Review: A Runtamuffin Tale

Runtamuffin.... is a cute little chicken that learns quickly that people are it's friends, and that thought carries Runtamuffin throughout her entire life. This fun picture book for children captures life in a barnyard, while teaching important truths to it's readers.

 Imagine you want to give someone a gift unique to them, what would it be?
In Lasse's case....he wanted to be a farmer...the gift, just for him...chickens!  Oh my the girls had fun in making this gift special for him.  You could sense the delight they had in the creating, and their love for him.

Art Book: Fine Art Adventures

What would you do if I told you that you could explore 18 different masterpieces with your student, using those 18 masterpieces as inspiration for doing 3 different art projects with students 6 years old and up?   Wouldn't that just peak your interest?   It certainly did mine.   Today I would like to introduce Fine Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw.

Art Book: It's Great to Create

Jon Burgerman has created a really fun art book for us to use.  Coming up with 101 creative exercises for anyone to do as they play around doing art.

Review: Shark Lady

Eugenie Clark was a girl who's very determined to work with marine life, particularly with sharks.   She was fascinated with them from the time she was very litter. Shark lady is the story of how she realized her dream.

Art Book: Making Amazing Art

Did you know that art has seven different elements to it?
Can you name them all?

Carole P. Roman's cultural, history books for children, a review

It has been my joy to read Carole P. Roman's books over these past few weeks.   Books from the "If you were me and lived" series that spoke to me predominately of days gone by, but one with a look into a possible future.   History was portrayed from The Mayan Empire, Viking Europe and the Ancient Mali Empire, the future glimpsed in a potential life on Mars.   Here are links to all four books that I reviewed via Amazon.com: If you were me and lived on ... Mars, If you were me and lived in ... The Ancient Mali Empire, If you were me and lived in ... Viking Europe, and If you were me and lived in ... The Mayan Empire.

Art Book:1 2 3, I Can Sculpt

 1,2,3, I Can Sculpt is colourful book geared to helping your young ones have fun creating sculptures.  The book starts off explaining what a sculpture is

"a piece of art that has more than one side to look at".

Isn't that just the most straight-forward definition of a sculpture that you have heard?

Review: Berenstain Bears: Bless our Gramps & Gran

 I have to admit, my 12 year old thinks I'm weird.. I know a shocker eh?

BUT WHY does he think I'm weird?   Because I've always liked the Berenstain Bears.  He unfortunately has never liked them.  He's never connected with bears.. but if the book were about cats... DIFFERENT STORY!  :)  

Nevertheless, I was delighted to review Mike Berenstain's recent book called Bless our Gramps and Gran. 

Review: My Great Big God

 I suppose it's odd of me, but I like reviewing these hardcover children's bible story books.  Perhaps it's because I have a wee niece (what do you call a niece of a niece?) and her mom is dating a fellow who has a wee lad around the same age.   So I have these two little people in my life so these books make me smile.   I want them to have good books that help show them who God is.

This book makes the cut, let me tell you why.

Review: The Superhero Handbook

 I have to admit, this is a cute book. Written in bold, easy to read font with quick easy instructions to get children on the road to making their own Superhero gear.   The Superhero Handbook is just that, a handbook made just for your average superhero, reminding him/her of all things important to superheroes.

Books Read During the Month of July

Did you know that one of my favourite things to do while on vacation is to read books?  I know.. totally shocking eh?  (not).  :)

Anyways, we had a week camping up at Grundy Lake, only a week so I brought nine books with me and got 8.5 read.   

Timestoppers: quest for golden arrow is the second in a series that I am thoroughly enjoying. I won't tell you a whole lot about it as a review is coming up.  Suffice it to say though... GOOD BOOK.  Hubby is waiting in line to read it after the lad gets finished (though that might take a spell).

 

The Help.  Wow.. fascinating book.  A look into the lives of negro house servants after emancipation and what not.  How friendships were formed, how hatred and bigotry were shown just so casually, how black people had to be so careful to walk the right thin line.   It was eye-opening and a very interesting read.

 

Alex Cross's Trial.  Other black's in the south motif for this book.  This one with a darker theme when the KKK was active, people taking a stand.  I do not understand the level of hatred and vitirol displayed.   It makes no sense to me the betrayal, the whites only and the depth people would go to protect their own and attack another race.  I know things like this go on today in other forms and stuff, but it's just plain nastiness.   Hard read, but glad I took a look into that world.

