Princess Legends, Folktales and Fairy Tales -- National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Did you have a good Easter? We enjoyed a five day celebration starting last Wednesday with my parents visiting through Sunday with my mother-in-law. It was fun but time consuming. And now in Massachusetts it is Patriot's Day and school vacation week. We have lots of fun things planned this week, but I promise to do some posts since there is so much going on!! Last week's Crafty Weekends is continuing on so come share all things crafty!

Today we are continuing our preparation for National Princess Week with our resources and GIVEAWAY!! I thought today I would share some resources that are legends, folktales and fairy tales including three of the books which are prizes in our giveaway (scroll down). Our first book for today is Princess Sophie and the Six Swans: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm retold and illustrated by Kim Jacobs. 

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Have you entered my current giveaway for 18 amazing books having to do with not your typical princesses?

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 a small party but full of great ideas!  Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: Easter & Other Ideas and Nature Themed Features.

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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 another great party with many different ideas!!  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, Lessons & More, and  Other Great Features.

Lent Ideas for Kids

Today is Ash Wednesday. Yesterday and today Hazel and I put together a Lenten table to help us think about the meaning of Lent and prepare for Easter. We pulled out many of our projects from past years. Some of these projects Hazel does not remember, so we are working on redoing some of them. We missed going to our church's pancake supper for Shrove Tuesday. I knew one of the activities they were doing with the kids was to decorate an "Alleluia" to put away in the box. Since "alleluia" is not used during Lent. I had Hazel do one at home.

New Books for Your Older Kids

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

With only a few days left in September our Back to School Series only has a few more posts. I promised to share books for your older kids and another science lesson. Today will be the books for the older kids and tomorrow will be the science lesson (be sure to come back for it). These books are good for kids in middle school or older. The first book is a sequel to one we have reviewed previously, The Last Kids on Earth. The sequel is The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Party by Max Brallier and illustrated by Douglas Holgate. 

Learning Some Science Part 1 -- Back-to-School

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Today we are going to look at some books that make science (and math/computers) interesting. These books are perfect for the younger grades and teach a bit of history, science and more. The first is Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts. 

Ramadan in Singapore -- Ramadan for Kids, Global Learning for Kids & Asian Pacific American Heritage Blogs Series & Giveaway

For my final 2016 post for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month I thought I would combine it with our Global Learning for Kids exploration of Singapore and kick off our Ramadan for Kids Blog Hop. Did you know about 15% of the Singapore population is Muslim (according to 2010 statistics)? There are 69 mosques in Singapore.  (Source) The Sultan Mosque or Masjid Sultan is considered one of the most important mosques in Singapore.

Nightfall at Sultan Mosque By Erwin Soo from Singapore, Singapore [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Malaysian and Singapore Children's Favourite Stories -- Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

May brings us into Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month. To celebrate I always like to read some Asian stories. Luckily I have a contact at Tuttle Publishing. Tuttle Publishing focuses on Asia in their books. They are also a supporter of the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Giveaway for this month. As such they sent me a copy of Malaysian Children's Favourite Stories by Kay Lyons and illustrated by Martin Loh which is the only prize from them I have not previously reviewed as well a copy of Singapore Children's Favourite Stories by Di Taylor and illustrations by LK Tay-Audouard. They have quite the selection of Asian countries for this series of books and I have to admit we have quite a few of them as well. Hazel always LOVES these books and never lets me donate them. Actually it looks like I am missing a few. I am guessing they may be hiding in Hazel's room.

Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook -- Asian Pacific Heritage Month Series

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

It is May and that brings several things. In the United States it means Mother's Day, the end of school is near and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. This post is the first of mine in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. (Scroll down for the giveaway!) Today I am sharing with you a new cookbook from Katie Chin. This book is Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother's Kitchen with photographs by Masano Kawana. Katie Chin is sharing some of her mother's everyday recipes just in time for Mother's Day!!

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

Happy Earth Day!! I had planned a post on some fun books about animals for Earth Day, but instead spent the day outside with Hazel since it is the last day of her spring vacation. 

 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 the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! 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! This week our features are Reading Features and Everything Else.

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

Happy Earth Day!! I had planned a post on some fun books about animals for Earth Day, but instead spent the day outside with Hazel since it is the last day of her spring vacation. 

 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 the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts and a new one starts Sunday morning!! Be sure to join us at it!!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! 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! This week our features are Earth Day Features, Mother's Day Features and Educational Features.

