Blog Tour: Book Review: The Lonely Christmas Tree by Brent A. Marthaller

Title: The Lonely Christmas Tree

Author: Brent A. Marthaller

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Length: 24 pages

Genre: Children's, Inspirational, Motivational, Spiritual

Source: Sage's Blog Tours / author

Book Synopsis:

The Lonely Christmas Tree is born with a purpose to be cherished by someone at Christmas. When the tree is the last one remaining in the lot, the tree starts to believe that all hope is lost.  A bright light comes along restoring faith in dreams and encourages the spirit to persevere. The tree is small and limp but has the spirit to find love and acceptance. This story demonstrates that all of us have that spark within us to find what we long for. Persistence and fortitude can lead us out of despair to the light that shines for all of us. 

Mom's Thoughts:

This is such a sweet little book!  It is so full of heart and Christmas spirit that I had to read it a few times to the kids because of the beauty it held.  Just looking at the lonely tree he isn't much to look at but wow!  He is just so full of the holiday spirit it makes you realize that is what is important; not the outside but what's on the inside.  

The Lonely Christmas Tree has a great message for kids and adults alike to learn and it was such an enjoyable read for my children as well as me!  Five Stars!! *****

Jace's Thoughts:

I really like the colors! I love all the colors of the rainbow but blue and green have a special place too.  I really liked how each page had snow coming down.  My favorite part was when the little boy carries the lonely tree like a baby all the way home to the other kids too.   He carries it so gently that you can tell the little boy really loves that tree.  Five Stars!!!  *****

Mikey's Thoughts:

I really liked the pictures and I loved the rhyming too!  Whenever I hear stories that rhyme it makes me think it is like a song and I just want to sing it.  

I felt so bad for the little tree but I thought he was beautiful just the way he is!  I didn't like the other really big trees and I thought he was the perfect size.  I know my family and I would have been happy with him.  My favorite part was when the children decorated the lonely Christmas Tree and made it even more happy and beautiful.  The children were happy and smiling enjoying each other's company, even though they didn't have any presents.  They didn't need any because they had the love and Christmas spirit and that was enough.  

I give it five stars! *****

Author Bio:

Brent Marthaller lives in West Fargo, ND, and has written music and lyrics since 1978. During the 1980’s and 1990’s he was a member of several bands which performed throughout the area and at local venues. While those days of performing are in the past, he continues to write whenever he can. He also enjoys introducing his grandchildren to all varieties of music.

Purchase Links:

Tate Publishing:

http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-100-2

http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61346-168-6

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Christmas-Tree-Brent-Marthaller/dp/161739100X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1355776048&sr=8-3&keywords=The+Lonely+Christmas+Tree

Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lonely-christmas-tree-brent-a-marthaller/1101384282

Author’s Website - www.thelonelychristmastree.com

Exclusive Hardcover versions may be purchased for $11.99 directly from the author website!

Review: The First Christmas: The Story of Jesus by June Spears

Title: The First Christmas: The Story of Jesus
Author: June Spears
Publisher: self
Date of Publication: November 4, 2012
Source/Format: received from author for our honest   review of it/ Kindle

Goodreads Summary:

What says Christmas time better than the true story of Christmas. 

The story of Jesus broke down for children to understand. With sketch illustrations to match.




Mom's Thoughts:
First, the illustrations are so sweet and beautiful we enjoyed looking at those the most.  I loved that there was sketches, even though it was an e reader version.  I also liked that the chapters were short because it is hard to keep a young child's attention span ( 4 years old) if the chapters drag on and on.  
I am not usually one to do the religious books, but I figure you can't go wrong with Christmas time anyways.  
It was nice how Mary, Joseph, the angels, God, and Jesus was explained in simple terms for a child to grasp.  
However, in one of the chapters it talks about how Joseph thought Mary was unfaithful and back then she could be stoned to death for it.  I felt that might be a little too much for anyone younger than 8 to really talk about.  And besides this is supposed to be a fun book but that little tidbit of information kinda put a downer on the rest of the story for me.  
I know my seven and four year old boys got bored with it because there was a lot of explanations for some of the ideas in it.  I could have been reading it to a younger age limit to handle it, though, so that could be my bad.  I did enjoy getting a little explanation and especially enjoyed seeing quotes from the Bible in it as well.  
Overall, this is a cute, short, and easy way to tell the kids about how and why Christians celebrate Christmas. I would skip the small part of "being stoned to death" to keep the mood light and cheery.
I gave it 3 stars!

