February 22, 2021
Lemar and her Magical Pets
Lemar and her Magical Pets teach simple facts about pets and give children a glimpse of what it means to own a pet; that pets require lots of care and are hard work.
Lemar and her Magical Pets
Perhaps, Pets are more than best friends, they are a huge responsibility. Lemar and her Magical Pets teach simple facts about pets and give children a glimpse of what it means to own a pet; that pets require lots of care and are hard work. Lemar finds a gemstone in her backyard. She will use it to ask for a pet. Little did she know that the gemstone will unfold the truth of owning a pet. With a little bit of time left to try over and over again, will magic work for her after all? This children’s book is full of unexpected magical Outcomes! Children will love to read it over and over again.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
About the Author
Nesrine is a full-time preschool teacher for more than ten years. Nesrine holds a degree in child development and is currently working on a master’s degree in Family and Human Development. Nesrine loves to read fantasy books and believes in the magic of hard work! Currently, she is working on books two of ,both, the Magical Gemstone Series and Learning Through Reflection Series. More on the personal side, Nesrine loves white flowers, horses, birds, and is fascinated with ants’ teamwork.
You can connect with them on their website and Instagram.
Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.
February 17, 2021
Snatch the Treats from Granny in Greedy Granny from Goliath Games
Can you steal the sweets from Granny without waking her up? Try your skills out in the new Greedy Granny game from Goliath Games.
About Greedy Granny
Grab the treats as quickly and quietly as you can with Greedy Granny! Granny loves her sweets, but she’s not so great at sharing (oh no!). While Granny snoozes, spin the treat wheel to see which sweet to swipe. But be quiet…one wrong move will wake Granny up and send her teeth flying.
In order to win, you must collect each one of her treats.
Game Contents:
- 1 Greedy Granny in an Armchair (2 Pieces)
- 1 Set of Granny’s Teeth (1 Piece)
- 1 Treat Wheel
- 12 Treats
Our Thoughts
Greedy Granny made a great new addition to our pandemic game nights. While our lockdown rules may have lifted quite recently, we are still spending the majority of our time at home. To keep the nights fun and everyone in bright moods, we turn to games that entertain and bring out our competitive nature.
Greedy Granny was a new concept to me, the game requires no batteries to use (my favourite part) and was easy to set up. The set up consisted of attaching Granny’s upper body and the top of the recliner to the base and you are ready to play. To be fair – I was awful at this part (for some reason I could not get the top to recline and Granny’s arms to go down) but my husband figured it out quite quickly.
The game concept is fun and easy to follow as you spin the the wheel to determine the treat you need to steal and the amount of times that you must press the button (this will eventually trigger Granny to wake up). In order to win the game, a player must collect one of each of her favourite treats without waking her up (which causes quite the scene as she moves forward and sends her teeth flying). The game can be played with two to four players and is suited for players aged four and up. It was easy to play together and follow the rules (the game design makes it hard to cheat – a must have in our competitive family). The set up and clean up is simple as it is one unit with a few smaller pieces (treats).
Greedy Granny is a fun and easy game to play that the whole family will fall in love with.
Greedy Granny Video
You can purchase Greedy Granny from Walmart, Amazon and Target.
Make sure to stay up to date with new game releases and more from Goliath Games by connecting with them on their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Disclosure: I received this product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
February 16, 2021
Love Book Review
“Love connects us, no matter how far apart we are.” – Love
About Love
Everyone loves everyone in Tess’s house. When Tess has to leave for school for the very first time, she is worried that her family’s love might not stretch that far. Her Mom explains that love is like a string, that it connects people together even when they are far away. At school Tess notices that all the children have strings. Some are new, some are old, some stretch a long way, and some even stretch right up into the sky! But what happens when a string breaks?
Our Thoughts
We fell in love with this beautiful story about relationships and the power of love between families, friends and even teachers. Big events can be scary for children, especially when they have spent their lives surrounded only by their immediate family and loved ones. The thought of being separated from this love and comfort zone is scary for children. This book did an amazing job of showing children that we are still connected to our family and loved ones through a very special bond (in this story a string) that stretches and bends over long distances but no matter what is always there. All of us have strings to our loved ones and each string is just a little bit different. Tess learns about these strings and how they are connected with a big new adventure for her – school!
This book does an incredible job of making a tough topic easy to understand, full of compassion, and understanding. It made my heart melt as we read the story together. The words flow nicely and have a great rhythm to them. The illustrations feel soft and tender, matching the tone of the story and help pull the story together. Love is a beautiful story for young children as they set out for preschool and school for the first time (and even for older children as they deal with separation and anxiety). It helps to tackle those big feelings in a way that young children can break down and understand.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
About the Author and Illustrator
Corrinne Averiss is the author of My Pet Star, winner of the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year, the Stockport Children’s Book Awards and in over 450,000 homes as part of Booktrust’s Pyjamarama campaign. Her first book, A Dot in the Snow, illustrated by Fiona Woodcock, was shortlisted for the CILIP Greenaway award, featured on CBeebies’ Bedtime Stories and in The Sunday Times’ Books of the Year. She is the author of Joy, Hope, Sorrel and the Sleepover, The Boy on the Bench, and Floss the Playground Boss. She is drawn to themes of identity and belonging in her books and aims to deliver big feelings with humour and tenderness.
