Ha! Now that was a hoot! I loved how confident little fish was during the whole book. He sure was full of himself and his abilities. He actually stole a hat from a bigger fish and then, wore it upon his head. He then, justified his actions, leaving us readers having to decide which side of the argument you wanted to believe. Did you believe what little fish was telling you? Did little fish have all the correct information? Super cute book that even little children will like when they’re old enough to follow a story.
So where do you find the Christmas Spirit? Where can someone discover that good feeling you get about Christmas? This is the question that Little Elliott must answer as he searches with his friend Mouse, after their visit with Santa didn’t produce the results that he wanted.
As the two friends try different seasonal activities, Little Elliott struggles to find his Christmas Spirit and he begins to lose hope. When a misplaced envelope finds its way to Little Elliott, he takes it upon himself to deliver the envelope to the right person. This action is the beginning of their adventure as Little Elliott discovers what he was missing. This is a cute story with beautiful, colorful illustrations.
I liked how straight-forward this book was. It wasn’t busy, filled with unnecessary things or words, it stated the facts and that was it. This book counts down from ten to one and then on the final page, the author reminds us that, yes dinosaurs are extinct.
Each number is given a two-page spread and on those two pages you get a specific dinosaur, the number (1-10) and you get the number written our in words and you an adjective for that dinosaur . So, for 9: it reads 9 nine lazing deinosuchus and includes 9 of them on the page in their various shades of color. What? I don’t know what a deinosuchus is? But, I bet a few children do. There were included in this book, dinosaurs that I knew too. Now, I like dinosaurs but some of these dinosaurs have names that I haven’t heard before. At the back of the book, the author has included how to pronounce some of the dinosaur names, which does help.
It was an okay book but I think the pronunciations would have helped me more, if they were on the page with the dinosaur. I also didn’t care for the illustrations as they didn’t match the language of the book. I did like the added adjectives in the book and again, the simplicity of the book , I enjoyed. 3.5 stars
I think we all can relate to this book, even as adults. Our dear friends bear, moose, and beaver are spending the day in the great outdoors but instead of listening to nature, they’re bickering. Fighting over just about everything, as they spend the day canoeing together.
I laughed as the friends ended up going around in circles, as they tipped their boat and as they encountered some scary waters but these three just couldn’t get along even after each struggle. There were other adventures that these three had while on their canoeing trip and I smile just thinking of them. The illustrations in this book are terrific as they work so well with the text. This is a entertaining book yet it’s also one that has some important lessons tucked inside it.
We catch up with our dear friends bear, moose, and beaver in this sweet book, as they are celebrating their favorite holiday, Christmas. As the friends get ready to celebrate, they learn a few important lessons about each other and about life.
I adore Nicholas’ books. There is something about the characters, the lessons that they teach, and the way the illustrations bring everything together that makes these books special to me. Using these three different animals, they each have their own special talents and characteristics which play an important role in the books. Each book teaches subtle lessons about life as the story unfolds. These books are gems.
In this story, as the friends get ready for Christmas, they realize that they are missing an important piece of their Christmas together. Quickly, the trio rushes out into the forest. After looking at other options, bear spots the perfect tree! This tree is exactly what they are looking for! Bear’s friends agree, and beaver gets ready to do his job. Wait! Bear doesn’t want to have beaver chew down the tree. Beaver can’t chew down this tree! Beaver and moose know the tree must come down so they can take it home but bear says, no. What are the three friends going to do about this beautiful tree if they can’t agree.
I enjoyed how the friends worked together and how bear solved the problem. I thought it was sweet how the friends all enjoyed bear’s solution. The illustrations are colorful, fun, and cute to look at. I also like the physical size of this book as I feel that they are a good fit for smaller hands and they’re perfect for lap sharing. A great children’s picture book.
This book is a gem! Packed with 25 different experiments, I was excited to thumb my way through this beauty. I have to warn you up front, that I am not into science. I hated science as a child, as I didn’t understand any of it but now as an adult, I love experimenting and learning from it. This book fits right in with my needs.
