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{Book Review} About Birds: A Guide for Children / Sobre los Pájaros: Una Guía Para Niños by Cathryn Sill

About Birds

Sobre los Pájaros

A Guide for Children | Una guía para niños

Author: Cathryn Sill

Illustrator: John Sill

Translator: Cristina de la Torre

Pub. Date: March 1st 2014 (English/Spanish Bilingual Edition)

Age Level: 3 - 7

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers

ISBN: 978-1-56145-783-0

Page Count: 40pp

About Birds: A Guide for Children / Sobre los pájaros: Una guía para niños offers a thoughtful first glimpse into the world of birds from eggs to nests, from song to flight in this English/Spanish bilingual edition

In this delightful book, teacher and birder Cathryn Sill explains to children what birds are, what they do, and how they live. Accompanied by beautifully detailed illustrations from noted wildlife illustrator John Sill, About Birds is a first thoughtful glimpse into the world of birds, from eggs to nest, from songs to flight. Simple and enlightening, About Birds tells children what is essential for understanding and appreciating birds. An afterword provides further detail for youthful ornithologists and their parents regarding bird identification.

About Birds will faithfully answer the first questions of young ornithologists and charm adults with the wonder and diversity of this important species.

About Birds is the perfect book to have on hand if at home you have a dual language child. This book works great if they have to read every night in English and Spanish, you can get both languages taken care of in just one book. My 7 year old enjoyed reading the book and finding out about all the different birds mentioned in this story. He also liked learning the birds species in English and Spanish. About Birds will introduce the child to not just reading in English and Spanish but they will learn all about this birds with beautiful water color illustrations. They won't realize they are practicing reading both languages because they will be engrossed in the birds themselves. For the younger readers this book will inspire them to look outside to find these birds or inquire where they can be found. The older readers once they finish the story they will enjoy also the more detailed information in the back of the book about each bird. 

My son has come back to reading the book over and over again, that just proves how much he loved the book. As a parent I highly recommend. I will be sharing this book with the dual language class, so  as a whole they can all enjoy About Birds too.  I will be checking out all the other About animal series books that Sill has written too. 

{Book Review and Giveaway} My Friend Suhana: A Story of Friendship and Cerebral Palsy

By Shaila Abdullah & Aanyah Abdullah 

Publication Date: December 16, 2013 

 Publisher: Loving Healing Press  

 Recommended Ages: 3+ 

Summary: A simple tale of love and friendship to warm your heart. Award-winning author and designer Shaila Abdullah teams up with her 10-year-old daughter Aanyah to bring you this heartwarming tale of a little girl who forms a close bond with a child with cerebral palsy.   

I simply love it when I read a picture book and it tells a story that I can truly connect with.  As a special educator this story really touched my heart.  My Friend Sahana  is about a little girl named Sahana. Sahana has cerebral palsy.  Written in first person, Suhana's friend does a beautiful job of telling the reader about Sahana and how she lives with cerebral palsy.  The author offers a very authentic job of describing cerebral palsy.  

What I love most about this picture book, is that the descriptions and tone is so student friendly, that it truly gives the since that Sahana, is not different.  She just expresses herself differently than her peers.  The illustrations in this book are extremely colorful and vibrant.  The illustrations allow the reader to paint a true picture of the friendship of these two girls.  This picture book is just right for the young or old to help explain the characteristics of someone living with cerebral palsy.

About the Authors

 Shaila Abdullah is an author and designer based in Austin, Texas. She is the author of two award-winning books: Saffron Dreams and Beyond the Cayenne Wall. The author has received several awards for her work including the Golden Quill Award, Norumbega Jury Prize for Outstanding Fiction, Patras Bukhari Award for English Language, Reader Views Award, Written Art Award, and a grant from Hobson Foundation. My Friend Suhana is Shaila’s first children’s book. In her free time, Shaila loves to run around with her children–Aanyah and Aaliyana. Aanyah Abdullah is a creative and compassionate 10-year-old, who is drawn to children born with physical and mental disabilities. When she was in second grade, Aanyah along with her mother Shaila, started volunteering out at a local community center where they helped assist special needs children. Later Aanyah wrote an essay about her friendship with a girl in the class who had cerebral palsy. That essay is the inspiration behind My Friend Suhana. Aanyah dreams of establishing a special school for children with disabilities one day. She is known to always stand up for what is right and is-–in her parents’ and teachers’ eyes––a perfect role model for her baby sister.

Book Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon

 

* $25 Book Blast Giveaway *

Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest runs: February 12 to March 12, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Shaila Abdullah & Loving Healing Press and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.

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(coming Mar 4 to 11, 2014)

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{Book Review} The One and Only Ivan By: Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ivan

Author: Katherine Applegate

Illustrator: Patricia Castelao

Pub. Date: January 17, 2012

Age Level: 8 - 12 • Grade Level: 3 - 7

Publisher: HarperCollins

ISBN: 978-0-0619-9225-4

Page Count: 320pp

2013 Newberry Medal Winner | ALA-ALSC Childrens Notale Book | A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year | Kirkus Reviews - Best Children or Starred Review

Ivan is an easy going gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.

