The Angel Forever

Tuesday Tales – Linnea in Monet’s Garden (#Giveaway)

Posted on October 16, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a child, I adored spending time with older neighbors and learning from them. They taught me how to knit, love art, and many other things. In addition to this, I adored Claude Monet. For some reason, I fell head over heals in love with his water lilies. At about the time, I was ready to change my bedroom from rainbow hearts and a set based on Monet’s lilies was out. My parents got it for me for my birthday one year. I bought art to go on my walls and additional books about Monet. These items all went well when I had to write a report in French class during high school. I had Monet post cards, painting replicas, and a variety of books. I vaguely recall a book about a young girl going to visit Monet’s Gardens in France.

Fast forward to the day I received an e-mail from Sourcebook Jabberwocky letting me know that the book I could visualize in my collection was being released again for the 25th anniversary. Yes, Linnea in Monet’s Garden is back and even more beautiful than ever.

Linnea in Monet’s Garden – Written by Christina Bjork – Illustrated by Lena Anderson – Sourcebooks Jabberwocky – October 2012 – ISBN 9781402277290 – Hardcover 48 pages – Ages 4+ – $16.99

Imagine entering a beautiful world where you meet a young girl named Linnea and her upstairs neighbor Mr. Bloom. Together, the two have bonded over their admiration for the artist Claude Monet. They talk about his life, family, artwork, and more. As they chat, they talk about going to Paris together to visit Monet’s gardens. Bjork tells the tale of their friendship and adventure that is mixed with the beautiful illustrations by Anderson. In addition to this, there are photos of Monet, his work, and more.

The story gives readers a chance to learn about the Impressionist art movement, Claude Monet, and Paris. This blend of history and fiction is really a great starting point to introduce children to one of the great artists. Some of the most beautiful pages and memories of the book are when Linnea and Mr. Bloom are actually in Monet’s garden.

Although I can not find my original book, I know the new 25th Anniversary Edition of Linnea in Monet’s Garden is an improvement. I do not remember the colors being this vibrant, the pages being so big, and the experience being so touching. I am happy to report that my love for Claude Monet and his work has been revived and I look forward to sharing with with my boys. It will also be a great book to share over a break and add in some art projects in the Impressionist style.

Giveaway:

Sourcebooks is having a blog tour to help celebrate Linnea’s birthday. They are giving away a copy of the book and a Vera Bradley bad to one lucky person who enters the various giveaways. In addition to this, they would love one of my readers to also have the opportunity to take home a copy of the book. Comments left here for the initial entry before 10/25 will also be entered into the drawing for the prize from Sourcebooks.

Please be sure to see the rules listed within the Rafflecopter widget for details about my individual giveaway courtesy of Sourcebooks.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section and Rafflecopter. Giveaway begins October 16, 2012 and ends October 24, 2012. 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. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US and Canada residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received Linnea in Monet’s Garden complimentary of Sourcebooks in order to facilitate this review. This giveaway is sponsored by Sourcebooks who will fulfill the prize to the giveaway winner. An Amazon Affiliate link is included in this post for the book mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the book through that link.

Categories:
books giveaway looking back Product review Tuesday Tales

Parachute Fun with Kids

Posted on October 15, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a child, I have strong memories of playing parachute games at school and during girl scouts. The parachute we used was huge. Lots of girls from our troop and others could gather around it to play games, run, jump, sing, and have a great time. Fast forward to this summer when I won a parachute from Let’s Play on Selfish Mom. On Saturday, we had a party to share the Unreal Candy (more on that soon) that we had received. Since the weather was beautiful, we packed up the scooters, helmets, parachute, and some other outside toys.

The kids all had a great time playing with the parachute. I actually wish I had taken some time to research some parachute games for them to play before we arrived. Unfortunately, I forgot to do this. Thank goodness, kids have great imaginations. They were able to make things up. Once back home, I looked on Pinterest and found a bunch of games that I remember playing as a child. Kid Activities had a great variety, but Woodlands Junior School had fantastic photos of their suggestions. The kids actually managed to do some variations of two of them, and added a new superhero approach.

We tried a variation of popcorn, but the balls we had were too big for the parachute. Next time, I will make sure we pull out some bean bags or other smaller items to use. Of course, the parachute was also a great place to sit down and watch the kids as they were running, jumping, and playing together for some fun in the sun while the sun was shining.

Have you ever played parachute games as a child or with your children? I would love to know what you have done so I can add to my list of possibilities for when the weather cooperates.

Categories:
exercise fun jsl looking back nhl photos Pinterest play time weather weekend

Classic Tales with Silver Penny Stories (Giveaway)

Posted on October 14, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a parent, I think I often take what my children read for granted. I have a lot of books that were from college, my classroom, purchases, and gifts over the years. I never really noticed that the boys had not read many of the classic stories that generations have enjoyed. When Sterling Children’s Books contacted me to review their new Silver Penny Stories, I thought it would be a great opportunity for our family.