 


Vision in White.   What can I say.. a romance with a touch of mystery to it.  It's a light easy read and much needed after the two previous books.  Discovering strength within, overcoming ones' past.  Themes were good.






A train of thought.  I love trains and thought I just might enjoy this story.  I DID!  I want the lad to read it when he's older.  The wisdom in the stories, and old railroader speaking to how things were.  It's a review coming up so won't say much more.

NYPD RED 2.  Another Patterson book but quite different. The mob, vigilante justice, the power of a evil minded leader and a docile follower.   Disaster neatly avoided.  I was intrigued throughout the whole book AND surprised a time or two.   Good read if you like a suspense-filled mystery.



Fatal Illusions.  OH.. oh ...oh.. how I wanted this bad guy caught!   He was just a nasty minded fellow out of a nasty minded woman.  Oh.. but a positive note.  A family was drawn closer together.  Faith was made evident.   Repentance seen where needed AND.... (spoiler alert) bad guy was stopped!  Makes for a good read that!  :)


 

Alexandria.  Honestly started this one, but didn't finish it.  Not sure I will.  The style of writing and the time period is just totally loosing me.   A mystery in Egypt when Britain was "helping" rule her.







The Villa.  Another Nora Roberts book.  Needed a light easy read after going through NYPD RED and Fatal Illusions.    I haven't finished this one yet, but so far, it's a decent read.

OH!   I almost forgot.  The Memory Keeper's Daughter.  WOW...this book was fascinating and very sad and lost and drew me in like a moth to the flame.  Captivated by the joy, the sorrow.  The fact that a hidden secret about ruined a family and then drew them back in again.  Fascinating book.  





Books read as reviews: 
The Benevolent Bee: I liked this book.  A bit more technical than the other bee book I read, but a good book with stories, crafts, recipes.  

TimeStoppers book one!   Loved this first book, begged for the second.  :)   Good sci-fi book for younger readers as well as older ones.  :)

My Jesus Bible.  Hardcover bible story book for preschoolers. 

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies.  A fascinating book about how art and science intermingled, creating new information for the science community while producing good works of art. 

Junk Drawer Engineering.  A rather neat STEM book for upper elementary through highschool, with hints and options for various ages AND the science behind it. 

Miniscapes: Create your own terrarium.   My son is in LOVE with this book currently.  Making different terrariums, gaining new insights into the world of miniature plants. 

50 Natural Wonders to Blow your Mind. Neat little book about different natural wonders from around the world.   Pictures and facts. 

Goats of Anarchy.  A neat picture book about a goat rescue. 

The Beginner's Bible for Little Ones.   Hardcover bible for young children.

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Review: My Jesus Bible

Want a board book bible for your littlest ones?   One that is easy to hold on to, that tells the story of Jesus, and will take some abuse?

Have I got the bible story book for you!   Called My Jesus Bible. 16 stories, 40 pages.   It follows the story from Mary hearing the news to Jesus's death and resurrection.    

This is a delightful little book, a solid, brightly coloured book.   The colours are so vibrant and the text gives enough detail to give the basics, which leaves you ample room to supplement with additional details if desired.

Each story covers two pages.   Are the colours lovely?  And the text, a bit smaller than what I would have thought, covers more information than is normally found in a board book. 

Check out the text eh?

 

My Thoughts:
This is a bright, colourful book, with sturdy board book pages.  The handle is nice size for little hands that can take some throwing around (not that you'd want your littles doing that but you know... sometimes things happen).  It makes it so easy for them to bring along with them to church or grammas or the park.  The stories are short with just enough detail that you can easily embellish, or let stand on it's own.   I appreciated how in the story of Peter and Jesus on the raging see how it mentioned how Peter took his eyes off Jesus and that's when he started to sink. 

My Jesus Bible
Text: Michael Berghof
Illustrator: Gill Guile
Tommy Nelson
Type: Board Book
Children's story bible
40 pages
Age: Preschool
Reviewed for BookLookBloggers


Where can you get one?
Amazon.ca:  My Jesus Bible: With Handle

Amazon.com: My Jesus Bible: With Handle

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This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Review: Amelia's Maze Adventure

 Amelia's Maze Adventure
Jane Gledhill
Lonely Planet Kids.
approximately 9 x 11
ages: 8-12 years
pages: 128





Amelia's Maze Adventure is all about Amelia taking a trip around the world tracking down Lady Vivian Winthrop missing jewels.  Will Amelia ever find them?   She's on a whirl wind tour!

