Review: Children's Books: Author Ami Rubinger

I Dream of an Elephant 
by Ami Rubinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A story of elephants, told in color.

We really enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations are beautiful, the colors are absolutely delicious!

The way the story prompts you to finish the rhyme allowed my daughter to get much more involved in the reading.

A fun read.

Dog Number 1, Dog Number 10 
by Ami Rubinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very cute book with interesting and quirky illustrations that invite you and your child to finish the rhymes. This helped my daughter get more involved in and excited about reading this book.

Counting from 1 to 10, describing characteristics that match up with the illustration, this was one we wanted to read again.


Big Cat, Small Cat 
by Ami Rubinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Big Cat, Small Cat, like it's companions Dog Number 1, Dog Number 10 and I Dream of an Elephant focuses on one aspect of learning and allows the reader to finish the rhyming line.

The dog book was all about numbers and the elephant book was all about colors, this cat book is all about descriptions and opposites. Happy and sad, up high, down low etc., are just a couple of examples of the quirky illustrated cats in this wonderful children's book.

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Find Ami Rubinger on Amazon.com & Goodreads

Feature & Follow Friday # 2

Welcome to this weeks Feature & Follow Friday!

The question for this week is...

What were some of your favorite picture books as a kid?

If you have kids, what are your favorites to read to them?

I was, and still am, a huge Dr. Seuss fan.

The Cat in the Hat is such a fun book to read out loud to my daughter. The faster the better, the more tongue tied I get the more laughs we have.

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

Just one more reason that I love my job...I work at Universal Orlando and have had many opportunities to ride The Cat In The Hat™ ride, to essentially travel through the book.

“You were not born to just fit in, you were born to stand out!” 

― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

Hayley also absolutely LOVES the Caro-Seuss-El™ and the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish™ ride. 

The Seuss books are fun to read, fun to say, and always have a message. Take the Lorax as an example. Written in 1971, The Lorax is such an environmentally friendly book that it was beyond it's time.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

“So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!”
― Dr. Seuss, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

“A person's a person, no matter how small.”
― Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!

I prefer Bloglovin'...

Happy Follow Friday!

What is Feature & Follow Friday?

Find out here...

Next Weeks Question...

(Friday September 27, 2013)

Reading Nook Tour: Give us a tour of your favorite reading spots. 

Review: Children's Books

It's a Mitzvah, Grover!: Read-Aloud Edition by Ellen Fischer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's a Mitzvah, Grover! by Ellen Fischer is from Kar-ben Publishing, "a growing Jewish library for children". It is about Grover and him learning about good deeds (Mitzvah). A cute and colorful story about friendship and doing what is right to make the world a better place. Not being Jewish myself I found I stumbled a little over pronunciation as I am not as familar with some names and phrases. My daughter and I enjoyed reading this story together.

*****

Isabella, Star of the Story by Jennifer Fosberry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a cute story about a child's search for stories we all know and love. Isabella's hunt for library books takes the reader through her imagination and many different stories (Peter Pan, Goldilocks, Captain Nemo, Black Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz) all in the search for the perfect library book(s) to take home. The illustrations were very pretty and very descriptive. I would definitely read more Isabella books.

*****

Peek-A-Boo Monsters by Charles Reasoner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Peek-A-Boo Monsters by Charles Reasoner is a children's board book that gives you peek-a-boo images of various cute monsters that reveal each monster through a cut-out and then you turn the page and get the whole monster. This is a very cute and colorful book that young children will find very visually engaging.

*****

The Alphabet Parade by Charles Ghigna

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a beautifully illustrated book that can engage children on many different reading levels.

The Alphabet Parade by Charles Ghigna takes you on a parade through the alphabet from A to Z. Younger kids can enjoy the pictures, older can recognize the letters, and those a little older can pick out more sight words and read along. My daughter had so much fun helping read this book aloud that we read it twice.

*****

Oh, the Things My Mom Will Do: Because She Loves Me Through and Through!
by Marianne Richmond

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I enjoyed this more than my daughter. A heartwarming tale of the many things a mom will do for their child from running after the school bus with a forgotten lunch to staying up all night making a frog costume for a school play.
My favorite part of reading bedtime stories to my daughter is the books that rhyme. If there is a fun cadence to the story then I usually like it. This was one of those books. I even got a tiny bit weepy at the underlying story of everything a mom will actually do for her child.
Loved this book!

