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Cave Kiddos: A Sunny Day ~ Book Review

Posted by Professor on March 19, 2016
in Books, Uncategorized

Cave Kiddos is a fun book about four Paleolithic children who share the experience of developing and learning important words and concepts. Join Alk, Haha, Lala, and Zee as they discover the world around them.

Our Review: This book is geared toward the preschool age set. However, the book is very cute and my older children enjoyed reading it to the younger ones! THe characters are very cute and likable. The idea I liked best within the book is that the cave children sound out words … and this makes the book interactive … letting the readers sound out the words too! This is a great way to engage children while learning to read!

This book can be found on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Cave-Kiddos-Eric-Jay-Cash/dp/152324450X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458312768&sr=8-1&keywords=cave+kiddos

About the Author:

Eric Jay Cash became facinated with speech and developmental learning when he worked with his children who are both delayed speakers. He lives in a cave on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and two cave kiddos.

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The History Major ~ Book Review

Posted by Professor on January 19, 2016
in Books, Uncategorized

About the Book:

After a vicious fight with her boyfriend followed by a night of heavy partying, college freshman Amanda Greene wakes up in her dorm room to find things are not the same as they were yesterday. She can’t quite put her finger on it. She’s sharing her room with a peculiar stranger. Amanda discovers she’s registered for classes she would never choose with people that are oddly familiar. An ominous shadow is stalking her. Uncomfortable memories are bubbling dangerously close to her fracturing world, propelling her to an inevitable collision between fantasy and reality. Is this the mother of all hangovers or is something bigger happening?

Our Review:

What an awesome read! We are never disappointed when reading a Michael Phillips Cash book! This one is a wonderful read! I love that this book is full of suspense and flirts with danger! The characters and setting are real, which makes the book come alive! Again, I cannot advocate this author enough… you must pick up this book to add to your library! If this is the first book by Michael Phillips Cash you are reading …don’t stop there… pick another from his repitoire and delve into worlds that you might not have known existed! You will not be disappointed!

About the Author:

Michael Phillip Cash is an award winning and best selling author of horror, paranormal, and science fiction novels. Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island, The Hanging Tree, and Schism: The Battle for Darracia have all been named to Foreward Reviews Book of the Year Awards. Cash currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.

This book and all of the authors books can be found on Amazon.com.

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Kregel Book Tour ~ Bible Stories Gone Crazy

Posted by Professor on September 14, 2015
in Books, Uncategorized

About the Book:

Created by Josh Edwards & Emiliano Migliardo
Eight Bible stories are depicted in bright color and comic, cartoony illustrations. There is a sentence or two explaining the scene at the top, and then details to spot, mistakes to find, and questions to answer along the sides of the picture, such as, “Did Noah’s workmen REALLY have power tools?” and “How many rabbits are in the picture?” Children will love scouring the illustrations to find the answers and spot more amusing details in the busy artwork of Emiliano Migliardo.

The stories are Noah and His Great Ark, Moses Crossing the Red Sea, Joshua and the Fall of Jericho, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions, Jonah and the Big Fish, Feeding the 5,000, and Man Through the Roof.– See more at: http://www.kregel.com/childrens-activities/bible-stories-gone-crazy/#sthash.4UqMY8i4.dpuf

Our Review:

This was simply a delightful book!

The cartoony stories were a hit with my family. My children saw this book come in the mail and immediately picked it up and began to read! I was impressed … usually I have to show them the book and ask them to peruse it first … this time they were chomping at the bit to read it before I even asked! Enough said! We loved the fact that the pages are sturdy and of lamitate quality which means that the book will last and last! We also loved that it has an “look and find” aspect to the book… it makes the children search for items in the story while learning. The text also asks open ended questions that make for great family discussion on the stories! This book is a WIN WIN!

Fin this book and more at our friends at KREGEL Publications!

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Silly McGilly

Posted by 278Wife on February 28, 2015
in Books, Fun Stuff, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews, Uncategorized

Are you Irish? I’m a little bit of Irish, but our family is always Irish during St. Patrick’s Day! We like to celebrate the holiday by hanging up shamrocks, sticking leprechaun window clings on the bedroom windows, and eating corned beef and cabbage. We don’t do too much, but would love to add more fun to the month of March. I cannot wait to share Silly McGilly with my family this St. Patrick’s Day season.

Silly McGilly is a fun Leprechaun who likes to play silly tricks on children during the St. Patrick’s Day season. Read the Silly McGilly book to your children and place the doll by a window each evening you want Silly to play a trick. At night Silly will do some shenanigans in the house. Some tricks can be leaving shamrock stickers around the house, turning the toilet water green, dying milk green, and anything else you can think of. Then in the morning the kids get to wake up and see what crazy tricks their leprechaun played.

