Author: cvegnad

July 29, 2019

Get Ready to Get Wild with The Jungle Bunch DVD and Giveaway

Are you ready for a wild ride? The Jungle Bunch arrives on DVD on August 6th, 2019!

About the Jungle Bunch

Maurice may look like a penguin – but he’s a real tiger inside! Raised by a tigress, he’s the clumsiest Kung-Fu master ever. Along with his friends, The Jungle Bunch, he intends to maintain order and justice in the jungle, as his mother did before him. But when Igor, an evil koala, wants to destroy the jungle once and for all with the help of his army of silly baboons, Maurice faces his biggest challenge yet.

Your family will go bananas for The Jungle Bunch, a fresh and funny adventure that’s full of laughs and memorable characters!

Our Thoughts

I love animated movies with animals as the main characters, they have always been a family favourite of ours. This movie was an instant hit in our house – we laughed, we were proud and were on the edge of our seats as Maurice tries to help save the jungle with his group of friends, The Jungle Bunch.

The characters that form the Jungle Bunch are just too precious for words – they seem like the most unlikely heroes but they would do anything to protect their home and maintain order. For Maurice, he wants to be just like his tiger Mom even though physically he is the polar opposite (a penguin). His heart is so good and you can’t help but just love him. His Mom was a member of The Champs – a group that also protected the jungle and who have history with the evil koala Igor. His friends are the most unlikely heroes you will ever see but they are so full of heart and good intentions.

The DVD has a run time of just over an hour and half. The DVD is set to release on August 6th but you can pre-order a copy here. If you are a fan of animated animal hero movies, you will love this one!

Movie Trailer

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

July 29, 2019

Matt’s Swirly World – Helping Parents Raise Mindful Kids, Understand Tantrums and Relief Stress & Anxiety

When you need help better understanding why your child feels or acts they way they do in times of crisis, or you just want to connect with them on a deeper level, learn more about temper tantrums and emotional control with Matt’s swirly world – Helping Parents Raise Mindful Kids, Understand Tantrums and Relief Stress, Anxiety (Growing Up & Facts of Life Emotions Feelings).

About Matt’s Swirly World – Helping Parents Raise Mindful Kids, Understand Tantrums and Relief Stress & Anxiety

When children are young their emotions come in peaks and valleys. Sometimes they’re super excited, sometimes they’re sad, and sometimes they lose control and express themselves by throwing a temper tantrum.

These outbursts of emotions are common for parents and kids of all walks of life and can be leveraged by parents who want to teach impulse control, improved behavior, and better mindfulness.

That’s why Matt’s Swirly World was written to help parents understand the “why” behind a tantrum as well as what’s going on inside their child’s brain when they’re acting out, feeling scared, or reacting to stressful situations.

An adorable journey featuring a mother and her young son, this book is a great reminder about how all emotions are accepted and that proper behaviors can be learned by kids and taught by moms and dads. In fact, your love is the perfect space where emotions can be processed, expressed and shared together.

In this book, parents will learn how mindfulness helps kids create better coping skills, and also a variety of other useful tools, including:

How love can be used to process emotions and support positive behaviors
Why feelings of anger and frustration come and go and are non-threatening
How a calm voice and demeanor can soothe a child and minimize meltdowns
Providing children relief from stress, anxiety, or big feelings and emotions
How children often mimic the behaviors of their mothers and fathers
Moving forward and adapting to behavioral changes in the future

This is an opportunity to learn and grow as a parent while teaching your child valuable mindfulness and self-control skills they can use long into adulthood. It should be the first book you read on tantrums, emotions, and how to inspire positive behaviors each and every day.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Aspiring contemporary ballerina, commercial poet, grateful wife and mother. Certified Life Coach, BA Finance, MA Statistics ( don’t judge, I was young ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), now IT Product Manager. When I was pregnant with my now 3 y/o boy, I was worried of how I can raise my child to cope in a world of bullying, peer pressure, substance abuse, screen time etc. My husband told me that if we want our son to thrive in this world, all we need to do is build his self confidence & firm limits. So that’s how I started reading parenting books, and read a lot. I read tons of books on the latest research discoveries in interpersonal biology and brain development. I love anything that Daniel J Siegel ever wrote. I am also a fan of “How to talk so kids would listen” by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.