 Don't you just love a book where you can learn interesting facts about the world (and the places in it) while having fun solving a puzzle, in this particular case MAZES.

The mazes vary in difficulty from level one to five. Most of the mazes are clearly marked.

I love the sheer variety of mazes found in this book, from the simple block ones that most of us are used to, to the shapes of coral like this one.

Interesting facts are learned from how camels can spit to how facts about Toyko. 

The facts are never long or overwhelming, just enough to give you a taste, which of course, can lead to future exploration.    

 I love the innovative mazes : turtles, snakes, tunnels, Mount Rushmore, vines, alligators, zebras and more.

My thoughts:

This is a rather cool book to use. Well done mazes that help you develop your spatial reasoning, fine motor skills, problem solving abilities and more.  It's great to be able to complete a well done maze, and this book is full of them.   Go on.. go get it!   It'll keep the youth of your family amused as you travel about this summer, and they will be learning as they go.   It would also be a wonderful addition to a whirl-wind tour of the world as the mazes are discovered all over the world as Amelia hunts for the missing jewels.

Amelia's Maze adventure
Jane Gledhill
Lonely planet kids
approximately 9 x 11. 
Ages: 8-12
Pages: 160 

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books


 Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca:  Amelia's Maze Adventure

Amazon.com: Amelia's Maze Adventure (Lonely Planet Kids)

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Review: The Beginner's Bible for Little Ones

 The  Beginner's Bible for Little Ones is a board book put together for our little ones.  It's a sturdy board book. With lots of colourful pictures to delight the eye as they learn the basic facts about eight stories from the bible, selected from both the Old and New Testament.

The stories contained are:

• The Beginning
• Noah's Ark
• The Mean Giant
• Daniel and the Lions
• An Angel Visits Mary
• Baby Jesus is Born
• Jesus Feeds Thousands
• Jesus is Alive

Each story is four pages long with a short amount of text on each page under a picture.  I appreciated that the pictures weren't obviously Anglo-Saxon but made me think of a more middle eastern look.  Though I'm not sure the blond hair is really Middle Eastern.  :)

I liked that the biblical reference was provided, making it easy to start with the story in the book, and then use the bible to expand on the details.   

 My Thoughts:
 It's a nice little book for what it is... a way to introduce familiar bible stories to little children.  It does that.  It doesn't mention sin, though it mentions people doing bad things, among which is forgetting who God is.  God's protection of his people is made clear which is an important thing for littles to know.  God watches over us full well!

The Beginner's Bible for Little Ones
Zondervan
32 pages
ages 2-4 years
Style: Board book
Bible stories for children

Reviewed for: BookLookBloggers.



Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: The Beginner's Bible for Little Ones

Amazon.com: The Beginner's Bible for Little Ones

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This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Review: Following the Great Wall

Guess what I have for you today?   Another Unfolding Journeys book, this one on the Great Wall!  You may remember me talking about Rocky Mountains Explorer in the past.  This book does not disappoint as it dips us into the Following the Great Wall in China.

Following the Great Wall is an unfolding book, where the one side of the fold out is illustrated images about the great wall, with the opposite side giving factual details. 

This is one of the facts that I particularly find helpful when talking about a subject with a group of students.  Being able to easily show them an image while I read the information from the backside of the image.

But the information is so readily linked that even if you are sitting just looking at the book you can easily flip from one side to the other to learn more.  The numbering system is just so helpful. With the illustration providing just enough information to peak one's interest.

My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoy the unfolding journey books and this one is no exception.   To be able to see the whole picture and take in all the details, and then to gain more information in whatever images hits my fancy.. it's great!

Following the Great Wall
Steward Ross
Victo Ngai
Lonely Planet Kids
Series: Unfolding Journeys
Pages: 16
Age Range: 8-12 years
Type: heavy cardstock, foldout book

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Others in the series:

Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: Lonely Planet Unfolding Journeys - Following the Great Wall 1st Ed.

Amazon.com: Unfolding Journeys - Following the Great Wall (Lonely Planet Kids)

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This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites