Category: childrens books

January 19, 2015

Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh #giveaway

As a child, I grew up with the stories of Winnie the Pooh and his friendly gang. We had the collection of stuffed animals and the bedtime stories to go along with it. My love of Winnie the Pooh only grew stronger when I had my own children. I wanted them to love Winnie the Pooh just as much as I do!

It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I realized that the story I love so much was actually based on a true story! This true story comes to life in the new book, Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh set to release on January 20th, 2015.

Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh tells the story of Harry Coleburn, a veterinarian and a solder in training for World War I. On his way to training he finds a baby bear for sale at the train station and he knew within his heart that he had to care for the bear. Harry names the bear Winnie, short for his company’s home town of Winnipeg and brings Winnie with him to the training camp in England. She quickly becomes attached to Harry and follows him everywhere and soon becomes the regiment’s much-loved mascot. All too soon, Harry has to ship off to the battlegrounds in France and must find a loving home for Winnie. He chooses the London Zoo. While Winnie is there a very special little boy named Christopher Robin comes along and plays with Winnie.

This story is an incredibly heart warming tale that is the perfect story to share with your children. A tale of love, compassion and friendship that is timeless. The illustrations are wonderful and beautifully created to showcase the friendship and love that forms.

The book also includes original photographs of Harry, Winnie and Christopher Robin! This was a perfect idea to really connect the story to it’s past. Our kids loved looking at the photographs.

If you can’t wait and want to purchase a copy of the book you can do so now on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

The Giveaway!

Canadian residents, 18 years of age and older can enter to win their own copy using the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

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.

October 2, 2014

Eye Wonder Sharks from DK Canada #review

Do you have a little one in your home who loves sharks? We have two huge shark fans – so big we aren’t allowed to plan vacations during Shark Week otherwise they may miss an episode which just can not happen. I have to admit that these beautiful creatures hold a special place in my heart as well for many reasons. We love to discover new facts, learn about new sharks and their habits.

The Eye Wonder series is a precursor to the Eyewitness series and is specially designed for the 5+ crowd. The book comes in hardcover format (perfect for young kids who are not always as gentle as they could be) with large, beautiful photographs. The photographs and accompanying easy to read vocabulary made it the perfect book for us to read together as a family. We could easily open the book, pick out a photo and learn all about that shark in easy to use terms. I fell in love with the big, bold and bright photographs that truly showcase the beauty of sharks.

We were able to learn about a great variety of sharks from big to small as well as some odd looking ones we never knew about before. We looked at their teeth, eating habits, gills and so much more. I even learned some new stuff (Mom even sat down with the book after the kids went to bed so that I could read more too – love books like that!). As if Eye Wonder Sharks couldn’t get any better -at the end of the book they include eight pages of activities for your child to really dive in and enhance the complete learning experience. A win-win for us!

This book was such a hit that our eldest took the book to school and has kept it there for his friends and him to read during their breaks! That is when you know a book has done it’s job – it has engaged and sparked their curiosity to learn!

Check out the DK Canada Back to School boutique for more exciting Eye Wonder series as well as great workbooks to get your child back in the swing of things. The boutique is also offering a 30% off discount for a limited time so make sure to get in on that discount before it is gone!

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

August 28, 2014

DK Math Boutique: Build Up Those Math Skills for BTS #review

Math can either be the easiest subject for your child to master or it can cause frustration and tears. We have seen both in our house. Some units are easier while other units can take a lot to master – I still have nightmares of calculus and I am dreading the day when I have to help my son with this!

We were sent the DK Canada Math Made Easy. Each Math Made Easy book is divided up by grade and you choose the correct grade for your child.

For our son we chose the grade he was entering into in September. It started off with the easier math problems and slowly advanced as he made his way through the book. We had to help a little bit but it was a great confidence booster. It also helped to give him a glimpse into what the math program will be like this year. He hasn’t made it through the book (it is quite big!) but we are working on two pages a day. It has helped to reinforce all the lessons that were taught (and beginning to fade!) since last year.

Math skills are so important to practice on a daily basis as each lesson is based on the previous and a child can quickly become lost. Supplementing short lessons at home is so important and these books made it easy for us as parents!

For a limited time, DK Canada is offering 30% at the Making Math Fun! Boutique.

How do you help your child at home with math skills? Do you have your own program? Or do you use resource books?

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the above mentioned books. All opinions expressed are my own.

August 25, 2014

Starting the School Year Right with DK Readers #review

Reading is one of my favourite past times. It is also an essential skill that I want my children to master and feel comfortable with while still loving it. Sometimes children can become frustrated with their reading, not knowing a word, the material may not be something that they like or the book itself is too complicated.

DK readers are designed to allow readers to find their current reading level and gain confidence as they develop their reading skills. Readers will progress through simple to read sentences, simple words to more challenging story lines and vocabulary. The image below is the how their levels are determined as well as the corresponding descriptions of how each book is set up (vocabulary and sentences).

The books in this boutique range from historical to science to nature all the way to super heroes and Star Wars! With such a great selection your child will have plenty to chose from without being bored.

Our youngest chose Little Dolphin and Stars Wars A New Hope. Both of these books were a Level One and had short, simple sentences (although the names in Star Wars were a bit tougher for him to grasp). The illustrations were large and kept him entertained while we read the story together. The books are light weight and easy for him to hold. Our eldest got in on the fun and read the stories to his brother (made my heart melt watching them!).

DK Canada wants to help your child get back into the reading routine the right way and is offering a special deal in their DK Readers boutique – buy two and get one free! Make sure you head over there and get a look at their full collection.

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