September 22, 2018
Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate Book Review
In Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate tells the story of LaPlank as he sets out on adventure with his crew.
About Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate
This rhyming pirate adventure tells a funny story of LaPlank perfectly captaining his ship as his new crew watches, until one by one they begin making minor mistakes and are shown the plank! It’s a classic and timely tale of something our culture today struggles to overcome, the desire to be perfect and in control. At a time when parents and children are bombarded by images in the media of perfect families and extreme athletic, educational, and financial success, we have much to learn from LaPlank’s epiphany, “It has nothing to do with ship captains and crews—perfection’s not something that pirates can choose. They’d bungled their business but those are the breaks—mistakes are just something that everyone makes!”
Our Thoughts
Mistakes are a normal part of life – stuff happens all the time but it is how we react to these mistakes can make or break us as individuals and our relationships with others.
In this book, LaPlank expects his crew to be beyond perfect – mistakes are never ever allowed to happen and if they do, you walk the plank! No one can do their duties or perform well under these extreme expectations and LaPlank’s crew is no exception. One by one they each make mistakes and it is their turn to walk the plank. It isn’t until there is no one left and the Captain has to perform all the duties, that he realizes how unfair he has been. Especially when he finds his own mistake! He learns the error of his way and returns to find his crew and make amends.
This was an excellent, funny book for children. They will laugh at the antics of the Captain but at the same time they learn an excellent lesson on understanding, acceptance and forgiveness. Out of every mistake, we learn something so we should never be afraid to try and make a mistake. Too often children don’t feel this, they feel overwhelmed to be perfect. It is important that they understand that perfection is impossible standard to have, instead we should embrace mistakes and share a good laugh over them. This would make a great starting point for parents to have a conversation with their child about mistakes they made, how they fixed them and moved forward.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon. Learn more about this book here.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
An emerging children’s author inspired by Dr. Seuss, Flibber T. Gibbet wrote the whimsical cautionary tale of Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate to inspire perfectionist parents to focus on embracing children doing the best they can, and perhaps they can learn a little something along the way too.
Book Trailer
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
September 13, 2018
Keep Calm and Track with Mint H Wireless Tracker
What is the worst feeling in the morning as you are trying to get out the door?
For myself, it is that moment when I am digging in my purse and I can not find my keys. I can feel my blood pressure rising, my face becoming flush and my patience dwindling. I know deep down inside my keys are in the house but my body reacts with panic and anxiety regardless. Until I find my keys, I am in panic mode and this flustered feeling tends to last the whole day no matter what. I am completely thrown off my routine and can never quite seem to make it back.
What if you could simply attach a receiver to your keys (or any item that you consistently misplace and causes you anxiety) and when you do misplace them, you simply press a button and voila – follow the beep to your item.
The Mint H from MYNT comes with a sleek base and six receivers that attach to an item. The remote and base are sleek and can fit in to your home decor. They are lightweight and small in size – the remote is similar to a smaller cellphone size wise but much lighter. The six receivers are colour coded to match the remote and are similar to a fob both in size and weight. Once attached to your item, they do not add extra weight to them – especially if you are concerned about the weight being added to your keys. They are very light and you will not notice the difference at all.
Setting up the wireless tracker is easy and quick, it is literally put the batteries in the remote and receivers and attach the receivers and you are ready to go. Almost hard to believe right? But that is it – no need to set up an app or anything else. Once the wireless tracker arrives in the mail, you can have the batteries in and ready to track in under five minutes.
Key features:
- clear alarm sound that can be heard up to thirty feet away and up to 90 db
- cost-effective – you receive six receivers for the price of one
- simple to use for all age groups
- easy maintenance – only replace the batteries every couple of months
I loved the ease and simplicity of the set up and even more so the sense of security I received knowing that even if I can’t find my keys in the morning because I didn’t put them in the right place, with the touch of a button I will hear them (and you will hear it!).
You can purchase a Mint H on Amazon for $22.97US.
How do you make life easier to find items? Do you put strategies in place or do you prefer to track your items?
Make sure to check out the entire collection of items from MYNT on their website.
Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
September 13, 2018
GayBCs: A Queer Alphabet Book Review
GayBCs is a progressive adult alphabet book that celebrates and illuminates LGBTQ terminology.
About GayBCS: A Queer Alphabet
What would happen if someone picked up a classic ABC book, crossed out the words, and replaced them with LGBTQ terms?
The result would be GAYBCs —a playful, subversive alphabet book that aims to spread awareness and demystify queer terminology for everyone. Instead of apple, ball, and chick, this book’s ABCs are ally, bisexual, and cisgender. A ladybug gains a matching girlfriend to become lesbian, kiss becomes kink, and tie gets a gender-bending twist to become transgender. Using straightforward, accessible language, GAYBCs also defines less commonly known terms, such as “femme,” “Mx.,” and “ze,” and puts LGBTQ-friendly spins on words like “wedding” and “equality.” With clear definitions and clever illustrations, this book is accessible to everyone from teenagers to grandparents and those in the LGBTQ community as well as family, friends, and allies of all backgrounds. A fun and informative adult picture book, GAYBCs is a queer ABCs for our modern world.
