Friday, August 31, 2012

Another exciting MG Greek Mythology book!!!

We are super excited to announce that another wonderful book about Greek Mythology has come out for younger kids like ourselves!

It is called  Heroes in Training: Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams.  Take a look at the book blurb for it below:



 After pulling a magical thunderbolt from a stone, ten-year-old Zeus goes on the adventure of a lifetime in this thrilling start to a brand-new series! The terrible Titans--merciless giants who enjoy snacking on humans--have dominated the earth and put the world into chaos. But their rule is about to be put to the test as a group of young Olympians discover their powers and prepare to righteously rule the universe....
     
     Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super-annoyed) by the fact that he keeps getting hit by lightening. Every. Single. Year. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up.

     Zeus gets his wish--and a lot more than he bargained for--when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, he grabs the first thing he sees--an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and sets off on a quest to rescue his youthful fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus. Armed with his trusty thunderbolt (named Bolt, of course), Zeus is on an adventure of a lifetime--and a journey to fulfill his destiny as King of the Gods.


We can't wait to get our hands on this!!!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop



We are super excited to be hosting a giveaway for our first ever hop!!! *Mikey is doing the happy dance right now*  

We want to say thank you to very nice people at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and The Elliot Review  for putting this together for everyone!!

So everyone knows that we are huge Goosebumps fans.  In fact, our long time wish is to meet R.L. Stine and have dinner with him.  Then we will talk about all of his wonderful books and give him some of our ideas about Goosebumps.  (Oh it will happen...eventually)

We have already started school here :(  We aren't exactly jumping for joy for it either, well Mikey is but he is always jumping anyways.  

Anyways, we really wanted to giveaway a Goosebumps book that we have read and just know that everyone else would like these too.  So we are giving away 1 used paperback copy of Piano Lessons Can Be Murder by R.L. Stine.   Here is the book blurb of it:

Practice till you drop . . . dead. When Jerry finds a dusty old piano in the attic of his new house, his parents offer to pay for lessons. At first, taking piano seems like a cool idea. But there's something creepy about Jerry's piano teacher, Dr. Shreek. Something really creepy. Something Jerry can't quite put his finger on. Then Jerry hears the stories. Terrifying stories. About the students at Dr. Shreek's music school. Students who went in for a lesson . . . and never came out.    -Goodreads summary

You guys can enter below and remember that if you are under 16 you need to make sure you have a parent/or guardian's permission.    Hope ya'll enjoy your last days....of freedom too!  





a Rafflecopter giveaway And don't forget to go to the other blogs on this hop and check out their awesome giveaways!






Wednesday, August 8, 2012

ARC Review: Song For Papa Crow by Marit Menzin

Title: Song for Papa Crow
Author: Marit Menzin
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
Date of Publication: 
Format: hardcover, 32 pages
Source: ARC from Net Galley


Little Crow loves to sing, and Papa Crow loves his song. But when Little Crow shares his crow songs with the other birds at the big old tree, they laugh and scatter. Maybe the Amazing Mockingbird can teach him to sing songs with the finches, flycatchers, and cardinals – and help him make some friends. But Little Crow should be careful what he wishes for… Using Mockingbird's tip, Little Crow quickly becomes the most popular bird on the block. But, in a moment of danger, he learns that singing someone else's song can have terrible consequences and that his own voice – and his father's love – is of the greatest value. Paired with colorful collage illustrations, this inspirational story is complemented by fun facts about North American birds and their sounds. . Grades Pre-K to 2.

-blurb from  publisher



Mom's thoughts
This was a beautifully illustrated story with a wonderful moral to be learned at the end as well.  I love to read books to my children that are engaging, colorful, but most importantly, teaches them confidence and compassion.  This book does that and much more.  
Song for Papa Crow has this collage- like feel to it which makes the birds really stand out for us.  They seemed to come alive and pop off the pages for me and my sons.  For young children, pictures are mainly what will keep them entertained.  If the pictures are fun then the story will be more interesting to them too.  
Little Crow loves to sing but the other birds don't like his singing voice and they fly away whenever he starts belting out his "caws."  
This story book shows little ones that it is okay to be different and that is what makes you even more special.    I am so happy that all my sons loved this story, even the older ones,  and they were able to see the beauty in Little Crow, inside and out.  Papa Crow is very supportive of his baby crow and is a good example for parents to see the differences in their "little crows" and celebrate them.  
Then in the back is this "Fun Facts" section that gives us details about all the birds mentioned in the book, including their specific calls.  This is a great little book for that young bird watcher in the family with all the different birds, including a mockingbird.  
I have to give Song for Papa Crow five stars!

Jacey and Mikey's thoughts:
J:  I love all the pretty colors in the book.  Baby crow is funny and really cute especially when he can't remember what a crow sounds like.  My brother and I had fun pretending to be the different birds and singing like them.
M: This book is really neat with all the different birds and learning about their different calls.  I could read this book with my mommy because the words weren't very hard to say at all.  
I liked how Papa Crow told Baby Crow to just be himself because my mommy always tells me to be happy just the way I am.  
I liked learning about the mockingbird and I always wondered why it was named "mockingbird".  Now I know why.