The book is absolutely adorable, very relatable, and easy to understand for little ones. The pictures are very colorful and the story is fun to read.

The Silly McGilly doll is very cute and great for kids. The plush is soft and easily sits on a window. This would be a great tradition to begin in any family or classroom. The Silly McGilly website offers some really great ideas for tricks that can be played. I cannot wait for March 1, when I can introduce Silly McGilly to my family!

http://www.sillymcgilly.com/home.html

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Wilhelmina’s Butterflies ~ Book Review

Posted by Professor on February 12, 2015
in Books, Uncategorized

Wilhelmina is 8 years old and loves classical music. She has a difficult time explaining why to her family, friends, teachers, and classmates. When she has the opportunity to attend her first concert at Symphony Hall, something might stand in her way. Will she be able to share her love of classical music with others, or will the mysterious “butterflies” ruin the day? Become immersed in Wilhelmina’s thoughts and feelings as she experiences the musical ambiance at the great Symphony Hall.

OUR REVIEW :

As a music loving family this book was welcomed in our house! It was loved by adults and children alike! We loved that the book was able to show my children how excited other people get when listening to music just as they do! My children expressed that they felt just as Wilhelmina felt in the book. I loved that in the back of the book there is a glossary of musical terms… my children and I reviewed these before and after reading the book…it was very instrumental in facilitating a discussion about the book and music! In the rear of the book after the story there is also list of some classical music that Wilhelmina listened to at Symphony Hall. This was so great to see … it gave names to the music … it also let me look up the music and play it for my children. My children loved listening to the music and again it facilitated a great discussion on classical music and even prompted my children to do a bit of research on the compsers… that was so wonderful for this musical mama to see!

Overall this was an EXCELLENT book…WE LOVED IT!

The book can be found on Amazon.com

About the Author

Clarice Thornton Davis holds degrees from Florida Atlantic and Walden Universities. She has always had a passion for literature and music. Her career as an educator inspired her to become a writer for children. A Florida native, the author and her husband live in West Palm Beach.

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Christmas at Rose Hill Farm

Posted by html404 on November 15, 2014
in Books, Gift Ideas, Products for Mom, Reviews, Shopping, Uncategorized

Christmas at Rose Hill Farm

Christmas at Rose Hill Farm is more of a back story of some of the older characters from Suzanne Woods Fisher’s other books, The Search and The Stoney Ridge series. You can read my reviews of book one, two and three at the corresponding links.

I thought this book was a sweet love story, but with a twist. It was fairly easy to guess who the character George was from his responses, though I do not remember him from The Search by Suzanne Woods Fisher!

I LOVED learning more about the history of roses. Thanks to my husband, roses are my favorite flower. I had a rose bush at our townhouse and had been told how hard they were to grow, but that particular one flourished. I was sad to leave it. I tried bringing slips here to our new home but they did not survive. Sniff. Sniff.

The idea of waiting for the rose to open before revealing its identity added intrigue to the story for me. I really wanted to know what type of rose they had on their hands!

This book was really all about relationships, dealing with past misunderstandings, and as usual, I really enjoyed reading Suzanne’s book. I found that it was sad, funny and very interesting, as I loved learning more about roses. I honestly do not have any negative thing to say. If you have a loved one who loves to read, this would be a wonderful Christmas book to gift them!

You can join bestselling, award-winning author Suzanne Woods Fisher for an Amish Christmas to remember at any major book store near you that stocks Revell Books.

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A Promise to Protect by Patricia Bradley

Posted by html404 on October 27, 2014
in Books, Gift Ideas, Reviews, Uncategorized

A Promise to Protect by Patricia Bradley is the second book in the Logan Point series. You can read my review of the first book, Shadows of the Past here. These are Romantic Suspense novels from a Christian point of view.

Leigh Somerall is one of the main characters and her years of deceit kept me rooting for her to come out with the truth. Sheriff Ben Logan was the “hero” of the story, though, certain characters seemed bent on keeping him from remaining Sheriff of Logan Point. I loved the small town of Logan Point and how the town worked together and looked out for each other, with the exception of a few oddball characters.

I liked relationship Leigh developed with the Logan family. I despised the senseless acts of violence by the villains.

I could not relate to Leigh’s deceitfulness but I could relate to Ben’s effort to forgive himself and others. It was good to see these two characters work through their issues and come to a happy place in their lives.

I know I read so many of these books in the course of a year that I feel very repetitious! They are my mindless candy reads, I don’t have to think other than who the suspect, villain or murderer is, so these books are more for my entertainment than anything else. I get my intellectual reads elsewhere and I do not generally blog about them because it takes me much longer to get through those kinds of books!

