Category: DK Canada

August 2, 2019

Cross-Sections Castle Book Review

Bring history to life with Cross-Sections Castle book!

About Cross-Sections Castle

History comes alive in this incredible children’s illustrated book about castles. Slicing through different areas of a medieval fortress, extraordinary views reveal the people busy inside, and preparing for battle as an enemy army approaches.

Packed with facts, you’ll find out what it takes to build a massive 14th-century castle, dress a knight in armour, or prepare a feast fit for a king or queen. From the drawbridge to the dungeon, Cross-Sections Castle swarms with the people who keep the castle ticking over – the workers, craftsmen, and servants. And, as you pore over every page, look out for the villainous spy. Is he in the well… the keep… the moat? No? Keep looking, he’s there somewhere!

Back in print after 20 years, you can now cheer on jousters, be entertained by a troubadour, and witness the gory details of a traitor’s demise. This unique illustrated book for kids is not just the story of a castle, it bring medieval history to life.

Our Thoughts

As many of you may already know, I am a huge history buff. I love everything and anything from our past – I love learning about where we came from and how we can make the future better.

Castles are breath taking and majestic – I am not sure how else you can describe them. They are powerful, standing out proud against the sky in defiance. They not only impress but they protected their people within the walls. I always imagine how it must have felt to walk the halls during these time periods and even approach these magnificent buildings. Would you be intimidated? What did it smell like? What were the sounds?

This book gives us a great introduction to what a castle is, all of the features (I liked this term – the anatomy of the castle), how it functioned and so much more. The specific chapters include: defense and siege, garrison and prisoners, building the castle, trades and skills, living like a Lord, food and feasting, entertainment, livestock and produce, munitions and punishment (phew – now that is a list)!.

Each two page spread contains one large picture that usually spreads out over both pages. The picture is of the castle (hence the name cross section – t really does remind me of anatomy classes when we were in the lab). Bolted points and their corresponding paragraphs are found throughout the pages with arrows leading to the specific part in the picture. While the pictures could be a bit busy, you definitely learn a lot while reading this book with your child. It is definitely geared towards an older child, unless you sit with your child to explain the wording and pictures. There is a lot of interesting facts (my kids liked learning about a bakers dozen – bet you didn’t see that one coming). This is great book for the child that loves to learn about their past and has a fascination with castles and knights.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Richard Platt has published more than 100 books, 32 of which were for DK. He has written on almost every topic you can imagine, but is particularly interested in the history of science and technology, and social history. He has become a bit of an amateur expert on the subject of life at sea, smuggling, and piracy. Most of his books are illustrated information books for children, but he has also written stories for children and several for adults. Some have won prizes, including the Smarties silver prize, and a Blue Peter award. Richard also writes TV scripts and museum interpretation, and he has appeared on TV and radio.

Stephen Biesty is a world-renowned British illustrator. He made his name in the 1990s for his best-selling Incredible Cross-Section books published by Dorling Kindersley, which have topped global sales of 3.5 million and have been printed in 16 languages. He has won several prestigious prizes, including the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award in 1993, and the UK Literary Association Children’s Book Award in 2004. Stephen has created illustrations for high-profile architectural projects, such as the Millennium Dome in 1999 and the redevelopment of the Royal Opera House in 2000. He has also worked on digital media projects such as an animated film for an exhibition at Tower Bridge in 2009, and a website for the USS Constitution Museum in Boston in 2010 to celebrate the bicentennial of this famous American warship.

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

August 2, 2019

The Fighter’s Kitchen

Real training starts in the kitchen – get ready to be inspired and learn 100 muscle building, fat burning recipes with The Fighter’s Kitchen.

The Fighter’s Kitchen

100 muscle-building, fat-burning recipes, with meal plans to sculpt your warrior body.

Ever wonder how professional MMA fighters in the UFC prepare their bodies for fights? The real training often starts in the kitchen, where the right meals at the right times can give fighters everything they need to be ready for their next match.

Fighters fuel their bodies with precise nutrients delivered at specific times to achieve their functional physiques–and now you can too. The Fighter’s Kitchen provides expert guidance on what and when to eat, and it helps you understand how our bodies use what we eat to burn fat and build lean, strong muscle. Through phased weekly meal plans, expert insight on how and when to take full advantage of your body’s muscle-building capabilities, and 100 delicious recipes, you’ll find yourself looking ring ready even if you have no plans to step into one.

