Posts Tagged ‘Books’

Christmas has come and gone. I’ve been resting from such a long month and my children this week have happily been playing with their new gifts this week. And though of course we don’t celebrate Christmas for the gifts but to celebrate the birth of our savior it’s always nice to share with others in what was given and received.

Our Christmas day was stress free, calm, and very restful. The children slept in till almost 10am being extremely worn out from Christmas Eve church service and visiting family the day before.  They are usually up out of bed around 6-7am. So this means I got to sleep in for as long as my body would let me ( a very welcome gift).

What toys did my kids receive from us that they loved and have been playing with daily since they were received?

Owen’s Loot

A Green Toys Recycling Truck. This truck is the second in his Green Toys truck collection as we also have the Dump Truck! He loves this truck so very much and I do too! It’s made in the USA, durable, educational, engaging, interactive, and lots of fun! Not to forget to mention that these toys  as they contain no BPA, PVC, phthalates, or external coatings keeping my little guy safe ( A huge deal to me in the toys my children have. ) I’ve taken video that I plan to share along with a short little review soon!

My Big Animal Bookby Roger Priddy. Owen loves books and the more eye catching like this book, the better. It’s the perfect book as it’s durable, bright, bold, and very engaging! I like the photographs of all the different animals from exotic, zoo, farm, and more. It’s a great book for picture, sound, and word association. I’m hoping to collect more books by Roger Priddy.  Owen’s obviously a fan and has been quacking every time he sees a picture of the duck in the book. Other  titles include books about cars & trucks, abcs, 123s, and much more!

Schylling Ambi One Man Band (New Years Gift to ring in the New Year)- The One Man Band by Ambi Toys incorporates many musical novelties into one sweet and goofy character. Kids can use the Ambi Toys One Man Band to play a song with drumming, whistles, shakers and bells. The One Man Band features a swinging tie and head that turns, as well as a whistle that plays two sounds and a ringing bell hat. It’s a great toy that encourages  musical expression. This toy is of high-quality and it’s made with brightly colored recyclable PVC-free plastic. Owen likes this toy, especially the whistle part!

Melissa & Doug First Shapes Jumbo Puzzle- Owen’s first puzzle and it’s perfect for him with it’s extra-large knobs make it easy for small hands to remove each brightly colored piece. He was quite taken with these sorts of puzzles at our local science museum so that’s what prompting me to get one. His sister’s puzzles are really worn out and the pieces aren’t as durable as this one. This will be a great way to teach Owen his shapes and colors! I love the super sized pieces and the fact it’s made out of solid wood. It’s a a fun educational toy that’s built to last!

I’m happy that he’s interested in everything we gifted him and no worries from me about products are potentially unsafe or could be on recall list in the future.  Toys that are all battery free, imagination friendly, and to be well played with and loved for years to come!

Melody’s  Loot…

Melissa & Doug Alphabet Puzzle Book- Since Melody has taken quite an interest in learning to read. I prompted to find a fun gift that would help give her a boost in that area. This is a fun little puzzle book. It features both upper and lower case letters followed by a corresponding word picture such as Aa is for Apple and underneath the apple piece is the word Apple spelled out. It’s a great little puzzle book as it’s colorful and has great educational benefits. I do wish that the magnets in the book were a bit stronger. They sometime tend to fall out when turning the pages. I’m thinking about knitting a little bag to put this in so as to keep everything together when it isn’t being played.

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Magnetic Calendar (New Years Gift) – This calendar reminded me of one I shared with my sisters as a kid. We homeschooled so we always got really cool things for our classroom. Well Melody has taken an intrest in wanting to know how calendars work. I figured this would be a great gift and learning tool! There’s nothing I don’t like about this product…in fact, I highly recommend it! It’s very colorful, includes 134 magnets depicting most holidays and childhood activities and  the board it self can be used with dry erase markers. It’s currently hanging up in our kitchen. And we’ve every morning gone in and had a discussion about what day it is and what’s coming up soon like New Years and Baby Brothers  1st Birthday! A great learning tool for children ages three and up!