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Review: Cozy Classics: War and Peace

Cozy Classics: War and Peace by Jack Wang

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cozy Classics: War and Peace by Jack Wang & Holman Wang is a beautiful children's board book that tells a classic tale in a very simplified way.
I think it would be best if the parent is aware of the general story line of the actual classic novel. This way, if the child has any questions or just wants to know more, then the parent can answer them.
I have never read War and Peace but understood enough to still get the gist of the story from this board book.
The thing that drew me in the most was the BEAUTIFUL felt creations. The imagery is amazing. I enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. She is learning sight words and could participate in reading this book. I would definitely read more of this series with her.

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Review: Cozy Classics: Les Miserables

Cozy Classics: Les Miserables by Jack Wang

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cozy Classics: Les Miserables by Jack Wang & Holman Wang is a beautiful children's board book that tells a classic tale in a very simplified way.
I think it would be best if the parent is aware of the general story line of the actual classic novel. This way, if the child has any questions or just wants to know more, then the parent can answer them.
The thing that drew me in the most was the BEAUTIFUL felt creations. The imagery is amazing. I enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. She is learning sight words and could participate in reading this book.

I really enjoyed this book and would read more of this series to/with my child.

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Review: Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe #1: Picture Day

Picture Day by Susan Nees

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe #1: Picture Day (A Branches Book) - Library Edition by Susan Nees is a cute story for little girls.

It is about Melissa Abigail Rose and her VERY individual style and how she plans for picture day at school only to be thwarted by her mother and saved by her new friend Oscar.

My 4 year old daughter got a little bored with the story but it may be just a bit beyond her attention span capabilities. She stayed with me till the end despite the fidgeting.

I'm having a hard time feeling useful in my children's books reviews. Either she likes it or LOVES it.

I thought Missy was a little difficult and a little rude but Oscar was quiet and kind and helpful.

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Review: Sesame Street: I is for Imagination

Sesame Street: I Is for Imagination by Jason M. Burns

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sesame Street: I Is for Imagination is a children's book in the format of a graphic novel.

Presenting the very first adventure of everybody's soon-to-be-favorite hero, the monster who is more red than a tomato, more adorable than a basket of kittens, and funnier than a knock knock joke...It's SUPER ELMO!

My daughter loved this book. She is four years old and has never really bothered either way for Sesame Street but likes Elmo well enough. She loved the pictures and the story about Elmo the Super Hero, the Cookie Monster in space, and Oscar the Grouch and laundry day.

The Cookie Monster was her favorite of the three. Although, I must say, my different character voices were absolutely spectacular (cough!).

So, why is this good for your kids...
We learn about how being a hero begins in the heart.
we learn that the Cookie Monster loves cookies and milk (smile).
We learn about Oscar and his love for bad smells as he helps Telly help leila with wet socks from the laundromat.
Most important is the Hero story, the other two are just for fun.

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Review: Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe: Picture Day

Review: Lotus Lane #1: Kiki: My Stylish Life

Lotus Lane #1: Kiki: My Stylish Life by Kyla May

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lotus Lane Book 1 - Kiki is about a young girl named Kiki and her BFFL's (BFFL=Best Friends For Life) Coco and Lulu. They all live on Lotus Lane and are members of the LLGC (LLGC=Lotus Lane Girl Club).
In this book we are reading Kiki's diary which is a very cute, sassy diary, full of pretty little pictures and doodles.
The tale is of three best friends, a new girl, a misinterpretation of events and the eventual understanding and friendship that results.
My four year old lost interest somewhere in the middle of the story (14 small chapters), but we did read it in one sitting and she came back to it towards the end. We had fun identifying the days of the week and some of the smaller sight words she knows.
Overall a cute book for kids. Would be better read to your child a few chapters at a time.



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Hayley's First Airboat Trip

Well, we both were feeling much better this weekend so we took a family trip out to the lake yesterday and took Hayley for her first Airboat ride.

She had so much fun and was waving at the birds, cows, other airboaters. Her friend even went with her parents so she had someone beside the dog to play with.

Did I mention we got a new puppy? I'll blog about that one soon. So it was a beautiful sunny, balmy day in Florida till about 5pm and then we just couldn't get warm enough.

And now I'm back to feeling like I've been run over by a freight train. Thank goodness I have sick time and an understanding job.  So I am home today recuperating, nursing my aches and sniffles, but yesterday was so much fun it was worth all the aches and pains today.

Caps for Good

I finally finished a knitting project. Yay! Granted it was a small one, but I knitted 2 hats (so far) for a charity called Warm Up America/Caps For Good. The goal is to knit caps for infants in some of the world's poorest countries to help them survive their critical first month of life.
This campaign runs through February 2011 and is a most worthwhile cause.
Here are my caps I made . . .

 

I didn't have a child hanging around with a head small enough for the caps to fit, so the baby doll had to suffer through the modeling session. Poor baby !!!!
If you are interested in participating in Caps For Good just follow the link and get involved.