Month: April 2017

April 7, 2017

Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: It’s Ladybug!

The most Miraculous adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir continue in It’s Ladybug! Paris’ favorite crime-fighting duo return in a new volume of the action-adventure comedy that will have you on the edge of your seat.

About Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: It’s Ladybug!

The action-packed CGI animated TV series Miraculous™: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir: It’s Ladybug! will be available on DVD April 11, 2017, from Shout! Kids, in collaboration with ZAG. This release includes six amazing episodes on DVD and a Ladybug paper doll, while supplies last.

When Paris is threatened by super villains, two amazing heroes are our only hope: Ladybug and Cat Noir. With the help of their magical kwamis, this incredible duo team up to outwit the forces of evil but their biggest challenge might be getting through school. In their normal lives, Marinette and Adrien are just a pair of young students, but in reality, this terrific twosome must juggle schoolwork, friends, family and growing up in a world where every day is a high-flying adventure!

Episodes included in this DVD are:

Princess Fragrance
Gamer
Reflekta
The Puppeteer
Antibug
Volpina

We are huge Ladybug and Cat Noir fans in our house! We love their sense of adventure and humour, all while providing children with a strong, intelligent female superhero. The graphics are amazing and geared to the appropriate age group. We loved that these two are normal kids with school work, pressures from school, friends and family but also lead this exciting second life as superheroes. You can find a review of the Canadian release of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir here and Be Miraculous here.

The Giveaway!

My Canadian and American readers can now enter to win their own DVD copy of It’s Ladybug! from Shout!Kids and Working Mommy Journal via the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

April 4, 2017

Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love

Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love is an emotional toolbox that can help kids and parents communicate about what it means for Mama to have cancer.

About Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love

Once upon a time . . . It’s how all heroes begin their story, and you’re a hero, too! Your mama has cancer, and it’s a scary journey, but you can help your mama just by being you—special, wonderful, YOU. Your mama loves you just the way you are. You are your mama’s knight.

Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love is an emotional toolbox that can help kids and parents communicate about what it means for Mama to have cancer. The book is filled with tools and activities designed to make coping with illness easier on both parent and child, and can be personalized for each child.

My Thoughts

Mama’s Knight is a truly beautiful story for Mom and child that brought tears to my eyes. The book showcases Mom’s battle with cancer in an easy way for children to understand but still hits on the most important parts: that Mom may be tired, Mom may not be able to play and sometimes Mom may not like the same types of foods. The book starts out with a background about the child (that you would personalize for your own child) and then dives into the symptoms Mom may be having and how cancer affects her body and her treatment plan.

What I love the most is that the book gives activities to play when Mom is having a bad day, coupons for special days with just Mom and links to activities, like making a cape for your special super hero. The book has the ability to be personalized (which all kids love!) and even better there are parts where Mom can make notes and even insert photos of Mom and child. I loved the section about talking about feelings, as children can find it hard to express their feelings and this is a great starting point for them. She gives children the starting line (for example: “Today I am as angry as a goose”) and this allows Mom and child to explore these feelings and help address them and work through them.

Mama’s Knight is a beautifully crafted tool for Moms and their children as they battle through cancer. It is a special, personalized journey for parents and children to explore their feelings, their symptoms and keeping communication open and fun. Mama’s Knight is a truly special book that is the perfect guide for parents as they begin their journey battling cancer or even those who are in the midst of their battle.

You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired girl in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Today, she has completed Bloodmark, Bloodrealms, and Bloodmoon of the Bloodmark Saga trilogy and started her journey into children’s books with Mama’s Knight in honor of her own mother who lost her battle with cancer. She’s a national award-winning graphic designer and birth doula in her day jobs. Aurora lives with her family in Minnesota.

Connect with Aurora on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway

Win a signed copy of Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love (USA only – 5 winners total)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

April 3, 2017

Red-Tailed Hawk Book Review

Red-Tailed Hawk is a coming of age story, the tale of a young woman’s quest to discover the source of her own longing and to understand the mystical legacy of her family.

About Red-Tailed Hawk

When Mariah Easter encounters a large hawk in her urban midtown neighborhood, her father Charlie is concerned. He can see a wild and mystical path opening before his daughter, a path he himself would never be able to resist. The hawk soon reappears: engraved with its twin on a golden thimble that has been an Easter family heirloom for generations. After the thimble is stolen at a funeral reception, Mariah and her mother Samantha set off on a road trip to find it, a journey that will bring healing to the grieving family and change Mariah’s life forever.

