Quality Time

Hey everyone. Sorry there wasn't a post last week, but a cold took hold of me, and I was just too sniffy and drippy to get much of anything done but the laundry. This past week sailed by much more cheerfully. Emily finished up her school work, and we are both looking forward to this week's spring break. Bobby and I went looking for new flooring for our living room and have someone coming to measure very soon. And, I sold Emily's old kitchen set which added to our travel fund.

At the end of May, Emily, my sister, and I are planning to visit Niagara Falls. It's been many years since I've been there and Emily has never been there, so it should prove exciting. We have plans to view the falls, visit the aquarium, and check out what Goat Island has to offer. I should probably go see what reading material my library has on the falls.

We also spent some quality time as a family playing Board games and Emily only had a slight case of electronic device withdrawal.

 And last but not least, I read two fine picture books. The first book, Sing, Don't Cry, was a sweet book about a brother and sister's Abuelo (Grandfather) visiting from Mexico. He shared with them his life long experience on how to deal with disappointments and difficulties which was to___ sing, don't cry. The end papers of the author's real Abuelo, who looked handsome in his Mexican musician ensemble, are definitely worth spending a few minutes on before the actual reading commences.

The second book, Hooked, had me hooked. A book about a boy who loves fishing and wishes his dad loved fishing too has the most beautiful of endings. While definitely about fishing, the underlying theme of spending quality time together shines through superbly. I give this book a five out of five stars!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Read Someone New!

As you have probably figured out by now, I love books and authors. All types of books and authors. And when I am able, I like to introduce you to new authors you may never have read before. Recently, Indie author, Pat Brannon, asked if I would be willing to review a couple of her children's books which promptly arrived in the mail this past week when I agreed.

I have known Pat through Face Book for a while, but had never read any of her many books, so I was curious. What she sent me were the Meet The Darlin' Dujeeszys and Violet's Not So Velvet Voice.

The first thing I noticed when I received them was that they are a little larger then the usual children's book. They are about the size of a coloring book. Although a little unusual in my experience, the size is not a negative. In fact, children five to eight for whom this book seems appropriate, will more then likely enjoy the large colorful illustrations.

The Darlin' Dujeezy's are a very large family who reminded me a little of the real life Duggar family. The message in this story is team work. It really doesn't matter if your family is large or small, everyone working together causes life to run much more smoothly. This is a lesson that Emily's father and I are trying to teach her as well. Each of us pulling our own weight and doing different chores, so that everyone can enjoy the benefits.

 

Emily Helping Set Up The Trampoline

Violet's Not So Velvet Voice took a totally different direction. In this story, Billy Carl Thomason has a problem. His problem is Violet, or to be more precise, Violet's horrible singing voice. Only violet doesn't believe him when he tells her she sounds awful. Violet has always been told by her friends and family that she has a lovely voice. Violet is so incensed that Billy Carl doesn't like her voice that she follows him everywhere he goes singing and tormenting him until he can't take it any more. Billy Carl appeals to his teacher for help and blessedly she finds a solution.

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.