In this short story, Pippi dismantles Villa Villekulla and rebuilds it in the middle of City Park in Stockholm to help the police catch a gang of villains who have been thieving and carousing in the Park. City officials ask Pippi for her building permit, but she ignores them. The thieves don’t realize what a strong little girl they are dealing with until Pippi ties them all up and delivers them to the police.

This short story is hilarious and weird, like Pippi herself! As usual, Tommy and Annika are along for the ride, and the trio have various adventures in the big city.

I wish this book had more development, and the ending is very abrupt. I do love the charming and inimitable Pippi style!

Jeremy stumbles into the magic shop and is entranced by a beautiful stone egg of swirling colors. The shopkeeper gives him the egg along with instructions for how to hatch a dragons egg. Jeremy has to keep the dragon egg a secret and expose the egg to the light of a full moon. But when a baby dragon hatches, Jeremy has his hands full taking care of a rapidly growing young dragon.

This story is hilarious and heart-felt! Jeremy goes through some wonderful character development. The supporting characters are unique and funny. Many of the plot points and themes overlap in clever ways as Jeremy deals with a difficult teacher at school, avoids a girl who declares she loves him, and struggles against feeling jealous of his best friend. The story takes many twists and turns, but at the center of it all is a fabulous baby dragon demanding Jeremy’s attention and care.

One of the best things about this book is the fiercely loyal and emotional connection between Jeremy and the baby dragon. The development of their close relationship is beautifully written, but also really entertaining and funny!

The first chapter in this book discusses what causes stress and how it affects our bodies and minds. It goes through common emotional and physical symptoms of stress, and how we can change our behavior and reactions to better handle stress.

The second chapter begins the exercises for stress relief with simple things like focusing on the breath, being mindful of your surroundings, and activities like reading for pleasure, talking to someone about how you feel, quieting your mind, listening to music, and laughing more. Each of these come with detailed instructions that list the benefits of the activity. With guided meditations, positive affirmations, and instructions for using essential oils, this chapter has a lot of wonderful ideas for relieving stress.

The next chapter is full of journal prompts, lists to write, coloring ideas, and scheduling tips that help you to focus on gratitude, find the silver lining, and identify your real goals. With writing exercises to help clear the mind, this chapter is full of practical ways to release tension.

Chapter four is all about calming the body, using a body scan meditation, breathing exercises, getting a hug, creating a healthy meal plan, or having a hot cup of tea. There are even several types of herbal tea that are recommended as the best ones to soothe and calm the body, as well as a meal plan template where you can write in the foods you want.

Chapter five focuses on moving the body with walking meditations, stretching with yoga, and using acupressure to stimulate your body to heal itself and release stress. There are also instructions for self-massage, and other activities that can help get your body moving and exercising, especially outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air.

The next chapter gives mindfulness activities you can do around your home, like dancing around the house, watering your plants, or taking a shower. The last chapter is about how to deal with common stressful scenarios. These give suggested soothing activities to do before a big work presentation, or if you are worried about finances or health, or had a fight with a friend.

I love how this book is organized! I love the positive exercises and the great self-care ideas. The design and colors of the book are beautiful. The writing is clear and friendly. What a wonderful and helpful guide to getting rid of stress and finding strength and inner peace in any situation!

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 fairy tales focus on daring young men and women who want to be appreciated for their personality, virtues, and inner qualities rather than outward beauty. They battle dragons, fight wars, defeat evil sorcerers, and unravel magic in order to find their true identity and inspire their kingdom.

I loved that these fairy tales use all the old tropes about dragons and knights and fair maidens, and then turn everything upside down and surprise you with the plot twists when the maiden saves herself.
Each fairy tale is short but powerful with meaningful messages of hope and acceptance.

I really enjoyed the writing style. It's not easy to write truly good short stories, but these are exceptional and very entertaining. The writing does a wonderful job of capturing that old-fashioned fairy tale style!

I especially liked how each character is vibrant. They have good character development and excellent story arcs within only a few pages. Only a couple of the stories didn't have as much development as I would have liked.

