Tuesday Tales | The Angel Forever

Category Archives Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales: Drawing Animals Shape by Shape

Posted on October 13, 2015 7:08 pm by TheAngelForever

It’s no secret that I love coloring and drawing. From an early age, I would take out Ed Emberley drawing books from the library just to doodle and draw for fun. My boys have definitely caught the drawing for fun bug. We have a great collection of drawing books that the entire family enjoys. When Sixth&Spring contacted me to review the new Christopher Hart book for kids, we said yes and could not wait to check it out.

Drawing Animals Shape by Shape: Create Cartoon Animals with Circles, Squares, Rectangles & Triangles – Drawing with Christopher Hart – Published by Sixth&Spring Books – ISBN 9781936096954 – $14.95 – Spiral-bound 176 pages – Ages 4 and up

Drawing Animals Shape by Shape is broken up into different segments by animals of course.There are dogs, cats, farm animals. woodland creatures, safari animals, feathered friends, water animals, reptiles/bugs, dinosaurs, and more fun options in the table of contents. Kids of all ages will see the easy to follow step by step directions using simple shapes layered onto of one another until you see the featured animal friend before you. It truly is fun to see how an oval with some rectangles, circles, and triangles makes Fido the dog’s face come to life. The spiral bound book is filled with over 100 cartoon creatures for your budding artist to replicate.

Moments after the book arrived, the kids ran off with it. They immediately pulled out some notebooks and colored pencils to practice drawing. After some time, they came over to show me several of their drawings. One of the first that was completed was the very fitting Art Loving Hippo.

The animals within the book would be great for kids to draw and tell stories, or to create their own fun cartoon stories. The lively creatures within actively engage even those that don’t think they can draw. This book will be on my birthday and holiday gift giving list because it will appeal to a wide variety of kids. Pair this up with a nice drawing notebook, colored pencil set, and voila the perfect creative package. I know my boys are already asking about the original Drawing Shape by Shape – Create Cartoon Characters with Circles, Squares & Triangles. The book has been a great addition to our rainy weather activities and will be fantastic on snow days that are bound to happen in a few months.

Giveaway Time!

Would you like to win your own copy of Drawing Animals Shape by Shape? One random person that answers the following question will receive a copy of the book.

What type of drawing book would you love to see by Christopher Hart next? Remember he already has made over 50 drawing books!

Bonus Entry:

As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. What are you currently reading or what was the last book you read?

This giveaway ends on Friday, October 23 at 11:50 PM ET. Only open to US and Canadian residents that are 18 and older.

Disclosure: As noted above, I received this family drawing book from Sixth&Spring Books to review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
arts and crafts books giveaway Tuesday Tales

Everything You Ever Wanted Book Review and Giveaway

Posted on May 5, 2015 1:31 pm by TheAngelForever

I received a copy of this book as part of a campaign with Global Influence in exchange for my honest review on Tuesday Tales.

Reading has always been part of my life. As I blogged more over the years, I knew that I wanted to focus attention on books that we read via Tuesday Tales. Parenting has shown me that a lot of my reading revolves around my kids and our family. Reading time with the boys, keeping up on what my middle school kiddo is reading, and assisting with various projects. I have to admit that I crave more ME book reading time. One of my goals in 2015 is to be a little more selfish and stay focused. Reading books that I enjoy is one of those items. While I always have a pile of books and even more waiting for me on my Kindle, I often have a hard time deciding what to read next.

About a month ago, I saw people on Facebook buzzing about a book that they were devouring. Moments later I snagged a Kindle copy of Jillian Lauren’s first memoir called Some Girls: My Life in a Harem. I could not put the book down. Any chance I had, I was reading because I wanted to know what happened next. I was truly fascinated with her life experiences and how one thing lead to another. I felt like I was sitting there with her when she left the United States to go to spend time in the harem for the Prince of Brunei. When the book ended, I was lucky enough to know that another memoir would be released soon. Thanks to this, I didn’t have to wait and wonder as long as others who read the book when it first came out. As luck would have it, signed up to take part in this review days later.

Everything You Ever Wanted: A Memoir picks up with Jillian Lauren’s life story. She has moved to California and is transitioning her life after the Brunei harem and drug addiction. While going to cosmetology school, she meets her rock star husband. After time, they decide to start a family. Many readers will connect with Lauren’s struggle with infertility and decision to adopt a child. Through her own powerful words, we go with Jillian and Scott to Ethiopia where they adopt their son.

Jillian’s journey home with Tariku was the beginning of her second act. We get to see how her role as mother helps her to get some closure on events from childhood. There were tears in my eyes as I read about losing her friend to drugs while fighting for her son and his special needs.

Once again, a truly remarkable book by Jillian Lauren. She has a way with words that hooks the audience in so we connect. Jillian does not hold back and sugar coat things, she tells us how she felt in the heat of the moment. As the mother of a child with special needs, I applaud being open and honest especially with your feelings that vary from day to day. Living in the moment can be difficult, but sharing it with everyone else is another story. I applaud Jillian for sharing, caring, and helping others in the process of writing her beautiful memoir.

Giveaway Time!

Would you like to win your own copy of Everything You Ever Wanted? One random person that answers the following question will receive a copy of the book.

What is a book that you have you read recently? Let me know the name of the book and briefly what you thought of it. It is Tuesday Tales and it’s fun to share our love for reading.

