Book Review - Otto's Backwards Day

About the Book
Someone stole Otto’s birthday! When Otto and his robot sidekick, Toot, follow the crook, they discover a topsy-turvy world where rats chase cats and people wear underpants over their clothes. To get his presents back, Otto needs to solve a slew of backwards puzzles — but his greatest challenge comes at the journey’s very end. On this special day, will Otto discover something even better than cake or gifts?
About the Author
Frank Cammuso lives in Syracuse, New York, where he writes and draws the graphic novel series Knights of the Lunch Table, a middle-school version of the King Arthur tales. He is also the writer and illustrator of the forthcoming series The Misadventures of Salem Hyde. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, The Village Voice, and on Slate.

Jay Lynch lives in upstate New York. He is the founder of Bijou Funnies, one of the first and most important underground comics of the sixties, and for many years wrote the weekly syndicated comic strip Phoebe & the Pigeon People. He has helped create some of Topps’s most popular humor products, such as Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids.



My Take on the Book
This was a cute graphic novel for younger readers. With great illustrations and a light and fun story, kids ages 6-9 will love this. My daughter picked it up and within a very short time she finished it and then read it again, which is something I always love to see. The graphic novel is also action-packed, and it will leave you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will come next. Through the use of palindromes young readers will gain a better appreciation for language, but beyond that the author also shares a number of other important educational messages too, so the book is definitely not just a picture book - far from it!


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Book Review - Romeo and Juliet

About the Book
Gareth Hinds’s stylish graphic adaptation of the Bard’s romantic tragedy offers modern touches — including a diverse cast that underscores the story’s universality.

She’s a Capulet. He’s a Montague. But when Romeo and Juliet first meet, they don’t know they’re from rival families — and when they find out, they don’t care. Their love is honest and raw and all-consuming. But it’s also dangerous. How much will they have to sacrifice before they can be together? In a masterful adaptation faithful to Shakespeare’s original text, Gareth Hinds transports readers to the sun-washed streets and market squares of Shakespeare’s Verona, vividly bringing the classic play to life on the printed page.




My Take on the Book
This is a great rendition of the classic Shakespearean tale. With great images the graphic novel helps anyone become closer to this story. My daughter tried to read it herself, but it was a bit above her head, but when we started to read it together, I was able to read it with her though and walk her through some of the harder language. Doing this was fun and she now has a much better understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare and the way that he wrote his plays.


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Book Review - Whatever After: Dream On

About the Book
Good night, sleep tight,
Don't let the magic mirror bite . . .

My friend Robin and I were going to have the best sleepover ever. We'd stay up late, eat s'mores, share secrets -- and NOT knock on my magic mirror. I was NOT getting pulled into another fairy tale.

But the mirror STILL ends up pulling me and my brother, Jonah, into Sleeping Beauty's story -- and this time, Robin comes with us, too! When Robin pricks her finger on the spindle, I know we're in trouble. Now she's fast asleep, Sleeping Beauty is wide awake, and I have to:

- Host a fake birthday party for Jonah
- Find a prince to wake up Robin
- Avoid getting cursed by scary fairies

We only have ten hours to make things right . . . or this day will become a nightmare!




My Take on the Book
I have really liked these books in the past and I have continued to like them as they have continued on and this book is no different in that regard. This was another great book in the series. My daughters love to have me read these to them and to be honest, even though I think these stories are mostly for girls, they are fun to read for adults too. All-in-all this was a great book with great characters and a story line that will pull you in and keep you engaged form beginning to end!


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Book Review - Michael and the Whiz Kids

About the Book
Imagine a boy, five feet tall and one hundred pounds, who wants to play high school basketball. Now imagine that he was blind until the age of six and that he’s the first black student to attend his suburban school. And there you have Michael Thompson in 1965 in San Bruno, California. He played at the school where a young English teacher was coaching “lightweight basketball,” a competition for smaller players that has since disappeared. The team that Coach John Christgau put together came to be called the Whiz Kids for the way they rocketed up and down the court, led by Michael and invariably winning.