My Thoughts
This fantastic spin on your typical ABC book is an important starting point for adults, teens and children. For myself, I didn’t grow up with these terms and I feel like finally people are understanding that there is nothing different about LGBTQ community and the only thing wrong is the way they were and may still be treated by others.
It is an easy book to read with simple but impactful illustrations. Each letter takes up two of the pages (if you were to spread your fingers out, that would be roughly the size of one page to put this in perspective) and is given a new term in order to spread awareness. I learned a new term (Mx) and some of my favourite parts of the book were the letters W and Y as we look to the future and support our youth and equal rights for all because at the end of the day to each their own (if you read the book you will find that one!).
I know it is called an adult picture book but this is a book that you can read with a young child right up to a teenager. The terms and explanation are easy to understand and the illustrations are perfect and quite cleverly done (I loved how they used the original illustration and altered it for the new term – my favourite were the ladybugs).
This is an extremely important book to have in all houses as this is a conversation we should be having with our children. It is important that children understand that we are all born different and that there is no one catch description that fits all. The same applies to teens and adults! At the end of the day, we are all human and just trying to be happy – so be kind, respectful, understand and support!
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Rae Congdonis is an award-winning graphic designer and a graduate of Seton Hall University, where she studied graphic and interactive design with a minor in fine arts.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
September 12, 2018
The Hidden Village Audiobook Review
In The Hidden Village, whom can you trust? All it takes is one small fatal slip to change the course of all their lives forever.
About The Hidden Village
Deep in the Veluwe woods lies Berkenhout, a purpose-built village of huts sheltering dozens of persecuted people. But the Germans can find no proof of its existence. The whole community pulls together to help the Berkenhout inhabitants adjust to a difficult new life and, above all, stay safe.
Sofie, a Jewish Dutch girl, struggles to adapt to living in Berkenhout, away from her family and friends. As weeks turn to months, she’s worried they’ll abandon her altogether. Young tear away Jan likes to help, but he also enjoys roaming the woods looking for adventure and fallen pilots. His dream comes true, until he is found out. Henk is in charge of building the underground huts and organizing provisions to Berkenhout, but his contact with the Germans arouses suspicions.
Whom can you trust? All it takes is one small fatal slip to change the course of all their lives forever.
My Thoughts
This is a powerful, inspiring, heart breaking audiobook that you can’t stop listening to. It is fiction but is loosely based on the hidden villages in Holland during the war – it was something that I had never learned about and encouraged me to learn more.
Based in WWII, it follows the kindness and bravery of a group of people determine to protect those persecuted from the Germans. They create their own little hidden Village deep in the woods, far from the German’s eyes but not so far that they can live like a normal village. The people take great risks to not only get the individuals to the Village but to get them supplies, food and ensuring that no one else finds out about the group. It is an inspiring story about the bravery and kindness of ordinary people who did everything they could during the war. It had me in tears at times at the unfairness and other times smiling at the ability of the children to still find the good points in their lives. The children take on such a key role during this time both protecting the people and communicating messages, this can also be a downfall due to their innocence and excitement.
The narration in this story is excellent. He manages to somehow capture the innocence and trust of a child – he captures their inability to grasp the complete nature of the seriousness of their situation and how they sometimes only see the unfairness (like when Sofie was mad at her friend for being able to move freely while she was stuck in hiding – she knew it was important to be in hiding but she still felt it was unfair and not right). You felt the urgency in his tone and in the situation when the Germans would come to the homes and it kept you on your seats. He kept the story engaged with his tone and I loved listening to him telling the story.
This was a powerful audiobook – you were constantly on the edge of your seat as the village grows and the uncertainty of their situation increases. You were in constant fear that they would be found and your stomach turns every time they come in contact with a soldier. This is a definite must listen to for both young adults and adults alike.
You can purchase a copy of this audiobook on Amazon and Audible. Listen to a sound clip here.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Imogen Matthews is English and lives in the beautiful University town of Oxford. Before she wrote The Hidden Village, she published two romantic fiction e-novels under her pen name, Alex Johnson. The Hidden Village is published by Amsterdam Publishers, based in the Netherlands.
Imogen has strong connections with the Netherlands. Born in Rijswijk to a Dutch mother and English father, the family moved to England when Imogen was very young.
Every year since 1990, Imogen has been on family holidays to Nunspeet on the edge of the Veluwe woods.
It was here that she discovered the story of the hidden village, and together with her mother’s vivid stories of life in WW2 Holland, she was inspired to write her next novel.
To learn more about the author, please visit her website.
