New Holiday & Winter Books Roundup

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have shared three roundups of new Christmas picture books as well as reviews of some other ones this month. Today I am sharing at another December holiday--Hanukkah and winter books for you to check out. We will start with the Hanukkah book. It is Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Hanukkah Party! by Leslie Kimmelman and illustrated by Tom Brannon. It is recommended for ages 3 to 7.

Outside In and the Inside Out: A Story About Arnold Lobel

 

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

Every generation had its own beloved children's authors. For Hazel it was Mo Willems, Kevin Henkes, and Shannon Hale. For me I remember loving Beatrix Potter, Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume. I remember loving Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad as well. I also loved the Paddington series. Of course there are also the other classics like Dr. Seuss. Today we are sharing a fun new book about Arnold Lobel and his amazing books. The book is Outside In and the Inside Out: A Story about Arnold Lobel by Emmy Kastner.  It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up -- Book Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I am working with The Children's Book Review to bring you this post.

What are your favorite childhood books? Do you have ones from your own childhood or from your children's childhood? Perhaps you love the classics like Charlotte's Web or something new like one of our favorites, Princess in Black. Or maybe you are looking at picture books or middle grade novels. Not matter what your favorites are or what you are looking to read today's book has suggestions for you. The book is 101 Books to Ready Before You Grow Up (Revised Edition) by Bianca Schulze and illustrated by Samara Hardy. There is a giveaway at the end of this post too!

Fun Children's Books Released Today

 

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

Today I get to share two children's books that are released today!! One is in the manner of Dr. Seuss and the other gives life lessons from a dog. They are fun and will be loved by kids! We will start with the Seuss Studios book, Gertrude Gish on a Dish on a Fish by Sarah Hwang. It is recommended for ages 3 to 7. 

The Kindness Machine -- Picture Book Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Purple Butterfly Press and will receive a small stipend for this post. All opinions are my own.

"Spread kindness like confetti!" and "Be kind!" are two very popular sayings these days. Let's face it, today's world really needs more kindness! We are teaching our kids to be kind to others but are we teaching them to be kind to themselves. Are we being kind to ourselves and others? How do we really teach kindness? The answer to many of these questions can be answered with today's book. The book is The Kindness Machine by Chirstina Dankert and illustrated by Chad Dankert.

Books that Make Imaginations Soar for Ages 2 - 8

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

Today I am sharing some fun picture books that are for ages in the range of 2 to 8 and they make your imagination soar. The first book is Pop! by Jason Carter Eaton and illustrated by Matt Rockefeller. 

Books for the Young

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

Today I am going to share books for your youngest kids. The ages of these books range from baby to kindergarten. They are a variety of board books and picture books. The topics range from travel, family, transportation and more!! I hope you will check them out for your little ones!!

Sharing Saturday 18-9

It is time again for Sharing Saturday! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. So glad you joined us!!

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all your diverse/cultural posts be sure to share them at Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. 

Origami Fun

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I get to share with you two fun Origami products!! The first is Nick Robinson's Beginning Origami Kit. The first product is a kit. It comes with a book, DVD and paper for the projects. 

Cheap Doll Finds -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these items in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. All printables are free but for personal use only. If you would like to share them, please use a link back to this post.

I have not done a cheap doll find post in awhile, but I decided it was time. One of my favorite places to look is Oriental Trading. They have so much for parties and crafts and if you are creative you can find some great items that work for dolls. I always start by searching "miniature" or "mini". I will admit Hazel and I have been checking things out for awhile since she is planning on having an American Girl themed birthday party this year. It was going to be a Beforever themed party until she got Saige as a hand-me-down. For the birthday party we knew we wanted to get the Mini Neon Tote Bags, so we will start with these. Hazel set up the scene as her dolls having a slumber party. The tote bags work for the girls to bring her things for the night. At Hazel's party they will be for the dolls to bring home their favors (and we are planning on getting the matching Neon Tote Bags for the girls). 

