This book gives the cutest prompts for the "author" to write in about their mother. There is a report card for Mom with grades for hugs, dancing, and jokes. You can draw in a superhero cape for Mom, and answer questions like, "If you were an ice cream flavor, you would be..."

There are tons of pages to draw in yourself and your Mom having adventures in outer space or traveling the globe. There are also places where you can paste in photos and place stickers. There is an entire sheet of cute stickers in the back!

You can create "new rules" for your household, start a band with your Mom, and give your Mom an award. You can write a story about your adventures together, design a secret treehouse, and trace your hands to make the pages high-five each other.

This book goes way beyond the typical "favorite color" type of prompts, and makes for a very special gift. It really challenges your creativity and inspires some fun and interesting subjects!

Every page is filled with colorful illustrations and art work. I love the attractive design of this book!

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 colorful activity pages for young children to review their knowledge of the alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers, and basic words. It comes with a summer progress map, where you can use the enclosed stickers to mark your progress when you complete a page or activity. There are bonus questions and extra outside activities that will earn you special achievement stickers too! Once the book is complete, you get an award certificate.

The first three levels through page 47 are mostly the alphabet and numbers, colors and shapes. Level Four and beyond have more reading comprehension, phonics, easy math, seasons and months of the year, and history. There are answers in the back of the book to check your work. There is also a set of flashcards that you can cut out of the book for testing your knowledge. There is a reading list of books that you can check off as you read them.

This book has so many cool features! Every single page is full of brightly colored illustrations and information boxes. The activities are really interesting and fun!

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.

3.5 stars
SYNOPSIS:
Alexander is the heir to the throne of Theera-Enty. After a failed assassination attempt, he is stranded on a remote jungle planet while the kingdom is thrown into chaos. But it isn't only human-kind who are working against him. The legendary Guardians must protect Alexander by battling against demonic beings who whisper evil into the minds of men. A pirate captain is caught in the middle of the war, a group of castaways look for rescue, an old priest preaches for repentance, and the governments of different planets vie for power.

This book has an epic scope as the people of Theera-Enty begin a fight against oppression, and Alexander struggles to understand a prophecy regarding the throne. A mysterious key might lead to a treasure beyond imagining but no one can unravel its secrets.

PLOT/ACTION:
This plot is full of so much action and twists and betrayals and big reveals! It really kept my interest through every chapter. There is a big space battle at the end of the book that amazed me from start to finish. Usually I am bored by fight scenes, but this was presented like a puzzle to be solved. How are they going to survive? What tricks and tactics can they use to overpower the enemy? It was fascinating, and full of emotional moments as characters had to face their worst fears and find the courage to keep going.

THEMES:
There are deep themes about faith, spiritual warfare, friendship, courage, the nature of truth, and the proper roles of government and education. These powerful messages are so smoothly woven into the story that it never feels too preachy. It makes the story really meaningful. I especially appreciated the spiritual themes and the clear messages about God's love and forgiveness through Christ.

CHARACTERS:
I loved so many of the characters in this book! Alexander has some wonderful character development as the trials he goes through force him to mature and face his responsibilities. His faith grows stronger and stronger the more he realizes how helpless he is.

The pirate captain, LaRouche, has the best sassy one-liners! He had me laughing so much. He's a very mysterious character who is hiding a lot of secrets. I'm hoping to see more development for him and get some more depth to his character in the rest of the series.

Another favorite character was old Caedmon, the holy priest. He is called the Faithful Voice of God because he is a preacher and prophet. He teaches Alexander and gives the most robust speeches about following the Narrow Way of righteousness. I found it very inspiring!

The villains are equally well-written, with disgusting personalities and cruel dialogue. Oooh, I just hated those awful villains!

However, there are a few of the supporting characters that were very one dimensional. They were like cardboard people filling a role, with no motivations or backstory of their own. They have one personality trait, and that is their only thing. I am hoping these characters will get more development in the rest of the series.

WRITING STYLE:
The writing style is really powerful and exciting! But this book has multiple POVs in most scenes, and that is one of my pet peeves. It feels like sloppy writing. It didn't get on my nerves too badly, because the rest of the writing was so good, but it was annoying at times.

The book also needs a copy editor, since there are little grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors all over the place. There are a couple of little plot holes that could be easily explained or resolved with a good editor. There is also some "telling" instead of "showing" that got on my nerves too.

ROMANCE:
One of the biggest things that brought this book down to 3.5 stars instead of 4 stars is that the one little tiny background romance is so bland and boring. The romance uses a LOT of "telling". Instead of seeing two people who flirt and are attracted to each other, the reader is TOLD that they flirted. There is no actual flirting dialogue to make me believe that these people are interested in each other. It was very disappointing.

Overall, I loved this book so much! I couldn't put it down, and finished it in just a few days.

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.

Myrtle is preparing for Christmas, when the proprietor of a mercantile shop is murdered and the culprit rearranges the display window to predict the next murder. Myrtle has to investigate the cold-case of a young woman who disappeared from the local college years before, in order to solve the string of murders that are threatening to ruin everyone's holiday.

I cannot describe how much I loved this third book in the Myrtle series!
One of the things that made me fall in love with this book is the incredible character development. I love how the main characters change their minds, discover new information, grow in their personalities and abilities, and suddenly realize that their relationships with other characters can be different.

I was fully invested in the character growth and the story from the very first page. The writing drew me in, and emotionally hooked me into the lives of the characters. Myrtle herself is a fantastic main heroine. She is energetic and emotional and incredibly intelligent. I absolutely adored her strong relationship with Miss Judson, and her evolving relationship with her Aunt Helena.

