Little Red Bat and More

 I am really enjoying and appreciating Sylvan Dell children's books.  They take a math or science concept and turn it into a fabulous bit of children's literature.  Then they provide you-the parent or teacher-with a large number of educational activities to complete with every title!  Today I'll share a few more titles we've been enjoying.  Entire units can be built around these books with the teaching activities provided!

When it comes to animals, most children learn at an early age that many animals hibernate and others migrate, but did you know that red bats can may hibernate or migrate or even both?  It amazes me that God designed these creatures to be able to adapt and do what they desired for the winter.  Written by Carole Gerber, Little Red Bat must decide if she should stay or go as the days and nights turn cool and leaves fall to the ground.  She talks to her animal friends, and they all have different advice and warnings.  Eventually the little red bat realizes that she is not prepared for winter the way some of her friends are prepared, so she joins a flock of birds migrating south.  

I just love these illustrations!  They bring the vibrant colors of autumn to the book while maintaining a realistic look.  Though the red bat has little fangs, it is not scary.

How many bats do you see?

We made our own little red bats using a bat outline.  We colored it with red crayon and then painted it brown to give the look of a red and brown bat.  Next we used a pile of leaves in a basket to camouflage the bat and played.  Lots of fun!  Check out the Little Red Bat teaching activities (all 70 pages)!  

Newton and Me, by Lynne Mayer, has captivated the hearts of both my 4 and 2 year old and has been requested several times a day!  With bright and colorful illustrations that include a boy and his dog, Newton, it has a great start.  It gets even better as it explores the laws of force and motion in everyday activities like dropping a ball, pulling a wagon (empty and full), and the wind blowing.  Though the book's focus is on a serious science topic, even a toddler can understand pushing and pulling!  With all of the teaching activities available, you can decide what is best for your child or student! 

The other Sylvan Dell title we have been enjoying is introducing our oldest child to subtraction and endangered animals (though still enjoyed by our youngest).  What's the Difference?, written by Suzanne Slade uses rhyming verses to present a new subtraction problem to the reader for main portion of the book.  The reader also takes a closer look at each animal and learns why they are endangered and how they have been helped with little boxes filled with important animal information.  As with all titles, this has a "For Creative Minds" section in the back of the book.  This title features information on food chains, fact families, and endangered animals.

Sylvan Dell Publishing educates children in science and math through the means of literature.  They're doing a fantastic job, too, offering informative, educational books with realistic and beautiful illustrations.  The books alone are really great, but they help classroom teachers and homeschooling parents in huge ways.  Each book (and ebook) comes with great resources.  The books and activities are targeted for children 4-8 (and 9) years of age.

• 3-6 pages For Creative Minds which is an educational section in the back of each book.  It extends the story and gives additional information.  
• 40-60 pages of Teaching Activities online!  These activities are incredible!  They allow a teacher to customize a unit study to meet their students' interests.  The Teaching Activities go beyond math, science, and literature.   Just click Teaching Activities and choose a title to see for yourself the plethora of activities there are.  The table of contents gives an overview and makes it easy to find what you want. With so many choices, the teacher can choose what is right for the age group they are teaching.  (I love that!!  Unit studies really benefited my students, and I think it's very enjoyable to teach and learn from a unit study.)
• 3 Interactive Quizzes per title online.  A Reading Quiz evaluates reading comprehension from the book itself.  The For Creative Minds (FCM) Quiz is based on the 3-6 pages from the back of the book.  The third,  Math Quiz uses information and context appropriate to the book and creates word problems for the student to solve.  

I'm linking up with stART, ABC and 123's show and tell and Read. Explore. Learn today.  Check them out for additional book related activities!

These titles, and all of the Sylvan Dell titles I have read have been fabulous and I highly recommend them!  Thank you, Sylvan Dell, for providing us these fabulous books for review purposes.

Heaven to Betsy

This month I've been enjoying Maud Hart Lovelace.  She is the author of the delightful Betsy-Tacy series.  This series was written in the 1940 and 1950's but takes place at the turn of the century (1898-1917).  The first book Betsy-Tacy begins right before the main character, Betsy's fifth birthday.  The series is all about the adventures of Betsy and her best friend Tacy as they grow up.  Last year I wrote about Betsy-Tacy.

I am once again taking part in the Maud Hart Lovelace reading challenge hosted by Library Hospital.  Since I now own the volume Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself (and the later volumes, too!), I was excited to dive in to the books!

