Anne Bradstreet: Poet, Pilgrim, Rebel #womenshistorymonth

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today we are continuing our celebration of Women's History Month. Today I am featuring Anne Bradstreet. She was the first American poet to be published! As I was doing my research and looking for children's books about her, I discovered Poet, Pilgrim, Rebel: The Story of Anne Bradstreet, America's First Published Poet by Katie Munday Williams and illustrated by Tania Rex. Sadly, I could not find a copy at our local library, but I was able to get a digital copy to review, so I get to share it with you!

Te Ata: Chickasaw Storyteller, Performer & Educator --Women's History Month

 

Today I am going to share about Te Ata or Mary Frances Thompson Fisher. What an amazing woman who I hadn't heard of until recently. She was a Chickasaw and became a world-renowned storyteller, performer, and educator. At a time when the non-native people saw Native Americans as savages, warriors, etc. (mostly from Wild West Shows and films), she became dedicated to share more of the Native American culture and educate the nation. 

The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners -- Crafty Sundays Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you have a budding artist in the family or perhaps are you one? In our house Hazel is our budding artist and one of her favorite forms of art is drawing. Over the summer she went to a weeklong art camp at her school. Her art teacher is truly amazing and he ran it. I wanted to review this book for her or actually I wanted her to review the book. She did try some of the projects for me to write the review. The book is The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners by Yoshiko Ogura. 

Game On! Series Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I was sent these books to participate in Dover Publications Virtual Book Tour hosted by The Children's Book Review and will receive a small stipend for my review. All opinions are my own. 

Today we are continuing our series of fun learning resources for the summer. I know there are many parents worried about the loss of learning due to the pandemic, but also know that kids need some fun and normalcy to life this summer. My solution is to share resources to keep kids brains working while they enjoy and have fun this summer. Today I am going to share the three activity books in the Game On! Series. 

Outdoor School Series Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am going to continue sharing books to get your kids learning while having fun this summer. Today we are going to look at a series of books that no only is fun and educational but also gets your kids outside and enjoying nature! The Outdoor School series features three interactive nature guides as well as three sticker books, and two essentials guides. Whether your family is interested in animals, hiking, camping, rock collecting and more there is something for everyone and these books all start by saying step outside no matter where you live there is nature out there. 

Fun Summer Learning Resources

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Last February we found an amazing school to switch Hazel to. They have a spring break in March that lasts for two weeks. Hazel was supposed to start right after the break, but the pandemic hit and our state closed down. Her school started after that break with remote learning for last year. This year however they went in person with the daily choice of a student going remote. Although it has been a strange year, it has been an amazing year. Hazel has so much more confidence. She is standing up straighter and just overall happier. Finding the right school makes so much difference and we didn't really realize it until this year. Today is her last day of school and summer begins! Now since she has been learning in person she is not one of the kids that has lost so much during the pandemic. However I know there are many kids who have. I see the posts and articles with the concerns of what kids lost this year, will they be behind, etc. I also know there are people who are looking for ways to help catch them up this summer. My advice is to find fun ways to help them catch up and learn something new. Today I am going to share some books that will do just this. The first book is Top Secret: Spies, Codes, Capers, Gadgets, and Classified Cases Revealed by Crispin Boyer and Suzanne Zimbler. 

Exploring Japan with Books & Activities

 

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Since Monday was Memorial Day and I spent the weekend with family and friends I didn't do my multicultural post this week. Today I am going to share some of the resources I have to explore Japan. I know Japan will be a popular country to look at this summer with the Olympics being held in Tokyo. We will start with All About Japan by Willamarie Moore and illustrated by Kazumi Wilds. 

My First Science Book Series Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I am working with The Children's Book Review & Dover Publications by participating in this virtual book tour. I was sent copies of these four books in exchange for an honest review and a small stipend. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe it is June. Summer is basically here. For many this school year was a mess. I know many parents are worried about how much their kids learned with all the remote learning the past two years. Every summer kids lose some of what they have learned. This summer it will be more important to keep our kids reading and learning. I am going to be sharing books that will give you extra resources to keep the kids learning all summer long in fun ways starting today. Today I am sharing part of Dover Publication's My First Science Book Series and at the end there will be a giveaway!! 

Interesting Facts & Benefits of Clover with Craft & Recipe Round-Up

 

Last week we had so much fun learning about dandelions. It is amazing that what many consider a weed can do for your yard as well as food! This week I thought I would look at another wildflower or weed. We will look at clovers! I found many interesting things about clovers. Now many people associate clover with St. Patrick's Day. However for me it is a spring/summer thing because we have so much in our yard and the rabbits come out to eat it.