Our Thoughts

There really is a science to eating well and gaining muscle mass and losing weight. When I lost the majority of my weight, I had to really watch my macro nutrients – I kept track of how much protein, carbs and fats (as a percentage of my total calories in a day) and needed to ensure I kept in a very specific ratio for both losing weight and maintaining muscle. It worked really well for me.

This book dives into a greater knowledge of those macro-nutrients, why they are so important and how to use them to achieve your body goals. You can choose from one of four plans: maintenance, strength, muscular endurance and power and explosion. You are told your total calories for the day and the percentage of carbs, protein and fats. For example – the strength plan sees your carbs at 40%, protein 30% and fats at 30% of your daily caloric intake (when I was losing weight my protein was 40%, carbs 30% and fats 30% for example). The key is in counting and keeping track. While this book has a breakdown for each recipe – if you don’t track everything you intake, it wont be helpful.

After a sound background into the meal plans, nutrition, sample meal plans – Chris gives us 100 recipes that are easy to make, full of nutrients and help you meet your goal. There are sections for: breakfast, entrees, salads & sides, sandwiches & steaks and smoothies, shakes & desserts (my favourites!). Each recipe is on its own page and also comes with its own nutritional break down for calories, fat, carbs and protein. The recipes are for the most part very simple to follow (usually only a few steps), some items you will have to purchase specially but if you follow a healthy diet you should have many of these items at home.

This is an excellent resource and recipe book for men and women, who are looking to improve their health, increase their nutrition knowledge and focus on giving their body the fuel it needs to meet their goals. While easy to follow (mostly because of the fantastic writing) – it is jam packed with knowledge and tools that you need to succeed with your goals. A must have for every health conscious individual.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About Chris Algieri

Chris has over 13 years of professional fight experience – the Former World Boxing Organization Jr. Welterweight Boxing Champion, ISKA World Welterweight Kickboxing Champion and WKA World Super Welterweight World Kickboxing Champion.

Chris has a Bachelors of Science in Health Care Management and a master’s degree from the New York Institute of Technology. He is a certified Sports Nutritionist through the International Society of Sport Nutrition and speaks at conferences, seminars and summits on various topics of human performance and nutrition.

From his website:

“Aside from the performance and sports science aspect of food, I love to cook and share meals. I come from backgrounds (Argentinean on mother’s side and Italian on father’s) that stress the importance of food culture and community. I grew up with a sense that the food we prepare and share is more than just macros and micros. My passion and understanding of food preparation comes across in my cooking. Anyone who enjoys cooking, loves to share their creations with others!” “ – Chris Algieri http://www.chrisalgieri.com/about-2

Disclosure: I received the above book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 21, 2019

The Big Book of Knowledge

A whole world of discovery awaits in the Big Book of Knowledge, and it will keep curious kids endlessly captivated.

About Big Book of Knowledge

The perfect encyclopedia for any information-hungry kid who would like to boost their general knowledge, this pocket-sized book is packed full of facts.

From earthquakes to Marco Polo, magnets to how the brain works, this fully updated six hundred page book covers just about every topic that a curious child will want to learn about.

The perfect resource for school-aged children, this book will be a reference point for years’ worth of homework, research, and school projects.

Updated photography and illustration are combined to show what others only tell you. Annotation points out the details that you might miss at first and gives you a detailed overview of every subject that you can think of.

Our Thoughts

This small but mighty book is jam packed with everything and anything you would ever need to know (or didn’t even realize you wanted to know).

The book covers four chapters: earth and space, the natural world, our world and science and technology. Each chapter is further broken down into additional sections such as, plant life, people in the past, food and farming and so on.

You can start off reading this book how ever you want – you do not have to read it from the front cover to the back and I encourage you not to. Instead open up that table of contents and choose a chapter and section that appeals the most to you. We started with the natural world as our kids love animals. Of course the very first page we stumble upon – Plankton! It was not the Plankton that our youngest had imagined (thank you Spongebob) but he really did enjoy learning about this creature before moving on to the mammals section.