While the romance aspect is generally predictable, the suspenseful plot did keep me guessing with its twists and turns. I was kept wanting to read to find out the who, what, when and where part of the mystery.

Overall, I liked the book, though I have not decided if it would be one I would read again.

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Deceived by Irene Hannon

Posted by html404 on October 6, 2014
in Books, Gift Ideas, Products for Mom, Reviews, Uncategorized

Deceived by Irene Hannon

Deceived is another romantic suspense novel written by Irene Hannon. I have read several other books written by Irene. This particular novel is a heart wrenching. Every parent’s worse nightmare, actually.

Have you seen MTV’s new TV series “Finding Carter”? If you have and liked the basis of it (minus the teen-agey stuff), then you will like Deceived, even with its Christian overtures. I do not usually watch MTV and thought it was mostly music videos but when I found this series I was intrigued.

The romantic side is a little sappy but the story of Kate’s first love was endearingly sad. I felt her grief over the loss of her husband and her son. I was pulled in by Kate spotting a child who looked strikingly familiar to her own son, in a chance encounter on a mall escalator of all things!

I did not want to put this book down. I wanted to read it and follow Kate as she followed her instincts. I enjoyed the twists and turns, as well as the grand conclusion. I would have liked to have seen more of a development between Kate and the child she thought she saw. But overall, I was not disappointed in Deceived. I am rather sad the Private Justice series has come to an end, but am excited to see Irene has a new series coming out in 2015 called Men of Valor Buried Secrets.

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The Desire by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley

Posted by html404 on September 15, 2014
in Books, Gift Ideas, Reviews, Uncategorized

The Desire by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley is the third book in The Restoration Series. It is about a young couple who has deals with infertility. This is a Christian fiction novel. The book also deals with crisis pregnancy, single motherhood, showing compassion and generosity as believers. It is a nice story.

I was naughty and did not write my thoughts down right after I read the book a month ago, which is when it is freshest for me. So I am relying on my daughter’s thoughts since she just read the book over the weekend.

My 15-year-old daughter, B, says the book made her really think about the issue of humility and trusting God, which were spiritual themes in the book. She said both of these issues are areas she needs to work on personally.

B said she really liked the characters. She thought they were very well fleshed out and developed. She said she was proud of Christina (single woman facing a crisis pregnancy) for not choosing to have an abortion. She loved Michele’s development both as a wife and daughter of Christ. B said Michele’s parents, Marilyn and Jim were amazing people, as were the rest of her family. I have to agree. They portrayed what a Christian family should be like. B thought the contrast between the beginning and end chapters were beautiful.

B also loved going to Africa with Allan and Ray. B has always wanted to go to Africa since reading missionary stories and having a close personal friend serving as a missionary in Zambia. All in all, she really enjoyed The Desire.

We both really want to read the first two books of the series and we cannot wait for the sequel to this one to find out more about Christina’s journey and that of Michele’s brother, Doug. I missed the fact there was a children’s lesson book, but B said she wants to read that as well.

I think this book has lessons in it, not just women or couples struggling with infertility, but lessons for everyone.

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Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason

Posted by html404 on September 9, 2014
in Books, Domestic Violence, Reviews, Safety, Uncategorized

Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason is the second book in the Hidden Identity series. You can read my review to book one, No One to Trust, here. This book series is Christian fiction/Romantic Suspense.

I really liked this book. Once again, I was kept guessing and was rather surprised when one of the characters in the book turned out to be someone completely different. Even my 14-year-old mentioned she was not expecting that twist after she finished the book.

This book review fell due at an interesting time with the Ray Rice and Janay Palmer fiasco came to a head this week. Nowhere to Turn deals with the sensitive and hard (how’s that for a contradictory sentence?) subject of domestic violence and abuse of women and children. The main character, Danielle Harding, of this book leaves her abusive husband and discovers there is nowhere to turn. She enlists Operation Refuge to help her escape the vicious cycle of abuse and violence against her and her 11-year-old-son. They literally run for their lives.

I liked the suspense of the book. It was fast paced. My 14-year-old loved the characters because they were all so different. This is what else she said, “At every turn in the book, I felt like I was with Dani and Simon. I loved learning about the other characters, about their fears and the things that made them go – their drive. I did not like Dani’s husband, Kurt, or his brother Stuart. Stuart was creepy and obsessive with Dani. I loved the ending. The nice characters deserved happiness.” I quite agree with her!

Two thumbs up from us!

Help for Domestic Violence Victims

If you or someone you love is suffering from domestic violence, please get the help you need. Dr. Phil’s wife has a foundation that can help, visit https://www.whengeorgiasmiled.org/#home for more information. Other resources include: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Operation Refuge is a real organization and offers assistance or HelpGuide.org. Do not stay for the wrong reasons (#WhyIStayed) and carefully plan your escape.

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