Category: children

The adventures of Boots, the grizzly bear cub, continues as he befriends a black bear named Sockeye and her Mexican brother, Pepe, the iguana.

About Three Paws’ New Family

Sockeye has lost her mother and is not old enough to live on her own. Her prayers are answered when she meets little Pepe. He escaped his human family’s home in Ketchikan to explore the beautiful Alaskan wilderness but lost his way back home. A lonely bear cub and a lost iguana become a “family” relying on each other for companionship, friendship, and survival skills.

What does a bond of friendship and family have in common? You always know who will be there for you when you need them most.

When Boots, the three-pawed bear cub, comes face-to-face with the open jaws of a hungry lion, he is left to wonder who will help him.

If he survives this attack, how will he defend himself in the future with only three paws? The answer may be waiting for him high above in the mighty Sitka spruce, the official state tree of Alaska.

Our Thoughts

In book two of this beautiful series, we revisit Alaska and Boots’ family. Boots is an unique grizzly bear cub – he had injured one of his paws and was now known as the three-pawed cub. Boots never lets this injury stop him from being just like other cubs, he is resilient and brave – always believing in himself and his own strength.

In this story, his sister hurts herself and Boots sets off to find pine needles to help heal her injury. He sets off and soon encounters danger! To the rescue is an unlikely pair, a bear and iguana. Both of these animals have had their own difficult pasts but have adopted each other as family and take care of eachother.

The trio find more than just friendship in each other, they find a new family and home through their brave adventures. They not only save the day but they find hope and happiness. This is a beautiful story from start to finish, with incredible characters. The characters are full of adventure, strength, compassion and a great example for young children. The book has important lessons for children told in a way that they can understand. The illustrations are lovely and soft, which suits the tone of the book. A lovely story from start to finish.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Karen Struck discovered the joy of children’s literature as she read to her daughter before bed each night. She decided to take writing courses through the Institute of Children’s Literature after being inspired by the Harry Potter book series.

It was after an Alaskan cruise with her family that she had the idea to create a hopeful story about the majestic wildlife she’d seen there. So, for one of her writing assignments at the ICL, she did, and Three Paws was born!

She wrote the Three Paws children’s book series to inspire children to be brave and believe in themselves despite challenges they may face.

Outside of being a children’s book author, Karen is a registered nurse and works in the aesthetic industry. She works with her husband, Steve, a plastic surgeon in Atherton, CA and they live in Los Gatos, California. She has a daughter, Rachel, and two stepchildren, Danni and Evan Struck.

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

“Water is the first medicine.
It affects and connects us all” – We Are Water Protectors

About We Are Water Protectors

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption – a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.

When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth and poison her people’s water, one young water protector takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource.

Our Thoughts

This book first grabbed my attention with the front cover. It features a strong, proud and brave young girl with swirling water around her. There was something about her stance and the determined look on her face that grabbed my attention and made me want to read the book.

The story shows us how we come from water in the womb and that water is what nourishes us – water is vital to life. We learn about the black snake, that has been foretold to destroy the land, poison plants and animals and spoil the water. This black snake is found now in our current world and it is our job to have the courage to stand up to the black snake, to come together to defend those who cannot fight and to protect our water and lands for years to come.

This is a beautifully illustrated book with an extremely important message. We are all one living on this land and it is so important to care and fight to protect it. We need to address and speak up about how we are polluting our water and what we can do to stop this. I loved how this book empowers youth to take a lead and to stand up for our home. The flow of words is perfect and I loved how the illustrations captured the meaning of each page. The illustrations are spectacular, they are full of movement and emotion. They help guide you through the page and leave a strong impact. I love art and the attention to detail is incredible, from the details in the animals to nature, they are beautiful (I found myself running my hands over the pages!).

This is a powerful, beautifully illustrated book for children, youth and even adults. It is a definite must have in your home library and would be a great resource to have in a school classroom or library.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Indigo.

About the Author

Carole Lindstrom is Anishinabe/Metis and is a proud member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe Indians. She was born and raised in Nebraska and currently makes her home in Maryland. Michaela Goadeis an artist and graphic designer living and working in Juneau, Alaska, where she was also raised. Her childhood was spent in the forests and on the beaches of Southeast Alaska and her artistic style is rooted in the depth and beauty of its landscapes. Forever inspired by the coastal wilds of Southeast Alaska, she works to capture its magic and honor its vibrant cultures. Michaela is from the Raven moiety and Kiks.adi Clan from Sitka, Alaska.

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

Explore the secret world of bees: how they live, how they work, how they support each other and their hive.

About The Bee Book

DK’s The Bee Book is a wonderful introduction to the humble honeybee: nature’s hardest worker, and much more than just a provider of honey! Bees are incredibly industrious, brilliant at building, super social, and-most importantly-responsible for a third of every mouthful of food you eat! Find out how bees talk to one another, what it takes to become a queen bee, what the life of a worker bee is like, and more. The contents include bee anatomy, types of bee, hives, colonies, pollination, making honey, and more. Discover just how much they matter, why they are declining, and what you can do to help!

Our Thoughts

Bees have been a hot topic for the last year or so, and rightly so. These insects are so very important to our everyday lives and we should do everything we can to help them.

The Bee Book starts off with a background about bees, I had no idea there were around 20,000 different species of bees! We learned about the Wallace’s Giant Bee, Dwarf Bee and Killer Bees, which prompted us to look them up online (especially Killer Bees – I always thought this was a made up story to scare kids!).

From here the story dives right into the incredible honeybees, the bees you are most likely to be familiar with. We begin to discover what is a honeybee, body parts (including that famous stinger), why they buzz, and how bees make honey. We really enjoyed reading about the worker honeybee’s life (from birth to everyday life), the Queen bee and how honeybees talk to each other.

But why are bees so important?

“1 in 3 mouthfuls of food that you eat has been made thanks to pollinators such as bees” – The Bee Book.

As we learn about the important process of pollination, quotes like the one above really help kids put into perspective how important bees are. Charlotte helps kids break down all the important steps after pollination – from crop collection, to transportation of crops, to grocery stores and finally to our table. This is important for kids (and adults) to understand why we have to help the bees. She even gives great examples on how we can help bees, from which plants to plant outside to even bee hotels.

This is a wonderfully written and illustrated book about bees that teaches kids all about the importance of honeybees and how we can help them.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Indigo.

About the Author

London-based author and illustrator, Charlotte Milner has a strong interest in bees and a natural flair for illustrated storytelling.

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