Month: July 2017

July 21, 2017

Bring Creativity and Imagination to Life with Stikbots

Kids love to create and design, build new worlds and create new stories. As children, we would spend hours making up plays, dressing up in costumes, using dolls for puppets and forcing our parents to watch all of our performances.

Technology has changed a lot in the last fifteen years but the desire to create and design has not changed. Children now not only have the power to create unique, exciting and adventurous stories but they can bring them to life and keep these memories with Stikbots.

Stikbots are bendable figures that children can easily move and pose into whichever position they want. Each figure also has suction cups on their hands and feet to help hold them into place once your child has planned out their scene. Stikbots began with a simple figure (that comes in roughly fifteen different colours) and has expanded into the animal kingdom with dogs, cats, monkeys and even a panda! The array of figures that your child can use really helps them to bring their story to life, we have a huge animal fan in our home and he loves watching animal documentaries so for him being able to recreate animal videos is huge!

To help your child bring their story to life, Stikbots also has the Stikbot Studio Pro Animation Set. This set includes two Stikbots, a stage (that comes in blue and green colours that is easily interchanged), tripod and two prop boxes. When you use the green stage, you can easily add in animated backgrounds (think space, disco and more) while using the Stikbot App.

We loved the Stikbots and how easy they were to use and create images and videos. We downloaded the app first so that we could fully take advantage of the green stage features. The app was easy to download and even easier to use. The figures themselves are very easy to manipulate into different positions and the suction cups worked perfectly to hold them into place on the stage and props. Our youngest (6) had no problem figuring out how to place the figures and use the props to make them appear to float or jump in the air. Once they placed their Stikbots and chose their background in the app, they had the option to either take a picture or video of their creation. After they had taken the photo or video, they could edit the image by cropping, adding wording, images and more through the app.

The Giveaway!

My Canadian and American readers can now enter to win their Stikbots prize pack! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

July 21, 2017

My Daughter’s Legacy Book Review

A thrilling tale of two women longing to follow God’s leading, make the most of second chances, and find true love at last.

About My Daughter’s Legacy

A thrilling tale of two women longing to follow God’s leading, make the most of second chances, and find true love at last.

Virginia, 1864

Therese Jennings cannot abide the thought of owning slaves. When her widowed mother inherits a plantation, Therese flees to Civil War Richmond, where she works as a governess by day and tends to wounded soldiers at night. But when trouble befalls her family, can she reconcile her obligations with her beliefs? And will love-whether with an old beau or a handsome new suitor-ever fit in her broken world?

Virginia, Present Day

Nicole Talbot’s life is back on track after years of substance abuse. Home from college for the summer, she’s finally ready to share a shocking secret, one that raises new questions about a traumatic childhood experience. But when facts she uncovers cast doubt on her family’s legacy, she must risk all that she’s gained-her fresh start, her family’s trust, and her growing relationship with a new man-to unlock the secrets of the past.

My Thoughts

An incredible story of two women born years apart who face similar struggles and are tied together not only by family but by the mysterious disappearance of an important family artifact.

I fell in love with both of our main characters, Therese and Nicole. Therese is a young woman growing up in the South during the Civil War. She loves her home and her family but her personal values and beliefs are against everything that the South stands for. She struggles with the fact that her family owns slaves and their disregard for her feelings. We watch as throughout the novel, she grows from a quieter young woman who listens to the wishes of her Mother and her deceased Father, to a young woman who knows herself and has the confidence to walk away from her Mother and her plantation in order to stand up for her beliefs. I really liked her character the most – she was strong, independent, confident in her beliefs and courageous to stand up for them.

Nicole is a young woman who was traumatized by an incident that she viewed as young girl. It is something that hurt her so deeply, she became an addict. She had to work hard to overcome her addictions and regain the trust of her family and friends again. My heart would go out to her when she constantly faced doubt from those around her or when her past would be brought up. She had to fight hard to push past her history.

I loved how the authors intertwined the stories of the two young woman as they struggled with their own fears, breaking free of the chains that tied them down and finding hope and love again. Both young women must fight to have those who love them believe in them, trust their decisions and in the end solve a mystery that plagued both young women. My Daughter’s Legacy is a beautiful story that is well written and planned out – I would love to see a second installment for this book!

