Category: children

March 5, 2015

The Ultimate Easter Basket Gift from kaboom! #Giveaway #Review

Easter is right around the corner (doesn’t it just feel like it was the New Year?) and what better way to surprise your little ones with a Treehouse Cube full of their favourite shows on DVD format!

On March 3rd, kaboom! entertainment launched the Treehouse Ultimate Collection cube which includes ten hours of your favourite Treehouse shows. Inside this unique package you will find ten DVDs featuring: Toopy and Binoo, Franklin, Max and Ruby, Brother Bear, Captain Barnacles, Kwazii, Golias and Nessa. This collection features one hundred of your child’s favourite episodes!

Our youngest was so excited to come home and find the Cube. He didn’t know which one to watch first! So he settled with catching up on more Toopy and Binoo followed by Octonauts and Bernstein Bears for me.

Zack and Quack: Popping Hopping Easter came with this bundle which was the perfect movie to get just in time for Easter. This DVD features Zack and his best friend, an impulsive young duck named Quack. They live inside a pop up book. It is a place full of surprises where pulling pop ups makes exciting and unexpected things happen. This DVD comes with five episodes.

Remember the Guess How Much I Love You DVD I featured in January? This would be the perfect addition to add into your Easter gift basket for your little one. A special reminder to your little one on just how much they mean to you.

If you have a little one at home that would love to win this Ultimate Treehouse DVD cube and Zack and Quack Popping Hopping Easter, you can now win your own just in time for Easter! My Canadian residents can enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to follow kaboom! on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with new releases.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products free of charge. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 3, 2015

You are my Heart by Marianne Richmond #bookreview

“Before you were born my heart always knew I wanted to be a good parent to you” – You are my Heart

About You are my Heart

You are my Heart puts into words some of the magical moments we share with our children every day as they grow into our hearts forever. The joyful love we feel and all the emotions straight from pregnancy to birth and beyond.

My Thoughts

I fell in love with You are my Heart. This book puts into words every emotion and feeling you have for your child. The love we feel for them is all-encompassing and this book delivers all of that and more. I actually teared up reading it to my kids (which caused them to tease me endlessly!). Through all the good moments and the bad moments we love our children and it is important to remind them of this.

I can easily see You are my Heart becoming a favourite for baby showers as it is a story you will enjoy reading to your child over and over again. It is always important to tell our child how much we love them and You are my Heart does that and more!

The illustrations in this book are wonderful both light and airy that fits in perfectly with the story. Marianne uses colour to coordinate with the words she writes perfectly.

You are my Heart, not only makes a perfect gift for expecting parents but is also suitable for children ages 2-8 years.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Marianne Richmond is both an author and illustrator (and does both in You are my Heart) who has touched millions for nearly two decades with her award-winning books, greeting cards and gift products that help to connect individuals. She lives in the Minneapolis area. She is the author of If I Could Keep You Little, Big Girls Use the Potty and I Wished For You: An Adoption Story.

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

March 3, 2015

Supertruck by Stephen Savage #bookreview

Facing an awful snowstorm, who can the city turn to save the day? Supertruck of course!

About Supertruck

Every truck in the city has a special job. Some trucks rescue others, some tow while others transport. But the garbage trucks just collects garbage.

When the colossal snow storm hits the city everything comes to a standstill. The trucks can’t do their job. So who comes to the rescue to dig them out? Supertruck of course!

But who is this mysterious superhero? And why does he disappear after the storm?

My Thoughts

A simple and beautifully written story – our son fell in love with this book right from the start (he had us re-reading it five times the very first time we opened it up!). The story was easy to follow along with and our eldest son was able to read it to our youngest as well. It was easy to read aloud which makes it the perfect bed time story.

Supertruck has a lovely message about not judging a book by its cover. A person is not always what they seem and everyone has a special job to do. Supertruck is one of those people. His true identity is one you would not expect showing our children that everyone is special and has a special job to do. Or as our youngest says, we are all superheroes inside!

