It's a big day on the farm as we say hello to all the barnyard animals. The rooster wakes everyone up, and we meet the horses, cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, and dogs. We say hello to everyone as the animals begin their day.

Es un gran día en la granja, ya que saludamos a todos los animales de corral. El gallo despierta a todos, y nos encontramos con los caballos, vacas, pollos, cerdos, ovejas y perros. Saludamos a todos mientras los animales comienzan su día.

This book is so adorable! All the animal are so cute and cuddly.
¡Este libro es tan adorable! Todos los animales son tan lindos y cariñosos.

The writing is very simple, and just right for babies and toddlers learning their first words. The illustrations are bright and colorful, with a cartoony style and simple designs.

La escritura es muy simple, y perfecto para los bebés y los niños pequeños que aprenden sus primeras palabras. Las ilustraciones son brillantes y coloridas, con un estilo caricaturesco y diseños sencillos.

The book really does appear to be indestructible. I tried tearing one of the pages, and it wouldn't tear, although it crinkled up a little. I was surprised that the pages are so thin. This is NOT a board book. The pages are made of some kind of thick fiber, and there is no cover or spine. The pages are sewn together into a thin booklet. No wonder they say that babies could chew on it, and it is washable. Without a cover for babies to chew on, and no spine to get torn, the book really is indestructible!

El libro realmente parece ser indestructible. Intenté romper una de las páginas, y no se rompió, aunque se arrugaba un poco. Me sorprendió que las páginas son tan delgadas. Las páginas están hechas de algún tipo de fibra gruesa, y no hay cubierta o columna vertebral. Las páginas se cosen juntas en un cuadernillo delgado. No es de extrañar que digan que los bebés podrían masticarlo, y es lavable. Sin una cubierta para que los bebés mastiquen, y no hay columna vertebral que se rompa, el libro realmente es indestructible.

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.

Descargo de responsabilidad: Recibí copias de estos libros del editor a cambio de una revisión gratuita y honesta. Todas las opiniones aquí expuestas son mis propios pensamientos verdaderos, y no están influenciadas por nadie.

Little e is a small alphabet-letter child, and many of his schoolmates overlook him because he is so quiet. But when the other alphabet letters try to make words when he is absent from class, they can't make the right sounds. Only Little e can save the day!

This is one of the cutest things I've ever seen! Little e is such an adorable character. He dreams of being important someday, and he wears a superhero cape. It's amazing how I became so emotionally invested in a little alphabet character guy. He's so sweet!

I love how cleverly this story weaves together some phonics learning and a cute story. The pacing of the writing really draws you in, and makes you cheer for Little e and smile with him.

The classroom setting is pleasant and bright as all the alphabet-letter children come to school to learn about making words. Each character has a charm of their own. Even their teacher, Miss Capital T, is brilliantly designed and endearing.

I adore this book! It made me smile.

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.

The Teen Titans have been banned from superhero summer camp, so this year for camp they are going to Camp Apokolips. The evil Granny Goodness is looking for recruits and is trying to undermine the heroes' friendships by getting them to compete against each other. No one is more competitive than Robin, and his enthusiasm sometimes overwhelms his better judgement, causing problems for the team.

I liked the comedy in this comic! Robin is always getting up to crazy highjinks and ruining everyone's camp experience with his insane determination to win the "Best Camper" award. He is always trying to prove that he is the fastest, smartest, biggest hero in the entire camp, and that is the perfect backdrop for some truly hilarious failures.

The campers have to endure the disgusting food, the crazy counselors, and the ultimate obstacle-course race where the winner is the one who lives through it. But somehow they learn to rely on each other and trust their instincts, and their friendships become stronger than ever.

I like the pacing of the book, and there is plenty of action and silliness to keep your interest. There is some good character development, especially for Robin. The plot does a good job of balancing a lot of different characters, but we get to see little slices of scenes and dialogue from each of them. They are all memorable and fun!

The best part of this book is the "letters from camp" as each of the characters write home about their camp experience, and each "letter" is illustrated by a different artist in a different comic style. It's so interesting to see all these art styles in the same book, and it feels like the different voices of each character is reflected in the art. Whether they are a silly or serious character heavily influences the writing style and the artwork. It's brilliant, and gives a whole new depth to the story!

