New Picture Books That Share Stories of Kids Coping with Moving

 

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

Moving can be hard on anyone. It can be especially hard on kids. Today we are sharing two newly released picture books that share stories of kids moving for different reasons. The first book is When Auggie Learned to Play Chess by Meredith Rusu and illustrated by Stephen Costanza. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

My First Chess Book -- Book Review

Disclosure: Ryland, Peters and Small 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. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease but receive no compensation.

My husband loves chess though he hardly ever plays anymore. He has a collection of chess boards around the house so Hazel has always been curious about chess. I have only played chess a handful of times in my life. I was taught by a boyfriend from high school/college time and played a few times since dating him. I am not much competition for Steve. I thought My First Chess Book by Jessica E. Prescott could help us teach Hazel how to play and hopefully help improve my game. 

Christmas Books Roundup 3 -- Some Classics & More

 

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

Last week we shared some fun Christmas books. Today we are adding to our collection of new holiday picture books with our third roundup. Some of these books will be familiar and others are new! We will start with one of the ones that will sound familiar. It is The War Is Over! by Brad Booker, Dave Mullins and Sean Ono Lennon and illustrated by Max Narciso. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Spring Fever = Time Outdoors!

Spring has finally arrived in New England!! We went from below average temperatures to warmer than average and lots of sunshine this week. I am loving it and so is Hazel. As a result, our craft ideas are put aside for being outside. We have been exploring nature and just playing. Here are some of our adventures from this week.

Sharing Saturday #40

Once again, I'm blown away with last week's amazing ideas shared. If you have not visited all 60 of them, please do so. There are so many wonderful things shared!! Here are a few of my favorites.

Click on the picture of Most Clicked to get to the post!

This week I thought I would choose a feature a little differently. Keitha from Keitha's Chaos always shares her week of themed lunches with the books they go with. I always love reading these posts and have found some great books to read to Hazel through them. So today I'm going to feature her Themed Lunches and since there was another themed lunch shared last week, I'm featuring it as well.

1) From Keitha's Chaos: Lunches (So many great books and lunch ideas!! I love it!)
2) From JDaniel4's Mom: Apple Lunch (In honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday last week! I love it!)

Some of My Favorites

1) From One Artsy Mama: Halloween Ornaments (Oh, how I love Mod Podge!!)
2) From The Pleasantest Thing: Preschool Chess Club (Oh, I have to share this with Steve so he can start teaching Hazel!)
3) From Semi-crunchy Mami: Gnome Factory (I love that she made them from pictures her children designed for them!)
4) From Life with Moore Babies: Fire Breathing Dragons (I had to share this in honor of Michaelmas last week!)
5) From Momma's Fun World: Monster Dice (A great Halloween game to get your kids moving more!) 

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog.

Button Code:

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-002.jpg" /></a>

From Your Hostess: Leaf Crafts and an Autumn Leaf Short Story

 

Now for This Week's Party   

A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow both hosts via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

Hosts are Crafty Moms Share and Mama Mia's Heart2Heart. A reminder: Mia is taking a blogging break. Hopefully she will be back soon to host again!!

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post.

3) Post the button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-001.jpg" /></a>

4. Optional: Like us on Facebook and Google+
Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share and Mama Mia's Heart2Heart permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest. 

All right everyone...This is a PARTY!! Have Fun!!

Easter Around the World - Ethiopia

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Today we explore Easter in Ethiopia. Easter is called Fasika or Fasika-Tenssaie. Tenssaie is the word for Resurrection. In Ethiopia, fasting for Lent is 55 days to recognize the suffering of Moses as well as Jesus. Lent is called Hudade and nobody eats meat or any dairy products during this time. Three hour masses are attended every day during Lent.

Typical Lenten Meal Source: By Maurice Chédel (Own work) [GFDL
or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Palm Sunday is called Hosanna. As in many Christian countries, the mood lightens for Palm Sunday. People carry tall palm leaves and crosses  to remember Jesus' journey into Jerusalem. Holy Week is called Passion Week or Semune himamat. In Ethiopia, they do not eat for the three days from Good Friday to Easter morning. They have a long night mass on Saturday night ending at dawn on Easter. The Easter feast often lasts for two days or more and can include mutton. People bring gifts to family and friends during Easter. Often people will play a game called gebet'a which is a bit similar to checkers or chess. It has a board that is carved from wood with cups cut into it. The players use pieces usually seeds, stones, or beans and move from cup to cup trying to capture the other player's pieces. Doing a search it looks like it is also called or similar to mancala. For more information on gebet'a visit Ethiopia the African Tibetan Show: Gebet'a World's Oldest Board Game.

Ethiopian Priest Holds Ethiopian Cross Source: By A. Davey from Where I Live Now: 
Pacific Northwest [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

One of the things I found so interesting about Ethiopia is not actually an Easter celebration, but relates to Easter. Ethiopians have a festival/holiday called Maskel. Maskel celebrates when Helena, empress of Rome found the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Helena was born in A.D. 248 and spent many years searching for the true cross. An old man gave her the advice of lighting a fire and following the direction of the smoke. This is how she found the true cross. Every year in Ethiopia huge piles of wood and twigs are built for Maskel. Every village has its own pile and each family adds their own bundle of twigs called a chebo. They are lit to be a bonfire which grows huge. The bonfire is called Maskel Demera. Some families prefer to keep their chebos at home and burn them on their own on Maskel. There is a ceremony before an elder of the community lights the bonfire. It is an honor to be picked as the respected elder to light it. People stand around the fire and sing to welcome spring. Some take ash from the fire and draw a cross on their foreheads. They believe the ash will heal illness. The festivities end with feasting and dancing.

 
For this post, I used information from the books above. For more Multicultural and Easter Posts check out:

• Easter in Sweden 
• Legend of the Sand Dollar (an Easter Story)
• Easter in Spain, Portugal and France
• Easter in Ukraine and Russia
• Multicultural Easter Books
• My Easter Craft Round-Up
• Easter in Guatemala
• My Easter Pinterest Board
• My Multicultural Resource Pinterest Board

Sharing Saturday 14-51

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! While I was busy taking care of my sick little girl, many amazing ideas were shared as well as a few germs since now I have the illness. Our features are completely holiday related. With the start of Hanukkah this week there are a few Hanukkah Features and then lots of Christmas Features including a section on Christmas trees (crafts and crafts for the tree).

Hanukkah Features

1) From Living Montessori Now: Free Hanukkah Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time

2) From Royal Little Lambs: Celebrating Light