Michael and the Whiz Kids tells the story of the team’s 1968 championship season. It is a tale of cliffhanger games and players as outsized in character as they are short in stature, from the wild-haired, bespectacled “Professor” to the well-traveled Latvian dubbed “Suitcase” to the quiet and tenacious “Salt,” as in “of the earth.” But it is also a tale of the time—of counterculture, suburbia, integration, and racial brawls erupting on the court. In Christgau’s deft telling, it is an absorbing, often comic story of coming of age, for coach and Whiz Kids alike.




My Take on the Book
Get ready to be inspired! This was a great book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You will wonder what will happen next and the book will keep you guessing until the end. I loved the way that the author shared this story. You get drawn in quickly and the through the people and the plot you become a part of th story. You will love the story, the laughs and be motivated by all the people profiled!


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Book Review - Physics: An Illustrated History of the Foundations of Science

About the Book
Just in time for the holidays...the fourth book from the new Ponderables™ series is here! Great gifts for anyone from 9.... to 99....

Physics: An Illustrated History of the Foundations of Science (Shelter Harbor Press, Oct 2013) is an authoritative reference book and timeline, filled with 100 milestone facts upon which all scientific knowledge rests. Without physics, everything else – from astronomy to zoology – would be meaningless conjecture.

The thoughts and deeds of great thinkers always make great stories. Each story relates a confounding puzzle, a “ponderable”, a weighty problem that became a discovery and changed the way we understand the world and our place in it.

Our high-tech, inter-connected world is built on these Ponderables™, growing, changing step-by-step into an ever clearer picture of reality. "PHYSICS" is one of these great stories.

"PHYSICS" follows physics through the ages as great scientists, such as Thales, Galileo, Feynman, and many others, gradually unpick the fabric of the Universe to reveal an array of fundamental forces, intangible particles and indestructible energy. Today, physics discoveries make headline news as we confirm the fresh mysteries of the Higgs boson, supersymmetry, and dark energy.

Physics deals with basics – space, matter, energy – and combines them to create forces, motion, heat, light, and everything else in the Universe. The development of physics is a story of many chapters, each adding to our understanding of the way the Universe functions:

• Archimedes has the original Eureka moment while taking a bath when he figures out the way objects float or sink.
• By complete accident, Luigi Galvani turns freshly cut frogs legs into a simple battery and sparks humankind’s link to electricity.
• Heinrich Hertz invents a way to send and receive invisible radio waves, and his name is immortalized in the frequencies of the world’s radio stations.
• In just one miraculous year, Albert Einstein provides the first observable proof that atoms exist, reveals the mechanism behind light, and explains how space and time are really the same thing!

PHYSICS is an authoritative and lively text lavished with exciting imagery and helpful diagrams accompany each of the steps along the way to make complex physics accessible to everyone. It includes a removable fold-out concertina neatly housed at the back of the book: a 12-page Timeline History of Physics on one-side and 12 pages detailing the Système International (SI), a set of units that can measure anything in the Universe, on the other side.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tom Jackson is a science author based in the United Kingdom. He has written more than 80 books and contributed to many more, covering everything from axolotls to Zoroastrianism. He studied zoology at the University of Bristol, and still lives in that city with his wife and three children, where he can be found mainly in the attic.



My Take on the Book
This was a great book that taught me so much! I never took Physics when I was younger, and while I knew some of the concepts, I was floored by how much I did not know. Another thing that I really liked was how this book talked directly to the reader and explained the concepts in a way that everyone could understand. Filled with amazing images you get drawn further into the book with each page that goes by. Each page itself makes you think about the issue/question that was being asked. As you "ponder" these issues, you learn so much! This makes me want to check out some of the other Ponderables books too!


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Book Review - Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art

About the Book
The American artist Theresa Ferber Bernstein (1890–2002) made and exhibited her work in every decade of the twentieth century. This authoritative book about Bernstein provides an overview of her life and artistic career, examining her relationships with contemporary artists.

Bernstein’s work is noteworthy, even among her more famous male contemporaries such as John Sloan, Stuart Davis, and Edward Hopper, all of whom she knew. Working in realist and expressionist styles, she treated the major subjects of her time, including the fight for women’s suffrage, the plight of immigrants, World War I, jazz, unemployment, racial discrimination, and occasionally explicitly Jewish themes such as a synagogue interior or ritual objects such as a menorah. She was a member of the American Artists’ Congress and painted a mural for the U.S. government during the Great Depression.