If only as I child, I could have experimented with fun and interesting items instead of the beakers, test tubes and chemicals that we had to use, I think that I would have learned more and enjoyed science. In The Big Book of Experiments, the variety of experiments is great. Some of the experiments can be completed rather quickly and some can take some time while there are some which small children can complete with little assistance while others, you’ll need an adult or mature person watching over the whole experiment.
I liked that some of these ideas were ones that I had already completed and some were new to me. There was Dancing Raisins, Elephant’s Toothpaste, Moon Rocks, Unicorn Glue, Lava Lamp, Neon Brains, and Fake Tattoos, just to mention a few. I do like redoing experiments
Kate provides visual safety cues to each experiment. Whether that is a sink, goggles, gloves, a garbage can or adults, as these safety cues remind the reader to be safe when conducting the experiments. Along with the cues, each experiment has a small note about the experiment, a list of supplies, a messiness level, step-by-step directions with colorful illustrations, questions to ask yourself after you’re finished (science questions about what happened and what if questions) and then, the author explains to you the WHY, as to why the experiment worked. Now, that is some important stuff! This is the educational element of the book and important for you to read, you do want to become smarter, don’t you?
I liked that most of the supplies for these experiments were normal items that aren’t hard to find. Items like rubber bands, knife, dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, shaving cream, balloons, fishing line, etc. There are some that called for some more difficult items, like sodium alginate, calcium chloride, iron oxide powder, dry ice, and copper wire, for which you will have to do some planning to get these before having some fun. I I would have liked an idea where someone could locate some of these items, that would have been a big help. Some type of indexing at the back would have been great too. There is a Table of Content but I like indexes in books like these.
It’s a great colorful, fun book and I highly recommend it. If you’re homeschooling or trying to keep your child engaged, this is a great book to check out.
I saw these last night but I just couldn’t buy them. The candy corn was all different colors but the thought of the flavors and the texture, made me cringe. Has anyone tried it? What’s your thoughts? I’m rather curious
Every time I read one of these MonsterStreet books, I swear it’s the best one that I have read. So, I will say it again, these books just keep getting better and better! I’m hooked on this series! Every time that I hear that a new one is coming out, I’m all over it, just waiting for release day and I’m over 50 years old. This book had it all. It had the creep factor, the suspense, the cliff hangers at the ends of some of the chapters and fantastic characters. Do you need to start at the beginning of this series to enjoy this? No, but I guarantee that you’ll be inhaling them, once you start reading them.
As you read books in this series, you’ll come across aspects in the mystery that you know or you feel that you know, are not as scary as they come across. What I like about this series is that the author, dismisses many of these aspects immediately, instead of letting them add up, and then dismissing them later in the book. An example: if a character in the book finds a cloth with red liquid on it. Instead of having the reader believe that this cloth is a bloody towel throughout the book, the author lets the characters uncover what the cloth might be immediately and dismisses it as a napkin with ketchup on it. I feel that helps put the important pieces of the mystery together in the book.
Riding to summer camp on the bus, a few of the kids, made friends. They each felt special, as they were amongst a selected group to be invited to Camp Moon Lake. It was said to be magical yet they have promised, like all previous campers before them, not to disclose what occurs while at camp.
When Brodie tells Harper and Darla the rumor that he heard about the camp, this summer camp just took on a chill. As a fog smothers the camp and a scream welcomes the campers, this week at camp will be one that everyone will remember.
I enjoyed the horror aspects of this for young readers. No blood or gore but I would know your audience before letting young elementary children read this. Some children might not be able to handle it, and I’d hate to hear about someone having a nightmare. If a child is able to distinguish reality from everything else, they should be okay reading this. I’m not going to go into what this book was about as I don’t want to spoil it. I really loved the book and the ending was amazing! I can’t wait for the next one!
This was not the story that I had expected to read when I picked up this book. I was expecting the story to be more humorous and reckless but it wasn’t. The story didn’t make light of the situations that these individuals were in, these characters were realistic and natural. I found myself enjoying this book more than I thought I would.
