This book begins with an inspiring introduction about prayer, types of prayer, and Scripture verses regarding prayer. Whether it is gratitude, petition, intercession for others, praise, confession, or just simple communion with God, this book has a place for every prayer that is on your heart.

Each page has a place for writing a few short lines of prayer, with prompts and topics to prayer for each day. The topics include things like "A significant event, Who God is to me, Beautiful things about God, What's on my heart, My greatest need, and God's Word to me." There is even a place to write down answered prayers!

This is the perfect prayer journal for small "popcorn" prayers that are short but meaningful. This book encourages the writer/journaler to reach out to God, find relevant Scripture verses, and examine their own heart to deepen their relationship with God.

Each page has lovely pastel colors in muted tones with little dots and circles similar to the cover. It's a soothing color scheme and makes me want to write in pretty script!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

These tales of Greek gods are rewritten and simplified for children, giving a broad overview of the legends that made Greek and Roman myths famous throughout the world. The stories of both Greeks and Romans are combined, instead of being told twice with different names.

The stories include the legends of Gaia, Rhea, Hera, Artemis, the Fates, Demeter, Athena, the Muses, Aphrodite, and Circe. Of course, the male gods and heroes are included as part of the stories too, but the main focus is on the ladies.

I loved the beautiful illustrations of each goddess, and the lovely colors and details in the artwork.
The writing is excellent, weaving a tapestry of olden times of magic and mayhem.
There is a pronunciation guide at the back of the book and a glossary of mythic creatures.

If you are interested in old myths, this book is an excellent introduction to these classic stories.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

This books never gets old! So charming and delightfully funny in every particular! I just adore Anne and Diana and every Avonlea citizen; they feel like real people that you know, your own neighbors and schoolmates.
I realized, reading it this time, that most of the action is told through Anne's voice. The actual event (a concert or illness) is skimmed over in 3 or 4 sentences, then we hear about it through Anne's dialogue telling Marilla or someone her experience and thoughts about the event. It's wonderful story-telling, because we get to see it all through Anne's eyes and hear her imaginative views on everything!

This book showcases a scene from life with Mary Poppins on Cherry Tree Lane focusing on each letter of the alphabet.

For A, Mary Poppins tells Andrew the dog not to take such “An Ample bite of Arrowroot biscuit” because he will spoil his Appetite for Asparagus. “Andrew is Anxious and Alarmed.” He prefers Almonds.

For D, Mary Poppins Dresses in her Dainty best for her Day off, while Mr Banks complains about the Dinner until Jane reminds him that there are Delightful Dates for Dessert.

There is no story line, but each scene cleverly uses words that begin with alphabet letters. The details in the illustrations make each scene fun and engaging.

Not as good as a real Mary Poppins story, but a cute little companion book.

This Mary Poppins novella and cookbook finds Mary Poppins and the children alone in the house while Cook is away. The children learn to cook under the expert teachings of Mary Poppins, and various neighbors and characters arrive to assist them in the kitchen.

The recipes used in the story are alphabetized at the end of the book.

This is a sweet little companion novella to the Mary Poppins series! While not a full story, it does have a good storyline and charming writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but you must be prepared to get hungry while reading about all the delicious food!

This book gives advice for encouraging a child to read at every stage of their lives into adulthood. There are guidelines for reading to newborn babies and toddlers, guiding a child to read on their own, encouraging a middle grader or preteen to love reading, and influencing a teenager in their reading choices. There are chapters for each age group with suggestions on when to let a child explore books on their own, and when to step in with a subtle influence and inspire them to read.

There were some things that I liked about this book. The writing style is good, but a little pretentious in places. The authors write as if they know everything there is to know about parenting, reading, and which books are best.

They criticized some of my favorite childhood books as being too "preachy" and "moral", so right away they lost my respect for their opinions. They would have done better to be more accepting of different tastes in books, instead of being so quick to judge certain books as "boring" or unappealing to children. Well, those books were appealing to me when I was a child, and they are STILL my favorites!

They should have kept their narrow opinions to themselves, and written this book with a broader vision of the reader in mind. The way they write is too critical and it alienates the reader, and does NOT inspire confidence in their recommendations.

There are also many leftist views promoted in the books that are recommended, and I did not see a wide variety in the types of books mentioned. It was disappointing to see a book like this used for promoting a political agenda. There are seven places in the actual text that I found political views being given. And there are about a dozen books recommended that I recognized as having definite political leanings.

There are still some good tidbits of advice in this book, and many good books that are listed. I did enjoy some of it. However, I would not exactly recommend it to parents. I would say to take it with a grain of salt, and not base all your child's reading on these recommendations without checking out the books yourself first. Some of them are inappropriate for children or teens or contain disturbing subject material.

I'm just so disappointed in this book. It was okay, but had some problems. It does have beautiful drawings and illustrations that are so cute, and the design is really wonderful. The construction and organization of the book is excellent. Too bad that it had so many other issues going on.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

Divided into chapters for mammals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and birds, this book gives amazing facts and information about each animal. Did you know that male lions will often sleep for 20 hours a day? Did you know that fireflies can speak to each other through the patterns of flashing lights? And that the smallest bird in the world is the bee hummingbird, which is only 2 inches long?

Every page is covered with beautiful photographs of animals in the wild. Each photo is vibrant and energetic, with the action of racing predators, diving birds, or a busy ant colony.

This is such a cool book to get children interested in nature and science, and spark their curiosity about the natural world. Some of the facts are just so crazy! Like that sea otter's poop smells like herbal tea. That is so weird!

I love how the information is organized in small tidbits that make it easy to read and understand. This would be so much fun to read together with a child and discuss the strange and wondrous marvels of the world.
I recommend this book for anyone ages 6 and up. It's interesting for adults too!


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

This book guides the reader through an incredible journey using yoga to balance the energy in the body known as chakras. The first chapters give an overview of the seven main chakras, and how they affect your physical, mental, and emotional health. Each chakra overview includes positive affirmations about the area of life that corresponds to that chakra, such as emotions for the heart chakra, or expressing yourself with the throat chakra.
Then there are yoga poses, illustrated with simple drawings, that activate and clear each chakra for a smooth flow of energy throughout the body.

The yoga poses have clear instructions, and helpful modifications to make the pose easier if needed. There are also precautions for anyone that might have injuries or health concerns. The poses are divided into chapters for each chakra, and the pages are color-coded with the traditional colors that apply to each chakra.

I really like how the information is organized, and the overall design of the book is lovely. The illustrations have pleasant pastel colors and clean lines. I like that the illustrations of people doing yoga shows a wide group of people, both men and women of all races, none of whom are skinny blonde models.

I appreciated how the author encourages people to be patient, to trust the process, and be gentle with themselves on this journey. There are breathing exercises and meditations to calm your mind and help you to become more aware of your body's energy. I love the hopeful message in this book!

This is the perfect place to start with beginning yoga poses that focus on chakra energy!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

This was always my favorite book in the Samantha series, and it’s still my favorite rereading them as an adult. There’s plenty of action and adventure, and Samantha goes on an emotional journey as she remembers her parents death. It’s excellent story-telling with vibrant characters!

Such a lovely ending to the original Samantha series! I love the suspense and mystery as Samantha searches for her friend Nellie in the big city. This book always fascinated me when I was a girl, because of so many memorable details. I still enjoy it as an adult!