Category: children

December 19, 2014

Aoleon The Martian Girl Part One by Brent LeVasseur #review

Martians, space adventure and rockets! Aoleon The Martian Girl Part One is the story of two brave young characters who take on the US Air Force, form a friendship and more!

About Aoleon The Martian Girl

Crop circles begin to magically appear in farmer Johnson’s field. A mysterious light sweeps over the night sky and awakens both farmer Johnson and Gilbert – the boy who lives next door.

Gilbert is curious about the light and ventures onto the farm to discover the light source and stumbles into a beautiful Martian girl sitting in the crop circle. Farmer Johnson heads out to investigate the strange light and finds Gilbert and Aoleon. Believing they are vandals he begins to chase them. They sprint to Aoleon’s saucer and escape only to be pursued by the US Air Force.

Gilbert has never been attacked before and especially not by swarms of giant killer robots! He has never met strange aliens from other worlds. He has never sky boarded across a megalopolis hidden deep inside an extinct volcano. He has never trekked across a vast Martian desert. And he most certainly has never been eaten alive by a gigantic slor!

And luckily he has never been confronted by an evil ruler of Mars bent on conquering the Earth to steal it’s cows!!

That is until this current moment.

This may be the adventure Gilbert has always wished for. If only he can survive.

My Thoughts

Our family fell in love with Aoleon and Gilbert! Two fantastic main characters that are strong, funny and on the adventure of a lifetime. This is the perfect tween novel for both boys and girls alike. It was easy to read and follow along. The language was appropriate for the suggested age group (Grades 3-6) with enough new terms to keep children engaged. I even learned some new terminology!

My son fell in love with the adventures they went on – high speed air races with explosions! I first thought it would be aimed for young boys but reading about the adventures of Aoleon provides a strong female character that young girls will love and look up to.

Gorgeous artwork is included in the novel every few pages. This was one of the best parts! My son is still at the age where he likes to view pictures (not to mention his Mother still likes this too!). It really helps to bring the characters alive in their minds.

A fantastic must read for young tweens – they will not be disappointed!

You can pre-order Aoleon The Martian Girl now on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Mr. LeVasseur enjoys crafting good stories based on lovable characters designed to translate well to multiple media formats such as books, games, movies, and toys. He lives in New York when he is not commuting between Southern California and Olympus Mons, Mars. His hobbies include writing, 3D animation, musical composition, and intergalactic space travel. He also enjoys various sports such as skiing, running, and exospheric skydiving.

You can connect with Brent on his website, twitter or facebook.

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

November 11, 2014

The DK Canada Gift Boutique for Holiday Shopping #giveaway

I love to read as I am sure many of you have figured out by now! Reading takes you to a whole new place, allows you to learn new things as well as enjoy some good quality down time.

One of the best gifts you can give a child is the gift of learning. Children love to explore and learn about their favourite topics. As parents (and aunts, uncles and grandparents!) we are here to nurture this love and have some fun with their learning at the same time!

DK Canada has their spectacular Gift Boutique full of fantastic reads that will be sure to be a hit under the tree this holiday season.

Have a budding scientist in your home? Maybe an animal lover? We are bringing your little learner a fantastic giveaway with two great titles, Utterly Amazing Science and The Animal Book.

These books will have you learning right along with your little one while you explore the world of science and the animal frontier. Both books are in hardcover format so no worries about ruining your book while out on your adventure! They can definitely do some travel time with you.

Utterly Amazing Science takes a look at the core principles of science. Using fun, interactive elements (pop ups, pull outs, flaps) each page in this book features colourful illustrations and fun activities that covers key topics such as force and motion, light and colour, elements and matter. To top it off the book is packed full of interesting facts that will keep your child constantly learning and discovering.

The Smithsonian Animal Book covers the world’s extraordinary diversity of animals. This guide is full of creatures both big and small. A tree of life greets young readers at the beginning of the book charting the complex relationships between species. Every plant and animal is presented in proportion with in-depth pages giving a sense of scale for each animal. This will satisfy the most avid animal lover’s interests! The Animal Book is also a 2014 Mom’s Choice Award Gold Award Winner!

Now Canadian residents can enter to win their own copies of these two incredible books from DK Canada and Working Mommy Journal!

Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

July 17, 2014

Superhero Pool Party Time!

How many of you have a little superhero in training at home? We definitely do and thought what better way to celebrate a special birthday with a Superhero themed pool party!

The first important item to check off your list is those superhero loot bags (the best part right?!). Try to stay away from the small plastic toys that you can usually purchase from the Dollar Store – you would rather spend a small amount more to get a better item that a child will use for a longer time. I still headed to the Dollar Store and was able to pick up Spiderman frisbees, stickers, bouncing balls, water balls (to coincide with the pool theme). I also picked up some gummies from the Bulk Barn.