Fun, Useful and Interesting Books from National Geographic Kids

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe summer is fast approaching. What a year we have had. We have made huge strides fighting the world pandemic. Our state is going to open up fully on the 29th. The vaccines seem to be working. We have been lucky. Hazel's age is approved for the vaccine so she will be fully vaccinated a couple of weeks into her summer vacation. She has also been in school in person all year. However I know many schools were not in person. Many kids are a bit behind so this summer it will be even more important to have them reading and learning. Today I am going to share three fun, useful and interesting books that kids will love learning from this summer. All three are from National Geographic Kids which means they are pretty easy reads without long stories or chapters and more fun facts and photos. We will start with the National Geographic Kids Almanac 2022.

Women in the Civil War

 

When we think about the Civil War there are a few women's names that pop in our minds like Harriet Tubman and perhaps nurses like Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott. Today I am going to delve into the lives and accomplishments of other women in the Civil War that you may not have heard of. There were many women who worked on the homefront, fundraising, making uniforms, etc., but the women I am sharing about today did even more. The Civil War was a war that made it easier for women to disguise themselves as men and fight. In fact it is estimated that there were more than 400 women who did so. Some were discovered when injured or died and others never were. They were of different races and worked for the North or the South. Each had her own courageous adventure in the war. As with the other Women in Wars posts I will share books for kids to learn more about the women when I can. To begin this post I am going to share books that have multiple women in them. I have personally found Women in the Civil War by Kari A. Cornell and Heroism Begins with Her by Winifred Conkling extremely useful and used both as sources for this post. All of the women featured in this post are featured in these books or in the Famous Women of the Civil War by Peter F. Copeland which is a coloring book.

Women in the American Revolutionary War

 

Happy International Women's Day!! It seems like the perfect time to do our second post for Women in Wars--our focus for Women's History Month this year. Today we will focus on the Revolutionary War. During the time of the Revolutionary War women were not even considered for military service. There were some roles that women were able to play for the military units. Wives, mothers and daughters of some soldiers would go with the military units and do the cooking, sewing and clothes washing for the men and they would get to sleep in a tent and get food. They were called camp followers by some and General George Washington called them women of the army. Women also helped with the care of injured soldiers. They served as nurses and were considered civilians. They received no military status or benefits and no medical training. They did jobs like feeding and bathing the patients as well as cleaning the beds and emptying the bed chambers. They were paid only about $2-$4 a month and often got ill from the soldiers. 

Women in Wars -- Introduction-- Women's History Month

 

As I thought about Women's History Month I knew I wanted to really touch on women in history that may be forgotten. Today women are members of the Armed Forces, but not that long ago they were not allowed. I decided I would focus on women who played important roles in wars. This month I will share about women in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and the two World Wars. Today I thought I would start with some women who fought wars before America was a country. I have focused on the legend of Mulan in the past. She is one of the women who reportedly disguised herself as a man to fight in a war. Then there was the Greek goddess, Athena, who was the goddess of war, as well as the Amazons, the race of women warriors in Greek mythology. Even the Aztecs had a warrior goddess, Itzpapalotl. Then we know of Joan of Arc and how she led the French army through battles. And we shared about Artemisia in the past. Today let's talk about some of the other women you may not have heard about that fought in real wars and battles. As I started researching women in wars I found The Book of Heroines: Tales of History's Gutsiest Gals by Stephanie Warren Drimmer. All of the women, goddesses and legends mentioned in this post are featured in this book. This book is one of the sources for my entire post. I will list others that I used to find out more about the women and share books for kids when possible. (Note: I have not checked out these books but found them searching my local library website and Amazon.)

New Multicultural Books Perfect for Women's History Month

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

March is such a funny month. In New England it can be a long month without much to do. The weather is sometimes amazing and often awful. It can be snow or rain and it really depends. Spring begins in March which is always my favorite but it is early spring so it isn't the beautiful part of spring yet. And of course there is Pi Day! One of my favorite holidays!! Mathematicians don't get too many holidays. The other thing that excites me about March is that it is Women's History Month. It is a month for us to discover and learn about the amazing women throughout history that we probably haven't heard of. Most of our history was recorded by men (and around here it was white men) so it is very biased and often doesn't cover the amazing things women have done to support society. I have big plans for this month but to begin I thought I would share two new books that are perfect for Women's History Month. The first is a picture book that shares a favorite story of Dovey Johnson Roundtree liked to tell. Last month I shared a middle grade level book about Dovey but today's book is a perfect way to introduce younger kids to this amazing woman. The book is We Wait for the Sun by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe and illustrated by Raissa Figueroa.

