There is More to Princesses than Sparkle and Ball Gowns - National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Do you know that the last full week of April is National Princess Week? In 2012 Target, Julie Andrews and Disney started National Princess Week. Now Hazel and I are both girly-girls and we love the sparkle and glamour of Disney princess, however I want Hazel to know there is more to princesses than sparkle and ball gowns. I want her to have strong women role models and have worked hard to share stories throughout her life thus far with strong female role models. To help you teach your children about princesses that are not all sparkly and wearing ball gowns I have gathered together some of our favorite princess books and with donations from the publishers I am providing you a chance to win most of our resources!! Some of these books we have reviewed previously and others are new ones and we will be reviewing them this month. Another great resource is our Fairy Tales in Different Cultures Series. Many of these versions of traditional fairy tales do not have all the sparkle and glamour of the Disney versions.

Avoiding the Summer Slide with Free Programs

Before I get into today's post, I have to share with you what made me so proud of Hazel yesterday. She had decided she wanted to get her hair cut. She was not sure what she wanted to do, but mentioned the possibility of donating it again. With it long it gets tangled very easily and she hates brushing them out. Well at the hairdresser she decided she did want to donate it and got a cut similar to mine. She was very excited this morning to brush her own hair and put her own barrettes into it.

Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party -- Book Review & Costume

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me an advance copy of this book 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.

Have you discovered The Princess in Black yet? I wrote about our discovery of this amazing series back in July. Hazel chose The Princess in Black as her prize for finishing the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program. It had been a tough choice, but she was really glad with the outcome!! This became one of her favorite books ever. Then we discovered that a new Princess in Black book was coming out October 13th and from Candlewick Press--one of our favorite publishers. I asked for a review copy and they sent it right away. Can I tell you how excited Hazel was to have the second book in the series months early? Oh, my, she has been telling everyone about it. Anyway, today we are sharing The Princess in Black and The Perfect Princess Party by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 

UPDATE: The 12th Princess in Black book is a Halloween book full of people dressed as the Princess in Black and monsters!! It is The Princess in Black and the Trick-or-Treating Trouble.  Come check it out and our review of it. 

Chapter Book Extravaganza -- Beginning Reader through Young Adult! Part 1

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

Ok, I have had this group of books growing on my shelves for awhile. It is time for me to clean house and get ready for the new year. I will admit I have not read all of these books (I have started most of them). Hazel has read some of them so I plan to let her share her opinion on the ones she has read. I hope you will check these out.

Chapter Books for Various Ages: Beginning Readers through Adults

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 I am sharing five chapter books with you and each is for different level/aged readers. We will work from youngest to oldest. The first book is the fourth in a series Hazel fell in love with. It is The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. We shared/reviewed the other versions: First, Second, and Third. I began reading this series to Hazel and the newest book she read to me!! Now Hazel loves to bring these books with us when we visit my parents. If she gets bored she pulls them out and reads them to herself. They are fairly easy reads and have pictures throughout the chapters. The suggested grade levels is kindergarten to third. 

Real Friends -- Book Review

Disclosure: Macmillan Publishers gave me 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.

It always amazes me when I get a book at the perfect time for something in our lives. Today's book is one of those perfectly timed occurrences. Hazel has had a really tough school year and has had several issues with her classmates (as well as her teacher). A few weeks ago we pulled her from her school and I am homeschooling her for the rest of the year. She was in a very bad emotional state and we knew we had to get her out of it. She is mostly back to her normal happy self and will be once we have chosen a school for next year and that anxiety can be put to rest. The most important thing for us in choosing this school will be the classmates and the potential friends. Today's book helps her see that she is not the only one who has struggled with friends in school. The book is Real Friends by Shannon Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Now just seeing the author and illustrator was enough for me to know Hazel would love this book. They are also one of the authors and the illustrator of the Princess in Black series, which we love!!

New chapter books for grades 1-3

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

Today I am sharing some books for our beginning chapter book readers. The suggested ages for these books are grades 1 through 3. I will introduce the books in order of easiest to read to hardest. The first book is Joe and Sparky, Party Animals! by Jamie Michalak and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. 

A Time to Dance Review #readyourworld

Disclosure: I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day. All opinions are my own.

Imagine being at the top of your world. You just one a competition in your dream activity and then on the way to the press conference a horrible accident occurs and you lose a limb so your dream activity seems impossible. That is how this story begins. It introduces us to Veda who danced before she even walked. She is a young Indian woman trying to figure out life and live her dream. And then in a horrible accident she loses one of her legs. There was no way of saving it. Will she be able to walk again? Will she ever be able to dance? The book is A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman. 

First Generation -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review #readyourworld

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day. All opinions are my own.

Can we talk about immigration? I mean it is all over our news. In fact in many ways we can say immigration has shut down our government. But let's look at the positive side of immigration instead of all the bad news our politicians are throwing around. (And in my humble opinion I don't think any of Congress or the President should be paid during the shutdown. In fact I think their salaries and health care should be going to the out of work federal employees, but I don't like to talk about politics too much.) I have an amazing book to share with you today. Tomorrow is Multicultural Children's Book Day and the link-up will be right here tomorrow!! Be sure to come back and check out all the amazing books reviewed this year! The book today is First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants And Refugees Who Make America Great by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace and illustrated by Agata Nowicka.

The Journey of York: The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition #ReadYourWorld

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It is January and that means Multicultural Children's Book Day is coming soon!! As a cohost and reviewer I love January. I love being exposed to amazing multicultural books that I hadn't heard of and getting to share them with you. Today's book is an amazing find. Quick when you hear Lewis and Clark Expedition, who do you think about (knowing we are talking about multicultural stories)? I am guessing you said Sacagawea. I know that is who I think of. We have had the pleasure of reading some amazing books about Sacagawea and sharing them here and here. However today's book teaches you about another diverse person who was forced to go on the dangerous expedition. The person is named York, and he was a slave of Captain William Clark. Our book today is The Journey of York: The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Hasan Davis and illustrated by Alleanna Harris. 

Multicultural Picture Books from Deirdre Pecchioni Cummings - #ReadYourWorld

Disclosure: I was sent these books as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I get the pleasure of sharing five of Deirdre Pecchioni Cumming's books for Multicultural Children's Book Day. Most of the books are illustrated by Erika Busse. The first book I am sharing is my and Hazel's favorite of the five. We actually have only received an ecopy since it isn't quite in print yet. It is Like Rain Water. This one is illustrated by Charlene Mosley.

Halloween-Themed Books for the End of October

 

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

Vampires, black cats, monsters, costumes and trick-or-treating! It is that time of the year that the spooky and scary things are out everywhere. When Hazel was young, we couldn't go into stores without her freaking out with all the Halloween products. She would get so scared. We were always on the lookout for Halloween books, activities, etc. that were not so scary. Today we are going to share three picture books and one early chapter book that are not too scary but have a Halloween theme. They have the vampires, black cats, monsters and more in them but are full of fun! The first book is actually more of an emotion awareness book, but it features a vampire! It is Vlad Is Mad! by Su Moon. It is recommended for ages 3 to 6.