A Collection of Children's Books

Genre: Children's Picture Books
Source: I received copies to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.



Zoom Boom the Scarecrow and Friends by Joel Brown
Zoom Boom is a scarecrow on a farm. He loves helping everyone and taking care of them. He makes sure they stay safe, especially the crows who are always getting into trouble.





Be Tidy or Not? by Joel Brown
I thought this would be a book about how to tidy up your room. I was surprised to find it was about being a friend to those who are different. Dirty Bird is a very clean and tidy bird. Charming is a very dirty and messy bird. Both of these birds are best friends. They look past each other's differences.

Be Careful by Joel Brown
Zoom Boom is at it again. This time Careless Carrie the Crow is not paying attention to what she should be doing. He saves her from a car as she is crossing in front of the bus. He keeps her from running out into the street to get a book she dropped and then he saves her when she trips going down the stairs.  Great lessons about how to stay safe.





Fussy Gussy and the Giant Broccoli by Ortal Zerat & Hadas Korb

This book is a creative way to get kids to try vegetables, especially broccoli. Fussy Gussy hated vegetables. His mother tells him a story aout aking, who through a trick of the royal magician, learned to like broccoli.

Lily and the Animal Choir by Ayala Saar
Lily and her friends love to sing and dance. They set off one day to find a choir to join. All of the animals they meet and ask refuse to let them sing with them, saying their choirs are the best A wonderful book to read to see if Lily and her freinds will fina a choir to join.





Stories for Children 9 by Francois Bissonnette
The Musician and the Princess
In a kingdom lived a musician who was loved by all including the animals in the forest. He asked the King's permission to marry his daughter as they were in lovel The king agreed as long as he participated in three tests. Can you guess what the tests were and how well he did?

Alicia and the Unicorn
In the Rickward Kingdom was a princess named Alicia. Her father King Richard would do anyting for her. Her seventh birthday was approaching and she asked her daddy for a unicorn for her birthday present. Will she receive her wish?
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Yalu and the Puppy Room by Brian T. Yates
When a small puppy is the last of her brothers and sisters left behind in a kennel, she wonders if she will ever find a forever home. She tries her best to stand out. When she finds her forever home, she realizes it is the perfect place for a princess like herself.



Oliver and Jumpy Stories 34-36 by Werner Stejskal

How I Found My Top Hat
This is the story of how Oliver obtained his white top hat. He always wanted to be an elegant hat. One day he passed a hat shop and saw the white top hat. He just had to have it. He worked hard to earn money to buy it. When the time came it was gone. Someone had bought it. Read to find out how he ended up with his beloved hat.
Oliver in the Circus
In this story, the circus comes to town and Oliver tries to join them. You can read about all of the different things he did in the circus and decide for yourself what he did best.
Ship Wreck
A ship is wrecked and sunk during a terrible storm. On board the ship is a treasure, including a tiara the kings daughter is to wear at her wedding.  The President asks Oliver and Jumpy to dive to the wreck to  retrieve the tiara. What kind of danger will they face, and who will help them?

As always these are wonderful stories, so fun to read.

1,2,3 Count With Me by Sybrina Durant
This is a cute counting book full of animals and other charming pictures to help your child learn to count to 10 and back There is a song that goes with it and you can find it here.

Brotherhood in Death by J.D. Robb Tour

Genre: Adult, Suspense, Thriller

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Goodreads:

Sometimes brotherhood can be another word for conspiracy...

Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises. First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.

Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD’s top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody. When he came to, his cousin was gone. With the mess cleaned up and the security disks removed, there’s nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze. 

As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis. Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed—and locked—doors. But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate . . . and a new case that no one saw coming

My Thoughts:

This is the first book I’ve read in this series.  You don’t have to read the others in the series, there are over forty of them, to understand this one. They are stand-alone novels with some of the same characters.

The author has created a futuristic world, Year 2060.  I was not a fan of the sex scenes no matter how they were written. I knew going in that this was Nora Roberts writing under a different name. I guess I hoped that since this was a thriller it would be different. I guessed wrong. That is the only reason I took one star off.

Eve and her partner are called to investigate a scene that involves her friends the Mira’s.  Someone has tortured and murdered Edward. It didn’t just stop with him. Several of his acquaintances have been targets as well.  Because of a trauma when she was a child this murder and assault really hits home.  Throughout the book we also get glimpses into her private life with her husband Roarke. He always has her back.  When he tries to help her move out of her past he finds she is none too pleased.

Embracing Change

This is not a review. It is notice that I have decided to embrace change in my life. I wanted to start 2016 with a change I could stick to. I wanted to prioritize things in my life. I have to say that here we are at the end of the first month of the new year and I find myself frustrated with the way things have been going. So, after reading a post this morning by an author I admire and follow (see post here).

I have finally made a decision about my own life.

I started this blog nine years ago. Why? I followed  a very small site at the time called The Picnic Basket (find the link here). I would read a post and if I liked the book I would request it. That is how I started getting books for my school shelves. I taught ESOL  (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and itensive reading. My husband suggested I put up writing prompts and reviews in the hopes I would entice my reading kids and ESOL kids to read more. I have continued to review books. For a while I joined every reading challenge I could, and encouraged my students to join as well. Some time later I noticed I was no longer reading the books I purchased along with my students from Scholastic or my local book store because I was reading and reviewing the books I got from publishers and authors. I still wasn't worried. I cut down on the number of reading challenges I did. 

Then one day it happened. After giving a writing assignment, again, to my reading students. After modeling the process by writing a story along with them, one of them said something that changed my life. Jesse said, "Miss, we like your stories. Why don't you write books to put on your shelves. We'd read them." So I started down the writing road.

The reason for change is multi-faceted. I am a teacher with 147 students. This year I became the English Department chairperson. My English department personnel is almost all new. I mentor two new teachers as well. I have several students who participte in NaNoWriMo each year so that takes a chunk out of my after school time. Once again I found my writing suffering, as was my blog. I would read multiple books but not get around to the reviews. These are the reasons for the change.

Steps to Courage was self published in 2011. I wanted it out there for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. That decision changed several things for me. I liked to stay in the background of things. This challenged me to step out of my comfort zone in the form of book signings.  I have four other books in the works. One is in revision, one I've just completed the research, and two others are partially written. I decided for the new year I was going to focus more on my own writing. I've been turning down reviewing books that don't grab my attention 100%. This was hard to do. I usually am wise about selecting books I would enjoy reading. However, if it is a book I could wait 3 months to read I want to pass and let someone else have the opportunity to read and review it. I decided this was the year I would finally take the next step in writing. I am a founding member of Jerry Jenkins' Writing Guild. He has multiple classes, webinars, one page critiques and more to offer me. There is help 24/7 from him and others. In other words, I am taking my writing more serious.

Beginning February first, I can guarantee a post only twice a week. I haven't set specific days. This will allow me several days to read and several days to write up the reviews and post them. If I can fit more in I will. It could be I'll have a lull and be able to schedule posts. I already have some that are set up for one day each week, up through June.  It is important that I do this in advance because sometime in May I will leave may job a few weeks early to have double knee surgery. The knee issues were another item thrown into the mess. All of this is why I will commit to only two guaranteed posts a week. Yippee if I can pull off more. I am no longer going to stress if I can't. I must focus more on my own dream of writing or I'll never get anywhere with it.Writing is hard and I'm constantly learning.

If two posts a week is not enough for you then know that I understand. You must do what is right for you, as must I by embracing change.