Reinforce important math skills with this fun new game from Goliath which has kids adding and subtracting on their mission to get the s’mores.
About Counting Campers
Counting Campers is a fun counting game for your little camper. Players move their pawn forward or backward on the board along their individual hiking trail by drawing a ‘plus’ or ‘minus’ card, thus allowing little ones to practice counting and to develop fine motor skills. Follow the path through the muddy swamp, across the fishing pond, over the old bridge, and more, to get back to the campsite. The first camper back to camp wins the game!
Each game includes:
folding board game
four coloured camper pawns
playing cards
instructions
Our Thoughts
We fell in love with this adorable, bright and fun game that all members of our family enjoyed, regardless of their age. Each player takes a turn choosing a card and they will have to move their player forward or backwards on their colour markers depending on the card drawn. To add a little bit of variety, there are also “happy” and “sad” camper cards that cause you to lose a turn or take an extra turn.
As a parent, I loved how this game encouraged simple addition and subtraction for little ones, they weren’t simply sliding down a ladder, they had to think about how many spots forwards or backwards they had to move. I actually liked the fact that there were no dice, instead just the cards to help guide the movement across the board.
While this game is perfect for ages 4 to 9, we all had fun playing this game (right up to the adults). It was competitive but fun game to play all together (although you have to watch the moves of the little ones trying to steal extra spots!). The board, card and pieces are durable, which is a bonus with younger children that can be rough on their items. Counting Campers will make a great addition to family game night for the whole family.
Embracing the latest science, The Teensy Weensy Virus pairs simple, kid-friendly explanations with colorful illustrations, while providing additional resources for adults along with an informative song to help lighten the mood as families engage with this serious topic that has affected so many of us.
About The Teensy Weensy Virus: Book and Song for Preschoolers
COVID-19 is a big deal, but with all that adults have to worry about, it can be easy to overlook the pandemic’s impact on children. This book provides a great way for parents and caregivers to introduce and reinforce the importance of safety measures to children, while also giving kids the opportunity to ask questions and share their own feelings. Embracing the latest science, The Teensy Weensy Virus pairs simple, kid-friendly explanations with bright, colorful illustrations, while offering additional resources for adults and an informative song to help lighten the mood as families engage with this serious topic
Our Thoughts
This is a simple but powerful book about an important topic – COVID-19. COVID-19 has impacted our lives in so many ways, from small acts like going to the store, to the very important family connections we have. Many of us have lost a family member or friend, our family included. As an adult, I know how overwhelmed that I feel each day watching the news, following the new rules, trying to keep up with the restrictions, bylaws and the overwhelming emotions that come along with this. I can’t even begin to imagine how our children feel and how they may not have an outlet to express these feelings or feel unheard.
Our children have carried quite a burden during this pandemic – they have been pulled out of school, all playdates have stopped, extra curricular activities have stopped and even seeing family members have stopped. The impact this has had on children is huge, and for so many of them it is hard to put into words how they are feeling. I know our boys understand why they have to do follow these new rules, but it doesn’t make it easier to emotionally handle. All they want is to give their Grandma and Grandpa a hug, they want to go visit an Aunt and bake with them. Trying to remind them about the importance of a mask and how it protects us and those around us, can be daunting for adults and caregivers.
This book helps young children understand what is going on in the world right now, how to protect themselves and those they love and also give hope that it will get better. It is an important first step in talking with our children about how they are feeling and not just assuming that they understand and that they are okay. Children are not the best at expressing how they are feeling so using books and illustrations is a great way to get them talking. It is also a great way for parents and caregivers that are unsure of how to start this conversation and how to make it age appropriate, this takes all the guess work out of it for you.
This is an excellent book and resource for parents and children, a definite must read that is perfect for all ages. It is simple for young readers to read aloud and the illustrations are bright and keep their attention.
Sherri Rose grew up in Richmond, Virginia. As a retired pediatric and family nurse practitioner, as well and a hospice and palliative care nurse, she recognizes the critical importance of helping children understand what is happening during this pandemic that is currently sweeping our globe. COVID-19 has created so much stress, anxiety, grief, and loss for adults—imagine what children must think but be unable to express!
Inspired by her concerns for the smallest among us—as well as by her own significant grief over not being able to hug her children and grandchildren during quarantine—Sherri began to write this book to help preschoolers understand what is going on and why all of us must follow new rules. As a mother of three daughters and three stepdaughters, as well as a grandmother to many, she hopes that the resources found in this book will be useful to all the readers all over the world. Sherri is having six translations created to spread the importance of basic safety guidelines with this very smart virus. She wrote the lyrics to the little song at the end of the book to have something light and happy after reading about a serious topic.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Oliver the Ornament is a heartwarming tale of one family’s cherished Christmas ornaments.
About Oliver the Ornament
Oliver the Ornament is a heartwarming tale of one family’s cherished Christmas ornaments. The story centers on Oliver, who has been with this family since Mom and Dad’s very first date. Years later, Oliver, now injured and bullied, still has the magic of Christmas in his heart. “The story follows Oliver’s excitement for Christmas, his heartbreak, and his determination to overcome all odds to save the day. Oliver, along with his friends, will warm your heart with his kindness, humility, and love for his family and friends. We hope the story will bring families together to tell the stories of their own ornaments and the special meaning that so many of them possess. Because after all, “Every Ornament Tells a Story.”
You can purchase a copy of this book on their website here.