Coloring Books -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

THIS Link Party is for all craft posts and craft product review posts!! Sharing Saturday (for kid related posts) is here. Creative Kid Culture Blog Hop (for multicultural posts) is here. 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Has the adult coloring book craze hit you yet? I love it and so does Hazel. However with so many options out there it is hard to know which book to chose. We have had the pleasure of reviewing several different ones (The Time Garden, The Time Chamber, some of the Magic Series, and Colour Your Day) and today we are reviewing two new ones!! The first is from Candlewick Press  and is The Coloring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Nature by Rebecca Jones.  I have to admit we LOVE this one. Instead of just coloring pages to color and relax you are coloring cards and envelopes that you can use to send a note or for a holiday. Hazel has mostly taken over this book on me.

Katherine Johnson -- Multicultural Math Lesson and Black History Month Blog Hop & Giveaway

*Pictures of Katherine Johnson are from NASA.

This year for Black History Month I could not decide what to focus on for my post. Hazel and I read books about Coretta Scott King (Martin Luther King, Jr.'s wife) and inventor Garrett Morgan. I was trying to decide which to focus on and then I discovered Katherine Johnson and knew I found my post subject. First a bit about how I discovered her. Back from my former life as a high school math teacher I have a friend who was a black history teacher (now he is an assistant principal). Every February he posts on his Facebook page about various black people and events. He only posts so his friends can see them so I have not been able to share them. However this year I have been Googling the person or event and pinning them to my Black History Month Board.  Be sure to check it out to learn about even more Black History. Well one of his posts this year was about Katherine Johnson and I knew I had found my post topic and the bonus is she also is a black mathematician!

P'esk'a and the First Salmon Ceremony -- Book Review & Learning about the Sts'ailes People -- Global Learning for Kids

Disclosure: Groundwood Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

November is Native American Heritage Month. With my love for Native American culture I love this heritage month!! I was thinking today about why I love Native American culture so much. It could be part of white man guilt over how they were treated (and are still being treated by our government), but I think it is more how they lived in harmony with the environment. I really love their stories and how they did not waste. The talents each group has was so amazing and it just seems so much more of what I see God wanting from us. They were usually good stewards of the earth. 

Since it is Native American Heritage Month, Global Learning for Kids is focusing on Indigenous People of North America.  Multicultural Kid Blogs is hosting its annual Native American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. We will be participating in the blog series later this month, but you can enter the giveaway now and the book we are sharing today is in one of the prize packs! Today we are sharing P'esk'a and the First Salmon Ceremony by Scot Ritchie. 

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Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I was blown away by the great ideas shared!!  Remember the features are just a sampling of the things shared so if you did not get a chance to check them all out, go back and be inspired! This week's features' themes are Pumpkins, Day of the Dead and Costumes and Scavenger Hunts and Fairy Races. Also a side note that last week I started another link party on Saturday night for crafts for any age person called Crafty Weekends. Our second party will be tomorrow night. Stop by to share your crafts, patterns, reviews of craft books, etc. And don't forget to share all things pumpkins (crafts, recipes, lessons, etc.) at my Pumpkin Link Party!

The Last Kids on Earth -- Book Review

I have 2 current giveaways!! One for an Origami Toy Monsters Book & Kit and the other for 2 DVDs.

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am sharing with you a book written for middle grade (grades 3-7) readers. It is definitely not Hazel's type of book. I started reading it to her, but she got scared very quickly. It however is great for Halloween since it is about a monster apocalypse. The book is The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier and illustrated by Douglas Holgate. The book is part adventure story and part comic. It is entertaining and hard to put down even for someone who does not usually read this type of book.

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Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am blown away by all the great ideas! This week our features consist of  Earth Day & Mother's Day Features, Art Features, Toddler Features, and Other Features. 

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Make sure you enter the Earth Day Giveaway we are co-hosting!!

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am blown away by all the great ideas! This week our features consist of Spring/April Features and Other Features. 

Quinceanera -- Exploring Hispanic Heritage

Congratulations to Sara S. for winning the WordWorld Kooky Spooky Halloween DVD!

Since Hazel loves birthday parties, I thought reading some books about a quinceañera would be right up her alley. A quinceañera is a fiesta for a Latina girl who turns fifteen. The fifteenth year is traditionally when girls turn into women in Latin American cultures. The traditional celebration differs from country to country. Most include a special dress for the quinceañera and a dance with her father (often a waltz) followed by a meal, dancing and a cake. Often there is a mass before the fiesta to honor the girl. In some countries the quinceañera has a court of friends ranging from 7-14 of each gender. (Source)

Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

This is the third week of the Hispanic Heritage Month. We are participating in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop and Giveaway. You can enter the giveaway here by scrolling down as well. We are sharing something we have done to celebrate or learn about Hispanic cultures each week during the month. Today we are sharing the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We discovered this story by reading The Beautiful Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Pat Mora. There are however many books that discuss the story and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We also have enjoyed thus far Tomie de Paolo's Our Lady of Guadalupe. Here are some other books we found at the library that share some part of the story or how the festivals are celebrated.