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Tuesday Tales – It’s a Big World, Little Pig!

Posted on March 6, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When we first got our Kindle, we wanted to try a picture book on it. That is when we met Poppy the Pig in Dream Big, Little Pig! The book was an adorable tale written by figure skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. In it, Poppy wants to be a star and learns that she has to work hard, be persistent, and believe in herself. When I was contacted by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky to let me know that Poppy was back, we immediately wanted to read about her new adventure.

It’s a Big World, Little Pig! is available in stores today. Poppy returns in this book following her dreams of going to a special competition in Paris. The heroine gets nervous about traveling from New York City all the way to Paris. She is especially worried about not making new friends in this far off location. Tim Bowers illustrations whisk us away from Poppy’s home in New York City to the competition village in Paris.

Through the book, Poppy meets and makes friends with competitors from different countries. She waits on line to register and meets a panda from China named Li. They talk, look at a map of the village, and share some of their own language with each other. This learning adventure continues as Poppy meets more friends and they help each other to be less nervous along the way.

As a parent, I love this book and how Kristi Yamaguchi helps to show that fears are normal when you do something new and different. She also shows that by being brave and meeting new people, you can help each other with these situations. We may not all look the same, or speak the same language, but kindness and smiles are understood by everyone. In addition to this, I adore how supportive Poppy’s parents are and how they continue to encourage her to reach her goals and then travel to view things in Paris with her after the event.

The educator in me adores how this book could convert to many teachable moments with older children. Not only can you talk about the concept of following your dreams, but you learn about new cultures, new places, and new languages with Poppy’s new friends. A lot of fun activities with passports. There are even activity kits that you can download for free from the first book that would be fun for children to try.

Another great perk about purchasing the book is that Kristi Yamaguchi is donating 100% of her profits from the book to early childhood literacy programs supported by her Always Dream Foundation.

What have you read recently? Please 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. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: I received this book complimentary of Sourcebooks in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own. Two Amazon Affiliate links are included in this post for the two books mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the book through that link.

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books Educational photos Product review Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Isabella: Girl on the Go

Posted on February 21, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Last year, I read a blog post about a book called My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? It was not just any book. It was about inspiring children, especially girls, to dream big. The spunky little character within the story is Isabella. Author Jennifer Fosberry introduces us to this fun child who did not simply want to be herself, she wanted to be famous women in history. I fell in love with the New York Times bestselling book and was so excited to hear that Fosberry and illustrator Mike Litwin teamed up again for the new sourcebook about Isabella. The book is being released today.

In the first book, Isabella uses her imagination to showcase to her mother the amazing scientific women that she is pretending to become. She learns that the sky is the limit if she follows her dreams. In Isabella: Girl on the Go, we watch as Isabella sits in her backyard and talks to her father.

Once again, Isabella’s imagination takes her from her yard and propels her into the adventure of a lifetime. Each time her father asks her who she is, we are whisked off to a new city where we see a famous structure.

Thanks to Isabella, we are able to see that everything in the world is just a dream away. We learn about new careers like being an archeologist, artist, astronomer, and more while traveling to places like Paris, London, China, and beyond. The playful words from Fosberry allow readers to see where Isabella has gone in her imagination. They are paired perfectly with the gorgeous illustrations from Litwin.

The book really could be for multiple age levels. Younger children will marvel at Isabella’s silly imagination and talks with her father while in her own yard. Older children can use the tale as a starting point to do more research about the places and structures that Isabella sees within her vivid imagination. At the end of the book, there is even more information about the places and structures that we visit.

I know that I highly recommend this book and hope to use it for gifts in the future. More information about the book, a downloadable Isabella Girl on the Go Passport and activity kit, and book tour can be found on Sourcebooks website. I know I will be printing these out to try with my kids soon. They look like a fun addition to a book study in a classroom, or something to try at home on a snowy or rainy day.

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books Educational gift ideas photos Product review Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Shiver Me Letters A Pirate ABC

Posted on February 14, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

For almost a year now, my little guy has been quite into all things having to do with Pirates. When we made his birthday party, his request was for a Jake and the Never Land Pirates theme. Of course, Jake was new on the scene. Thanks to this, we had to improvise.

Once again, Pirates are on JSL’s mind. Yesterday, he wore his Jake shirt for the premier of Peter Pan Returns. Yes, Peter Pan finally arrives on the scene with Jake and the Never Land Pirates. This is a huge event in a four year old’s world.

The popularity of all things pirates is evident when you see all of the pirate themed birthday items, costumes, and lots and lots of books. Yes, authors are reaching out to new landlubbers to take them on an adventure with their own cast of pirate friends.

Last year, a Scholastic Book Club flyer came home and a book caught my eye. When I saw the title by June Sobel, I knew it was being purchased for our family. Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC seemed like a perfect book to help my little pirate loving child to immerse himself into his alphabet learning through literacy.