This giveaway ends on Friday, May 15 at 11:50 PM ET. Only open to US residents that are 18 and older.

Disclosure: As noted above, I received this book to review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
books giveaway Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales: The Notebook of Doom Series

Posted on February 9, 2015 10:37 am by TheAngelForever

If you had asked me a year ago if my youngest son liked to read, my answer would have been very different. He enjoyed reading picture books and spending time having chapter books read to him. Over the summer, something clicked with JSL and he fell in love with reading chapter books on his own. He always travels with a book in his hand.

JSL has devoured many series of books over the months. There was one that his best buddy told him about while they were at camp that he was eager to read. For Chanukah, I was able to get the first five books of The Notebook of Doom series by Troy Cummings.

I watched as JSL started the series and kept reading one book after the other. I would hear him laughing and he would complain when he had to get out of the car and stop reading. These Scholastic books are part of their Branches series for children. They are illustrated chapter books for young readers. The books are geared towards kids in first to third grade and written on a second grade level.

One afternoon while the boys were at school, I grabbed Book 1 Rise of the Balloon Goons to read. I immediately understood the appeal of the books. You meet Alexander Bopp and follow along as he gets to know Stermont. Something in this new town isn’t quite right and Alexander finds a notebook that may have some answers.

The illustrations add a fun touch to the story to help readers to bring the charters and monsters to life. We keep turning the pages because we want to know more and find out what these balloon goons are about.

I applaud Scholastic for publishing more books to capture the hearts of young elementary readers. These books will not only appeal to young boys, but girls alike. The books by Troy Cummings will make children want to continue along with Alexander to figure out what truly is going on with the notebook filled with drawings. I highly recommend these books to children that may be getting ready to read on their own or reluctant readers. JSL definitely wants to check out more of the Branches books because he loves The Notebook of Doom and Eerie Elementary.

What books do you recommend for young elementary children breaking into more independent chapter book reading? 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: Pickle Weasel Picture Riddles

Posted on December 16, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Pictures of pickles dance in our heads thanks to the extremely talented author JC Little. JC is known to many as The Animated Woman and we have been fans of hers for quite some time. When JC mentioned that her third book was being published, I could not wait to check it out. We love the Pickle Weasel app and were excited to see this familiar pickle face in a book. We received a complimentary Kindle copy to check out the interactive features. Of course, there is also a paper version of the book, isn’t it pretty?

One of the fun features of the Pickle Weasel app is the picture riddle area. Now, Pickle Weasel comes to life in this book to get your brain grooving to figure out what the green super star is up to.

As you move along in the book you can try to guess what each picture riddle is about. I decided to share this screen capture because Fezzes are cool, especially on Pickle Weasel.

Not sure what the riddle is about? No worries, JC has included fun clues to help readers out.

Did you figure it out yet? Here’s the answer:

This is just a teaser because there are 100 additional picture riddles in the book with Pickle Weasel featured in them. Yes, the book contains 101 illustrations and riddles for readers to enjoy. Here is another quick taste since JC said I could share a few with my readers.

I definitely recommend this book to adults and kids that like picture riddles. The fun illustrations will keep you turning the pages to see what Pickle Weasel is up to next. I know I am saving this book to keep the kids busy when we take our next road trip.

What would you like to see Pickle Weasel doing if you could request JC to draw something special? Remember to keep it PG rated because this is a family blog. 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.

Additional posts I have written about JC Little and her talent:

Disclosure: As noted above, I received an eBook copy of this book from JC Little to review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
bloggy friends books Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales: The Night Before Hanukkah

Posted on November 18, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, there were not a lot of books about Hanukkah or most Jewish holidays. My children do not understand this because they are lucky enough to have so many wonderful Hanukkah tales to pick from. As fans of The Night Before series of books by Natasha Wing, we were excited to receive an email asking us to review her latest book. The Night Before Hanukkah is the latest of Ms. Wing’s 22 children’s books which include popular favorites like The Night Before Kindergarten which has sold over 1.5 million copies since it was published in 2001.

The Night Before Hanukkah – Written by Natasha Wing – Illustrated by Amy Wummer

Published by Gosset & Dunlap October – ISBN 9780448481401 – $3.99 – Ages 3-5

Like other books in The Night Before series, The Night Before Hanukkah uses the familiar rhyme and pattern from The Night Before Christmas story. The focus of the book is on the family within it and how they celebrate Hanukkah. The beautiful illustrations by Amy Wummer help to make Wing’s words come alive. We are able to see this Jewish family get ready for The Festival of Lights the night before the eight day celebration. Then, we follow along to see their traditions each evening when the family lights their menorah. We are able to watch them play the dredel game, eat chocolate gelt, listen to the story of the Maccabees, devour latkes, and more.

Once again, Natasha Wing has hit it out of the park with The Night Before Hanukkah. The book shares the essence of this Jewish holiday. Kids will be able to identify items that they do with their families, and others that may be new and different. She also incorporates traditions that the family has continued from generation to generation, which is important to the Jewish community. I know that I will be taking this book in to share with my son’s second grade classroom. I think the kids will adore listening to a story and hearing how JSL does many of the same items with our family. I definitely recommend this book to young readers to learn more about this holiday even if you do not celebrate Hanukkah.

Have you read any of The Night Before series? I would love to know what if your favorite and why. As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Disclosure: As noted above, I received this book from the author to review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.