Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own. How are you surviving this crazy new social distancing? School buildings here are closed until at least May 4 and now lessons are on-line for all students. It is a strange time. I have several friends who are nurses at hospitals and both have told me about the lack of face masks. Although I believe the supplies are slowly coming I decided to do my part and make some face masks. Now we all know that homemade face masks will not stop COVID-19 like the N-95 face masks that the hospitals desperately need, but they will help protect some and certainly can be used in other parts of the hospitals. I pulled out the fabric scraps from past quilts and ones my mother gave me. I did some research. I found this article and its links to be very helpful. I combined a few tutorials and had one of my nurse friends try them on so I knew which was best. I used two layers of good quality quilting cotton fabrics and a layer of either a good t-shirt or flannel.
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Now this group of books seems like a bit of a mish-mash. It has a large variety but each is published by National Geographic Kids. This group covers history, current events, science and more. We will start with the one that also could be seen as part of my Real Life Princess Series, The Book of Queens by Stephanie Warren Drimmer.
Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Well it is raining out, but inside I'm surrounded by cat and dog books literally. Last week we celebrated National Cat Day and somehow I didn't get this review written in time. So sorry. I did celebrate by sharing these previews of Statement Canvas Wall Art on my Thirty-One Facebook page. (Note: I am an independent consultant of Thirty-One and will receive a commission from any Thirty-One purchases through my website.) These are our two fur babies.
Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I have been gathering all summer some amazing educational books. And now that school has started again, I think it is beyond time for me to share them with you!! These books are for various ages and are for various subjects. There is English, history, geography, science and more!! Talk about a fun mix. I even have some educational game books!! Hazel has been loving these. Let's start with Shakespeare!!
Disclosure: We were sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Today I am going to share three different poetry books with you. They are each very different from one another and each is a wonderful addition to any poetry unit or collection. Two of the books have themes that will also lend toward other subjects as well. We will start with The Day the Universe Exploded My Head by Allan Wolf and illustrated by Anna Raff.
Disclosure: We were sent these books and kits in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I have been sitting on these books for awhile and the pile keeps growing, so I am getting these reviews done. Are you looking for some fun science (mostly space) resources for STEM activities and lessons this summer? I have a group to share with you. The first book is a middle grade novel. It is the first in a series of novels from National Geographic Kids. It is Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit.
Disclosure: We were sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. National Geographic Kids is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its annual almanac. This year's is packed full of interesting facts and amazing photos. Today we are sharing with you National Geographic Kids Almanac 2020.
Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Today we are going to look at books that teach kids about art and artists. The books range for ages 4 to young adult. We will go in order of age. The first is Dancing Through Fields of Color: The Story of Helen Frankenthaler by Elizabeth Brown and illustrations by Aimee Sicuro. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of each of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. We have a spring break coming up and then it is almost time for summer break. I don't know about you but I know I will need some ideas to keep Hazel busy. Today I am going to share some fun books for kids that will keep them busy and help them learn! Our first book is from National Geographic Kids and it is Make This!by Ella Schwartz and photographs by Matthew Rakola.
Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. March is Women's History Month and today I am sharing a round-up of books for you to check out to celebrate many amazing women. Some are women you have heard of and others are about women you may not have heard of. I always love learning about new, amazing women. Don't you? These books range in ages from baby (board book) to around 11. We will start with our board book.
Disclosure: Mindware sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I was hoping to get this post written before the holidays, but I got the items a bit late and then went on vacation. However these products are wonderful gifts for birthdays or other occasions as well as just great additions to your family games and activities or home school. One of the many things I love about Mindware products is how they are fun and educational. All of these fit that description. Three of these products are games that are fun additions for family game night. The first is Leaps and Ledges.
Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Are you looking for some fun science experiments to try at home? These books are great for teaching some science or for those kids that just love to explore and mess around a bit with science. We will start with a fun book that is perfect for dog lovers and owners. It is Dog Science Unleashed by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen and photographs by Matthew Rakola.
