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Tuesday Tales – Personalized Kids Book w/Giveaway

Posted on November 1, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a little girl, I remember a Chanukah gift that I received. It was nothing flashy, it did not require batteries, but it was extremely special to me. What was it? It was a book that someone bought me that had me as a main character in the book. It also had other fun details about me and was amazing. I often wondered how this book was made. I do believe that book is still at my parent’s house because I adored it so much.

I have often wanted to get a personalized book for the boys, but never knew where to order one. Thanks to Family Review Network, I connected with Just Kids Gifts to review and giveaway one of their books. Not only do they have personalized books for children, they also offer children’s personalized music CD’s, photo DVD’s, and music DVD’s.

When the book arrived, I asked JSL to come onto the couch to read it with me. When we started, it just looked like a typical book to him. Here is the cover of the hard cover book:

Since he is into trains, he jumped onto the couch and even big brother, NHL, came over to listen. When I read the front page of the book, the boys attention was even more intense. This is what they heard:

Once JSL stopped jumping up and down, and singing that this book was just for him we continued to read The Train With No Name. This is the summary of the book from Just Kids Books:

The little track tester isn’t important enough to have either a name or an engineer…That is, until your child steps in and helps the little track tester to save the circus train. This educational book helps teach about compassion, helping others and most of all, they’ll learn that you don’t have to be big to be important!

As a parent (and educator), I really liked that the book taught a lesson. By using JSL’s name it held his attention and made him think about what the author was trying to get. At four some of it may have gone over his head, but NHL (8) completely understood the point. With older children, not only will they love seeing their name in the book, along with friends, there is more to talk about afterward.

I know that if we have a holiday, birthday, or other gift for a child – we will be checking out other possibilities from Just Kids Gifts (they are also on Facebook). Thanks to their quick service, and great customer support I highly recommend them and will be purchasing more in the near future. I also love to support a business that is run by parents (to an 18 month old) and located in NY. We may have to get NHL his own book since he was so jealous of the one JSL received.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Just Kids Gifts, one lucky reader will have a chance to win their own personalized book.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – What personalized book would you select for the child on your holiday gift list and why?

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter
1 Bonus Entry – Follow Just Kids Gifts on Twitter
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway (May be done three times a day, but at least an hour between each Tweet): Enter to #win a @JustKidsGifts personalized kids book from @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/uNOcGq #Giveaway
2 Bonus Entries – Stop by The Angel Forever on Facebook to say hello and leave me a comment on a status message. Let me know you have done so here.
1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of October/November. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today November 1, 2011 and ends at 10:59 EST on November 14, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclosure: This post was written for Family Review Network & Just Kids Gifts who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are 100% mine. Just Kids Gifts is also providing the giveaway item to one reader.

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Tuesday Tales – Library Books For Your Kindle

Posted on October 25, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

Prior to TechyDad winning the Kindle Keyboard, I never imagined that I would enjoy reading anything that was not in a traditional book. Boy was I wrong! I do like holding a book with pages to turn, but the convenience of Kindle is huge. Kimberly allows me to carry many, many, many titles with me at the same time. I can have my books, items that the boys want to read, and TechyDad has a bunch as well. Talk about light and easy packing.

The boys and I love to head to the library to check our new books, movies, and just hang out there. I had heard that our library system participated in Kindle book loaning. Once we had the Kindle, I knew I had to try it out. So I went to the Upper Hudson Library System Digital Collection page. Here you can find eBooks, audio books, and more to take out. I had done the audio books in the past, but never really looked for anything specifically in Kindle Format. It was quick and easy. You can search by author, title, or browse by genre. Here is what you see:

I can now see that they have the Kate Jacobs book Knit Two available, but there is a waiting list. I can place a hold and they will notify me when it is available. Once notified, I have three days to download it to my device. That is where it gets really fun. When you place an item in your “Digital Book Bag” to check out, they are placed on your book shelf. From here, you will see this (note mine were checked out earlier):

See those “Get for Kindle” buttons? When you push those, it sends you to your Amazon account where it asks you to take them out from the library and sends them to your Kindle device. Yes, it is that simple. The next time you turn on your Kindle, the books download and you can start to read them soon after.

The draw back with this is that the library seems to have a small amount of book titles and the new ones have a pretty long waiting list. In addition to this, you only get to borrow them for 21 days, not the traditional 28 days. I’m not sure if you can opt to renew if there is no other hold. We will likely check into that this week since I have not finished The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth.