Heaven to Betsy took me back to my high school days.  Betsy is really growing up and is no longer the little girl she once was.  Betsy and Tacy are now freshmen in high school.  Betsy becomes part of the Crowd-the popular kids at school who enjoy so much together.

Heaven to Betsy really gives you a great peek at Betsy's family-the Rays.  Mr. and Mrs. Ray have a loving and respectful marriage.  They love their children, but understand their need to be kids.  The children demonstrate love to each other and their parents.  Julia (Betsy's sister) and Betsy's friends are welcome into their home before and after school and for onion sandwiches on Sunday nights.  It makes me want to join in the fun, and by reading, I was kind of part of the parties!

Though I may not have been popular like Betsy, I still relate well to the friendships and even her interactions with all the boys.  I don't think Betsy is boy crazy, but she certainly cares about what they think of her.  Well, maybe she is slightly obsessed with one certain boy, but I didn't mind.   I think the boys and Betsy flirt, but some of it also seems like brotherly/sisterly teasing, too.

I just loved this book, but I thought I would throw a little FYI out there.  At some Christmas parties there is some use of a Ouija board.  It seems innocent, but still something that a parent may want to address.

These books were written based on Maud Hart Lovelace's diaries, and I am amazed at how much "daily" history is included.  One thing that truly surprised me is how often the teens of Deep Valley are using the telephone!  Some things never change!

I've been reading Betsy in Spite of Herself, too.  It's hard to believe, but I've been enjoying this even more than Heaven to Betsy with all the extra history lessons in the story!  Please know that these little history lessons are just part of the story.  I don't think they ever seem to be preachy or teach-y though.  Maud Hart Lovelace naturally brings some facts into the stories since she really lived through the story.  I'm not through with this book yet, but I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

I was recommending this series to my friend whose daughter is an avid reader.  (She had already read many.) Another friend who is in her sixties, excitedly asked if I was referring to Betsy-Tacy and Tib books!  She read them as a little girl!

I highly recommend these for anyone who likes to live in the past or who enjoy Anne of Green Gables!  They are just a joy to read.

Thank you to the Library Hospital for giving the challenge to read and to Reading to Know for the giveaway where I won this book!  (And HarperCollins Publishers for reprinting them and sending them to me!)

Winners!

Chicken Soup: A Book of Miracles winner is Karasceviour
Chicken Soup: Think Positive winner Shonda
Pumpkin Patch Parable winner is Artsy Momma
Eebee winner is Linda Kish
Doorposts winner is Natalia
CSN $45 winner is Jenny

Thanks to all the companies who offered giveaways and to everyone who entered.  Congratulations winners!

MMM...Apple Dip and Onion Dip

Maybe I shared before how I don't really like fruit.  I tolerate a few fruits (and love homemade applesauce).  Apples are one of the fruits that I eat.  Don't think I'm too weird, but sometimes to eat a whole apple just seems a bit like torture work.  I enjoy a few bites...but past that gets tough.

Several years ago we had some friends over for dinner and Richel brought over a delicious apple dip.  Oh yeah!  It is so good, that I can eat a whole apple just because I want to eat the dip.  I'm not the only one who loves it.  Maybe you will, too!

Caramel Dip

8 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar to a boil.  

Stir constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Stir well.  

Serve warm.  (Can be reheated.)

Not only am I not a big fruit person, but I'm not too keen on vegetables either.  Shameful, I know.  It's awful.  Let's just say I make sure my children eat plenty, even if I'm not a great role model.  Lots of people consider dip to be the answer to the problem of not liking veggies.  That never worked for me.  Until now.  I like this onion dip with carrots, but prefer to dip pretzels.

A few months ago I went to my friend, Faith's Tastefully Simple party.  She had just become a consultant, and I had Onion-Onion Dip.  I was hooked!  It's fabulous with pretzels, crackers, bread, and even veggies.  At my children's recent birthday party both the recipe for the apple dip and the onion dip were asked for.

The onion dip is so worth buying the Onion-Onion seasoning.  (And yes, it is shipped directly to your home!)  It takes just two tablespoons of Onion-Onion seasoning mixed with one cup of sour cream to make this fabulous dip. (If you are frugal like me you can use less if you prepare it the night before you need it.)

