and we saw a preview of this at the Book Festival that we went to in April.

Like last year, Summer Reading NYS has made a new video to share the new theme.

I know that the boys and I will be spending a lot of time reading and going to different events at various local libraries. We have come to really enjoy these special times together each summer.

To get more information about the program, head to the Summer Reading at New York Libraries page to catch all of the latest news and locate your library. If you are not in New York State, look around your community to see if your libraries participate in something. My guess is they exist and would be something worth investigating.

Do you or your children participate in a summer reading program? I would love to know about your experience. As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
books Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Books for Dad on Father’s Day

Posted on May 28, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Red alert, Father’s Day is less than three weeks away! The boys and I typically have a challenging time looking for just the right item to get TechyDad. TechyDad is a geek at heart. He loves science, math, computers, and technology related items. He likes to read, but he is very particular about books.

When Sterling Publishing contacted me about some books that they are featuring for Father’s Day, I knew two of them would be right up TechyDad’s alley. The third, all about golf, is not something my husband would ever read.

Disclosure: I received the following two books from Sterling Publishing to review as possible gifts for Father’s Day. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

The Space Book – ISBN 9781402780714 – Written by Jim Bell – Sterling Milestones – May 2013 – 528 page hardcover book $29.95

The Space Book is a stunning book that catches your eye the moment you pick it up. Dr. Jim Bell is the President of the Planetary Society and has created a beautiful collection of 250 milestones from the history of space and astronomy. As soon as TechyDad saw the book, he sat on the couch and our nine year old son immediately wanted to browse at the photographs with him. NHL and TechyDad looked briefly at the book together. NHL was able to identify some of the items and noted he’s interested in reading the book together. I have a feeling once school is out this may be a father and son project on nights that they want to take a break from the continued reading of Harry Potter.

As a science teacher, I am in love with the photographs of the spatial items. While I have seen books that talk about space and object found in the universe, they have never been in chronological order with photographs and information about the history of the discovery and more that has been found over time. I definitely believe this book is a stunning coffee table book that would make a nice present for a father or other person that has a deep interest in space.

The New York Times Book of Mathematics – ISBN 9781402793226 – Edited by Gina Kolata with a foreword by Paul Hoffman – Sterling Publishing – June 2013 – 496 page hardcover book $24.95

As I noted before, TechyDad is a geek. He loves to talk about math, numbers, and theories. While I consider myself good with numbers, he can just calculate things in his head without breaking into a sweat or cheating with a calculator. I often hear NHL and TechyDad just chatting about something with math. The two of them love MathDuko puzzles and similar items for a fun activity. Thanks to this, I figured The New York Times Book of Mathematics would be a book TechyDad will enjoy.

As I type this, TechyDad has not had the chance to really sit down and read this book yet. Life has been too hectic, but he did tell me that he is intrigued with the contents of the book. This book is a collection of more than 110 articles that were included in the New York Times between 1892 and 2010. It includes items from a variety of topics including statistics, coincidences, chaos theory, computers, and many more. While browsing through the book, I could almost picture my husband and oldest son having a long winded conversation about some of the topics and debating them with each other. Once he reads the book, an updated review will appear.

Have you ever bought your father a book for Father’s Day? As always, Tuesday Tales is about spreading love for books. Please share what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
books Educational Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Reading with OverDrive Media App

Posted on May 21, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

While I love to read paper books and eBooks, there are times when I really enjoy listening to a book. Audio books have come a long way. Where you used to have to listen to books on multiple CDs, you can now get MP3 and other formats to purchase or borrow from libraries. As I have written before, check and see if your local library has a digital lending area. The Upper Hudson Library System does, as well as the New York Public Library. I often browse both collections for new reads on the go.

Over the weekend, when my son was sick, I wanted to listen to a book while he watched a movie. This allowed me to crochet and hear something. The first thing I did was to reinstall the OverDrive Media Console for Android onto my new phone.

Once I had the app, I knew that I wanted to add a book. I clicked on the “Get Books” icon at the top right and proceeded to add in my accounts with the two library systems. Now, when I am on the go, I can use my 4G LTE connection or Wi-fi to download new books on my account.