Red-tailed Hawk is a coming of age story, the tale of a young woman’s quest to discover the source of her own longing and to understand the mystical legacy of her family.

My Thoughts

A beautiful coming of age story – Mariah finds herself facing tragedy and out of this comes an exciting journey to understand herself, her family and her Father.

The journey Mariah and her family find themselves on, all starts with the theft of a family heirloom – a thimble. The thimble contains the image of a red-tailed hawk and the connection Mariah has with the red-tailed hawk is very important and magical at times. She is connected on this journey to the hawks and they help guide her several times throughout the novel. She meets several guides along her journey and she learns how to prepare for her journey and how to trade to find goods that will help her along her way.

What I really enjoyed was that we had this central journey with Mariah but on the way her Mother and brother explore and grow with her in their own lives. Her brother finds hope and friendship (and possibly love?) with a new woman who also has a diagnosis of autism. She teaches him so much about living in the moment. Her Mother explores her relationship, her past and her future with her Daughter.

Red-Tailed Hawk is a special and magical journey that is a pleasure to be a part of. You laugh, you want to cry and you want to reach out and help each one of them but know that this is their journey. On our journey to understand our purpose we must accomplish this alone, you feel pride in Mariah for finding out her purpose and going forward on her own to understand her journey.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Nancy Schoellkopf is the author of Yellow-billed Magpie, the first in her Easter Family series. Nancy has been telling stories and writing poems for many lifetimes. It goes without saying that she’d need a second income, so this time around she has happily taught amazing children in special education classes in two urban school districts in Sacramento, California. A full time writer now, she enjoys lavishing attention on her cats, her garden, and her intriguing circle of family and friends.

Connect with Nancy on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

April 3, 2017

Energy Trading and Risk Management Spotlight

In Energy Trading and Risk Management, we look at a comprehensive overview of trading and risk management in the energy markets.

About Energy Trading and Risk Management

Energy Trading and Risk Management provides a comprehensive overview of global energy markets from one of the foremost authorities on energy derivatives and quantitative finance. With an approachable writing style, Iris Mack breaks down the three primary applications for energy derivatives markets – Risk Management, Speculation, and Investment Portfolio Diversification – in a way that hedge fund traders, consultants, and energy market participants can apply in their day to day trading activities

Moving from the fundamentals of energy markets through simple and complex derivatives trading, hedging strategies, and industry-specific case studies, Dr. Mack walks readers through energy trading and risk management concepts at an instructive pace, supporting her explanations with real-world examples, illustrations, charts, and precise definitions of important and often-misunderstood terms.
From stochastic pricing models for exotic derivatives, to modern portfolio theory (MPT), energy portfolio management (EPM), to case studies dealing specifically with risk management challenges unique to wind and hydro-electric power, the bookguides readers through the complex world of energy trading and risk management to help investors, executives, and energy professionals ensure profitability and optimal risk mitigation in every market climate.

Energy Trading and Risk Management is a great resource to help grapple with the very interesting but oftentimes complex issues that arise in energy trading and risk management.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

About the Author

Iris Marie Mack, PhD, EMBA, earned a doctorate in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. She was also awarded a Sloan Fellowship Executive MBA from the London Business School. Dr. Mack worked at various energy and financial institutions, acted as a faculty member at MIT, and worked at NASA and AT&T Bell Labs – where she obtained a patent for research on optical fibers.

Dr. Mack currently lectures on Energy Trading and Risk Management for the Fitch Learning Certificate in Quantitative Finance Program on Wall Street and at Tulane University. Because of Dr. Mack’s extensive knowledge of the derivatives, energy trading, and investment banking world, she has been invited to write opinion columns for the UK edition of the International Business Times.

Dr. Mack has also been named one of Glamour Magazine’s Top 10 Working Women, and she is no novice writer. This publishing will be her third financially-focused and published book – including her energy trading book published with Wiley Finance and a financial literacy book for teens and adults. With this breadth of experience and sheer intellectual prowess, Dr. Mack is more than able to help readers reach the financial stability they deserve.

In addition, Dr. Mack founded The Global Energy Post and MathQED – a homework help site for K-12 and college students. Previously known as Phat Math, this service has even been named one of the Top 50 Social Sites for Educators and Academics, 25 Savvy Social Media Sites for Grad Students and 25 Useful Networking Sites for Grad Students. Such accolades illustrate Dr. Mack’s ability to clearly inform the masses.

You can connect with Dr. Mack on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.