Life has gotten a bit crazy this week. I was hoping to share two new books with you that both came out this week, but I'm still reading the other one. So today I get to share with you a beautiful and amazing book all about trees. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12. It is The Book of Amazing Trees by Nathalie Tordjman and illustrated by Isabelle Simler and Julien Norwood.
I have had some craft books sitting on my review shelf for awhile and need to share them with you. I have been so focused on other things and diamond painting that I have not given much thought to embroidery, so I thought I would share all of the embroidery books with you as well as some fun facts today! Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric with a needle and thread. It has definitely changed over the years (centuries). Let's begin with some fun facts and a bit of history.
Today we get to share eleven fun coloring books that aren't just for coloring. They have fun facts about each of the pictures featured in the coloring page. The topics of these books range from animals to vehicles and space. There is literally something for every interest!! The books are We Can Color! Fun & Facts Coloring Books created by Daniel Gershkovitz. They each have 70 pages and are for all ages! Plus there is a giveaway at the end!
One of the best things of a coloring book is that you can use whatever color you want for any part of the picture. You can make the sky yellow or purple. You can make a tree pink. Your creativity can go wherever you want it to go. Today I'm going to share a book about an illustrator who went a bit crazy. The book is True Colors by Gonçalo Viana. It is recommended for ages 4 to 9.
Do you have a good sense of direction or are you one of those people who always gets lost? I tend to have a pretty good sense of direction. When I do get lost I can usually call my husband and he will pull out a map and find where I am and how to get where I want to be or use my GPS. Steve loves maps. When we were first married he would drive me crazy. I would print out directions when we were going somewhere but instead of reading me the directions he would try to tell me the directions from the map. Unfortunately he is not as quick as needed in the map reading when I'm driving. Because of Steve's love of maps, Hazel became interested in maps at a young age. Of course there are places that are not mapped out like the forest. What happens when you get lost there? Today's book is a book to give the reader skills to not get lost or at least know how to find one's way and what tools one might need when exploring. The book is How to Go Anywhere (and Not Get Lost) by Hans Aschim and illustrated by Andres Lozano.
It is hard to believe it is June. Summer is basically here. For many this school year was a mess. I know many parents are worried about how much their kids learned with all the remote learning the past two years. Every summer kids lose some of what they have learned. This summer it will be more important to keep our kids reading and learning. I am going to be sharing books that will give you extra resources to keep the kids learning all summer long in fun ways starting today. Today I am sharing part of Dover Publication's My First Science Book Series and at the end there will be a giveaway!!
Earth Day is Thursday. I have been sharing books each week to use as resources for it and today the books I share work for Earth Day but two of them work with a twist. All three books are picture books recommended for preschool and early elementary (ages 3-8). We will start with the book that is perfect for Earth Day. It is Once Upon Another Time by Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine and illustrated by Andrés F. Landazábal.
It is hard to believe Earth Day is next week! I feel like April is flying by and as a former teacher once April hits--well April vacation (next week)--I feel like the school year is basically over. Hazel's new school has a different vacation schedule so she had two weeks off in March, but I know the public schools are off next week so the feeling is still there. Today I am going to share an other set of books that are great for Earth Day. These books range for ages 4-7 and 7-12, so basically books perfect for elementary grades. We will start with Sunrise Summer by Matthew Swanson and illustrated by Robbi Behr.
It is hard to believe that Monday is Presidents' Day. I am thinking back to last Presidents' Day and how much has changed including our President. Last Presidents' Day my family was getting ready for our big trip to Florida. Hazel had asked for Christmas and her birthday for a trip to Disney. We picked her February vacation to do it. That trip is the last time we were out of Massachusetts. When we returned we found a new school for Hazel. My car needed to be replaced and then the lockdown happened. Presidents' Day represents what was my normal life for me before this pandemic. And of course, the President and the election were BIG news this year. Well today I am going to share with you National Geographic's 2020 Edition of Our Country's Presidents: A Complete Encyclopedia of the U.S. Presidency by Ann Bausum. Every four years National Geographic Kids puts out a new edition.
Let's face it 2020 was a hard year. Now we are in 2021 and it is not looking much better. We are living through a worldwide pandemic. Even after the November election our politics do not seem settled or at least completely accepted. Then there is the struggle with masks. Some people wear them and others do not even when we see the numbers of people infected growing so fast and our hospitals are reaching their limits. All of this is enough to make us feel stressed and anxious. The new year usually brings hopes and dreams. We make resolutions on how we are going to change for the better. Yet this year we are all a bit overwhelmed. How do we get past all of this?
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is always my favorite time of the year. I love the preparation building up to Christmas. It always seems like such a happy time to me. The lights are hung and trees get decorated. People seem a bit more bright and giving. This year even Advent is looking different. We are not physically in church yet, so there isn't the beautiful organ music of Advent songs. But even with Covid the meaning of Advent and Christmas remains. Jesus was born to save us from our sins. To celebrate Advent I created three printable "Advent Calendars". Now we have a beautiful wooden Advent calendar that I need to fill each year. I decided to use one of these in our Advent calendar and one in her lunch box (at least the days she will be in school). The first ones I have to share are the names of Jesus. I made two versions. The first is a small and plain one with the different names in different colors and fonts.
Sorry I was missing this past week. Hazel got sick and was out of school all week. I felt like I was fighting it and with some extra sleep and Rachel Carapella's advice, I seemed to fight it off. Now sadly Steve seems to have it. Fortunately it is not Covid-19. It seems to be a cold or a little bug. While being home with Hazel I was able to make some crafts I have been thinking about for awhile. Have you noticed gnomes seem to be everywhere this year? One of the moms of one of Hazel's friends loves them so I have been noticing them everywhere. I was going to try to make one of the fabric gnomes shared here, but haven't gotten around to it. I shared the tutorial with my friend but she wanted a non-sewing version so here is what I came up with.
Disclosure: I was sent copies of all the books in this series in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Today I get to share with you the Enchantment Lake series by Margi Preus. This book is part of the blog tour for the third book, The Silver Box. Before I get into this book, though let me talk about the first two. The first book is Enchantment Lake and the second book is The Clue in the Trees.
The weather here is beginning to change. Hazel is back at school and I feel fall coming. Do you decorate for the different seasons? Since September is National Sewing Month, I promised myself to share some of my sewing books that I need to review. Since all the sewing I have done is on the quilt that I reviewed last week (and making more masks for Hazel to go back to school), I decided to review one that I won't be actually making. Today I am going to share Wintertime Shimmer Quilt and Table Runner by Jennifer Sampou. Now I am not trying to rush the seasons. I love fall and am going to make some suggestions to change these patterns for different seasons. The photos however are from the book so they are about winter. I am not making these because my digital review copy did not come with the pattern pages so I don't actually have the patterns to try them.