From here, your experience will be slightly different depending on the library that you are visiting. On the NY Public Library landing page you can select the type of book that you would like to search. I typically do an advanced search. Here I can select MP3 audiobooks that are available to download now. I can also specify publishers, genre, and more. As you can see, simply looking for MP3 audiobooks that were available now gave me a large number of options that was a bit overwhelming.

Thanks to my GoodReads list, I saw a book title that looked familiar. Sure enough they had Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster. I selected the title, checked it out, and within seconds it was downloading to my phone. Once you select your book to listen to, you can see the player and navigation pages below.

When you need to stop, you simply pause and close the app. The next time you begin and press the play button it will begin right where you left off.

Have you ever used the OverDrive Media App? I would love to know if you have any audiobook suggestions. As always, Tuesday Tales is about spreading love for books. Please share what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Disclosure: I used the Lucid 2 by LG phone that I received as a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers to assist me with this post. All pictures were taken via the QuickMemo™ on the phone. As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I share ways that I use my cell phone to make life easier. There is no other compensation. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

badgevzwbuzz2

Categories:
books Phone Apps Technology Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Mo Willems’ Pigeon is 10

Posted on May 7, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Disclosure: I received some books by Mo Willems to review and help celebrate Pigeon’s 10th birthday courtesy of Disney Publishing Worldwide. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own. As big fans of this author and illustrator, we were thrilled to participate in this big day for Pigeon and Mr. Willems.

Over the years, I have read a lot of books with children while babysitting, in college, in my own classroom, and with my own two boys. There are times when you may think you have read a book, but then you realize you missed something big. Enter Mo Willems’ famous Pigeon into my world. It isn’t that I am unfamiliar with author and illustrator Willems. I mean, check out my youngest son’s latest collection that he is reading to me.

My kids adore Elephant & Piggie books along with Willems’ classic Knuffle Bunny. That’s what I am not sure how I managed to miss reading Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The other day a package arrived from Disney Publishing to celebrate Pigeon turning 10.

I am not joking when I say the kids were beyond excited about the box of Mo Willems books. The kids immediately snagged the books and wanted to read them together. First, JSL read to NHL A Big Guy Took My Ball! (An Elephant & Piggy Book coming out May 21).

A Big Guy Took My Ball! (Elephant and Piggie Book) (Affiliate link to Amazon) – ISBN 1423174917 – Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems – Disney-Hyperion – May 2013 – 48 page hardcover book $8.99 – Ages 6-8

After this, I lost track of a lot of what was happening because they were so happy and we decided to make dinner. Fast forward to the next day when JSL started to ask me questions about hot dogs out of the blue. I had no idea where this was coming from. Later on, he sat down with me to read Caldecott Honor book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Of course, when we were finished he begged to continue on to read the other books in the Busload of Pigeon Books collection. This small hard cover book collection includes the original Pigeon book, along with The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! and Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! This was clearly my ah-ha moment. Now I knew why my fussy eater was suddenly curious about hot dogs. Thanks to Mo Willems , Pigeon, and the cute little Duckling, JSL was now intrigued with hot dogs.

It’s a Busload of Pigeon Books! (Affiliate link to Amazon) – ISBN 1423175891 – Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems – Disney-Hyperion – April 2013 – 120 pages in 3 mini hardcover book collection $24.99 – Ages 2-6

This box set of smaller sized Pigeon books is now available to help celebrate this famous bird’s 10th Birthday. This set, along with other Mo Willems books and items make fantastic baby shower gifts, and birthday presents for young children.

In addition to this, Don’t Pigeonhole Me!: Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook(Affiliate link to Amazon) will be coming out June 18. This book for adults will feature 20 years of sketches and ideas from Mr. Willems. The foreword of the book is written by another world famous children’s book author and illustrator, Eric Carle. I know I cannot wait to read this book to learn more about Mo Willems and how his concepts go from notebook sketches to print.

Please join me in wishing Pigeon a very happy 10th Birthday. Now, I would love to know what your favorite Mo Willems book and why. As always, Tuesday Tales is about spreading love for books. Please share what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Additional Disclosures: Three Amazon Affiliate links are included in this post for the books mentioned (they are noted above). I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to purchase it through that link.