Each topic has two dedicated pages to it (i.e. apes will span both pages) and each page is just slightly larger than a 4×6 photo and easily fits into the palm of your hands. The book contains beautiful images but the words take prominence in this book which I loved but also makes it suited to an older child or young adult.

This is a fantastic book to get your child (and you) learning in the summer months. Read as much or as little as you want each time, bring it to the beach, enjoy it at a soccer game – the possibilities and learning are endless. You will truly treasure this special small book that is jam packed with knowledge.

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

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

June 21, 2019

DKfindout! Space Travel

This children’s book on space travel is packed with inspiring stories and facts about space exploration, astronauts, and the first moon landing.

About DKfindout! Space Travel

DK findout! Space Travel is ideal for children who love to learn about adventures in space. From the first astronaut in space to the Apollo Moon landings, this book is full of exciting facts about the astronauts who explored space, including Yuri Gagarin’s first journey into space and Neil Armstrong’s moon landing.

Learn about the sun, our solar system, the International Space Station, how to be an astronaut, the Space Race, and new worlds discovered by space-exploring probes.

This children’s book is packed with amazing facts that will delight young readers. It is written by experts and checked by an educational consultant. Part of the award-winning DKfindout! series, this exciting book includes amazing photography and illustrations that help children understand the wonders of space travel.

Our Thoughts

Do you have a little Astronaut in the house? Someone who loves space, rockets and space travel?

Then this book is for that special child in your life. This soft cover book explores the world of space travel and is packed full of interesting facts, incredible photos and more. The coolest fact we learned? In 2001, Dennis Tito became the first space flight participant – he paid more than $20 million to spend a week on the ISS! I had no idea that a regular person had already gone up in space nor that it could cost that much money (I guess my plans are now out the window!). This book also features fun games – want to play a game of space quest? Check out page 44 for some fun to break up the reading.

This is a fun book for children of all ages who want to be an astronaut, love space travel or maybe love Star Trek or Star Wars. It gets them thinking about the world around us, what it would be like to travel in space, is there life outside of our planet and what does space travel have the potential to look like in thirty, fifty and even sixty years from now. They will enjoy and appreciate the bright, bold photos and the amazing amount of cool facts found within its pages. A definite must read for children this summer – maybe even get them started on building their own space rocket in the backyard?

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

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

June 11, 2019

Knowledge Genius

Open the pages of Knowledge Genius to find out what you know, and challenge yourself to learn even more!

About Knowledge Genius

A fun general knowledge quiz book for kids – test their brain and see who will be crowned a genius!

Children won’t be able to resist the Knowledge Genius brain-busting challenge. For every topic, pages are packed with eye-popping pictures – but do you know what they show? To help you, “Test Yourself” panels list what you’re looking for. With three levels of difficulty, the challenge gets harder as you work your way from Starter, to Challenger, and finally the truly tricky Genius category. If you need it, there’s a fun fact with every picture to give a helpful clue.

With more than 60 topics, from across the encyclopedia, there’s something for everyone. Can you name the most famous rivers worldwide? Do you know your cranium from your clavicle, or do you need to bone up on the parts of the human skeleton? Are you a demon on dinosaurs, and able to spot the difference between an archaeopteryx and an allosaurus? Perhaps you’re a brain box and can do all of this standing on your head? You can!

Our Thoughts

This amazing hard cover book was so much fun learning both together and on my own (I say on my own because I wanted to cheat a bit and study before we quizzed each other the second time!).

In order to use this book, you start off each chapter with learning about the basics of that chapters (chapters include: space, nature, geography, history and culture). Then comes the harder parts, you need to challenge yourself by looking at the test yourself section and then the quizzes. Each page has helpful pictures and clues to help guide you to your answer, along with increasingly difficult questions. You can find the answers at the bottom of each page upside down. Each chapter starts with its own picture quiz, which I didn’t realize at first!

This is an excellent learning tool and activity to play together as a family and especially for those little ones who may not be always so keen on reading by themselves. They will truly enjoy the challenge of answering the questions, reading the clues and looking at the pictures. You definitely don’t have to do the whole chapter at a time – you don’t even have to go in order. The learning should be fun – I started with History which I love (and knew I could beat those kids with!!) but they loved the nature section. This will become a true family favourite in all homes.

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

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