If you haven't heard of Tastefully Simple, check out Faith's Tastefully Simple catalog.  There's a lot more than just seasonings.  (The beer bread can even be made with soda and no kneading or rising is needed!  I also love the Garlic Garlic.  I tend to be too frugal to buy the mixes for baked goods, but they really are very, very good!)  Everything is easy to prepare and quite tasty.  I'm actually having a party in a few weeks.

If you are interested in placing an order and getting a discount on the shipping by going through my party, you are welcome to!  You'll need to go here and put in my name to find my party.  (Annette Whipple in PA)  I'm excited to help my friend Faith out with her new business!

Welcome "Sign"

You might remember a few months ago I had a giveaway for Uppercase Living.  They offer high quality vinyl decor for your home-indoors and out.

When I offered the giveaway I didn't actually  have the opportunity to review any products, but eventually I did purchase two expressions myself, and I wanted to follow up on the original post.  In my kitchen it says "Bless This Home."  I chose a burgundy color that looks nice with my black appliances and dark countertops.

Where I live is very windy.  Without a front porch to lesson the wind, I'm not really comfortable hanging much on the front door, so I was really excited to get my "Welcome" expression to add a personal touch.


















You can't really read it from the road though, but that's okay.  (I didn't want to order the next larger size.)  Maybe our neighbors just think the children drew on the door.














Because they did.  Well, a certain little girl did.  She saw it and promptly asked what it said.  Then she ran to get her chalk to add to the pretty door.  How can I blame her?  It's white on black!  I'm happy to say she wiped off the chalk very easily when asked to.

I purchased my Uppercase Living products and was not paid for sharing my thoughts on this product that I like.

Giveaway: Two Chicken Soup Books

Don't forget to check out this week's other giveaways!  Each one has a low number of comments, so give it a try!

• CSN Stores $45
• Christian Parenting Resource
• Board Book for Baby
• Pumpkin Patch Parable

Today I have two books to encourage you.  The first is Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Book of Miracles and the other is Chicken Soup for the Soul Think Positive.

It was when I was first teaching at Nature's Classroom that I heard the phrase, "Attitude is Everything."  I didn't realize how true it was until I was having a bad day...and a bad attitude.  I got over myself and changed my attitude, and then I went on to have a great day. 

 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive is a collection of stories where thinking positive and acting upon it made a difference.  Though I don't think positive thinking can change your life in the sense of it having power in life to do things only God can do, I do think a positive attitude can change your own life and even others.  Some people are a huge blessing to others just because of their attitudes and outlook.  They allow themselves (in many cases) to be used by God to impact others.  

Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Book of Miracles was much better than I anticipated.  I appreciated the focus being (mostly) on God, faith, and prayer in this book.  Even Jesus' name is used a bit.   Most of the stories began with a Bible reference, though a few were just quotes.   Honestly, I wasn't certain what to expect with this book since it's easy to be "spiritual" without giving credit to the One true God, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Giveaway!!  Wouldn't these make great Christmas gifts?
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below telling me which book you would prefer (or if you like the sounds of both).  Be sure I have a way to contact you!
For Additional Entries-Leave a separate comment for each entry.

Follow Live, Learn, Love. (1 entry)

Tell me another Chicken Soup book you might enjoy. (1 entry)

Blog about this week's celebration here at Live, Learn, love for 3 more entries!  (Blog once...and it counts all week!)

Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 26th at 7 pm EST.  Two winners will be chosen.

Thank you, Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, for providing this book for review purposes.

The Pumpkin Patch Parable and ....

One of my favorite writers and speakers is Liz Curtis Higgs.  You might have heard of her Bad Girls of the Bible series or even some of her fiction like Here Burns My Candle.  For years I also enjoyed her articles in Today's Christian Woman magazine.

Liz is also a children's author!  She has a series of Christian children's picture books that I appreciated as a teacher, and now we have our own Pumpkin Patch Parable.  This is a book that will be used for many years to share the truth of Jesus and how WE are to be lights for God.


The Pumpkin Patch Parable is a parable (a story that illustrates a truth) that tells how the Farmer plants the pumpkins.  He then chooses a special pumpkin.  He is able to remove all the slime and pulp and give it a new face.  The Farmer made the pumpkin glow and it made all the people smile.  It is summarized well, explaining that God also offers the chance to be made new, and full of joy and light so that we can shine in this world.  (Liz Curtis Higgs explains in an introduction that it is not a celebration of Halloween, but an alternative autumn message that redeems a familiar symbol of the harvest season for His good purpose.)  I really appreciated all the Scripture included in this book to help a child understand the meaning behind the parable (in addition to the explanation at the end).

