ARC Review: Dolphin, Fox, Hippo, and Ox: What is a Mammal? by Brian P. Cleary

                  Title: Dolphin, Fox, Hippo, and Ox

                           Series: Animal Groups are CATegorical

Author: Brian P. Cleary

                                                  Publisher: Millbrook Press (Lerner Publishing Group)

                     Date of Publication: October 1, 2012

                                       Format: ebook, paperback, hardcover 32 pages

           Source: eARC from Netgalley

The Words Are CATegorical® cats are back again . . . and they're on the loose to explore animal groups! This time, those zany cartoon cats provide a playful look at common animal classes. Brian P. Cleary's text and Martin Goneau's illustrations comically combine to give the defining characteristics of each class. They also offer a variety of animals in each group. Animal classification has never been so much fun!    -book description from Netgalley

Mom's Thoughts:

I love rhyming books, especially when it can hold my interest as well as my kids too.  I also enjoy books for the kids when they can learn in a fun and colorful way and this book makes that happen.  

Mr. Cleary did a wonderful job of explaining the different reasons mammals are mammals and even took into account some of those unique mammals that don't always follow the rules making it easier to understand for a young child as well as upper elementary school too.

The illustrations are pretty awesome too!  My four year old was laughing at the pictures as he was learning all about how to classify lions, bats, whales, and even a happy platypus.  

There is a lot of visual stimulation throughout the book so make sure not to let the kiddos get confused.  We just took our time enjoying the different pictures and tried naming even more animals that weren't in the book to see if they applied to the "mammal rules."  

I enjoyed this book immensely for many reasons.  We learned while having fun but most importantly; this is a book that all four of my sons, from the 4 year old all the way to the 9 year old,  could enjoy together.  

I gave it four **** stars!

*clicking on title will take you to goodreads page; clicking on author's name will take you to a wonderful interactive website for extra activities and fun.  

Review: iSad by Shane Saathoff

Title: iSad
Author: Shane Saathoff
Publisher: self
Date of Publication: July 10, 2012
Format: paperback
Source: pdf copy from author for honest review

Goodreads Summary:
When a child receives an iPad for Christmas, he soon realizes that it is not everything he thought it would be. iSad tells the story of the child's quest to turn the clock back on his neighborhood, returning it to the way it once was before the "cold circuitry" interfered in their every aspect of life.








Anthony's thoughts:


I really liked the book especially the colors of the different pages.  The illustration of the kid was funny too.  He reminded me of a snowman for some reason.  I know how he feels about reading books on the computer I would much rather have a book in my hand with a cover and everything.  
I also like how the writer rhymes the story to make it more fun.   I am almost 9 years old so I could understand all the big words in it but anyone younger than 7 would probably just be attracted to the bright colors of the book.  I give it 4 stars!


Conner's Thoughts:


I liked this story because it teaches kids not to rely completely on electronic devices for happiness.  Although the rhyming was cool, the story was kinda boring for me.  There really wasn't much action in it for me.  But  I did like all the different colors throughout the story.  So I gave it 3 stars.


Mikey's Thoughts:


I liked it a lot!  I thought it was funny and there were some words that my mommy had to explain to me but I still enjoyed the rhyming.  My favorite part was when the little dude went out into the street yelling for someone to come play tag with him.  That is a really funny part.  But I would still like to have an iPad, I just wouldn't use it all the time.  


Mom's Thoughts:


The book had a great moral to teach, especially in this day and age, when electronics are a staple in almost everyone's home.  There were parts that were funny because of the exaggerations of the parents not paying any attention to their son at all while busy on the iPad.  
The rhyming was cute, although, there were some words that may be a little over some 7 year olds' heads.  The illustrations were vibrant with each page a different color.  The little figures reminded me of the advertisements for the iPod with all the shadows.  I don't know if that was what Saathoff was going for but I found it ironic nevertheless.  
It was cute and we enjoyed reading it but it was a little boring for kids any younger than 8.  I gave it 3 stars.




If you would like to connect with Shane Saathoff:


website: http://roguebeemer.tumblr.com/

Freebie Friday Review: Don't Juggle Bees! And Other Useless Advice for Silly Children by Gerald Hawksley

Freebie Friday Review


I decided to introduce this neat meme here as well at my more mature blog.  Amazon puts a lot of amazing books at discounted or free prices for a limited time.  You could go through pages and pages to find something that you thought interested you, or you could do what I do and just subscribe to that neat little website, Pixel of Ink-Young Edition.  They do all the hard work for you and it's free.  You can like them on Facebook and they will update throughout the week (and sometimes the day) of free books that are offered at Amazon.  The only think is you need to have a Kindle or Kindle reading apps to take part in these deals.

Our first ever Freebie Friday Review is over:

Title: Don't Juggle Bees! And other useless advice for silly children

Author: Gerald Hawksley 

Publisher/Publishing Date:  CreateSpace-March 28, 2012

Source: ebook; Amazon

I read this to all four of my boys, ages 8 to 3 years old, and everyone(including myself) laughed our heads off.  It is a fun rhyming silly story that no matter what your age, you can't help but smile at.  

It is written as a "Do and Don't " way, explaining us things we should do and things we should most definitely not do.  

This story is simply put: funny.  It lets you just let go and laugh with your kids at some of the antics in the book.  Those are the best kind, especially, when you can just stop and smile at the funny things.   Here are some of our favorite quotes from the book:

"Do be happy when you smile Don't share your bath with a crocodile."( not sure the page number but this was 22%)

So if you want to just have some fun and just laugh with your kids then this is the book you need to get.
After much consideration, the boys and I have decided to give this 5 smiley faces!