Category: review

January 5, 2014

The Other Bears: Teaching Acceptance and Respect for All

It is so important to teach our youth to accept and respect people that may be different then us whether it is by culture, skin tone, gender, etc. For young children it can be hard to help them understand (to be honest – I can tell my two year old the same thing many times and he will probably still repeat the same action). Books and movies are an excellent avenue to help children learn that we may look or act differently but on the inside we are all the same.

The Other Bears written by Michael Thompson follows the Koala Bear family. The Koala Bear family are taking a trip but the trip is made difficult by Mother and Father Koala Bear who are suspicious of all the other bears. Mother and Father Koala Bear find faults with all the differences the other bears have. All of these feelings melt away when they watch all of the little bears play together.

This children’s book touched on some great topics – acceptance and love for all types of people. I love how it shows the love that children have for all people and how this should be fostered by the adults in their life. Although they did address the topic of acceptance briefly I would have loved to see it expanded a little bit more at the end. It would have been nice to speak more about the Koala Bear parent’s mistakes in misjudging the other bears and how they would accept the other bears.

It did a great job of opening up the conversation with my eldest about his own experiences at school where he is exposed to bullying and racism towards other children (he is not the victim nor the aggressor but has been a witness and has numerous times acted to their defence or told a teacher). I realized we do not have these conversations enough.

Rating: 3.5/5

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

January 3, 2014

Merry Humbug Christmas Review

I love a good holiday read especially one full of laughter and characters I can relate to. I was given the opportunity to review Merry Humbug Christmas by Sandra D. Bricker. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am an avid reader. I can spend hours glued to my Kindle reading (to my husband’s annoyance!). How could I not be excited to read a two tale holiday romance book?

A Merry Humbug Christmas features two novellas; Once Upon a Jingle and It Came Upon a Midnight Deer. Both novellas follow the friendships of Joss and Reese during the stressful Christmas holiday season. For many individuals the holidays can be an extremely difficult time of the year that represents loss due to personal tragedies in their lives.

In Once Upon a Jingle, we meet Joss Snow who is on a constant quest to avoid the holiday season all together. For this holiday season she manages to book a Bah! Humbug cruise which all goes wrong when she is re-booked onto the 12 Days of Christmas cruise (and we are talking full out Christmas theme: elves, wreaths, candy canes, Christmas theme floors, Christmas crafts and more!). What becomes a nightmare for Joss suddenly changes when she meets Patrick who teaches her about the true meaning of Christmas and love.

In It Came Upon a Midnight Deer, we learn more about Joss’ friend Reese and her holiday adventure as she meets her future fiance’s family. She had always dreamed of the perfect Christmas and she wants nothing more than to be part of her fiance’s family traditions but things constantly go wrong for her (including setting fire to their home!).

I fell in love with these novellas. They were lighthearted and romantic but yet touched on topics of tragedy and stress during the holidays. I felt like Sandra was writing about myself when it came to Reese – she was a character that I could completely relate too!

Rating: 4/5

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing. The opinions expressed are my own.

December 27, 2013

Michael Smith: Back to Basics Review

I was given the pleasure of reviewing a copy of Michael Smith’s Back to Basics cookbook. If you are not yet familiar with Michael Smith, he is the best selling author of six cookbooks and also the host of several Food Network TV shows including Chef Michael’s Kitchen, Chef at Home and Chef Abroad. Michael lives in Prince Edward Island with his family.

This has to be one of the neatest cookbooks I have ever read. It is loaded with large, mouth watering photographs and contains a great variety of recipes. The recipes are broken down into salads, chicken, beef, pork and lamb, fish, pasta, sides and baking. I love how Michael constantly encourages us to add a bit of our own personality to his recipes (which is so important in cooking!).

I love the way he writes his cookbook. I felt like I had him standing beside me and talking to me (no numbered directions in this cook book!). It gave me the confidence to experiment with his recipes and feel confident that they would turn out fantastic.

I know that I love to have an idea of the types of recipes included in a cookbook before I purchase it so here are some of the names of the recipes that I fell in love with: Caribbean Braised Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash, Thai Chicken Broth with Sweet Potato and Cilantro, Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Bells Peppers and Goat Cheese, Tomato Basil Carbonara and so much more!

You can purchase the recipe book here.

Michael Smith’s Back to Basics is also featured on Penguin Canada’s December Daily Delight – have you been entering daily to win free books? You can still enter here now.

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

December 18, 2013

A Gift for Sophie Review & Giveaway US/CAN

Story time is a very special time in our house. It is the time of day where we can relax in bed, cuddle up with a blanket and catch up on some quality time with a good book. We love stories that carry a strong meaning for our children, stories they can cherish and learn from.

A Gift for Sophie written by Gilles Vigneault follows the life of Sophie a seven year old girl and her friendships with Old Man Tom and Emilio. We watch as Sophie grows and learns about loss and friendship. A Gift for Sophie is a powerful reminder of the connections we have with our loved ones and help children understand that we are always there for them whether in spirit or presence.

This beautifully written story also comes with a CD that contains both a narration of the story and nine heart warming songs that your whole family will love. The CD really helps bring the story to life. If you are more of a digital person and love reading stories on an app with your children you can download it on the iTunes store for only $7.99. These enhanced e-books offer a complete narration of the story with animation and two recorded songs.

My favourite features of A Gift for Sophie:

– An incredibly powerful and poetic story with an important message for our children. Makes the perfect bedtime story!
-The addition of the CD with a narration and songs (as well as the lyrics to sing along with!).
-An enhanced e-book for those who prefer to download e-books.
-Story is the perfect length – enough to create an interesting story line and to keep a child’s attention.
-The illustrations are beautiful! The illustrations are by Stéphane Jorisch (also a four time winner of the Governor General’s Literacy Award.
-The book is completely Canadian – writer by a Canadian author (Gilles Vigneault), illustrated by a Canadian illustrator (Stéphane Jorisch) and published by a great Canadian publisher – Secret Mountain!

If you are not familiar with the Secret Mountain, they are a Canadian publisher based out of Montreal. They are renowned internationally as a publisher of children’s books and music. They have a large volume of work that you can browse through on their website.

The Secret Mountain is offering one reader a chance to win their own copy of A Gift for Sophie! This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada so feel free to share with all your fellow parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the purpose to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

December 17, 2013

“You Can Be Anything!” with the Snoopy iPad App

I grew up with Snoopy and can never resist a favourite character from my youth! How can you not love how sweet Snoopy is?

I was very excited to review the “You Can Be Anything” Snoopy App from Story Panda. In this digital adventure Snoopy teaches children that they can be anything! This interactive story is a great way to start the conversation with our children on what they want to be when they grow up.

The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App was a great book to read with my son (it also has a mode where the story could be read to him) on our iPad. Snoopy had us laughing and learning lots of new careers and roles each one of us plays in life. Snoopy plays many roles in this great app inspiring children everywhere that we are special and we can be what ever we want to be.

The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App is full of animation, 3D effects, narratives and cool sounds. It also has a create mode where your child can create their own story to go along with the animations. My son had so much fun creating his own silly story using family names. He spent over thirty minutes on the app creating his own version. He was so proud of it at the end! He came up with cool jobs, neat story lines and was even able to change Snoopy’s clothes.

The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App was a huge hit in our home and for only $2.99 you can also explore this interactive story and create your own!

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