If you would like your own copy you can get it here:

Amazon 

The Author:
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, June E Spears had spent her early years writing mostly poems and school songs. However, she could not escape the allure of storytelling and quickly began studying to become a novelist. She began by reading every chance she had. Mostly Fantasy and Romance novels, June's love of writing was uncontrollable. Once she began typing, she never stopped.

June is best known for her Fantasy Novelette Series "The Blood Moon Chronicles". She is a single mother to her only daughter Isabella Rose.

Connect with June Spears:

Twitter | Website |  Goodreads

{Character Interview} + Giveaway: Chase Danger Super Spy: Mystery of the Special Sauce by Chad, Lisa, & Chase Olivera

It's interview time!  We are so excited to have the star of the new spy series we love, Chase Danger Super Spy and he is kind enough to answer a few fun questions for us!  Also the authors, Chad, Lisa, and Chase Oliveria, have been so great to offer a free signed copy of their book in a giveaway we are hosting.

Here is a little background on the Chase Danger Series first:

Book 1:                                  Chase Danger Super Spy: Mystery of the Special Sauce

Chase Danger is a boy just like your son: He loves his family, friends and pizza. He is also easily enraged by bad guys, who he quickly hunts down and defeats.

In his first adventure, he fights a giant octopus, pilots a flying saucer through space, builds his own flying car, and visits Paris, where a "special sauce" is brewing to take over the world.

Along the way he befriends Ali Bali, a mysterious girl with secrets of her own.

Book 2:                          Chase Danger Super Spy: Pirates of Pineapple Island

7-year-old super-spies Chase Danger and Princess Ali Bali must think fast when they discover pirates have stolen Zalezgon's magical pineapples. But that's not all! Ali's little brother Aiden has been kidnapped by the dreaded pirate Captain Looney, who is planning on taking over the world with his newly invented Weather Rockets!

And now without anymore waiting we welcome.......................................
CHASE DANGER SUPER SPY!!!

KCFSR: Is it hard being a spy?
Chase:   It's natural.  If I had an older brother, I would spy on him.  I'm an only child, so I spied on the neighbors.  When the neighbors turned out to be bad guys, I was in business!

KCFSR: Besides pizza, what is your other favorite food?
Chase:  Zalezgon's Spicy Jalapeno Chunk o' Cheesy Guacamole Burger.  I also like whatever my Mom or Dad cooks.  Pizza is really just a treat.

KCFSR: What is your favorite color?
CHASE: Blue.  Ali says she likes to paint bad guys black and blue.  I like those colors too.

KCFSR: Ha! Good one!  Do you have any super heroes or movies that you like a lot?
CHASE: My favorite superheroes are Ironman and Batman.  My favorite movies are Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones and James Bond.

KCFSR:  We like those too!  So who was the toughest villain you ever fought?
CHASE: Probably Veisky.  You won't believe me when I tell you this, he really is a villain!  Everyone likes him though.  He's very slippery.

KCFSR: Can you give us any teasers on what to expect from Chase Danger Super Spy?
CHASE: You wouldn't believe me if I told you.  But you can expect even more action, suspense and intrigue than any other Chase Danger book.  Ali and Alixson will be helping me out, and I'm really excited about that!  The Veisky is a master of many things, including magic and music!  He's actually a virtuoso violin player! How does playing the violin fit in?!? You'll see.

That's it everybody!  We are so happy that Chase had time to stop by here and chat with us!  Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win your very own signed Copy of Book 1!  It is such an exciting series that we are really enjoying!
Don't forget to get your parent's permission (if you are under 13) to enter the giveaway.  You also have 36 hours to reply back or another winner will be chosen.  US residents only.
Here are the links if you would like to connect with Chase Danger Super Spy and where you can get your own copy:

Facebook | Website | iBookstore | Goodreads


To Enter the Chase Danger Super Spy Giveaway click HERE.