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 begins with advice on various strategies for completing sudoku puzzles, and gives some advanced techniques to try out. The puzzles are separated into sections for Tough, Tougher, Tear-Your-Hair-Out, and Extra Credit.

There are also some variations of sudoku puzzles that are explored, like diagonal sudoku, consecutive, jigsaw sudoku, killer sudoku, chain, skyscraper, and butterfly sudoku. Most of the puzzles in this book are the normal style of puzzle, but there is an extra credit section with some of the variations of sudoku puzzles.

At the back of the book there is a section with hints to help you out if you get stuck, and then another section with the answers to check your work.

I love the way this book is designed!

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 encourages children (and adults) to keep creating, keep making things, and be on the lookout for other artists. You have to watch out for art bullies, whether it's someone else or your own inner critic who wants to squash your creativity and freedom. Don't let any criticism stop you from being an artist!

I loved the silly art style in this book. The blob creatures are made from yarn, paint, dots, squares, rainbows, string, glitter, and something that looks like shiny gold foil. They all have stick arms and little dot eyes and big smiles. So cute!

There are so many positive messages in this book! It's a fresh look at the "Believe in Yourself!" message, and it got me really inspired.

I really appreciated that this book acknowledges that not all artists are alike. They can be introverts or extroverts. They can be young or old. Some will be tidy and clean, and others are messy. And all of that is okay and acceptable and good.

I remember being told as a kid, "Just get messy! Just throw the glue and glitter around. That's how you make art!" Um, no. That's not how I make art. I like to be clean and neat. Messy is how YOU make art. Maybe that's why I never became a painter, and I turned to the piano for my creative outlet instead. At the piano, everything is neat and clean. No glitter or glue allowed. We musicians make 'glitter' with our elaborate harmonies and ornamental melodies, and we leave the messiness to the painters.

Maybe if I had read this book as a kid, I would have realized that I don't have to do art the way other people do it. I can do it my own tidy way, and make it my own thing.

As a musician, I was a little disappointed that this book doesn't include musicians, dancers, writers, or architects, etc... as artists. "The Arts" includes a lot of areas of creativity, but I guess they had to limit the scope of the topic or it would be too much for one little picture book. (Maybe there will be future books titled, "How to Spot a Musician"??? I would love that so much!)


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.

The book begins with an introduction section with general advice and information on fasting, its health benefits, and how to plan fasting for your body type and nutrition needs. There are some physical exercises you can do to lose weight with illustrations that show how to do the exercise.

This book provides meal plans for 21 days, and 75 recipes to help readers lose weight and easily cook delicious meals. There is a list of pantry essentials to help you put together your grocery shopping list. One chapter has tips for creating a long-term routine, what to do about snacks, how to establish dietary patterns so that your body knows when to be hungry.

The recipes include smoothies, soups, salads, vegan main dishes, poultry, seafood, beef and pork main dishes, and some snacks. The recipes look delicious, and the instructions are easy to follow, and include wonderful information about the nutritional value, and whether the recipe is dairy-free, nut-free, vegan, or gluten-free. There are also tips for substituting ingredients or making ahead and storing the food.

There is some great information in here for anyone who is interested in trying out intermittent fasting, and I like how it has a plan for gradually introducing this practice into your daily habits in a healthy and mindful way.

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 provides meal plans for 28 days, and 85 recipes to help readers lose weight and easily cook delicious meals. The recipes are all fairly simple with basic ingredients that are widely available.

At the beginning of the book, the author provides excellent advice about changing your lifestyle to be healthier, sleep better, reduce stress, and include gentle exercise into your daily routine. The book gives a positive picture of the whole person, instead of only focusing on diet. There are sections about portion control, calories, vitamins, and whole foods, but the book also mentions developing good habits of exercise, meditation, unplugging from technology and screens, and how to make time in your busy schedule for cooking. I really appreciated the balance in this common-sense approach.

The best thing about this book is having a meal plan and grocery shopping list already written out for you. It takes all the guess work and decision fatigue away, and leaves you free to enjoy your food!

Each recipe section is divided by the type of "pot" being used for the recipes. There are sections for using a blender, a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, a soup pot, dutch oven, casserole dish, and skillet. Each section includes breakfast recipes, lunch recipes for taking to work or school, dinner with the family recipes, and a healthy dessert.

The photos of the different foods are making my mouth water, and they are very useful for helping the reader to visualize what the completed recipe will look like.

