Sweets For The Brain: A Valentine Book Review

As the class mother, I work closely with the teacher to set up all the holiday parties, and Emily's teacher just contacted me about the upcoming Valentine party. I can hardly believe that Christmas is just  memory and we are already well started on the new year, but there you have it. Of course this reminded me that I had better get over to my local library and  switch out the children's display case.

I decided on a cute monkey theme and got busy. That done, I set about to find books for the top of the display and that inevitably caused me to find several books to bring home. Since most children bring home scads of candy after their big Valentine's Day parties, I thought it would be wonderful to review a few books that that would make wonderful alternative gifts. Sweets for the brain so to speak.

The first book I read was Valentine Surprise by Corrine Demas. Lily wants to make her mom a special valentine. She starts at the beginning of the week and tries to make a valentine every day, but not a single one turns out how she wants. When Valentine's Day finally arrives, Lily doesn't have a perfect heart to give her mom, or does she?

Next came Ruby Valentine Saves The Day by Laurie Friedman. Ruby Valentine loves Valentine's Day and wants to throw a party. Ruby plans for everything, everything except the unexpected snow storm. Does the storm ruin her party plans, or does Ruby come up with new plans?

And last but not least there was Dear Bunny - A Bunny Love Story by Michaela Morgan. This story is so sweet it almost made my teeth hurt. Two bunnies, Tino and Teeny, had admired each other for quite some time, but each was too shy to tell the other. They each decide to leave the other a note in the hollow log, but unforeseen circumstances kept them from receiving the letters. The tiny mouse family, who weathered the storm in that same log and used the letters to keep warm, felt really badly for the bunnies. What they did to get the bunnies together is divine as are the illustrations in this very, very, very sweet book. Be sure to check out the audio version as well as the bound version.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Busy Season...

Once again we are headed into that wonderful, beautiful, and completely busy season which starts with the approach of autumn and lasts til the end of the year. There is the beginning of the school year where both adults and children alike have to adjust to getting up early, a new schedule, and going to bed early. For me, it also means I have to start scheduling my time to fit in all the holiday party preparations, field trips, and teacher projects I am involved in as the second grade room mother.

Besides my school projects, I will also have the inevitable leaves to rake along with family holiday preparations, the children's display case I am in charge of at the library, my weekly co-blog, the upcoming Kentucky Book Fair, and four craft fairs. Not to mention a school walk-a-thon,  an Ohio Mom Blogger's meeting, a couple of birthdays, Black Friday, Christmas shopping, and a January birthday to plan for my daughter. And believe me when I say it will take me from now until January to plan the party especially if it involves painting cardboard scenery!

Oh, and did I mention that I am repainting my kitchen cupboards and my outdoor shed? Like I said, the start of the busy season. The funny thing is, that I love to be busy and have things penciled in my schedule book. Don't get me wrong, I like to relax as much as the next person; but sometimes it's nice to be busy and feel like you are getting a lot accomplished.

And sometimes I even manage to fit in a fun project like the basic illustration project I am working on while my daughter is at school. Normally I just write material and I don't illustrate because I sadly lack the natural drawing talent, but recently I participated in a live session with famed author Jarret J. Krosoczka. He made illustrating look so easy (I certainly can attest to the fact that it is not) that I thought I would give it a try. I never would have guessed that you should sketch your rough draft in a blue colored pencil because it won't show up when you scan the finished product; and since I don't have the talent to use Indian ink like Jarret to outline the final product, I just use a black sharpie. Then I whiz it off to my paint program and color it in.Granted my illustrations are pretty basic and still need some work, but they are pretty exciting to make.

So what is going to keep you busy this season?

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!