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Authors

Mindy Starns Clark is the bestselling author of more than 20 books, both fiction and nonfiction, with over a million copies sold. Mindy and her husband, John, have two adult children and live in Pennsylvania.

Leslie Gould, a former magazine editor, is the author of numerous novels, including “Beyond the Blue” and “Garden of Dreams.” She received her master of fine arts degree from Portland State University and lives in Oregon with her husband, Peter, and their four children.

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

July 15, 2017

Appointment with Yesterday Book Review

Appointment with Yesterday is, ultimately, the story of hardships overcome and a determined boy’s journey toward finding his destiny.

About Appointment with Yesterday

A poignant and compelling first novel, Appointment with Yesterday tells the story of Yanni, a cheeky and delightful Greek boy growing up in a small town on an island in the eastern Aegean.

Left in the care of his loving grandparents, Yanni endures the deprivation and terror of the German occupation during World War II and finally leaves his beloved homeland and family to rejoin the parents who had left him behind to make a better life for themselves in America.

Filled with heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of love, devotion, disenchantment, and dashed dreams, Appointment with Yesterday is, ultimately, the story of hardships overcome and a determined boy’s journey toward finding his destiny.

My Thoughts

Appointment with Yesterday is a beautiful story that follows the life of Yanni from his youth growing up in Greece to his teenage and adult years in America.

His story is one that I am sure so many older adults and their children can relate to. His parents left him in the care of his grandparents just before the war erupted in Europe. They left him in order to find their way in America and make money. A struggle that so many people found themselves in, leaving their old country to come to the new country to make their fortune. What they find instead is a bit shocking, it is not the life that they expected and they struggled with this new life and leaving their son.

When it is time for Yanni to join his family, he faces his own struggles – he is leaving everything he has ever known in his young life to be with parents he does not know in a culture that is so very unlike his own. We watch him struggle to get used to the culture, the people and their way of life. Throughout the story you feel so connected with Yanni and his journey. You want him to succeed but at the same time to never lose his roots and where he came from.

I fell in love with this special book and have re-read it several times already. I cried (and I was reading this book at the soccer field when this happened!), I laughed and my heart went out to Yanni and his family. You feel as though you are a part of him and his family. You are with him as he struggles and you can fully appreciate every step, every happy moment and every moment of pain.

Appointment with Yesterday is a beautiful story of a young man who comes into his own in a new country and in a new way of life. It is full of hope, perseverance, strength and faith. It is a definite must read for young adults and adults alike.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository and Books a Million.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Christopher Stratakis was born and raised in Greece. After moving to America, he graduated from Drexel University in 1951 and New York University School of Law in 1955. Shortly after joining the law firm of Poles, Tublin & Patestides in 1960, he became a partner, specializing in admiralty and corporate law.

He has written and published several articles, lectured on professional and historical subjects, served as Legal Advisor to several non-profits (pro bono), and was an arbitrator in maritime disputes. He is the author of Mnimes “Memories” (2010), a book of essays, short stories, and poems that he wrote as a teenager. In 2015, he co-edited Chains on Parallel Roads, a book published by Panchiaki “Korais” Society of New York. In recognition of his extensive community involvement, he has been the recipient of several awards from religious, governmental, and educational institutions.

Mr. Stratakis lives with his wife in New York City. He is the proud father of three and grandfather of three. This is his first novel.

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.

July 14, 2017

DK Readers: Our Great Prime Ministers

Celebrate our Canadian history with discovering more about our government, how it works and our Prime Ministers.

About Our Great Prime Ministers

What is a democracy? How does Canada’s government work? What’s the difference between the Senate and the House of Commons? And just what does a Prime Minister do, anyway?

Discover the answers to these questions and more in DK Readers Our Great Prime Ministers.

This Level 4 DK Reader will build reading skills and teach vocabulary while telling the story of Canada’s government, how it is formed, how it works, and profiling 12 of Canada’s Prime Ministers throughout history, including Sir John A. Macdonald, Louis St. Laurent, Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Stephen Harper, and more.