Bernstein’s portrait subjects include Albert Einstein, Martha Graham, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, and Billie Holiday, yet it is her particular sensibility and empathy with those subjects that set her apart from her mostly male contemporaries.

Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art includes thematic essays by Michele Cohen, Patricia M. Burnham, Elsie Heung, Sarah Archino, Stephanie Hackett, Gillian Pistell, and by the editor, Gail Levin. It features more than two hundred images, including full-color reproductions of her art and rare documentary photographs, many published here for the first time. It also includes a detailed chronology of Bernstein’s life, a list of public collections, and a list of her writings.

About the Author
Gail Levin is Distinguished Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Women’s Studies at the Graduate Center and Baruch College of the City University of New York. She is the author of several books, including Lee Krasner: A Biography, Becoming Judy Chicago: A Biography of the Artist, and Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography.




My Take on the Book
I was not familiar with this artist, but after seeing the beautiful art enclosed within the pages of this book, it makes me want to see and experience more of her art. This book is a well constructed book that really documents the art and life of this artist and I have to say that they did a great job. While I am not an expert I am an art aficionado and  this realist painter is one that any lover of art should get to know if they have not yet. For me, my favorite art pieces are probably her landscapes, but she also has some amazing still life pieces as well. All in all you will learn a ton through reading this book about this artist and if you are like me, you will come out wanting to see and learn more!


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Alter Eco Truffles - organic, fair trade & non-GMO

About the Product
In dark chocolate and dark milk chocolate, these truffles are a bold and innovative addition to the popular Alter Eco organic, fair trade chocolate bars. Alter Eco has reinvented the colorful round twist-wrap truffles seen at every grocery store checkout counter. They’ve taken these much-loved favorites and made them with organic ingredients, adding pure lauric acid-rich coconut oil, instead of palm kernel oil, to their famous fair trade chocolate. Even the packaging is compostable.

These Swiss-made, organic, fair trade truffles will launch with two classic flavors: Black (Dark Chocolate) and Velvet (Dark Milk Chocolate), with a SRP of $7.99 (10-pack). They will be available at Whole Foods Markets beginning this month and are available for purchase online now at http://shop.alterecofoods.com/Chocolate-Truffles/c/AlterEco@Truffles – customers buying truffles on Alter Eco’s site can use the code TRUFFLE15 for a 15% discount (valid through December 31, 2013).

Beyond these new truffles, Alter Eco also has a delicious line of existing chocolate bars. Alter Eco chocolate is a delicious indulgence that makes an extraordinary journey. Plucked from organic trees in the Peruvian Amazon and Ecuadorian Coast, the cacao beans are fermented, dried and brought to Switzerland, where they are meticulously made into some of the world’s finest cocoa products. Alter Eco’s expert chocolatiers use unique flavor combinations, quality organic ingredients and an artisan’s touch to craft these award-winning bars:

• Alter Eco Dark Almond Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Toasty nut complements deep, dark chocolate for a dry and delicious treat
• Alter Eco Dark Blackout Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Deep fruity intensity, not recommended for those afraid of the dark
• Alter Eco Dark Velvet Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Melty smooth with a subtle flowery bouquet and honey finish
• Alter Eco Dark Cacao Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Bittersweet bite, with fruity, flowery nibs for an intense cacao explosion
• Alter Eco Dark Twist Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Vibrant and tangy, the perfect marriage of intense fruit and full-bodied chocolate
• Alter Eco Dark Mint Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Bold and brisk, punctuated by the crunch of organic peppermint crystals
• Alter Eco Dark Quinoa Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Light crispy crunch, an artisan update on a nostalgic childhood treat
• Alter Eco Dark Coconut Toffee Organic Chocolate (SRP: $3.99 / 2.82 oz bar): Crunchy and toasted, with a chewy bite and a smooth buttery finish
• Alter Eco Mini Dark Velvet Organic Chocolate (SRP: $1.69 / 0.71 oz bar): Melty smooth, with a subtle flowery bouquet and honey finish
• Alter Eco Mini Dark Noir Organic Chocolate (SRP: $1.69 / 0.71 oz bar): Smooth and rich, with a firm snap, strong bite, and a hint of licorice

My Take on the Product
These truffles give you an amazingly smooth chocolate experience. I was able to try one pack and I can tell you that they did not last long! My whole family thought they were perfect, but I will say, make sure that you keep them at room temperature for best flavor and consistency. All-in-all these were great and I am already looking locally for more of the varieties because they all look like they would taste great!