The illustrations are bright and bold. They draw you right into the book and enhance the story.

This is the perfect story for children ages 2-6 years old.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Stephen Savage is the illustrator behind the New York best-selling picture book, Polar Bear Night, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated children’s book and an ALA notable book. His editorial illustration has been featured in dozens of major newspapers including: The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

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

February 27, 2015

Pants! No Chance! by Susan Lanyi #girlswholovedresses

Pants! No Chance! by Susan Lanyi follows the tale of Lulupop, a dress loving young girl who refuses to wear pants.

About Pants! No Chance!

Lulupop rarely puts up a fuss for her Mother. Except for when it comes to pants.

Dresses, dresses, dresses is all she will ever wear! With time, a little drama and no lack of imagination, Lulupop realizes that wearing dresses is not always the best idea.

My Thoughts

Lulupop is an incredibly imaginative young lady that sure does love her dresses! She loves her dresses so much that she does not listen to her Mother’s sound advice and compares wearing pants to the most extreme situations.

Lulupop and her imagination had us giggling throughout the book with her comparisons and even reminded us of someone in our own little family with her ‘I would rather”. In Pants! No Chance! we are able to follow along with Lulupop as her Mother tries to make her understand that sometimes even when we don’t like something it may be the best solution for a problem.

Through humour and gorgeous drawings, Susan brings home this message in a way that children and adults can relate to. How many times have you had the conversation with your child – do you remember what happened the last time you made this choice? I know we have many times! This story had us giggling and saying, ‘oh Lulupop!’.

A fantastic story line that is easy to read out loud and gorgeous, bright illustrations make Pants!No Chance! a family favourite that you will enjoy reading with your child over and over again.
Rating: 5/5

About Susan Lanyi

Susan lives in Montreal with her husband, three children and their family puppy. Susan is a writer who has been previously published in Globe and Mail. When Susan is not busy writing or doing Mom stuff she is busy shopping for pants for her daughter who refuses to wear dresses! You can connect with Susan on Twitter and Facebook.

Giveaway Time!

Susan is giving away five copies of her book, Pants! No Chance! This giveaway is open internationally and ends March 6th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of Pants! No Chance! in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 13, 2015

The Monster That Ate My Socks

Monsters, missing socks and homework awaits you in A.J. Cosmo’s The Monster That Ate My Socks!

About The Monster That Ate My Socks

Max is a young boy who is always getting in trouble for losing his socks! He does not know where they go but if he doesn’t solve the mystery quick his Mother will ground him for the whole summer.

Max discovers that a little green monster is sneaking into his room at night and eating his socks! His Mother doesn’t believe him no matter what he tells her. Max decides to call on his best friend for a sleepover in order to help him catch the monster.

Together the boys develop a plan to trap the monster. To their surprise the monster can speak! It had never meant to hurt the boys, the monster was just trying to feed his family. The monster takes the boys to meet his family and begs the boys not to turn them over to his parents because adults only want to destroy monsters.

The boys are left in a difficult decision. Turn the monsters over to their parents so they don’t get in trouble or let the monsters run free. Together they design a new plan for the monsters.

My Thoughts

I was so pleasantly surprised with this book! I had thought it would be a story of evil monsters who were stealing away poor Max’s socks! Instead A.J. puts together a story of compassion and understanding. When Max realizes that the monster is just like him, he can not help feel a connection to him. The monster talks and is remorseful but all he was doing was just trying to feed his family. Max is left with such a difficult decision – to either help or turn in the monster. His decision shows children that kindness and compassion will solve any problem.

The illustrations are just adorable and go along with the story perfectly! They really help to make the story come alive in your mind. I loved seeing the children monsters.

As a parent, I want the books my children to read to teach and guide them. The Monster That Ate My Socks is the perfect story for this! It teaches children kindness and compassion for everyone.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

A.J.’s stories are designed to help parents teach their children everyday lessons in an easy to understand format for children. A.J. pairs artfully illustrations and language, children are challenged to explore his magical world. Connect with A.J. on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

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.