Schleich Figurines- My daughter loves her Schleich collectable figurines!  She plays with them almost daily and loves them so much that occasionally whenever people come over she brings them out and shows them every single one. We could be collecting these till she goes to college and far beyond on that. These awesome hand painted one of a kind creations are durable, life like, great for learning, and nice to even just display.  Melody’s recent additions include the Emperor Penguin, Zebra Foal, and a Panda Cub. I know she’s hoping for some dragons, unicorns, and even some of the fairies for her birthday and even before that. I’m the kind of mom that doesn’t put off giving gifts for specific celebration. It is okay to give something any other day of the year too. Life is short, so why wait?

And last but not least, Melody received a Casio SA-76 44 Key Mini Keyboard. She had been asking about one for several months now. And was thrilled when she received it! I know a little bit about playing but I’m basically a guitar player so I’m not as much help there as I’d like to be. We are thinking of signing her to take piano lessons next fall. I am so happy that she’s shown such interest in a musical instrument.

There’s a trend in the gifts I pick out for my kids… something musical, books, puzzles,  and something they particulary enjoy like the truck and the figurines. Also I purposefully did my best to  pick items that are eco-friendly, made in the USA, and are built to last.

Where there any presents that you or your kids got that you didn’t like? Any favorites? I’d love to know.

Caldecott Favorites Featuring 23 Award Winning Stories
in  The Snowy Day 3 pk. DVD Collection.

Caldecott award winners including Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling and Denise Fleming’s In the Small, Small Pond come together for the first time in Caldecott Favorites!

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott, and it is awarded annually by the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. On November 22, Scholastic Storybook Treasures will pay homage to this prestigious award with CALDECOTT FAVORITES, a 3-disc set featuring timeless adaptations of some of the 20th Century’s best loved children’s literature.

Highlighted by Caldecott Award winners Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings” (1942) and “The Snowy Day” (1963) by Ezra Jack Keats and Caldecott Honor stories “In the Small, Small Pond” and Jerry Pinkney’s “The Ugly Duckling” — which are packaged together for the very first time in CALDECOTT FAVORITES — the set also features modern classics such as “Bear Snores On”, “Bark George”, “The Story About Ping”, “Antarctic Antics” and more!

Perfect for building early reading skills, the set features the ever-popular enhanced read along function, bonus stories and Spanish versions of “The Snowy Day”, “Whistle for Wille” and “Make Way for Ducklings”. Stories teach children the importance of being honest, being light hearted, and respecting themselves, others, and the world around them. Run time of the collection in entirety is 199 minutes.

My family personally enjoyed this collection very much. My three and a half year old daughter was quite taken with The Story of Ping and the Snowy Day story the most. Though I’ve noticed her taking a like to a few of the others the more she has watched. She now keeps asking me when it’s going to snow. That might be a problem because it doesn’t snow too often where we live in Oregon. So this mom is crossing her fingers and hoping for a little snow. But until then we will continue to bundle up for family movie afternoon’s and night as we make Caldecott’s Favorites some of our very own!

If you are interested in purchasing Caldecott Favorites Featuring The Snowy Day DVD collection, it’s $18.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping at Amazon.com and perfect for gift giving this holiday season! A must have for home, libraries, and the classroom!

Disclaimer: I was sent the above product mentioned for review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Temba and the Dream Giver
written by Pam van der Merwe
ISBN: 1935265512
Retail Price: $9.99

Book Description….

Temba is a boy who has many dreams. Owning a bicycle, and living in a safe neighborhood are two of his dreams. Temba’s favorite dream is to visit the ocean. He longs to hear the sound of the crashing waves and to taste the salty water. One day he enters a contest. The prize is a trip to the seaside by train! Temba believes in the Dream Giver; but as with any dream, he learns that obstacles may arise that threaten to steal a dream away.

My Thoughts…

Temba and the Dream Giver is a children’s book that is geared toward teaching kids to never give up on their dreams and to not lose heart when obstacles arise.  The Dream Giver in this book I’m guessing is portrayed as God but I really wish that was a little more clear.  I also had hoped to at least find scriptural verses since this book is published under a christian label so I was surprised to not have found any referenced. Over all this isn’t a bad book, the message is pretty clear “Dreams Can Come True”.

I would say this book is best geared toward children ages five years old and up. I would recommend picking up this one if you are looking for straight to the point character building story to share with your kids. Also I recommend being prepared to answer whatever questions your kids may have about who the Dream Giver is and about learning that sometimes things that they may really want for themselves may not always come to pass in which I really had hoped could’ve been addressed in this book.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Temba and the Dream Giver by: Pam van der Merwe  from Bring it On Communications for this review.