Have you ever taken a library book out with your Kindle or other eReader? Would love to know your experience and what you think about it.

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

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Tuesday Tales – Parts by Tedd Arnold

Posted on October 18, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

It is no secret that I adore picture books. As a teacher and parent, I especially like books that make kids think, laugh, and learn. Stories that have the ability to get kids talking and begin conversations are the best.

Over the years, I have found many authors that I have book collections of. One of them is Tedd Arnold. Mr. Arnold is also the illustrator that brings his own books alive with beautiful and eye catching art. You may be familiar with some of Arnold’s books that include the Fly Guy and Huggly series.

Of course, my absolute favorite book by Tedd Arnold is Parts .

Here is a description of the book via Scholastic Books:

First, his hair started falling out. Then skin started peeling from his toes. Now something gray and wet — his brain? — has fallen out of his nose. Is this normal? Or is this boy coming unglued? This hilarious predecessor to More Parts combines the perfect levels of humor and grossness to leave readers in stitches!

Think back to when you were a child, were you ever afraid of the things that your body was doing? Did you flip out about losing your first tooth. Did you get grossed out by boogers, belly button lint, and other normal body creations? Yes, Tedd Arnold goes there and helps us to break the ice and make sure that kids know these things are perfectly normal.

I loved Parts from the first time I read it when teaching. It meant even more to me when I bought the book and read it to my boys for the first time. This was my chance to share a fantastic book with my kids and ease my son’s fears of losing his tooth. The reality is that kids are SO literal and the thought of losing a tooth can be frightening to many of them.

Arnold actually talks about wiggly teeth in the book when the main character starts to get anxious about this happening to his body. Then we watch his parents come back into the picture with their mega parenting book in hand to ease his fears.

I have to admit that some of the biggest laughs in our house were when we see the following priceless illustration and word combination:

Think like a kid and imagine where their vivid imagination may take them. No really, imagine that alien-like booger just dropping to the ground. How may a child feel with it coming from their head region? Yes, we howled and laughed with this page – especially my oldest son. The book is just gross enough that it is appropriate for kids of all ages and will likely make older children want to learn more about their bodies.

The best part about Parts is that Tedd Arnold also wrote a follow up called More Parts and Even More Parts. I know we have More Parts in my collection of books, but I need to get my hands on a copy of Even More Parts to share with the boys. Laughing and learning while reading books by Tedd Arnold have created many amazing memories for our family.

Disclosure: Several product links are to our Amazon Affiliate where we will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy any of the books mentioned.

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Tuesday Tales – Kindle Enters Our World

Posted on October 11, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

Back in July, I wrote about eReader envy. I mentioned that I really was curious about owning an eReader, but there were just too many other items that were higher on the need to take care of priority list (owning a house is the pits). At the time, I introduced you to Pod.

Hey Pod I inherited Pod from my mother and father. Pod had a good life with me and taught me the joys of reading on eReader-like format via the Kindle App. As the summer moved on, Pod and I started to drift apart. You see, Pod was not keeping a charge very well. The boys would take her with a full charge and soon after she would be flashing red. Now, I have to head over to the Apple Store to see what my options are.

That could have been the end of things, but my eReading life forever changed the other day. Just before Rosh Hashana started, I caught a Tweet that was sent to TechyDad. It was congratulating him on winning a Kindle. I ran screaming into the other room to tell TechyDad about it and let him know that he had a short amount of time to claim it or another winner would be selected. Last Friday night, just before Yom Kippur was about to begin, the doorbell sound let us know there was a package outside.

This was inside the small box waiting outside:

I am in love! TechyDad won the Kindle Keyboard, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display and it is amazing. Now, I wonder why I never asked for one for my birthday, Chanukah, or any other time. The light weight nature compared to a book, the no glare easy to read screen (compared to Pod), and ability to take multiple books with me at all times. Yes, I still like my paper books, but oh my this is fantastic for on the go and will rock when traveling. I even tried the Wifi the other night to use Twitter and see my blog. A bit of a pain without the touch screen option on this model, but it is there in a pinch.

Over the weekend, I was able to borrow a book from our library system for the Kindle to start reading. I decided to start with The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School by Alexandria Robbins. More on this coming soon since I think it is an extremely powerful read that ALL educators and others should check out. I also tried a picture book for the kids to check out. No, it is not in color, but the boys still adored Dream Big, Little Pig! by Kristi Yamaguchi. Here is a preview of what they saw:

I am looking forward to reading more thanks to the Kindle and hope to figure out more of a book list soon. Another item to toss out there, Kindle’s technical support has been amazing. A few glitches have cropped up and getting a human to solved the problem has been quick and easy. A huge thank you to Amazon for this important piece of the puzzle.