Disclosure: MindWare sent me copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This fall I was asked if I would run an 8 week math club for grade 3 to 5. I did some research and discovered an amazing free math club program--Crazy 8s. But we couldn't get into it in time for the fall run. I am hoping to do it this winter. So I needed to pull together some ideas for the fall math club. It is a bit hard working with grades 3 to 5. The third graders have not really learned to multiply yet or what a fraction is yet where as the fifth graders are beyond that. I turned to MindWare for some fun supplements to math club. They were kind enough to send me some perplexor books and a set of extreme dot to dot books. And guess what? The kids LOVE them. They beg me to copy more each week. I think next week's math club may really be diving into the perplexors. I try to start each week with a perplexor. I made the mistake of starting with a dot to dot and found the kids spent the entire hour on it instead of the other fun activities I had planned. Now I give the dot to dot out at the end. Some of the kids bring them back finished to show us. I love it. MindWare also gives teachers permission to photocopy their dot to dot and perplexor books for use in a classroom, so it is legal for me to copy these for the kids. It is a win-win.
Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Last Thursday was National STEM/STEAM Day. I shared one STEM book and promised more but it didn't happen, so here is another installment! Today's books are math and engineering related!! Looking for some fun STEM books for your kids 12 and under? Here are a few. The first book we will share is Annie Aardvark: Adding Ants by Susie Olsen and illustrated by Davina "Viv" Kinney and Vimarie Perez. This is the second book in the Annie Aardvark series. You can see my review of the first one here.
Disclsoure: Candlewick Press sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Did you know Thursday (November 8) is National STEM/STEAM Day? It is a day to celebrate and challenge our kids with STEM activities and lessons. I have a pile of STEM related books to share so I am going to try to get through my pile this week. I am going to start today with a book about the big bang theory. It is The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Ekua Holmes.
Disclosure: Penguin Random House sent me these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. There is a big push for STEM for kids and for coding. We have really enjoyed the Girls Who Code Series and now they have come out with board books about coding for babies (and toddlers). Introducing the Baby Code! Series by Melissa Horning and illustrated by Melissa Crowton. These books are an introduction to coding and what it does for young children (baby-3). The four books are a bit similar but use different things to introduce the coding concepts. I wish the books were not just about babies. I love this idea for toddlers and preschoolers, but feel a 3-year-old would be put off by the name baby throughout the books and I feel a baby is probably not going to pick up as much about coding as a preschooler would. The first book in the series is Baby Code!
Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Oops!! I planned on reviewing these books last week, but our hotel room had very spotty internet, so I am reviewing them late. Sorry I didn't share them prior to Earth Day yesterday!! However these books are perfect for using with lessons about our planet and even as an introduction for younger kids to our world. The first book is Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up by Sally M. Walker and illustrated by William Grill.
On Pi Day I shared a round-up of science books including two that gave some names of women in science that I had not heard of. I decided to do some research and found books on some of them as well as other great women of science. So to end Women's History Month 2018 I thought I would share a bit about these amazing women. Let's start with Marie Tharp.
Last week I shared about Easter in Bermuda and the Bermudian kites reminded me of fancy God's Eyes. It got me thinking about God's Eyes and making some. I looked on-line and there are plenty of tutorials out there like this one over at Crafts by Amanda.
Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Well, this year Pi Day was a snow day for most of the schools around me including Hazel's. Luckily by late morning it was safe to be on the roads. We headed out to celebrate Pi Day at the Capital One Cafe where they were serving pizza pie and various pies. Did you know that Albert Einstein as born on March 14, 1879? And of course there was also the sad news today that Stephen Hawkings passed away this morning. (Source) In honor of all of this I thought it was time to share the pile of science books I have been collecting!! We will look at experiments, the human body, pinball, dinosaurs, underwater and space. Plus some of these books have ties to Women's History Month and more!! We will start with dinosaurs since chronologically that makes sense. The book is from the series Science Comics and it is Dinosaurs: Fossils and Feathers by M.K. Reed and illustrated by Joe Flood.