I purchased green pails that the children could re-use over again at the beach or in their backyard. They also hold all the loot perfectly as well.

Place the frisbee underneath the pail to help with the wrapping process. I tried every place I could think of but could not find the spider webs – you know the ones that come out at Halloween ever year?. This would have been perfect to wrap around the pail and frisbee.

For the special birthday superhero I wrapped his with ribbons and used an extra pail to give it some extra height.

Why not create an outside fun bucket with all your supplies for the party – think sparklers, pool balls, and glow sticks.This extra pail helps to keep you organized and gives the children a glimpse of all the fun to come.

Get creative with chalk since you are outside anyways. Put your child’s name, how old they are and even a special message for them. Let your creative juices flow – the sky is the limit!

Now here comes the fun part – decorating! I love this part the most and can spend hours decorating.

All those awesome superhero toys you have? Put them to good use as props on your table. I used Hulk Smash gloves to give an extra punch to the the table set up.

Display the treats loud and proud – what child doesn’t love seeing all the goodies to come? Spiderman takes front and centre on the cake. Cupcakes with lollipops and swirly candles give an extra little flair.

I hope your little superhero has a fantastic party! What are your favourite themed parties for children?

July 11, 2014

Backyard Explorers Kit Giveaway

Calling all backyard explorers – it’s that time of year again to get out in the sunshine and explore nature.

It’s time to learn about the wonders of nature and all the little creatures out there. I know my boys love exploring outside and learning new insects all the time (not so much me – especially the ones with long legs!).

Orkin has created a new Bug Wisdom video series that helps remind us all that some of life’s biggest lessons come from small spaces. Bugs are smart and curious creatures and we can learn so much from them! You can take their quiz to discover your Spirit Bug and learn lots of new facts.

Orkin is giving my American readers a chance to win their own Backyard Explorers Kit which includes a 9 page activity book, bug catching tool and magnifier and sunglasses! Please enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a product in exchange for hosting this giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

April 11, 2014

Mother Hen Nutrition Month Taste Testing Play Date #IAmMotherHen

I had the pleasure of hosting a taste testing party this week with other parents to try out the Mother Hen product lines. I have and still use the Mother Hen products (you can find my review here) so I was very happy to be able to share my experiences with other parents and have fun at the same time.

If you are not familiar with Mother Hen baby food the products are certified organic fruits and vegetables (certified through Ecocert Canada), gluten and peanut free and no added salt or sugar. You can find them in their own freezers at many stores including Shoppers Drug Mart and Walmart.

The Planning

To be very honest this was one of our first big play dates (more then just one other child and not a relative!). So we were nervous and excited at the same time. Our first plan of attack? Sending out e-vites! Our youngest son decided to chose the cutest little chick e-vites to send out to our guests to invite them over. We chose our date, time and boom they were off! The e-vites tied in well with the animal theme of our event.

Now what is a party without party decorations and supplies? We went shopping and started to put together our little taste testing presents (had to convince him it was not his birthday party!). We picked up two different boxes of Mother Hen products and went with Lamb and Chicken Cacciatore. We also had two boxes in the freezer already of pears and mangoes (our little one’s favourite fruits!).

Our Taste Testing Play Date

Finally our big day arrived! We took out a nice tablecloth and began to decorate (one of Mommy’s favourite parts!). Out went the taste tasting presents we wrapped up the day before, along with food samples for the children (and for the parents to try too!).

Our crafts and activities also came out. I had such a hard time keeping them away from our little one! He was too excited and started running around an hour before ‘moo-ing’ and using his mask. Mother Hen also included some fantastic game cards and headbands that we (the parents) used and the older ones would give us clues on who we were (although they were not too familiar with the game and would just shout out the character!). Each card was full of facts on that particular animal, fruit or vegetable.

The little one’s favourite part of the day? The taste testing of course! I had purchased two boxes (and some of our own stash) which included pears, lamb and their chicken cacciatore. It was hard to keep the little ones still enough to try them all out but the parents were able to try them out. It was fun to also be able to share recipes, tips and tricks with other parents about ensuring proper nutrition for infants and toddlers (especially with all the new changes to infant nutrition!).

It was a fantastic, fun filled morning with great food, company and activities!

If you are not following them yet, make sure to follow Mother Hen on Facebook and Twitter for more nutrition information updates, recipes and so much more! You can also find more information on hosting your own taste testing event in your home!

What do you look for when purchasing infant food?

Disclosure: I received the above taste testing kit for participating in this event. All opinions expressed are my own. I did not have permission to share photos of the other children attending the event so they are not featured in this post.