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. 

Meet the Chapter Books -- Summer Reading for Grades 1-3

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

Do you have a child who is ready to start reading chapter books? There are some great beginner ones out there and it seems like summer might be the perfect time to make the switch from picture books and beginning readers to easy chapter books. Hazel started reading chapter books pretty young. I had been reading them to her for several years (around age 3). After I read The Princess in Black to her the first time she read it to herself about 100 times now plus all the sequels. My contact at Penguin Kids asked me to join in the Meet the Chapter Books their July Summer Reading Program. She sent me three chapter books that are recommended for grades 1-3. Two of them I will review today and one I will share since it was not in our topic of interest but I know it will be for some plus I am going to share two other fun books also recommended for grades 1-3. We will start with The Kid from Planet Z: Crash! by Nancy Krulik and illustrated by Louis Thomas. 

501 Enchanted Embroidery Designs -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

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. 

Today I am sharing with you a fun book that brought back some childhood memories for me. It is 501 Enchanting Embroidery Designs by Boutique-Sha. 

Religious Books for Different Ages

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.

Today we are going to share with you some wonderful religious themed books for different ages. This post will also include three Hazel's Corners! The first is Princess Prayers by Jeanna Young, Jacqueline Kinney Johnson, and Omar Aranda. This a sparkly book filled with prayers for various times of day and different events for your little princess.

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!!

Sharing Saturday 17-17

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 one group of features.

Princess Activity Books & More

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.

Today is the last day to enter our National Princess Week Giveaway!! Have you entered yet? Today I am sharing some Disney activity books--three of which are princess ones. Be sure to go check out our giveaway posts if you haven't already!! Our first book for today is Disney Pixar's Awesome Adventures. 

A Different Kind of Princess -- National Princess Week Resources and 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.

A princess needs to be strong and brave among many other traits. Even the storybook princesses, however today I am going to share some atypical princesses that emphasize being strong, brave, intelligent and more. The kind of princess that makes a good role model for our children. The first princess is the Hamster Princess or Princess Harriet. I have shared with you the first three (book 1, 2, and 3) books of this series and the first book is one of our prizes to get you started on this amazing series by Ursula Vernon. This series plays off the classic fairy tales with its main character being a hamster who is a princess who likes to fight evil. The first book is a play on Sleeping Beauty; the second Twelve Dancing Princesses; and the third Rapunzel. 

Personalized Princess Books -- National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

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

Happy National Princess Week!! It began yesterday. Now as I have stated I am sharing some of my resources for teaching Hazel about princesses that are not all frilly and fancy. However there is a time for that. Today's post is sharing my favorite frilly princess books. They are personalized and have a child's name in it and some even have a photo of the child. The first book I am My Royal Birthday Adventure for girls or Hazel's Royal Birthday Adventure by Jennifer Dewing and illustrated by Valerie Sokolowz.

Sharing Saturday 17-16

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 one group of features.

How the Queen Found the Perfect Cup of Tea

Disclosure: I was sent this book 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.

Between my Tea Parties Around the World Series and National Princess Week Resources and Giveaway (have you entered yet?) How the Queen Found the Perfect Cup of Tea by Kate Hosford and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska found its way to me.

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. 

Sharing Saturday 17-15

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.

A Look at Real Life Princesses -- National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Disclosure: Penguin Random House 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.

Last week I introduced our big giveaway for National Princess Week (April 23-29). Today I am going to share our first post about the amazing resources we are giving away. The prizes in this giveaway are the resources I like to use with Hazel to see princesses as strong, brave and wonderful role models and not just weak girls waiting to be saved or who just go to tea parties and balls. To begin with resources my favorite place to start is a look at real life princesses. One of my favorite places to start especially with younger girls is Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. 

Sharing Saturday 17-14

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! So many great ideas as usual from Easter to books 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: Easter and Spring, Lessons, and Other Great Features.

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.

Asian Art, Legends and our April Happenings

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.

I spent a good part of the past couple of days planning for April. I am so excited with some of the things I have planned. This month we will be exploring Japan and having a Japanese Tea Party. We will be celebrating Earth Day and sharing some great books and resources for your celebrations and we will be celebrating National Princess Week with some great resources and a giveaway. We also have a school vacation in there with a short trip so expect a review on trips and are planning some visits to museums, so there will definitely be some art resources shared including our first book today: Adventures in Asian Art: An Afternoon at the Museum by Sue DiCicco with Deborah Clearwaters and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. 

Books about Animals & More

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.

Tonight I am going to share some books having to do with animals. This group of books has things for different ages from board books to posters and more. Are you ready for some animal fun? We will start with Animalium Poster Book by Susanna Davidson and illustrated by Katie Scott and Jenny Broom. 

Heart & Fairy Crafts -- Crafty Weekends Link Party

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thanks for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

This month I have been working many weekends at the store. Hazel has been missing me quite a bit, so this weekend I devoted time to spend with her when I was not working. She wanted to have a pretend sleepover in our family room, so she set up her sleeping bags and made a pretend pizza and snacks. Then we played a card game and decided to do some crafts. She had gotten as a gift The Fairy Kit. 

Fairy & Ice Cream Party Updates

Disclosure:  Some of the links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

I am finally stopping to catch up after the holidays and Hazel's birthday. Today I am going to share some of the details of her two birthday parties. First we always have a family and adult and younger kid party for her birthday. This year we decided on an ice cream theme. I made invitations with My Memories Suite.