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Holiday Gift Guide - Sofia the First Magical Tea Party Game

About the Game
It’s time for tea with Princess Sofia! As the magical teapot blows on your tea, the color in your teacup changes! There are so many pretty treats for tea time. When the color in your teacup changes, you earn the treats on the plate of the matching color! Along the way, Sofia and the Good Fairies reward you for your proper tea time manners!

Promotes:

• Ideal first game for preschoolers
• Encourages imaginative play

Product Contents

• 1 Game Board
• 4 Place Settings
• 3 Fairy Headmistresses Plates
• 36 Treat Tiles
• 1 Puffer Teapot
• 4 Teacups
• 1 Game Rules Manual

My Take on the Game
My youngest daughter and I loved this game! She is a big fan of the Sofia the First series and also enjoys having tea parties with me whenever she can. With that in mind this game was a perfect fit and allows your child's creativity to engage while you have a lot of fun engaging and interacting together while perfecting not only a perfect cup of tea and proper manners and etiquette. Thus, your child gets to learn a lot and have fun at the same time which is something that I am always looking for in the toys that I purchase for my children. All-in-all this was a ton of fun, and for any fan of the series, or any princess to be, this is a ton of fun for them and for the whole family!


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Holiday Gift Guide - Shipwreck Beach Treasure Hunt Role Play Game

About the Game
Captain Hook has buried pirate booty all over Shipwreck Beach. Flip over the gold doubloons and use Jake’s spyglass to decode the secret clues. When you get a match, get up and go! Snag the correct treasure with the foam sword and hurry back to score! Great indoor active fun to take you through winter.

Disney Jake and the Never Land Pirates Shipwreck Beach Treasure Hunt Role Play Game:

• Designed for 2 or more players
• Encourages creative thinking
• Enhances matching and memory skills
• Develops physical dexterity
• Includes 5 treasures, 5 treasure bases, 12 doubloons, 1 treasure map storage bag, 1 foam sword, 1 spyglass, decoder, 1 sand timer and game rules manual

My Take on the Game
This is a game that is perfect for younger players that are either fans of the Jake and the Neverland Pirates series, or pirates in general. The game was easy to play and not too competitive. You get to have fun and use your memory to be able to find the treasure! My youngest daughter thought this game was a lot of fun and we actually plays a few games in a role (as gameplay was not too long). All-in-all this was a fun game for younger players that is great for engaging either kids in dual play or parent and child a fun time for all!


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Holiday Gift Guide - Justice League Axis of Villains

About the Game
The most dangerous villains in the universe have combined forces to attack the Justice League satellite. Play as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, or The Flash and team up to defeat them in the super-powered strategy game!

• Manufacturer's Suggested Age: 8 Years and Up
• Includes: Game Board, Figures, Cards, Game Pieces, Instructions, Dice
• Material: Cardstock
• Number of Players: 2-4 Players
• Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
• Languages: English
• Battery: no battery used

My Take on the Book
As a big fan of Super Heroes and comics in general, this game looked like it would be a ton of fun! I did not know how easy it would be as it was listed as a game of strategy and with my girls being 9 and 5 I did not know how well this would go with them. That being said I have to say that my eldest caught on right away and my youngest did after a little bit.

I really liked how this was a game where you could work in teams to defend the Justice League satellite. Too many games are completely competitive and while there still is competition in this, you can also work on your teamwork skills too!

There is a nice mix of Justice League super heroes that you know that are in this and you can choose who you play with which was fun as well. It was too bad that all of the Justice League was not a part of the game, but we had fun with the ones that were included. On top of the heroes you also get a nice mix of villains that will rear their heads in this.

All-in-all I have to say that this game was well thought out and put together. Not only did I love all of the super heroes, but also the teamwork that it encourages. To win, you have to work as a team to be strategic and ward off the attacks. You also need the different super heroes to defeat different villains so there is no favoritism given to one or another character on the board. I have to say that we had a blast with this game and I believe that you will too!