I enjoyed this book so much! I hope this author writes more books in this kind of style!

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 has chapters for using aromatherapy and essential oils for common health ailments, emotional and mental well-being, cosmetics and personal care, and to use around the home or outdoors. The book begins with general information about how aromatherapy works, and how various essential oils can be used and blended together. There are individual pages for each essential oil detailing its properties, uses, and benefits.

The remedies include things like allergy relief, congestion, nausea, toothache,and sunburn relief. The blends for emotional well-being include soothing relief for anger,frustration, anxiety, loneliness, and ways to boost your focus, find patience, learn to forgive, encourage a hopeful outlook, and find inspiration. Some of the recipes are designed for inhalation or for topical use.

The cosmetics include remedies for acne, wrinkles, scars, as well as shampoos, deodorants, toothpaste, and lip balms, along with a dozen other products you can make yourself. There are also air fresheners, insect repellent, mold-killing cleaners, and vinegar cleaning solutions.

There is a glossary at the back of the book for some of the more specific terms in the book, along with references and recommended essential oil brands.

This book is perfect for anyone who wants to jump into using essential oils. The recipes are easy to follow and simple to create with very few extra products once you have some basic carrier oils and essential oils. Each blend or recipe has tips for getting the most out of their use, along with warnings if the oil is too strong to be applied topically on young children.

I really like the way this book is organized with reliable information and a beautiful design!

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 has tons of great activities for young children ages 6-9 to keep them active, creative, and confident. Different activities focus on problem-solving, working as a team, using your imagination, making art, telling stories, and improvising.

The first chapter explores what creativity really is, and how to encourage children to be expressive. There are tips for reducing screen time, guiding the creative process, teaching children to think in different ways and explore their individuality with a growth mindset.

The chapters are divided by imaginative activities, arts and crafts, role play, and collaboration games. Each activity comes with clear instructions, an estimate of the prep time, a list of needed materials, and some tips and benefits of the activity.

The activities are really interesting and varied! There are a lot of activities for building things, like a toothpick tower, and for writing and storytelling, like the story jar that gives you a story prompt and you have to make up a story about the subject given.

There are also adorable illustrations for some of the activities that show children doing the activity, or that show children imagining something from the activity. Whether on a deserted island, playing a guitar, rocketing into the future, or running an obstacle course, the illustrations are a fun way to draw the reader in and get them curious about doing and making and creating!

The arts chapter includes activities for drawing, crafts, dancing, and music. Since I am a musician, I really loved seeing the music games that teach about rhythm and sounds!

Some other activities include putting on a play with sock puppets, playing charades, creating a castle out of old boxes, and making a tent out of blankets. But others of the activities are really original, like creating art by splashing balls of paint onto a canvas outdoors, making your own snow globe, making a musical instrument like a guitar or drum, going on a sound scavenger hunt to identify different sounds, writing your own lyrics to a song.

Some of the more movement-centered activities are setting up and then running through an obstacle course, doing an interpretive dance with scarves, balancing on a "tightrope", designing and navigating through a maze, and imagining you are a zombie.

There are just so many wonderful options for games and activities in this book! These are sure to inspire children and spark their curiosity in wonderful ways!

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 dictionary focuses on word origins to teach vocabulary through the stories and history of words. The first section explains the roots of common Latin and Greek words and how the prefixes and suffixes attached to words can give clues to their meaning or completely change the meaning of the main word.

Organized alphabetically, each entry gives a paragraph with an explanation of the origin story of the word, along with its meaning, root language, and sometimes an example sentence. I really love the choice of interesting words, and how the information is organized.

At the beginning of each alphabet letter section, there is an illustration of that letter and a word like "Buoy" for the Bs, "Fossil" for the Fs, "Jewels" for the Js, and "Pterodactyl" for the Ps. The illustration is of a baby pterodactyl hatching out of its egg, or a 'J' encrusted with jewels. The illustrations cleverly use the letter itself in the illustration, and I like the cartoony style and bold colors and thick lines of the artwork.

The last section focuses on word play, with entries for words about food and music, and how different cultures developed words to describe their favorite foods and types of musical instruments.