If you read The Pumpkin Patch Parable, it will be clear that the logical follow-up activity would be to carve a pumpkin, but, um, we didn't do that, nor did we have pumpkins when we made this craft.  So we made our own.

For my almost 2 year old, I precut the shapes and had him find the shapes.  Then we called them the related name of eyes, nose, mouth, and stem.  My older child got to choose which color she wanted to make each feature and which shape it was to be.  That's why it has a purple nose and eyes!

This is such a simple craft.  If you have not yet made crafts with your young child, I would encourage you to try a basic pumpkin craft like this one.  Afterward, you can have fun carving a pumpkin to share about God's love and forgiveness!

To see another autumn craft, but not pumpkin related for this book, visit Just Next Door!

This craft was featured at Winning Readings!  I'm also linking up to stART and ABC and 123's show and tell!

Since this is a week of celebration, giveaways, and this is such a fabulous book...after getting our own copy this month as a birthday gift, I found a gently used copy...just for you!

Giveaway

If you would like to win be a follower of this blog and leave me a comment telling me why you want this fabulous book!

For Additional Entries-Leave a separate comment for each entry.

If you previously left a comment between 10/1/10 and 10/24/10 give yourself another entry/comment!

Blog about this week's celebration here at Live, Learn, love for 3 more entries!  (Blog once...and it counts all week!)

Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 26th at 7 pm EST.

Thank you, Aunt Janice and Uncle Bill for our copy of this book.  This is a different copy...one I found used, but got to share with a special reader just in time for the celebration.

Children's Book Review and Giveaway

Babies and toddlers love to learn about themselves and parents love to tell them all about them-including each ticklish, soft part of the baby's body.  Here's a book that encourages play while learning!

Eebee's Adventures All About Me and You! is a great board book for babies and toddlers to learn body parts and, more importantly, interact with parents.  Eebee is the cute baby featured on each page helping to teach about the body.  Author Every Baby Company, Inc made each page like a game board with commands, questions, and statements in colorful circles.  Some of the circles are quite clever and all are related to the different parts of the body.

• stick out your tongue!  say 'bah-bah-bah-bah!' 
• close your eyes!..are you sleeping?
• let's tickle your tummy!

The last page of eebee's Adventures All About Me and You! is my favorite part of the book...and most children's too, I suspect.  It is a fold out mirror to be used throughout the pages of the book.   

I think this would be an excellent gift to give a baby!  Though it is my first eebee book, it is part of a whole eebee series.

What I Like:

I think the illustrations of eebee keep the focus on body parts.  They are cute and bold!  This book plays out perfectly for exploration and interaction.  Language and motor skills develop alongside the social skills for the child!  Another feature I like is that you do not need to start at the beginning of the book.  You can start in the middle and enjoy it just fine, which I think young page turners would like.

Mirrors are especially helpful for young children's language development.  It helps them to see what they are doing instead of only feeling it.  Some children think they are imitating others correctly, but the mirror can show them otherwise.  Of course, mirrors are really a great incentive for a child to pull out a book and be silly!  Young children love mirrors to see their beautiful faces!

What I dislike:

Overall, this is a great book, but eebee's name does not begin with a capital letter.  Also, each "game board" circle has an idea written in it to instruct the child in some way.  As seen in the bullets above, they do not begin with a capital letter, though they do end with punctuation and are usually a complete sentence.  Children won't mind this and may even enjoy all lower-case letters, but the teacher in me cringes at this.  I still think it's a fun book and a great way to reinforce body parts and play with your child.

Sterling Publishing is offering a copy of eebee's Adventures All About Me and You to one reader!

To enter to win, please leave a comment below telling me who you would give or read this book to.  Be sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner.

For Additional Entries-Leave a separate comment for each entry.

Follow Live, Learn, Love. (1 entry)

Tell me another eebee book you might enjoy. (1 entry)

Blog about this week's celebration here at Live, Learn, love for 3 more entries!  (Blog once...and it counts all week!)

Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 26th at 7 pm EST.

Thank you, Sterling Publishers, for providing this book for review purposes.