A Look at Massachusetts and Its History

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

This year and last year Hazel's social studies unit is on the history of Massachusetts. As a result I have been gathering all the books I can find with a connection to our home state. (The truth be told I'm gathering books about all the states so I can expand our knowledge on each of them, but more on that below.) We also spent time doing some of the historical things in our area and looking at some of our past adventures. So today I am going to share two books about famous Massachusetts residents and share some of our adventures. The first book is Imagine That! by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

Sharing Saturday 17-9

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was full of many great ideas, crafts, lessons and more!! There are ideas for celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday, Lent, Easter and St. Patrick's Day and more! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have three groups of features: Book, March & Holiday, and Crafts Features.

Sharing Saturday 17-8

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was full of many great ideas, crafts, lessons and more!! There are ideas for celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday, Lent, Easter and St. Patrick's Day and more! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have three groups of features: Books & Learning, Math, and Everything Else Features.

Crafty Weekends Link Party

It is time to share your crafts for the week!! Now I as I mentioned in Sharing Saturday (which is hopping this week, so be sure to check it out). I have had one of those weeks where not much got done for my blog which includes my crafts this week. However I am visiting my parents for part of Hazel's school vacation week so I thought I would share this fun quilt my mother is making for my flamingo loving daughter.

Sharing Saturday 16-10

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts!! Be sure to join us at it!!

 Thank you to everyone who shared at last week's party!!  I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! The features this week are Book Related and Everything Else. 

Sharing Saturday 16-8

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And on Sunday morning we co-host a new Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop. Be sure to join us at it!!

This week has been full of fun and activities. Hazel has had the week off from school and my 13-year-old nephew is spending his vacation week with us as well. I'm tired out, I must admit, but it has been fun to be with them. And it was fun to check out everything that was shared last week! Thank you to everyone who shared at last week's party!!  I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! The features this week are Holidays and More, Parenting and More, and Math and Science. 

Sharing Saturday 15-9

Congratulations to Lori H. for winning the Winter Wonderful DVD Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! I was once again blown away by all the great ideas shared! If you have not had a chance to check them out, I highly recommend you do. My features this week are March Holidays, Artists and Some Favorites.

Cat in the Hat: Let's Go on an Adventure DVD Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVD free of charge and is supplying the one for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always, links are provided for your convenience and are not for compensation.

Don't you love Dr. Seuss and The Cat and the Hat? I know we do!! When NCircle Entertainment offered us a review copy of The Cat in the Hat: Let's Go on an Adventure! DVD plus one to giveaway, we jumped at the chance. 

This DVD includes five episodes as well as some Bonus Features like the various short parts they put in before or after the show on television. What I like most about The Cat in the Hat show is there is always a lesson in each show. In the episodes on this DVD includes following a treasure map, joining a salmon running upstream, following seeds, learning about skunks and about snails.

One of the episodes on the DVD is on map reading. Now Steve loves maps so I have many pictures of Hazel pretending to read a map. She also keeps any map we get from any place we go (Plimouth Plantation, Sea World, etc.). The maps may be falling apart, but she wants to keep them and I see her play with them. 

Hazel consults her "map"  to be like Daddy

So I thought it would be fun to make Hazel a map of the way we go to Cape Cod. Since she cannot read yet, I used the landmarks we usually see and look for on the trip. I figured she could cross them off when she sees them and make it a game.

Now it is your turn to win a copy of this wonderful DVD. Make learning a bit more fun with this one. Follow my Giveaway Rules though the winner can reside in Canada and do as the Rafflecopter instructs!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Virtual Book Club for Kids: Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle

 Disclosure: I was sent the seahorse craft kit to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Sharing Saturday 14-10

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week and to everyone who visited and shared the love with comments!! I had a crazy week, but did enjoy being inspired by the amazing ideas shared last week. If you haven't had a chance to check them all out, you should!! Here are a few of my favorites!!