One of my favorite childrens' books to date. The best part is that The One and Only Ivan can be read by all ages and enjoyed equally. The book is written for ages 8 to 12 but older middle graders and adults will love it just the same. I guarantee that. The story is heartwarming with such honesty even when told from a gorilla's point of view. When you begin to read you are immediately drawn in by Ivan's voice. Yes the story is told from Ivan the gorilla's point of view. So the kids will love that as much as I did. The plus side for parents is that each page has a few sentences that are short and simple and in journal type style writing. As far as the story itself there are moments of sadness when a character dies and gets mistreated. With all that you will see that the story is not depressing and does end with a happy ending. Think Disney movie and that's is how the book flows. Back to the sad parts, even though they are sad, I don't feel that they are too sad for children to read. It's like when you read Charlotte's Web or watched Finding Nemo style of sadness. This book is definitely a great choice for a young reader, it will be easy for them to get through the pages and story without having difficulty. And if your a teacher, I would recommend this book to be read out loud in class. 

Ivan has been in a cage for over 27 years in a mall, he lives alone inside that cage. Ivan is a Silverback Gorilla that did come from the jungles of Africa when he was young but now Ivan has accepted his life. Ivan loves to paint and create artwork which sometimes he might eat. He does have animal friends that also live in the mall and recently a new baby elephant joins them called Ruby. And this is about the time that Ivan realizes that something must be changed while retelling some of the horrible things that has happen to him. You will cheer Ivan and Ruby the whole time as he is set on getting Ruby back home. 

Overall, this book will teach whoever reads this heartwarming story about love, loss and hope. 

You can read all about the gorilla that inspired Ivan's story in The One and Only Ivan. 

{Book Review} Proxy By: Alex London

Author: Alex London

Reading Level: Young Adult

Science Fiction/Dystopian

Publication Information

 June 18th 2013

 Philomel

goodreads summary Knox was born into one of the City’s wealthiest families. A Patron, he has everything a boy could possibly want—the latest tech, the coolest clothes, and a Proxy to take all his punishments. When Knox breaks a vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke, Syd is forced to haul rocks. And when Knox crashes a car, killing one of his friends, Syd is branded and sentenced to death.

Syd is a Proxy. His life is not his own.

Then again, neither is Knox’s. Knox and Syd have more in common than either would guess. So when Knox and Syd realize that the only way to beat the system is to save each other, they flee. Yet Knox’s father is no ordinary Patron, and Syd is no ordinary Proxy. The ensuing cross-country chase will uncover a secret society of rebels, test both boys’ resolve, and shine a blinding light onto a world of those who owe and those who pay. Some debts, it turns out, cannot be repaid.

​In the age of Hunger Games we find many dystopian-based novels trying to glean a lot of the fame from the HG success. Like with Twilight and Harry Potter we also find many books with the same basis like supernatural love and magical coming of age. But it’s when you find a novel that can use one of those bases to its advantage as a means to create an amazing story then you truly have a fantastic book. Alex London, a new author on the rise, takes on the dystopian genre and gives his own fresh twist. With a blazingly fast writing style, dramatic suspense, and of course gripping action, Proxy has the foundation to be an immense series.

​Starting us off in Proxy we find a daunting world that could be a premise for ours in the future. On future earth we find a world built around debt. With a high upper class using the poor to deal with their crime and follies you have a system bound to fail. Which brings us to the main character Syd who sadly is a poverty and debt stricken guy. Known as a proxy, Syd has a debt in which he pays of by receiving physical punishments for crimes committed by his patron. One day however, his Patron goes to far and someone dies starting an unimaginable journey filled with lies and danger. In Proxy, London creates a dark and gritty world but fills it with characters that bring somewhat of a light to the darkness. With diverse people and unique settings it’s easy to loose yourself in the pages of this book. In fact, my only qualm is that London almost goes to fast through the novel and I wish there was more description and detail. That though remains a very trivial setback to an otherwise stunning book. This book shall be the vision of what’s to come from the sensational author that is Alex London.

{Book Review} Forever By: Karen Ann Hopkins

By Karen Ann Hopkins

Young Adult

Publication Information 

January 28, 2014 

Harlequin TEEN



 goodreads summary I want is my happily-ever-after. That's all I've wanted since meeting Noah Miller. From the day we met, the world has tried to keep Noah and me from being together, but now that I'm carrying his child, no one will be able to tear us apart. Or so I hope. But Noah and I have made some mistakes along the way, and the consequences are impacting the people we love. Worse, there's a storm on the horizon, and it's sure to cause serious devastation. If we can get through this, we'll finally be Rose and Noah; a family, forever. But first we have to survive the road ahead. And happily-ever-after is a long way off.

I waited patiently for the story of Rose and Noah to come full circle. I waited to read what life would throw at them. The wait is over and my feelings are torn in two directions. When a series ends it's hard on the reader. When an awesome series ends, it's devastating to the reader. This is one of those series where I've followed the author from the beginning to the end. First direction, I had to come to the realization that the love story is over for Rose and Noah. It will forever be in my heart that their love story has ended. Karen Ann Hopkins, author of the Temptation series has created a novel with twists and story lines that I never saw coming. All wrapped up in a page turning novel, where I silently hoped that the last page would never come. Second direction, is the notion or glimpse of hope that something else may come out of this love story of determination and coming of age into to the world of adulthood. Some doors have been left open.  Doors  that I believe Ms. Hopkins can walk right through with more stories to tell and with new character focuses. I hope she will. I hope she'll be an author that won't stop, but will keep giving her readers novels that leave a lasting expression on the soul.

Rose and Noah have come to a part of their life where change is coming. Change has arrived. It's here and there is no turning back. There is very little I can say without ruining all of the great moments in Forever. If you know their story well, you know that they are meant for one another. The only thing that holds them back is that they live in two different worlds, but not for long. Will Rose become the humble Amish girl that she longs to be? Will their love be such a strong link that it will carry them through what the world throws at them? Karen Ann Hopkins captures her readers with endless descriptions of life, tragedy, healing and love. All components that makes for a series that is unforgettable.