Tulsa's Greenwood District -- The 1921 Tulsa Racial Riot and a new YA Historical Fiction Novel

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am going to share a young adult novel set in 1921 in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Do you know about Greenwood? Perhaps you have heard of it as the Black Wall Street? Or maybe have heard of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot? Before I share the novel with you I thought I would tell you about Greenwood and the Tulsa Race Riot. 

Black people arrived in Oklahoma with the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. Some were slaves and some were freed. Some of these Black people became citizens of the Native American nations. After the Civil War, due to the negotiations between the U.S. Government and the Native Americans land some of the Black tribal citizens were granted large parcels of land. As a result some of the Blacks welcomed other Southeastern Blacks and were able to form dozens of all-Black towns in the region. In fact in 1890 Edwin McCabe met with President Benjamin Harrison to try to get the Oklahoma territory turned into an all-Black state. 

A New Book Perfect for Presidents Day

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe that Monday is Presidents' Day. I am thinking back to last Presidents' Day and how much has changed including our President. Last Presidents' Day my family was getting ready for our big trip to Florida. Hazel had asked for Christmas and her birthday for a trip to Disney. We picked her February vacation to do it. That trip is the last time we were out of Massachusetts. When we returned we found a new school for Hazel. My car needed to be replaced and then the lockdown happened. Presidents' Day represents what was my normal life for me before this pandemic. And of course, the President and the election were BIG news this year. Well today I am going to share with you National Geographic's 2020 Edition of Our Country's Presidents: A Complete Encyclopedia of the U.S. Presidency by Ann Bausum. Every four years National Geographic Kids puts out a new edition.

The World of the First Christians -- Kids Book Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When you read the Bible do you ever wonder about life during the times it is telling us? What were houses like? What was travel like? As Christians today our world is so different. We are accepted and often leaders in the US at least. We have luxuries such as indoor plumbing and private bathrooms as well as electricity. Plus many families take vacations all over the world. As a Sunday School teacher and mother I know kids wonder often about what the world was like during Biblical times. Today's book is a book to help them understand more about the Biblical world. The book is The World of the First Christians: A Curious Kid's Guide to the Early Church by Marc Olson and illustrated by Jemima Maybank. 

This book is very kid friendly. It is full of illustrations and bits of information. It is organized not to overwhelm but to educate. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12 and I would say that is the perfect age to go with this book. The book deals with who the first Christians were and what they did. It also shares about life in Rome and other Roman cities. The details are very interesting and explain a bit about life and yes there is bathroom talk in parts of it!

The illustrations are clear and add to the information shared. This book is more of a guide to educate than a picture book. It goes through many different things as well as relating them to the different parts of the Bible. The Gospel is explained as well as the Apostles and the letters. It even goes into how the letters were delivered. 

Modes of transportation are addressed as well as people like the Egyptian Monks and Paul. The words are also described as well as where they come from. It is such an interesting book full of facts you do not see every day. If you have a kid who is curious and asking questions about the Bible, take a look at this book and the Bible will come even more alive for you and that kid. 

A Book to Help Teens Relate to a Loved One with Dementia

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Does someone in your life have dementia? My father has Alzheimer's disease. This year has been even harder because of it. When the pandemic hit and everything shut down our lives all changed but especially my father's. His schedule was gone. The bus didn't come to pick him up for his day program three times a week. He didn't have his volunteer job at the Alzheimer's center anymore. He and my mother were home alone basically all the time. They are both 80 or older now. It was too dangerous to let them run their errands. My sister went to see them every weekend to run errands and give my mom a break. This summer while staying at the family house near them my family experienced the first time we knew my father had no idea who we were. He was spending the day with us and woke up from a nap and kept talking about wanting to see my mother by her first name. I couldn't calm him until I called my mother to come get him. It was heartbreaking for me. I was use to being called by one of my sisters' name--he has been doing that my whole life--but this time it was obvious he had no idea I was his daughter or that Hazel was his granddaughter. It is so hard to deal with for me and I can only imagine what it is like for Hazel. Today's book is to help teens and even tweens understand dementia and find ways to relate to the loved one with dementia. It is A Loved One with Dementia by Jean Rawitt. It is part of the Empowering You series. 

Facts about Simone Biles and Review of Flying High

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Want are your favorite events to watch during the Olympics? I fell in love with gymnastics at a young age. One of my sisters was very good at gymnastics when she was young and really loved watching them. It drives me crazy that they put the gymnastic competitions on so late so it has been hard to watch them with Hazel. Of course relatively new to the scene but with amazing success is Simone Biles. Today we are going to focus on Simone Biles and her life and success as well as share a new picture book about her. 

Multicultural Children's Book Day 2021

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8^th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators. Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!