This book is now a family favorite. Big brother NHL even likes to practice his pirate talk when reading this fun tale to JSL. The pirate adventure begins with the captain of the pirate ship ordering his crew to find him more letters. After all, a pirate does need more than just his R’s you know. The bright, cheerful illustrations by Henry Cole add another dimension to the story. What I really enjoyed was allowing JSL to search for each new letter within the pages. This helped him with letter recognition and gave us time to talk about what we could see within each page we turned.

As an educator, I love picture books that tell a story, captivate their audience, and teach children at the same time. Shiver Me Letters certainly does this and more. What I also adore is that June Sobel has a page on her website for teachers. Here you can find some great items to print and pointers to use when reading this with your class. She also linked up to Scholastic’s PDF with Read Aloud Activities to accompany the book. I have a feeling that JSL and I may have an alphabet treasure hunt next week during break. I know NHL would love to help us to make a map and I think it would be a great activity for all of us to do. I highly recommend this book to use with preschool and kindergarten age children to reinforce alphabet recognition and to create fun adventures with pirates and letters.

Disclosure: An Amazon Affiliate link is included in this post for the book mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the book through that link. We bought this book on our own from Scholastic and know it is on our gift list for other children.

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books Educational fun looking back Product review Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Protecting Our Kindle

Posted on February 7, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It is hard to believe that there was once a time when I was unsure how I would feel about reading with an eReader. When we got our Kindle, I quickly realized some of the big perks and possibilities. I could keep multiple books with me at all times, I could instantly get books from the library for it, I could purchase a book and have it ready to read within minutes, and your kids can’t knock a book mark out of it.

TechyDad and I wanted to get something to protect Kimberly Kindle. Yes, we named her – just accept that. Here is Kimberly when we first got her without anything to protect her screen.

There were some gorgeous Kindle covers on Etsy. As much as I adored them, they were just a cover and did not help to protect our eReader. Thanks to several people on Twitter, we focused on M-Edge products. They seemed to be the most focused on protecting electronic devices. Many of them specifically suggested the M-Edge Latitude Kindle Jacket and it had good reviews. We liked that it not only had a soft cover inside to protect the screen, it was also durable in case it –er, you know, fell just a bit.

After a bit more research, we bought the M-Edge Latitude Kindle Jacket. I love that it zips up to cover all of Kimberly. I love that it has a pocket for a little lamp should we opt to purchase one down the road. I also like that the cover flips back completely to make it each to hold and read my books. I can keep it in the case to recharge and the keyboard is still able to be used without any fuss.

Now I can’t wait to start my next book on the Kindle. Actually it’s a series that everyone has been talking about. Here’s it is all ready to go:

Yes, my next three books will be The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. They are all ready to read on Kimberly. With the movie coming out, more and more of my friends have been chatting it up and trying to read them before it comes to theaters.

I would love to know your thoughts on The Hunger Games Trilogy, eReaders, and anything else. What have you read recently? Please 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. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: Two Amazon Affiliate links are included in this post with the two items mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the books through that link. We bought the M-Edge Jacket on our own and I wanted to share since we enjoy how well it works with our Kindle.

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books me moments Product review Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Time for a Hug

Posted on January 17, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is coming in a little under a month. During that time, we often think about the ones that we love to hug. There will be lots of hearts, hugs, kisses, special notes to those that we love, and more.

Did you know that this Saturday, Jan 21, is National Hug Day? It is and it seemed like a great time to share a new book that I reviewed by Phillis Gershator and her mother Mim Green called Time for a Hug. Once I started to read and they saw the illustrations from David Walker, they were hooked.

Too often, we forget about the simple things in life and never stop even for a brief second to enjoy them with our children. Before we know it, they grow up before our eyes. In Time for a Hug, we are reminded that there is never a wrong time to pause for a bit and enjoy a hug with someone special. In this tale, we go from sunrise to sunset with Little Bunny. As we watch Little Bunny get dresses, eat meals, play, and go about the day – there is always time to stop for a special hug no matter the hour.

Toddlers and preschoolers will appreciate the activities that Little Bunny does throughout the day. My youngest caught onto the rhythmic nature of the book and quickly jumped in every time I asked “What time is it?” within the story.

The beautiful illustrations from David Walker just melt your heart with the touching story from Phillis Gershator and Mim Green.

Time for a Hug – Written by Phillis Gershator and Mim Green – Illustrated by David Walker – Sterling Children’s Books – January 2012 – ISBN 9781402778629 – $9.95 – Ages 3-5

With older children, I could see making crafts like a hug around the clock. For really crafty people, it could even be in a mobile form. Perhaps stopping each hour while your child is awake to have a hug and mark down on a heart what you are doing during that time (breakfast, taking a walk, building with Legos, or something else). Of course, you could also make a hug picture book and take photos of you and your little one each hour to make a special scrap book for Valentine’s Day or just because. The possibilities are out there and so many great extensions of this book could be created with your own family.

What have you read recently? Please 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. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: I received this book complimentary of Sterling Children’s Books in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own. An Amazon Affiliate link is included where I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the book mentioned.