About the Narrator
Liam is an Irish-born voice-artist with over 10 years experience working in every field of the voice industry. His recent varied audiobook work includes the ‘Deception of a Highlander’ series of 3 books, Little Caesar for Audible, A Christmas Carol, The Tempest and Aviation Training. His regular corporate voice-clients include: Shell, BP, HMRC, HSBC, Hilton, Mondelez, Cadburys, Green & Blacks and many more. He has performed many radio-plays, narrations, animations and documentaries; from the Keith Moon biography to most Shakespeare radio-plays.
He is also an Associate Lecturer in Broadcast Voice and ‘Acting for Radio’ at Sheffield Hallam University.
He is a communication skills specialist and examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal Scottish College of Surgery and as such is highly fluent in complicated medical reads with Latin pronunciations.
He is also a highly acclaimed stage and screen actor. He studied at Lancaster University and then as a classically trained actor at Mountview. He spent his formative years in the Middle-East which has given him an understanding of different accents and cultures and is able to perform many accents to a native standard; including most UK regions, most Irish regions, most of Europe, Australia and North America, (hillbilly, New York, mid-Atlantic, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and is also able to create wildly inventive characters. He has lent his voice to some of the zaniest cartoons and animations written, from grumpy old wizards, to heroes, to South-American monkeys and even a sea-horse with a Scottish accent!
He is currently the youngest actor to play the lead role of Prospero in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ in London’s West–End. His recent production of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh won 4 prestigious Critic’s Choice Awards. He has worked for the most renowned theatre companies; from The Royal Exchange Theatre (2 Manchester theatre award nominations) to most regional theatres throughout the UK, including Alan Aykbourn’s SJT, New Vic, Oldham Coliseum, Donmar, Dukes, Nottingham Playhouse, Theatre by the Lake and many more. He also played Jerry in ‘Hollyoaks’ and appeared alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Hollywood feature film ‘Death Defying Acts’. His wide-ranging experience has also seen him perform Opera in ‘Rigoletto’.
In his spare time Liam is also a musician, playing violin, drums, piano and percussion, and spends time with Peg, his Springer Spaniel, out in the Peak District whenever he can get away from the studio!
Disclosure: I received an audiobook in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
September 11, 2018
Spartan and The Green Egg: The Poachers of Tiger Mountain
Spartan and friends travel to the Kingdom of Bhutan in Book 4 of Spartan and The Green Egg: The Poachers of Tiger Mountain.
About Spartan & The Green Egg: The Poachers of Tiger Mountain
Spartan and friends travel to the Kingdom of Bhutan in Book 4, The Poachers of Tiger Mountain. The travelers arrive at a village hosting a lively archery tournament as part of a Bhutanese festival. They make new friends who invite them to join the feast and watch the performance. Soon the group discovers that poachers have killed off many of the tigers that used to thrive in Bhutan, and now only 2 cubs remain. They face their most challenging mission yet: to save man-eating tigers from armed poachers amidst freezing weather conditions in the Himalayan Mountains! Using a few extraterrestrial tools and assistance from their new Bhutanese friends, the group embarks on a very dangerous mission. Will they arrive too late to save the tigers?
Our Thoughts
This children’s book follows the adventures of Spartan and his friends as they go on adventures and help the environment. This was my first time reading this series so I found it hard to understand a bit about the Green Egg so it would be a good idea to read the books in order. It wasn’t impossible because you quickly realize the Green Egg is similar to a time machine that takes them to the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Here the group of heroes meet a brand new culture, make friends and join in on their celebrations. They soon come to realize that the tigers in this region are quickly becoming extinct due to poachers! A scenario that many of us understand and which is a great teaching opportunity for us as parents with our children. They set out to rescue two tiger cubs and bring them back to a special tiger reserve where they will be safe from humans and cages. The only problem? Not only are there poachers, they have to make friends with the dangerous tiger cubs!
I was pleasantly surprised to see the book format was comic style. It helped to really draw you into the story and I know many kids like and appreciate the extra illustrations and fast pace of this style. I love how she touches on the topic that children can do anything and everything to help protect our animals and environment – while they may not be able to jump in a green egg – they are important members of our community and can make a huge impact. It is so important to empower youth to understand their potential and encourage them to be stewards of our home. We really enjoyed this book and the conversations it started at home.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon. Read more about the series on the Spartan and The Green Egg website.
Rating: 4/5
About the Author
Born in the Mediterranean and raised in Europe, Nabila Khasoggi is the founder of NABILA K, a lifestyle line of luxury skin care, home ambiance and personal products. When her eldest was a toddler, she entertained him with made up stories of a boy who traveled the world in a live green egg that happened to be an alien from another planet. She turned the tales into a children’s graphic novel series, Spartan and the Green Egg, with the intention of introducing children to environmental and cultural themes. Part of the proceeds from the sales goes to The Children for Peace ONLUS, which is based in Italy – this organization helps young people worldwide living in challenging circumstances obtain their essential needs such as food, medical help and education. Nabila currently lives in New York and has two sons.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.