They call themselves the Core Four. From college graduation, to attending each other weddings, to moving out to the suburbs together, these four individuals have been together through it all. It’s like one big extended family, as all the spouses and kids all get along. It seems like a perfect world for these individuals until one of the couples decides that their marriage is over. The “d” word has shattered this image.
This news shakes the group and I immediately start thinking, “the grass always looks greener on the other side.” I know that others in their group will start to follow them soon but many questions run through my head. Will they all divorce? Will they turn on one another? They’ve been together a long time as a group, will they stay together? What if “the grass is not greener?” What is dating like now? They won’t start dating each other, will they?
It wasn’t long before, three out of the four couples divorced or had started the process of divorcing and only one couple remained with their wedding rings still on. Whew! One couple made it!! But wait, it’s not over yet. The couple has started contemplating their position now. Do they really want to be married? Do they really love each other? Divorce is such an extreme option but what other choice do they have?
This book was a reality check. I liked how the group stayed together and how they tried to help each other when events in their life changed. Being unmarried and single seemed like a great idea, yet they didn’t really see the whole picture. As they projected their positive image to others, what was really going on inside? The options available to them as an uncommitted adult looked wonderful and exciting, until they lived it. The married couple and the choice that they made; I kept wondering how long it was going to last. I could feel this couple’s emotions as they tried to carry through with their plans but there were other things they were contending with.
I really enjoyed how realistic this book felt. Nothing was over-the-top and the characters each had their own identity. I laughed and smiled as the characters moved through their life, trying to make the best of their choices and their situations. A great story with interesting characters.
Today was day #8 but after a while all the days have just been blending together. Last Monday, we were hit with a Derecho. What is a Derecho? In my world, it was a severe storm that came out of nowhere, lasted forever, ripped my city to shreds, and created a major mess.
I’ve lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa my whole life and I’ve never experienced anything like I’ve experienced last Monday. Luckily, I was at my parents house so I could help them, as their house is surrounded by trees, or used to be.
Watching their neighbor’s tree fall on his garage, marked the beginning of the event. It escalated to my father’s tree falling apart branch-by-branch. Then, came the noises. Watching out their large picture window, a large section came sailing towards me, breaking through the window, sending glass, rain, and debris into their house. My father and I spent the rest of the storm, bracing a quilt to the exposed window. The wind throwing us back and forth as the rain soaked the quilt and the debris tried to make its way inside. Stupid decision? Perhaps, but in my mind, I was thinking of what the wind and rain would do, if it worked it’s way inside. My arms were getting tired and I couldn’t get any traction on the floor (bare feet on broken glass)but my adrenaline rush was off the chart!
When it finally died down, the destruction was everywhere. Inside, outside, their house, our house, the neighbors, the street, the city! Every, I mean every block in Cedar Rapids had damage. Every light was out! No electricity, no street lights. Trees down everywhere. Trees on houses, on electric wires, on cars, on everything. 100 year- old trees down. Trees laying on their sides, grass, roots and all. A- 10 minute drive home took 25 minutes, as streets were blocked with debris, electric wires, whole trees lying across them, and with people coming out to clean up.
It’s a Derecho, and we’re slowly, very slowly putting our lives back together. We’ve got people cooking on their grills, feeding whoever shows up for free food, drink on their sidewalks and driveways. We have giveaways setup throughout the city, volunteers ready to deliver if you can’t drive in. Anything you need? Call the number and someone will try to help you. We have individuals driving in to help now, we’re getting electricians from around the country and Canada to get us back up on the grid. We are so thankful! This is people helping people, this is Iowa.
We haven’t got our electricity back on yet. We’re plugged into our neighbors generator (sharing it) as we’ve let others use our generators right now. We’ve got some damage to our house but others have it much worse. We’re fighting this Derecho amongst this Covid outbreak and now, with most of schools damaged, the forecast for the beginning of school has been determined.
This has been a learning experience. I love how our community has come together when our leaders didn’t. Our neighbors have been wonderful and relying on them and socializing with them after a long day, is priceless. Being outside and not connected to our electric devices, makes you appreciate nature again. It makes me realize that you just never know, be prepared!
Laundromat Damaged homeParents side yard Picture windowApartments Trees like these are all over the city
One Chapter 