For “Matt’s swirly world,” I worked with a psychologist who specialized in child development and attachment parenting. That’s because, I am above all, convinced of the immense potential every child has and their absolute innocence. I know from experience that raising kids can often feel quite differently, and challenging. I am convinced that the way to turn that potential into peaceful family lives and well balanced kids – is both intuition and science (and patience). Being emotionally available as a parent, being present for them and for yourself, to keep your own emotional highs & lows in check. Because they are good at triggering us, aren’t they? When I was 8, I had no money to buy my mother gifts; I really wanted to create joy in her heart, so I started dedicating poems to her. That’s what got me started writing.

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

The Giveaway!

Disclosure: This is a spotlight post, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

July 26, 2019

I Don’t Like to Eat Ants Book Review

Calling all picky eaters and their parents! This book is for you as we tackle trying new foods, food dislikes and more in I Don’t Like to Eat Ants.

About I Don’t Like to Eat Ants

Anteater One is one adventurous eater. He’ll try anything – a grilled cheese sandwich, a nice salad, or a chocolate cake – but he’s eaten his last ant. Anteater Two only wants ants to eat. Anteater Three has the perfect solution: a reservation at his world-famous Peanut Butter & Jelly Deli, where the anteaters can discuss the very important question of what to eat for lunch.

Our Thoughts

Hands up if you have a picky eater. I know we do! It can be a challenging time at home when you fight over meals, snacks – it feels like a constant uphill battle. There are no words to describe the frustration when you have offered every item in the fridge and cupboard as a snack, it is turned down and then ten minutes later you are asked “I’m hungry – do you have anything better to eat?”.

This book tells the story of two adorable anteaters – one who likes the traditional menu of just ants (yuck!) and the other who is willing and wanting to try anything and everything. Variety is the spice of life, right? They argue back and forth their reasons why they should either stick to ants or why they should try something new. They decide to meet in the middle and go for lunch, where shockingly there are no ants on the menu! Our anteater friend has to try a Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich, and what is his reaction? You will have to buy the book to find out! But trust me – it is worth it.

This is an adorable book with beautiful, simple illustrations and easy to follow text. The wording had a great rhythm to it, making it easy to read aloud. We loved these two characters and the simple but ever so important message they deliver. It is so important to just try something new – you will never know what you are missing, if you don’t just try.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

The family of authors known as JTK Belle—father Jeffrey and his children Tommy and Katie—founded Picklefish Press in 2017. Their previous works include Freeda the Cheetah, Katherine’s Bike was Wonderfully Strange, and Tommy O’Tom in a Tub O’ Trouble. Katie and Tommy both are passionate about nonprofit work, as Katie raises funds for pediatric cancer research, and Tommy focuses his philanthropic efforts toward wildlife conservation. Jeff currently works for Amazon Publishing. The family resides in Seattle.

About the Illustrator

Sabine Mielke started her career as a master advertising technician. She then studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and worked as a graphic designer for almost 20 years, before deciding to pursue her life long dream as a full time illustrator. Sabine lives with her three dogs in Berlin, Germany.

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

July 22, 2019

The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids

I love to draw and paint. As a child and into my teen years, it was a way to calm the storm and refocus. I could spend hours hunched over a water colour making sure each colour was perfect and the right amount of shading. I strongly believe that each child should be encouraged from a young age to paint, make a mess with markers and paints – it does so much for them!

About The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids

Make art and memories with the special kids in your life! Packed with how-to drawing and painting projects, creative prompts, and original crafting activities, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids will inspire hours of creative fun together.

This book includes drawing and painting projects featuring popular, kid-friendly subjects—like dinosaurs, pets, flowers, and robots—that adults and kids can create together. Guided practice pages invite interactivity and allow children and adults to draw and paint the same subjects, side by side. The book’s artwork is colorful, approachable, and done using ordinary, easily available art tools, including markers, crayons, colored pencils, and acrylic paint.

In addition to drawing lessons, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids also includes projects and ideas for using artwork created from the prompts in the book to make crafts, including a map, pop-up art, and paper dolls.

The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids teaches valuable drawing, painting, and crafting skills to both kids and adults; inspires creativity; and encourages family togetherness. What better way to avoid screen time than by drawing, painting, and creating together with your kids?

Our Thoughts

This fun book is a great resource for those who want to teach and create art with their child but just not quite where to start. I know for myself, I love to paint and draw but if you had to sit me down to teach my kids, I wouldn’t know where to start. I would just give them the pencils or paint!