Do you have an eReader or Kindle App? I would love to know what you think and could use any book suggestions that you have loved in this format.

Disclosure: We won the Amazon Kindle from a blog giveaway. Three product links are to our Amazon Affiliate where we will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy the Kindle or books mentioned.

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Tuesday Tales – The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes

Posted on October 4, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

Do you accept mistakes and learn from them – or do you consider them a failure? The reality is that a lot of adults and especially children want to be perfect. As we get older, we learn that being perfect is not all that it is cracked up to be. The stresses, the pressure, and controlling nature put unnecessary weight on top of us.

Now, imagine these feelings in a child – a young elementary age kid. This happens to a lot of children and many times parents, teachers, and other adults in their lives miss it. My oldest son gets upset when his writing does not look like other children. I would notice him sitting with his homework erasing it when it looked perfectly fine. His need to keep it mistake free and to look like his classmates was bogging him down.

We have been working with NHL on letting go of perfection, accepting mistakes, and using them as a learning tool. TechyDad even wrote about this back in December in a post called Bursting Failure Fears.

When I was asked to review a new book from Sourcebooks, it intrigued me and looked like it would be perfect to read and use with NHL.

About The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes:

Beatrice Bottomwell has NEVER (not once!) made a mistake…

Meet Beatrice Bottomwell: a nine-year-old girl who has never (not once!) made a mistake. She never forgets her math homework, she never wears mismatched socks, and she ALWAYS wins the yearly talent show at school. In fact, Beatrice holds the record of perfection in her hometown, where she is known as The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes. Life for Beatrice is sailing along pretty smoothly until she does the unthinkable–she makes her first mistake. And in a very public way!

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes – Written by Mark Pett and Gary Rubenstein – Illustrated by Mark Pett – Sourcebooks Jabberwocky – On sale October 2011 – ISBN 9781402255441 – $14.99 – Ages 4-8

What We Thought:

NHL and I read the book together the other day. Before we began, we started with a chat about how it would feel not to ever make a mistake. Did he think that it would feel good? Would he like this, or did he think there were some downfalls. My third grade son immediately mentioned he would worry a lot. He said he would be scared to do something wrong since he had never had it happen before. Yes, my kiddo was thinking and I was listening. It goes to show that kids do realize that the longer they wait for something to happen for the first time, the more anxious they can be.

As we started to read, NHL and I both liked Beatrice. My son noticed that they didn’t call her by her name and referred to her as “The Girl Who Never Made a Mistake” – he did not like this. While moving on with the story of Beatrice, we both noted that we could see how she was feeling thanks to the beautiful illustrations by Mark Pett. He allows us into the world of Beatrice Bottomwell and via her facial expression we can sense what is on her mind. Here is an example:

This was after Beatrice ALMOST made a mistake. NHL noted how sad she looked. She was not able to concentrate in her classroom to raise her hand, and she did not swing and have fun with her friend. This allowed me to ask NHL if he had ever felt this way in school or another location. We talked and enjoyed the booked together because it gave us the perfect chance to discuss some pretty heavy items – that being accepting mistakes and learning from them. Thanks to Beatrice, we also saw that it is OK to laugh at yourself and can often make you feel so much better.

As a parent and teacher, I love this book. It does a fantastic job opening the lines of communication for children to talk about mistakes, the need for them, and being able to move on and learn from them. Too many times, kids, as well as adults, will not let go and focus on the need for perfection. I highly recommend The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes to kids of all ages to learn this valuable lesson from Beatrice Bottomwell.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Sourcebooks, THREE lucky readers will each win a copy of The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Share a mistake that you made and how it made you feel better about a situation.

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway (May be done three times a day): Win a copy of The Girl Who Never Made a Mistake from @TheAngelForever and @Sourcebooks http://bit.ly/qErVIF #Giveaway #Win #Books
2 Bonus Entries – Stop by The Angel Forever on Facebook to say hello and leave me a comment on a status message. Let me know you have done so here.
1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the month of September/October. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today October 4, 2011 and ends at 10:59 EST on October 18, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclosure: I received this book complimentary of Sourcebooks in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own. Sourcebooks are also providing the giveaway items to my readers.