Perfect for 9-11 year olds reading independently, reading becomes a fact-discovering adventure with these Level 4 readers. Supporting and encouraging a lifetime love of reading, nonfiction subjects are clearly explained, described vividly, and brought to life with true stories, fascinating statistics, and photographic images. Additional information boxes are full of extra fun facts, and topics are developed with additional maps and charts.

My Thoughts

The DK Reader Our Great Prime Minister, which is a level four, is the perfect book for summer time learning (and learning throughout the year) especially in the context of celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday. In school, we learn the basics about our government but there is only so much that teachers can teach in the amount of time they are given.

This book gives both children (and adults – I needed the lessons again!) an excellent overview of the history of democracy in Canada, the divisions of our government and how these work and how it is formed (from campaigning to election day). The book also contains a history of some of the most notable Prime Ministers in our history. It gives an overview of their time in office and some of their key milestones, whether they be positive or negative.

The book is very easy to read out loud for beginner readers and well written for more advanced readers. The font, size and page breaks with photos is well-balanced for readers who are advancing towards novels. I really enjoyed learning the history (some of it I had forgotten) and we would spend some time after each chapter quizzing each other. While a smaller book, it is jammed backed full of important information and facts for children and adults. It makes a great accompanying book for the education that children receive at school.

You can purchase a copy of this book on DK Canada here.

Rating: 5/5

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

July 14, 2017

Grounded Hearts Book Review

A brave midwife. A wounded pilot. A risky secret.

About Grounded Hearts

A brave midwife. A wounded pilot. A risky secret.

In the midst of World War II, Ireland has declared herself neutral. Troops found on Irish soil must be reported and interned, no matter which side they are fighting for. When midwife Nan O’Neil finds a wounded young Canadian pilot at her door, she knows she’s taking a huge risk by letting him in. Not only is she a widow living alone, but if caught harboring a combatant, she’ll face imprisonment.

Still, something compels Nan to take in “flyboy” Dutch Whitney, an RAF pilot whose bomber has just crashed over County Clare. While she tends to his wounds and gives him a secret place of refuge, the two begin to form a mutual affection-and an unbreakable bond. But Nan has another secret, one that has racked her with guilt since her husband’s death and made her question ever loving again. As Nan and Dutch plan his escape, can he help restore her faith?

My Thoughts

I fell in love with Grounded Hearts! In this novel, we have a strong female lead who lives on her own after the death of her husband. In the midst of the war, a soldier comes to her door. Against the rules, she takes the Canadian soldier in and nurses him. She does so even when she could face huge consequences. She knows in her heart, that caring for this young man is what God would want her to do. It is under these circumstances, the pair develops a strong friendship and mutual respect.

Some of my favourite aspects of this novel is that it is based during World War II and in Ireland – we learn a lot about life in Ireland during this time. I didn’t realize they had internment camps for soldiers during the war and this was eye opening for me. I LOVED the strong female characters that are found throughout this book. We have a female physician, midwife and a mechanic – all of whom are more than capable of taking care of themselves, business and more. This was probably a lot more common then most novels give women credit for during this time period, so it was really nice to see this focus in this novel.

Nan is a very special woman who is plagued by a dark secret, one that should not even be hers to carry. My heart broke for her throughout the novel as she deserves so much more but it is her past that holds her back. It is Dutch and their friendship that helps her to understand, let go and have hope for her future. The road to this discovery is long and difficult though and you watch as they both struggle with their past and their futures.

Grounded Hearts is a beautiful story of hope, trust, letting go and faith during an extremely difficult time. We have amazing characters who never give up and inspire you the reader. I could not put this novel down – I loved every moment.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Jeanne M. Dickson was born into an Irish American family, the only girl surrounded by four brothers. She credits her mother, her aunts, and her grandmother with her love of storytelling. Perfecting her craft, she attends many writer’s conferences and over the years, she has won and finaled in numerous RWA romance writing awards including the Daphne du Maurier Award, the Maggie Award, The Molly, The Tara, and she was the overall contest winner of Launching A Star. Today she lives in Coastal San Diego with her fabulous husband, her two wonderful girls, and a dozen disobedient rose bushes.

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