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DVD Review - Thomas & Friends: 3 Movie-Pack

About the DVD
Start your engines for the most-action packed movie night of the year! Thomas & Friends®: 3-Movie Pack, arriving on DVD October 15, 2013 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment, is filled with rip-roaring adventures, mysteries to be solved, heroic rescues and new discoveries. Available at an incredible value of $19.98, Thomas and his engine friends deliver a trio of feature-length movies the whole family will enjoy.

The 3-DVD Movie Pack includes:
Thomas & Friends: Blue Mountain Mystery – The Movie

When trouble strikes at Blue Mountain Quarry, Thomas is sent to help. There he discovers a little green engine hiding in the tunnels. Thomas is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery but discovering the truth is harder than he imagined! Will he be able to help his friend or will the little engine be sent away from Sodor forever? Find out in Thomas’ most mysterious adventure yet, a movie the whole family will love!

DVD Bonus Features

• Blue Mountain Hide & Peep Game
• Learn About Standard & Narrow Gauge Engines
• Blue Mountain Mystery Karaoke Music Video
• Working Together Karaoke Music Video

Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels – The Movie

See the Steamies and the Diesels face off in this action-packed movie adventure! There’s a fire on Sodor and two new firefighting engines – Flynn and Belle – arrive to help Thomas and Percy save the day! When Thomas starts spending all of his time with Sodor’s newest heroes, Percy is drawn to the Dieselworks, where he is made to feel special by the master of mischief himself, Diesel 10! But Percy doesn’t know that he is part of Diesel 10’s master plan to take over the Steamworks.

DVD Bonus Features

• Fiery Flynn to the Rescue Game
• Day of the Diesels Karaoke Music Video
• Hear the Engines Coming Karaoke Music Video
• Steamies & Diesels—Learn How They Work! Video

Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue – The Movie

The engines are hard at work to build a new Search and Rescue Center. When Thomas helps a friend in need, he is rewarded with an exciting trip to the mainland. Along the way, he gets lost at sea and finds himself on the mysterious Misty Island, where he meets new friends Bash, Dash and Ferdinand. Together they discover the secrets of Misty Island and help Thomas find his way home. Will Sir Topham Hatt's search party ever find Thomas? Find out in this action-packed movie adventure the whole family will enjoy!

DVD Bonus Features

• The Search for Thomas Game
• Misty Island Rescue Karaoke Music Video
• Sir Topham Hatt Karaoke Music Video

My Take on the DVD
For any fan of Thomas the Train & Friends, this is a great collection of movies that you will simply love. I was impressed with the quality of the animation in these movies and my kids enjoyed watching them (even though they are getting a bit older). On top of the movies themselves you also get some great bonus features in this that your kids will enjoy as well. My girls liked some of the music videos in this, and especially because they could sing along with them! This provides both great value and fun for the whole family and anyone that loves Thomas the Train will want this for their collection!


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DVD Review - My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: A Pony For Every Season

About the DVD
There’s a Pony for every season and an episode for every Pony in this fantastic collection of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. That’s right! Each member of the Mane 6 (Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie) gets her very own opportunity to shine with six episodes guaranteed to have you laughing and singing as you discover the magic of friendship!


My Take on the DVD
This is another great collection of My Little Pony episodes. As a father of two girls it is almost inevitable and cliche to say that my girls like this series, but they do! This DVD has six great episodes on it that will keep your kids engaged for hours. What I like about this series is the conversations that it spurs about friendship and family and what that means. You see this in many ways in these and other episodes from the series, and this for one is a great aspect in general of what it is teaching our kids. All-in all this is a great DVD for any fan, and I highly recommend all to watch!

The DVD itself contains 6 episodes that include the following:

1. Look Before You Sleep
2. Winter Wrap Up
3. Too Many Pinkie Pies
4. Wonderbolts Academy
5. Apple Family Reunion
6. Keep Calm and Flutter On

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Blu-ray Review - The Way Way Back

About the Book
Dive into this "smart, imaginative, first-rate comedy" (Karen Durbin, ELLE) featuring an all-star comedic cast, including Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, and Amanda Peet! While 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James) is being dragged on a family trip with his mom (Collette) and her overbearing boyfriend (Carell), he finds a gregarious friend (Rockwell) at a local water park. The two form a powerful bond as Duncan learns to swim through the challenges of life, love, family and friendship, resulting in a vacation he'll never forget.