Kirsti Beautyman works from her studio in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, using a range of mediums to build layers of texture and detail which are combined digitally to create her illustrations. She finds inspiration within mundane observations and is often staring vacantly into the distance thinking up narratives and ideas. Kirsti won Picture Hooks Illustrator of the Year Award in 2017.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
February 9, 2021
A Rendezvous to Remember
In alternating voices, A Rendezvous to Remember presents firsthand accounts by the two who eventually married, enriched by letters from the rival, whose path led him elsewhere.
About A Rendezvous to Remember
In June 1964, Ann Garretson skips her college commencement to tour Europe with Lieutenant Jack Sigg, a tank commander on the German-Czech border, with the hope of returning as his fiancée. A month into their rendezvous, her best friend, Terry, proposes marriage—by mail—throwing all their lives into turmoil.
Jack offers the military life Ann grew up with. Terry, a conscientious objector, will leave for the Peace Corps at the end of the summer—unless the draft board intervenes and sends him to jail. Her dilemma: she loves them both. Caught between the old mores and winds of change, Ann must make an agonizing choice.
In alternating voices, A Rendezvous to Remember presents firsthand accounts by the two who eventually married, enriched by letters from the rival, whose path led him elsewhere. Provocative and delightfully uncensored, this coming-of-age memoir, anchored in the tumult of the sixties, is a tribute to the enduring power of love and family.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound.
About the Authors
Terry Marshall and Ann Garretson Marshall taught English in the Philippines as Peace Corps volunteers and later served as Peace Corps country co-directors in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu. Back in the States, they worked side by side as community organizers and activists in Colorado. Terry went on to write fiction and nonfiction works on discrimination, poverty, rural development, and intercultural conflict. Ann has thirty years of experience as a writer, editor, and community-government go-between for issues related to nuclear and hazardous waste cleanup. Always seeking adventure, Terry and Ann have traveled to forty-three countries. They live in Las Vegas, Nevada.
You can connect with them on their website, Twitter and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.
February 2, 2021
The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola Book Review
Set in the sixteenth-century, The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola tells the story of a woman’s passion for painting and adventure.
About The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola
Set in the sixteenth-century, The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola tells the story of a woman’s passion for painting and adventure. In a world where women painters had little to no acknowledgment, she was singled out by Michelangelo and Vasari who recognized and praised her talent. Gaining the Milanese elite’s acclaim, she went on to become court painter to Spanish King Philip II and taught his queen to paint. One can’t live such an extraordinary life without having stories to tell, and tell them Sofonisba does to Sir Anthony Van Dyke, who comes to visit her toward the end of her life. During their meeting, she agrees to reveal her secrets but first challenges the younger painter to find the one lie hidden in her tale. In a saga filled with intrigue, jealousy, buried treasure, unrequited love, espionage, and murder, Sofonisba’s story is played out against the backdrop of Italy, Spain, and Sicily. Throughout her life, she encounters talented artists, authoritative dukes, mad princes, religious kings, spying queens, vivacious viscounts, and dashing sea captains—even a Barbary pirate. But of all the people who fell in love with Sofonisba, only one captured her heart. The painter may have many secrets but the truth of her life is crystal clear from the beginning. Always a strong, passionate woman with a dream, she was an intelligent artist who knew her self-worth and in the end, as Michelangelo had done for her, Sofonisba passed her brush to a new generation.
My Thoughts
Sofonisba is a painter and a master story creator. This novel paints a vibrant story of an incredible, strong, independent woman as she navigates a male dominated field and time.
Sofonisba was born in the 1500s to a noble family who were rich in love, family and the belief of the power of a woman. Sofonisba and her sisters were each born with different gifts – hers being the gift of art and painting. Her portraits and paintings come to life with the way she captures the spirit of the moment and the individual. Her parents supported her love of art and ensured that she studied under the greats, both locally and in Rome. She quickly captures the eyes of some powerful people and she travels to the Spanish court, where her life takes some ups and downs. She led a life of passion, love and no regrets, full of adventure and danger.
Her story is one of mystery, adventure and inspiration. She was born during a time when women were not encouraged to paint and express themselves, and although she faced discrimination (she was not allowed to further her studies and paint bodies in the nude) she excelled in her paintings. She threw concepts of marriage and motherhood out the window – she decided who and when to love, although ultimately she ended in an arranged marriage at the ago of 40! She kept us on our toes throughout the novel with her sharp wit, sense of humour and adventure. She was and still is, an inspiration to female artists, she knew exactly what her self-worth was and did not accept any less from others around her. This is a definite must read novel, full of passion, history and mystery.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Melissa Muldoon is the author of four novels set in Italy: Dreaming Sophia, Waking Isabella, Eternally Artemisia, and The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola. All four books tell the stories of women and their journeys of self-discovery to find love, uncover hidden truths, and follow their destinies to shape a better future for themselves. Melissa is also the author of the Studentessa Matta website, where she promotes the study of Italian language and culture through her dual-language blog written in Italian and English (studentessamatta.com). Studentessa Matta means the “crazy linguist” and has grown to include a podcast, Tutti Matti per l’Italiano and the Studentessa Matta, YouTube channel, Facebook page and Instagram feed. Melissa also created Matta Italian Language Immersion Programs, which she co-leads with Italian schools in Italy to learn Italian in Italy. Through her website, she also offers the opportunities to live and study in Italy through Homestay programs. Melissa has a B.A. in fine arts, art history, and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master’s degree in art history from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has also studied painting and art history in Florence. She is an artist, designer, and illustrated the cover art for all four of her books. Melissa is the managing director of Matta Press
You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
Book Trailer
The Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review, all opinions expressed are my own.