The recipe instructions are easy to follow, and include wonderful information about the nutritional value of different foods and the way various spices or vegetables help our bodies to release toxins, reduce inflammation, provide essential vitamins, or encourage healthy gut bacteria.

The recipes look amazing, and I can't wait to try some of them out in my own kitchen! There are several soup recipes that sound delicious; Carrot Apple Soup with Turmeric, Chunky Tortilla Soup, and Sweet Potato Kale Soup.
Some of the pasta recipes include Vegetable Lasagna, Pizza Casserole, and Lemon Chicken Orzo with Asparagus.
The Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe looks especially good 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 gives a well-rounded plan for dieting and resetting your metabolism to have a healthy body.

The first section talks about lifestyle changes like moderate exercise and eating healthy foods, but also places a strong emphasis on sleep as a way to lose weight because it balances your hormones and allows your body to rejuvenate itself while you rest. This section also explains how the metabolism functions and why it is such a factor in our weight.

I really loved how this chapter includes herbs and spices that you can include in your food, like turmeric to reduce inflammation, green tea to help lower blood sugar, reishi mushrooms to balance hormone levels. And there are vegetables and meats that help to boost the metabolism like beets, broccoli, salmon, eggs, and lentils.

The second section includes shopping lists, meal plans, and an exercise plan with light exercise like yoga and walking. The goal is to gently build muscle with light weight training and include rest days so that the body is not placed under too much stress. Each week has its own meal plan, shopping list, and exercise goals. The meal plans include three meals and two snacks for each day. The plans have easy to follow charts that will help to keep you on track!

This section ends with advice on how to write your own meal plan and stick to the new habits that will keep you healthy. There is also a blank meal plan chart to use for your own recipe planning.

The last section in this book is the recipes! The recipes are divided into sections for Breakfast, Seafood, Poultry and Meat, Vegetables and Grains, and Snacks and Sweets. Each recipe has a label at the top showing whether it's Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, a 30 Minute or Less recipe, as well as whether or not it's a whole meal in one recipe or whether you can plan on side dishes.

Ranging from simple recipes like Veggie Fried Rice to more complex recipes like Almond-Crusted Cod Fillets, and Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Mushroom Sherry Sauce, this cookbook has a wide variety of meals and snacks that are sure to appeal to anyone. The snacks include things like popcorn, trail mix, yogurt, berries, granola, and the healthy versions of Chocolate Peanut-Butter Cups and a Chocolate Zucchini Oat Pudding.

Truthfully, I'm not so sure that I want zucchini in my chocolate pudding, but it's better than a diet plan with NO chocolate at all! haha! I like how they give you some good options that will resolve your cravings without ruining your diet.

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 Halloween book combines colorful illustrations and photos with tid-bits of weird information about spiders, vampires, pumpkins, candy, ghosts, and a million other subjects!

I read through the entire book in just a half hour, fascinated with every wacky statement and attracted to each page by the stunning photos. I learned so many freaky things, like the loudest scream ever recorded, the largest jack-o'-lantern, and the craziest costumes! Did you know that Abraham Lincoln is the most commonly sighted ghost in the White House? Or that you can make edible pumpkin play-dough? haha! There is even an asteroid that is shaped like a skull. Weird and random and hilarious!

This would be the perfect book to read with a child or teen. It would spark their imagination and get them curious about the world! It is perfect to get you in the Halloween mood, and to give you inspiration for the perfect costume.

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 game has 64 cards that are designed with the towers, windows, roofs, and decorative doorways of a city skyscraper. Each card has cut-out slots so that you can connect them with each other to build a 3D puzzle of a skyscraper in any shape you want! The cards are sturdy cardboard, and printed with bright colors and a simple design.

I can't stop playing this game! Every day for the last several days, I sit down and construct something new. I've done three individual towers, two towers with a bridge in between, one long building, and one L-shaped building with one big tower. I keep changing it up, and I feel so creative! It's completely fascinating because it fires up my imagination and there are so many options for how to put the skyscraper together.

The only limit is your own imagination! I love how the design is so simple and versatile, and it really inspired my creativity! It's also incredibly relaxing.

The booklet that comes with the game describes the history of skyscraper buildings like the largest buildings in the world, the first skyscraper, the tallest and flashiest and most beautiful buildings. I really loved the whole design and information included with this game. This would be perfect for ages 7 to 70!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book/game 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.