My Take on the Book
One of the things that I loved about this movie were the characters. The actors (as well as writers did a great job at developing characters that have depth and that you can relate to. While the plot may be something that has been seen in other movies, it still will make you contemplate and internally ask questions that make the movie fun and worthwhile. The movie will tear at your emotions as well as draw you in as you come along on the journey that the characters are on. You may even find yourself coming of age along with the characters in the story itself!



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Book Review - Cool Stuff Your Parents Never Told You About Parenting

About the Book
Cool Stuff Your Parents Never Told You About Parenting is written by an early childhood education expert who is a mother, a kindergarten teacher trainer, an early childhood educator and a kindergarten curriculum developer. It provides parents with in-depth understanding on how and why children learn, think and behave so differently form us, so that parents can help their children develop the necessary skills required for meeting the demands of the 21st century. This book has a unique combination of research findings, underlying principles, step-by-step guide and practical suggestions to some contemporary issues such as how parents can enhance their children's intelligence from infancy, selecting good quality early childhood education programs, promoting creativity and character development and dealing with over exposure to the screen culture. Specifically designed for parents, teachers, childcare workers, nannies, grandparents, parents-to-be and all those who are passionate about young children aged from zero to eight years, this book will help them understand the true nature of young children and work with them effectively.

About the Author
Foong Kwin (MEd) is an early childhood education expert who has spent the past 14 years teaching and learning about early childhood education in four different countries. She is an enthusiastic advocate for play and child-centered curriculum as a means for the holistic development of children and is passionate about sharing her knowledge, expertise and experience to help others develop good parenting skills needed to bring out the best in children. www.foongkwin.com



My Take on the Book
This was a great book filled with practical tips and ideas that any parent will appreciate. You can tell that the author is trying to provide these to pull skids and parents together to develop healthy, strong relationships, which is always an important step. I found myself even going back to read some of the sections for a second time after finishing the book. All-in-all this is a great book for any parent to read!


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Book Review - What Color is the Wind?

About the Book
Based on over 40 years of work (and play!) with many thousands of children in the out-of-doors, this book is Ed's inspired collection of wonder, exploration and discovery. A 'feel' guide for parents with young children, What Color Is The Wind? provides simple, backyard activities for four seasons, and along the way, opportunities for parents and children to connect with each other and with the earth.



My Take on the Book
This is a great guide for any parent looking to work on getting their child outside. It is filled with great ideas and resources at engaging children in outdoor activities. What was great was that the book is set up for usability. You can easily take notes or jot down your experiences with the different things within the book itself. I also found that the book is set to be able to give you ideas that can work at almost any time of year. Thus, whether it is summer or winter there are a ton of activities that can easily engage you and your child in fun outdoor activities!

This is the type of book that will provide hours and hours of fun for you and your child, and I for one am having a blast trying all of the things out with my own daughters and believe that you will too!


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Book Review - AlphaBlock

About the Book
A beautifully unique way to experience the ABCs . . .a book that reads like a guessing game with pages shaped as each letterform

With thick pages cut into the shape of each letter, this peek-through guessing game will delight children and parents alike! As children interact with the pages in ALPHABLOCK they will familiarize themselves not only with the 26 letters of the alphabet and associated words, but also with each letter’s physicality—angles, holes, and curves, both front and back. Each die-cut letter in ALPHABLOCK is presented within a two-page-spread that provides visual clues to the word that begins with that letter, inviting guesses before turning the page to reveal the answer. Using fun familiar clues like sprinkles, hot fudge, and cherries to hint at I’s ice cream, aquarium accessories to hint at F’s fish, and flour, sugar and chocolate chips to hint at C’s cookie, this fresh, high-concept ABC book encourages readers to manipulate the alphabet in a whole new way.

My Take on the Book
This was a beautifully done book that makes learning your letters so much fun. Each page is wonderfully crafted and you get to see beautiful images and cut outs as you see above for all of the letters. The book is also well constructed and large, making it good for small hands. If you child is just learning their letters, this is a great book that will make you and them smile! I highly recommend to all!


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