I was massively curious about every clue. I couldn't wait to read the next chapter and the next! I wanted to see how all the disparate clues could possibly come together to a rational conclusion. I was so pleased with the complexity of the mystery, and yet it all made sense in the end with everything explained and every loose end wrapped neatly in a bow. At one point, I thought that I had figured out who the murderer was, but I was completely wrong! I was genuinely surprised at the ending.

The secondary characters are wonderful as well, with the townspeople, policemen, newspaper journalists, and Myrtle's friends all playing their part. The setting of the beach, the hotel, the pier, and the ships all give a creepy or homey atmosphere to the story that adds so much to the action of each scene.

One of the things I really loved was how the history of the town was a big part of unraveling the murder mystery. Myrtle had to find out about the past in order to understand what was happening in the present, and it gave the story so much depth. Brilliant writing!

Another nice feature of this book is the gorgeous cover art, which gives little clues to the contents of the book with the olives and the Campanile in the background. All these things feature strongly in the plot, and I love how the artwork incorporates them.

I have to mention how humorous the writing is! There is a lot of witty dialogue, funny aside comments to the reader, a jovial and charming unemployed solicitor, and an irrepressible lady journalist. It’s hilarious and wonderful!

I wish I could give this book 10 stars, and I look forward with extreme eagerness for the next books in the series!

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.

Hugo no puede dormir. Recorre la jungla preguntando a los animales si saben por qué no puede dormir. El elefante, el mono y el tigre están muy molestos porque los despiertan en medio de la noche. Incluso la gacela está molesta, aunque es educada con Hugo. Finalmente, el cocodrilo le dice a Hugo la verdadera razón por la que no puede dormir. ¡Es un murciélago nocturno!

¡Me encantó esta linda historia! Hay mucha repetición en la historia cuando Hugo despierta a cada animal, lo cual es perfecto para lectores jóvenes que aman la repetición.

¡Hugo es un pequeño murciélago tan lindo! Me encantaron las ilustraciones brillantes y los diálogos divertidos.

Descargo de responsabilidad: Recibí una copia de este libro del editor a cambio de una revisión gratuita y honesta. Todas las opiniones expresadas aquí son mis propios pensamientos verdaderos y no están influenciadas por nadie.

Hugo can't sleep. He goes all around the jungle asking the animals if they know why he can't sleep. The elephant, monkey, and tiger are all very annoyed to be woken up in the middle of the night. Even the gazelle is annoyed, although she is polite to Hugo. Finally the crocodile tells Hugo the real reason why he can't sleep. He's a nocturnal bat!

I loved this cute story! There is a lot of repetition in the story as Hugo wakes up each animal, which is perfect for young readers who love repetition.

Hugo is such a cute little guy! I loved the bright illustrations and the funny dialogue.

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 examines the person of Jesus and what various cults and religions around the world believe about Him. Some believe that Jesus is just another angel or a human prophet. The author presents the true Jesus, and debunks the false beliefs that Jesus is not truly God.
The chapters are designed to equip the reader with knowledge about what different cults believe and how to talk with people and answer their questions about the true nature of the Trinity and the person of Jesus Christ.

DNF at 41%
I think the premise of this book is really good. The execution just wasn't quite what I was looking for. As far as I could tell, the theology in this book is sound and correct and rooted in canonical Bible Scripture.

However, some of the arguments weren't particularly strong or as logical as they could have been. I felt like the author was taking some leaps to connect certain ideas that didn't seem to have that strong of a connection, and then was grasping at straws to prove the point without much solid evidence. I was looking for more logic and fewer emotional appeals.

Maybe I'm just being too picky, but I also felt like the author spent too long explaining details that are not that important to the general argument, and exploring rabbit trails that didn't lead anywhere meaningful. The writing could have been condensed.

This book tells the history of musical instruments around the world with short bios about famous musicians and composers. My favorite part is the development of the piano since I am a pianist. There are sections about rock bands, percussion, woodwinds, string orchestras, jazz bands, brass bands, and military bands. There are chapters about beautiful instruments from India, Russia, Scotland, Mongolia, China, Japan, and Africa.

I loved the cute illustrations in this book! The artwork really brings the history to life. There are a cricket and a songbird who pop up in every page exploring the different types of instruments.
I like that the design has small paragraphs of text so that it is easy to read and absorb the snippets of information. As a musician, I really appreciated all the music history, the explanations about types of music, the nature of sounds for each instrument, and how different styles developed.

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.

In this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, the princess spends her childhood tending the palace gardens and learning about all the plants and flowers there. But when the evil witch introduces a thorny plant into the garden, the princess pricks her finger and falls into an enchanted slumber.

The reader learns all about flowers, herbs, thorny bushes, fruit trees, and flowering shrubs. There is even a vegetable garden in the palace!

I love the design of the pages, where the main page has the fairy tale story, and then you can pull out the big folding page to reveal all the information about the garden plants.
The illustrations are all so delicate and graceful! I love the soft art style, and the beautiful colors.
The fairy tale retelling is delightful, and the information about the garden is organized into small paragraphs that make it easy to read.


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 combines the fairy tale retelling of Snow White with information about underground structures, animal burrows, plant root systems, underground rivers, caves, subways, and mines. There is even a section about mythological creatures who traditionally live underground like trolls, gnomes, and dragons.

I love the design of the pages, where the main page has the fairy tale story, and then you can pull out the big folding page to reveal all the information about the underground.
The illustrations are all so delicate and graceful! I love the soft art style, and the beautiful colors.
The fairy tale retelling is delightful, and the information about the underground is organized into small paragraphs that make it easy to read.


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.