Book Trailer
About the Author
Todd Zimmermann, the creator and author of the “Oliver the Ornament” series, is on a mission to spread kindness and anti-bullying messages within his charming stories. The first story in the series focuses on a little ornament who faces challenges, but is able to overcome all odds to save the day. Charity is at the heart of Oliver the Ornament. A portion of proceeds from the sale of each book will be donated to various children’s charities. Starting with 5% from the first book, 10% from the second book, and increasing to 100% of the seventh book, Oliver the Ornament is committed to making a difference in children’s lives throughout the world.
The B on Your Thumb is a book of 60 hilariously illustrated rhymes and delightful ditties to boost early reading—each poem teaches a specific sound, spelling, or rule.
About The B on Your Thumb: 60 Poems to Boost Reading and Spelling
The B on Your Thumb is a book of 60 illustrated rhymes to boost early reading—each poem teaches a specific sound, spelling, or rule. Using rhythm and wordplay, they promote phonics awareness, thinking skills, and literacy. This book delights young readers with the fun and silliness of the English language.
An introduction instructs grown-ups on how to use the book and extensive activities at the end allow children to build on their learning. Grouped into four categories—sounds, silent letters and secrets, spellings, and words that sound the same—the poems include:
See with Two Ees
The Story of Q and U
The Rain in the Train
Ridiculous Ph
Enough of Uff
Certainly a C
The Most ImportANT
Which Witch
Our Thoughts
Can we just be honest and say the English language has some of the most hardest rules to follow (silent letters, spellings, words that sound the same). It can be so difficult to explain the reasoning around this to children, because that is just the way it is. This book helps adults and children tackle these rules in a fun way.
This book starts with a very helpful introduction for adults. They teach you how to use this book and how to read it aloud. This made a world of a difference when reading with my child. I loved that they also encouraged you to be creative, read them out of order, and to not overdo it – read just a few rhymes at a time to help your child absorb what they are learning. The note to children made me giggle (please be patient with us adults because we too make mistakes!).
I loved the rhymes, they made it so much easier to be silly and take a somewhat hard topic to teach and make it fun. We even sang a few and had a few good laughs (oi, oi, oi!!). The illustrations are perfect for young readers and match the tone of the book, fun and engaging.
The B on Your Thumb is a fun, engaging book that will make you laugh while learning.
Colette Hiller is a writer, arts producer, and mother of twins. Her arts projects have reached hundreds of thousands of participants—she is the woman who put pianos and ping-pong tables in countless locations across the UK, and is also the mind behind the hit Talking Statues project.
Her children’s rhymes have been featured on BBC Words and Pictures and her children’s LP, Applehead, has been a hit with kids across the world, selling over 50,000 copies. An advocate of early learning, Colette believes that even very young children are receptive to the joy of wordplay (she taught her own twins to read by the time they were three).
Tor Freeman is a London-based illustrator. In 2012 she was awarded the Sendak Fellowship. In 2017 she won the Guardian Graphic Short Story Prize. Her books include the Digby Dog and Olive series.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book to facilitate this review, all opinions expressed are my own.
Yoga at the Zoogently imparts important lessons about friendship, dealing with new situations, and meeting new people.
About Yoga at the Zoo
Little Mouse is here to help kids use yoga to solve problems and manage emotions in Yoga at the Zoo, the first book in the Little Mouse Adventures series from international bestselling author and Kids’ Yoga Day creator, Teresa Power.
Little Mouse and his family live in a cozy burrow nestled in young Tammy McDoodle’s backyard.
Tammy and her mother love to practice yoga together, and Little Mouse loves to follow along!
In this beautifully illustrated picture book, adorable Little Mouse and the wise and lovable lazy cat, Mr. Opus, follow Tammy on a field trip to the zoo and meet new animal friends, while learning simple yet meaningful yoga poses along the way.
Our Thoughts
This beautiful story features two very unlikely friends – Little Mouse (a young, sweet mouse) and Mr. Opus (a wise and friendly cat). The two make the most unlikely pair but are the greatest of friends. This is such an important message for children – that we are not what society defines us. The best friendships develop when and where we least expect it to. In this book, they go on quite the adventure together – to a zoo!
On a typical day, in the morning Little Mouse goes to school but the afternoons are spent with Mr. Opus. He learns the power of yoga not only from young Tammy but also all the animals at the zoo when they go on their adventure with her. He learns how to calm his mind through his favourite pose (child’s pose), which is so important for children. Our youngest has been learning yoga and meditation at school, which we feel is so important for him. Children, like adults, have strong emotions but sometimes don’t have the tools they need to deal with them and learn how to quiet the stress of their minds (to be honest there are some adults who struggle with this skill too!). Yoga gives them these skills and we see this in this book when Little Mouse encounters an initially perceived scary and stressful situation. As he uses child’s pose, he is able to calm his mind and look at the situation differently. And the stressful situation that was perceived? Not so scary and stressful once we learned both sides.
This is a beautifully written and illustrated book for children that we enjoyed reading together. It was easy to read together, with characters that you couldn’t help but love. Little Mouse is just a lovely and curious character with a good heart – such a positive example for children as they begin to explore their world. This is a wonderful addition to your home library.
Teresa Power’s books have sold over 250,000 copies worldwide. In her roles as award-winning author, renowned yoga expert, and keynote speaker, her mission is to share strategies and tips to help children, parents and educators enrich their lives and manage stress. Teresa has been featured by Good Morning America, Parenting, Reader’s Digest, Fox11 LA, Telemundo, and more. She is also the founder of International Kids Yoga Day, which is celebrated globally on the first Friday in April, annually.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