ARC Review: Chase Danger Super Spy:Pirates of Pineapple Island

Title: Chase Danger Super Spy: Pirates of Pineapple Island
Series: Chase Danger Super Spy book 2
Author: Lisa, Chad, and Chase Oliveria
Illustrations: Adam Goodman
Publisher: Magic Fire Music Studios
Date of Publication: August 2012
Source: received from author for honest opinion of it.
Get Your Own: website


Synopsis:

7-year-old super-spies Chase Danger and Princess Ali Bali must think fast when they discover pirates have stolen Zalezgon's magical pineapples. But that's not all! Ali's little brother Aiden has been kidnapped by the dreaded pirate Captain Looney, who is planning on taking over the world with his newly invented Weather Rockets!
Hang-gliding, jungles, giant sharks, super Roller Coasters, pirates, and a sky-dive will keep your children's attention from start to finish and give them a thirst for adventure!

Mom's Thoughts:
I just love Chase Danger!  If you just look at the cover you can tell this is one little boy who can get the tough jobs done!  But then add to the mix, a mysterious little girl and they make a great team that makes this book for both boys and girls. I love the graphics in this book.  All the different colors, the different characters  being portrayed, makes me get excited and my children are no different!  When we got book #2 in the mail, all I could hear was squeals of happiness as they ripped open the packaging to get their hands on this book.  Do you know what makes this book even more better?  The fact that it brings together all of my boys.  My nine year old twins love it because of all the action and different spy gadgets; my seven year old adores Chase and Ali Bali and loves reading it out aloud, and my four year old loves to sit among his older brothers listening to the read-along cd that comes with it; not to mention he loves sword fights.  I think this would be the perfect gift for that reluctant reader or any child that just loves a really good story! ***** stars for me!

Anthony and Conner's Thoughts:
We loved the first book but I think this one just made it even better!  When we first got our hands on this book, (we jerked out of our mom's hands-sorry Mom) all we wanted to do was just look at the pictures before we even started reading it.  Anthony and I just love the pictures!  We have even tried our hand at drawing a couple of Chase Danger scenes, but we aren't really that great at it.
Anthony: Okay hands down, my favorite part is when they ride the roller coaster and then shoot into the sky!  This is why I will not ride a roller coaster at Six Flags; you never know when this could happen!  (Okay, so it is probably next to impossible...) But it was pretty exciting reading about it.  I really like Chase but my favorite character is Ali Bali.  She is so tough and I think she makes a great friend for Chase.
This is one of those books that is great for older and younger kids, girls or boys.
Conner: We have really gotten into comic books lately.  Our dad bought us a lot of comics the other day.  That is a major reason I like Chase Danger so much.  It is written out like a comic book would be.  It is easy to follow along to and the read along cd makes all the action seem to come alive.  After listening to it the first time, our little brother, Jace, picked up a toy sword and started pretending he was Chase.  It was really funny, but even more funnier when our other brother, Mikey, decided he was going to be Captain Looney.  He does that part really well-he is kinda crazy.
I like that we have this story that all of us can enjoy.  It's something that us big kids can read, but little kids get a real kick out of all the funny scenes, like with the shark. In fact, we all kinda laughed at that one. I am a huge fan of spy movies, like Spy Kids, and this series is a lot like that.  It is funny, exciting, and has a lot of interesting different characters.  Even the villains have some cool parts; but it the most fun watching Chase and Ali put the bad guys away.
I wish we could give it more than five stars; like a hundred!  Because it is really that great!
Mikey and Jacey's Thoughts

Mikey: I think it is super cool that Chase and I are the same age.  I always like to imagine the different things I could do, like travel to outer space, but it is really fun to act out the scenes from the Chase Danger series.
Chase and I have a lot in common, but most importantly, we get our strength from eating pizza! I love pizza, though not really pineapples much.  My favorite scene was Operation Baby Safe.  I love little babies and it was funny when Chase said, "born potty trained!"  I can understand how Aiden gets his feelings hurt from his sister.  My brothers tend to do that to me and it is easy to think they don't care about me.  I am just glad my feelings can't set off rockets!  That wouldn't be good at all!  I really liked the surprise we find out in this book and I can't wait for book 3!
Jacey:  I love the sword fighting!  Yah!  I like to hear the sounds that come from the cd and I always get to turn the page too.  I am even learning which words are Chase, spy, and Danger.  I really like this book a lot and I always get really excited to hear it before I go to bed at night.  Sometimes, its fun just to listen to the cd, and other times I like hearing my mom read the book to us.  She does pretty good voices with our different stuffed animals and she can read books pretty good too.  I want to give this book as a present to our cousins for Christmas.