The writing style is just right for readers aged 8-14 who are curious about words. When I was a girl, I loved to learn new words. I just wish I could have had a book like this when I was a kid!

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 adorable book is the perfect way to teach children to write their letters and numbers. Starting with the simplest tracing of lines and shapes, this book provides pages of writing practice for little fingers all through the alphabet and numbers. There is even a Certificate of Completion at the back of the book!

The colorful illustrations will engage the attention of young writers, and there are games and simple puzzles to solve. The lines for tracing are large, so that a child could use a crayon or marker in the beginning as they learn to trace the lines and hold a pencil correctly.

There are also directions for the parent or teacher about how to guide the child through the book, and help them learn to hold their pencil or crayon properly. The instructions are easy to follow.

This is the perfect book to prepare a young child for kindergarten, and teach them writing skills at home!

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 has 200 positive affirmations and encouraging sayings designed with beautiful graphics and fonts. The book is tiny, barely 4x4 inches, so it's the perfect little pocket-sized gift.

Each page has a design with a quote or saying that lifts your spirits and gives you courage to face the day and go after your dreams. On some of the opposite pages there are recommendations for meditations, recipes, music playlists, inspiring books, and simple activities to make your day happier and more fulfilling.

My only disappointment is that the pages are not perforated, so that you could tear one out and give it to a friend. The book is designed be a gift as a whole, not for each page to be given away. The pages are thick, almost like thin cardstock paper, so they would be perfect to give a little encouraging note to a friend. But it would not be easy to tear out a page without the perforated edges. Ah well. Too bad.

The messages vary from quotes of famous people to little proverbs and cliches.
"The time for action is now."
"Life is just a moment, so enjoy it."
"You are magnificent."
"Always believe something wonderful is about to happen."
"There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind."-C.S.Lewis

What makes this book special are the beautiful designs and lovely fonts on each page! There are gorgeous colors and interesting patterns and drawings. This would make a beautiful gift, and works as an excellent encouragement any time you need a little cheering up!

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 affirmations and positive sayings are paired with illustrations that uplift and inspire the reader! I love the poignant and thoughtful axioms. Some of them really made me think about life in a different way!

"Picture yourself as a little kid. Remember the promises you want to keep to that person."
"Give people a reason to remember your conversations, whether you do that by speaking or listening."
"Carve out your own world."

However, there were a few sayings that sounded very strange to me, and didn't make much sense.
For instance, "Your ethics and politics are your architecture; build up those convictions and you'll have built a life."
Since when does politics become a part of your identity? And how does which way you vote, build you a life? I can see how your ethics and beliefs are a big portion of your identity, but how does politics fit into that? Politics is about choosing which people are the best at organizing and making decisions for your state or for the country. It doesn't really have much to do with personal identity. It's someone's job. We elect them to do a job. How does that affect my identity, my "architecture"? Sounds like some kind of socialist weird ideology to me, where they try to get people loyal to their party by telling people that their identity is wrapped up in who wins an election.

Another strange one is "Money isn't dignity, or even that dignified, and it's definitely not an antidepressant."
Except people who are truly poor may need money to help them establish some dignity in their lives. I've known people who lived in huts with dirt floors. I know they think that money could bring them a little more dignity. I've known children with holes in their shoes, and I'm sure they would be happier and less depressed if they had the money to buy nice shoes. The quote in this book should say 'An excess of money isn't dignity. Buying a fancy car and designer clothing is not an antidepressant.' To millions of people in the world, a little extra money could help them have a private toilet in their home instead of having to use the bushes behind their house. Dignity.


I like the cute illustrations with bright and bold colors! The art style is really lovely, and depicts real people living their lives to the fullest, and embracing each moment. The people are diverse and quirky. They have coffee with a friend, snuggle with a loved one, make a craft, watch a sunset, play in the park, help someone, do their laundry, take a nap, or have a food fight.

However, there are a couple of swear words in this book. Two F words and an H-E-double-hockey-sticks. At least it wasn't all over the book. I suppose I should be grateful that there were only a couple of places with profanity.

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.