The boys immediately took the books and began reading them together. They had read other more cartoon like retellings, along with animated television versions of many of these stories, but some were new to them. The eight books above were released in October and six more will be coming out in April 2013.

Jack and the Beanstalk – Told by Diane Namm – Illustrated by Maurizio Quarello– Sterling Children’s Books – October 2012 – ISBN 9781402784330 – Paperback 40 pages – Ages 3-6 – $3.95

As part of the blog tour, we were asked to review Jack and the Beanstalk. The boys are familiar with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse version of this story. NHL immediately noticed that the story was the same, but it was not as childish. JSL enjoyed hearing his brother read about how Jack helped his mother and the beanstalk saved the day. What I really enjoyed was seeing how the boys talked about the book. They carefully explored the illustrations. When I asked them how Jack felt with the artwork, JSL quickly could explain it based on beautifully illustrated pages from Quarello.

The boys also helped me to come up with some questions to ask Mr. Quarello. The Italian illustrator has worked on nearly 30 children’s books. He also has work that has been in exhibits around the world.

Right now we are waiting to hear back from Mr. Quarello. Once those questions and answers are back, I will update this post with those items.

The books also helped us to have a chat about different variations of stories. We could compare the one they saw on television and other books about Jack and his beanstalk. The kids agreed that it is fun to compare and contrast the books to see how the author and illustrators see these classic stories. This would be a great activity in a homeschool setting or within a classroom. Imagine what you could do with Venn Diagrams and beyond.

Giveaway:

It is time for another Rafflecopter giveaway for one lucky reader thanks to Sterling Publisher. Please be sure to see the rules listed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section and Rafflecopter. Giveaway begins October 14, 2012 and ends October 27, 2012. 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. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US and Canada residents only.

Disclosure: I received the eight books Silver Penny Stories Series complimentary of Sterling Children’s Books in order to facilitate this review. The giveaway is sponsored by Sterling who will fulfill the prize to the giveaway winner.

Categories:
Blog Tour books giveaway photos Product review

Pumpkin Picking with Kindergarten

Posted on October 13, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

Field trips are a lot of fun to go on and, I have to say, I think they are even better as a parent. I had so much fun going with you on your first kindergarten trip this week. We all went to Indian Ladder Farms. It rained in the morning before we went and was chilly. Thanks to that, we had a lot of layers on. I also broke out your rubber cowboy boots in case it was muddy,

We went for a hike and listened to the leader of the group teach all of you about how the mountain formed. Then she showed you some of the fungus that grows naturally in the area. Once our trek was over, she took us over to meet the animals. You were definitely excited about this since we went here last year with nursery school.

Everyone tried to feed the animals, including Rosie, some grass. You were not too sure about this because of her horns. Then, we saw Eeyore the donkey, who we had to keep away from. There were even some baby animals like big Rosie in the area with different critters. Our leader brought out a special guest for everyone to see up close. I was so happy that you agreed to pet the turkey.

After everyone washed their hands, we went to look at the apple area. The woman explained that because of the weather in the spring, Indian Ladder Farms only had about ten percent of the usual apple crop. This was the reason we could not pick our own apples. We still learned about the trees, went into a giant refrigerator, saw how the apples are checked, and then saw the cider making area.

After this, it was time for your class to have lunch. It was a beautiful view, but some pesky bees were not making it an easy dining experience. They kept trying to dive into the apple cider and all of the delicious lunches.

After battling the bees, we followed your class to the pumpkin patch to pick out one to take home. You picked out a great pumpkin, but then we noticed some areas that were rotting, so we went back to get another one.

Although it was cool, we were lucky that it stopped raining. Thank you for letting me share this adventure with you.

Love,

Categories:
animals Dear Kid Saturday fun jsl Local Business school

Television Time

Posted on October 12, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I have noticed recently that I am not watching as much television as I used to. For some reason, many of the old shows that I loved for years are not keeping my interest. I guess it is true that tastes change and sometimes storylines just are not ones you want to follow. This happened years ago with ER. I stopped watching ER around the time NHL was born (2007) and missed the last few seasons. Then, Desperate Housewives got too strange for my taste a season or two before it went off the air. Private Practice was a show that I adored, and then it went down a dark path that I just had no patience for.

Now enter Grey’s Anatomy. I had been a faithful fan from the start. Then, there was the end of the season blood bath two years ago. I could not get myself to watch it. The world is full of enough of these real life events that I did not want go down that road with a show. I skipped that episode, but started back up at the end of last year. Then, the last episode of the season happened in the spring. Rather than a psycho gunman going throughout the hospital shooting people, the bloodbath involved a medic copter crashing. Put a fork in me, I was done.

These days, I prefer reading. Books on the Kindle platform allow me to read on the go, while picking the kids up and beyond. Of course, I do have a few shows that I still adore. Two of those are Once Upon a Time and Parenthood. Very different, but enjoyed for multiple reasons.

So my question to you this week:

Have you ever quit a television show that you adored? I would love to know which one and why. Oh and while you are at it, what shows are on your must watch these days?

___________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.