All in all, we have all talked and decided Chase Danger Super Spy and The Pirates of Pineapple Island deserve five stars!  This is one of those books that you can read over and over again and it just keeps the excitement level constant!

Make sure you stay tuned in the next few days because we will be having an interview with someone very special to this series.

ARC Book Review: Upside Down (A Vampire Tale) by Jess Smart Smiley

Title: Upside Down 
Series: A Vampire Tale
Author: Jess Smart Smiley
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Expected Date of Publication: October 16,  2012
Format: hardcover, 144 pages
Source: eARC from publisher via Net Galley for honest opinion of it.


Harold is a friendly young vampire - but he loves candy so much, the dentist might have to pull his teeth! Now, what if he and the dentist, plus a couple friendly bats, all get caught up in the evil plots of the local witch? It's a wild magical romp for all ages, just in time for Halloween!
                                                         -Goodreads summary



Mom's Thoughts:

I was really hoping that this would be a great friendly vampire story kids to enjoy for Halloween.  Harold was friendly indeed, but he fell a little flat for me as a character.  The book is set up in comic book style, which seemed to be good idea for the older kids but unfortunately, the plot just couldn't keep our interest piqued.
From a mom's perspective, I understand the moral hidden among the funny images and story line and I couldn't agree more with it.  But the delivery of it just couldn't be carried through enough for my kids to take anything away from reading this.
I also would have liked a little more variety of colors instead of the dull monotone of green and black throughout the novel.
Even though this wasn't something that could keep us entertained; if you like funny vampires, a mean witch, and the dentist, this unlikely combination might just be what you are looking for.  
We gave it 2 stars.

You can pre-order your copy at: 


Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Review: Poppy and The Stranger by Eli Jay

Title: Poppy and the Stranger
Author: Eli Jay
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Date of Publication: Sept. 5, 2012
Format: paperback, 42 pages
Source: received from author for honest review


Goodreads Summary:
In this fabulous and delightful story for children ages 2 and up, our adorable and sweet Poppy, the Wandering Balloon once again continues on his adventure of learning, fascination, and self-realization. This time, he faces a dark stranger under the moonlight. The stranger appears to follow Poppy no matter what he does, or where he goes. In hopes of escaping from the stranger, Poppy finds his way through the woods, meeting both old and new forest friends. But only Lyndon might have a real solution to Poppy's fear. Read this enchanting story and find out what Poppy learns at the end of his puzzling, but intriguing journey.....

Mom's Thoughts:

What an interesting idea to make a balloon the main character!  My younger sons loved this concept.  Just think: Poppy could be one of those balloons that little kids have unwittingly let go only to watch them float high up into the air off to another place.  I loved that this helped the younger children relate to Poppy.  
It was fun to meet the forest animals that helps Poppy solve his problem.  Everyone had a favorite.  Mine was the snake.  We enjoyed reading the snake's voice, especially putting a lot of emphasis on the "s" sound.  I would give this 3 stars for the fun we had reading it together.  The plot was simple for young kids to understand while the illustrations weren't very elaborate to cause too much stimulation.  Now let's hear what my sons thought of Poppy and the Stranger.

Michael's Thoughts:

I loved Poppy!  Balloons are so much fun to play with anyways.  My little brother, Jace, and I always like to pretend our balloons have special powers that make us superheroes.  This story was pretty funny when Poppy was afraid of the stranger following him.  I knew who it was the minute we read it but I didn't want to give it away for my little brother.  This story was easy for me to read, even though I liked my mom reading it to us too.  
I also loved all the green in the book.  This is one of my favorite colors, besides yellow, and I really liked all the pictures.  My favorite animal was the fox.  It was nice to meet a helpful fox instead of the sneaky ones in most kids stories.
Poppy is a great friend and I can't wait to read some more of his adventures!

Jace's Thoughts:

Mama wanted to read us a new book about a balloon that gets scared of something that he sees following him.  We get to see him ask all of his friends what they think the stranger is.  I got to see an owl and a fox and a snake but my favorite was the Bear.  He seemed so nice and it was funny because he lived in a house instead of a cave.  I laughed a lot at that.  I liked the pictures a lot.  They made the story really fun to listen to and my older brother, Mikey, could read it to me too.  We read it a bunch of times the next day.  I loved this story so much I can't wait to get a new balloon.  I am going to name it Poppy!

Get your copy at: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

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.