The book starts off with a great introduction into the art world with a great reminder that you are learning to create with confidence and in a way that is fun and appealing to younger children. You will learn the basics of the art supplies that you should keep stocked (there is nothing worse then planning a craft and not to have everything on hand). You learn the basics of the colour wheel and how to make secondary, tertiary colours as well as mixing and tones.

The book follows the format of a tutorial, followed by a step by step project. The tutorials are incredibly easy to follow and really get you back to the basics. I had completely forgotten all of my initial drawing lessons when I was fourteen and you broken down figures and animals into basic shapes. A person would become a series of circles and ovals with lines. You would then move on to add detail and change these shapes but it is these initials shapes that help you create the overall picture. It is these basics that are a must for developing art skills later on in life. The follow up projects are very fun and Lee provides you with a wide variety of crafts that you can complete to keep your child entertained and having fun. The instructions are easy to follow and for the most part, you will have the majority of the supplies at home.

The book itself is large, with easy to follow instructions and child friendly font. While it is fun to work with your child on the activities, if they are adventurous and want to work on their own, they will have no problem (if they are a bit older) following the instructions. The book also has pages where you can practice what you are learning right there.

The Grown-Ups Guide to Making Art with Kids is an excellent tool for parents looking to help their child explore their creative side and encourage confidence in their artistic skills. A great addition to your family home craft library, especially during the summer months when kids can be spending too much time in front of the electronics.

You can purchase this book on Amazon and Indigo.

About the Author

Lee Foster-Wilson is an artist and a designer in Cornwall, England. She worked as a graphic designer before becoming a full-time artist with her own business called Bonbi Forest. Lee’s artworks and prints have been featured on Design Sponge and in Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, NYLON, and The Guardian. She is the author of Creative Marker Art and Beyond and The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids, both from Walter Foster Publishing. Learn more about Lee at www.bonbiforest.com.

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

July 22, 2019

Ivy The Montgomery Sisters Book Three

Ivy Montgomery is tired of her sister’s constant nagging and protectiveness. She wants to make it on her own and will stop at nothing but will this be her downfall?

About Ivy

Ivy Montgomery is tired of her sister’s constant nagging and protectiveness. Blind, she decides to escape in the middle of the night when she is captured and brought far from home. With no understanding of the outside world, Ivy must use her keen abilities to navigate the wilderness around her. Anger and hopelessness are her only defenses against the things she cannot do.

Until she meets a strong-minded Lakota Chief, who will not let her cower to the blindness any longer. Lakota Sioux Chief of the Paha Sapa, Hotah is on a hunt for his brother, Kangi. Cast from their tribe five years before, Kangi has grown a dark spirit and a hatred for all white people. Now on reserved land, Hotah makes a deal with the General to capture his brother in return for his people to have the provisions they need. After rescuing Ivy, he promises to take her home, but danger is near and Hotah soon realizes it is not just his brother he should fear.

My Thoughts

In the third and final installment, we meet Ivy, the youngest Montgomery sister. She is almost completely blind and has learned to rely on her other senses to flourish. While she is a strong, young woman with a lot of capabilities, her two sisters do not treat her this way. In fact, they often treat her like a child – ordering her to stay at home. While this is done out of love and fear, my heart hurts for Ivy as she craves freedom and trust.

This is how we find Ivy in the beginning of the novel – trying to escape the constraints of her sisters but she ends up lost and alone in the wilderness. When all looks hopeless, Hotah (the Lakota Sioux Chief of the Paha Sapa) comes to her aid. He is on his own mission but there is something about Ivy that he is drawn to and he puts his own task aside to ensure she finds her way home.

Along their adventure home, we learn more about their history – the pain, the betrayals and the forgiveness. Your heart hurts for both of them, who have experienced pain we cannot imagine but who are still moving forward to a place of healing. They find strength, healing and love in each other and your heart smiles for them. But will this be enough? Will they make it to safety and find acceptance? This was a definite must read ending to this series of strong, independent female characters that you can’t help but love.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Kobo and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Kat Flannery’s love of history shows in her novels. She is an avid reader of historical, suspense, paranormal, and romance. A member of many writing groups including the National Romance Writers of America (RWA), Kat enjoys promoting other authors on her blog. When she’s not busy writing, or marketing Kat volunteers her time to other aspiring authors. She’s been published in numerous periodicals throughout her career, and continues to write for blogs and online magazines. A bestselling author, Kat’s books are available all over the world. The BRANDED TRILOGY is Kat’s award-winning series. With seven books published, Kat continues to write two novels a year.

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