Encouraging the Right Behavior-Giveaway

You might remember a while ago I reviewed a little book called Honor Your Father and Mother (linked to review).  It is a collection of questions regarding behavior and appropriate verses that correspond to help children know what the Bible says about their behavior.  Of course, it's an excellent tool for parents, too.  In our family we tend to focus on one Bible verse at a time, but it won't be long before we look at multiple verses at one time to help get the bigger picture of God's desire for us.

Since then, I have had the chance to do another review for Doorposts!  AND they are offering a GIVEAWAY for you, too!

Doorposts sent me another tool for biblical character training.  It's the Put On Chart.
The Put On Chart and companion study book help remind everyone the character qualities God desires us to "put on" based on Colossians 3:12-14 (compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forebearance, forgiveness, and love).
Not only do you you get a chart (color or black and white), the study booklet, but there are also paper dolls (boy and girl) to help your child really act it out!

The references are from the NKJV of the Bible.  I really like how Doorposts, and author Pam Forster put this together.  It is appropriate for a wide range of ages  I will say that I didn't just open it up and start using it immediately.  I wanted to take the time to read through the book and consider how I would use it.  Don't let that deter you though, this is a fabulous way to encourage these positive character traits we desire to see in our children!  Of course, as we encourage our children, we're likely to see our own need to for these exact traits.  I was really impressed with the book that came with the chart.  It's full of ways to help parents utilize the chart and the Bible.  Though I knew it was part of the package, it was more than I expected.

One great thing about Doorposts is that they allow you to see a sample of each product!  Click to see the Put On Chart sample pages.

I really like Doorposts, so I have purchased  the book For Instruction in Righteousness.  WOW!  Doorposts compiled this great resource to help parents discipline their children.  Not only does it act as a topical Bible and includes full verses, not just the references, but it also gives suggestions for discipline that parallel the biblical consequence and object lessons and parallel ideas for rewards and encouragement.

Giveaway
If you would like to win your own PUT ON CHART leave a comment below telling me something you learn at the Doorposts site (about this product or anything)!
For Additional Entries-Leave a separate comment for each entry.
Follow Live, Learn, Love. (1 entry)
Visit Doorposts and tell me one other product you think would benefit your family. (1 entry)
Make a purchase from Doorposts. (3 entries)
Blog about this week's celebration here at Live, Learn, love for 3 more entries!  (Blog once...and it counts all week!)

Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 26th at 7 pm EST.

Thank you, Doorposts, for providing the Put On Chart for review purposes.  I purchased For Instruction in Righteousness myself.

Celebrations Week! Giveaway!

My children have birthdays this week!  M turns four and E turns two!  With that in mind, I have a few giveaways this week for my readers!

Today's giveaway is with any of the 200 CSN Stores!  One reader will get to spend a $45 online gift certificate!  How would you spend it?  

Here are some items that I have been looking at CSN stores.

Pyrex-11 piece set        

Green Lullaby Box Set

Emerilware Cast Iron Skillet

To have a chance at winning this $45 gift certificate for CSN Stores, please visit the stores and leave a comment below telling me how you would spend the gift certificate.  Be sure I have a way to contact you if you win!

This contest is open to US and Canadian residents only.  Giveaway is open until October 26th at 7pm EST.  

For additional entries...

Be a follower of Live, Learn, Love for 1 extra entry/comment

If you previously left a comment between 10/1 and 10/24, you get  2 extra entries/comments

Have fun shopping!

Code Triage

It was a year ago that I first learned about Candace Calvert-right about the time my son was hospitalized and we were having our share of time at the hospital.   Candace Calvert is a former ER nurse and now writes medical drama.  OH, SO GOOD!  Her tagline is RX: Hope.

I got to review Code Triage...and loved every bit of it.  Candace Calvert had such depth to her characters.  The characters (good and bad guys) were memorable, but even a horse, bird, and tree had significance in this fast-moving book.  Leigh Stanthos is an ER doctor.  She likes the non-commitment of being an ER doctor.  She is an excellent doctor, but doesn't want to attach emotion to it.  Leigh and her husband, Nick, were separated...and then he had an affair that he regrets.  He does not give up.  As a police officer he is passionate, but he just couldn't give Leigh the space she needed.

The divorce will be final in just days...but when life on all sides comes crashing in to the hospital through a gunman, it gets tough.

This is considered a romance.  I'm not a huge fan of romances, but I just loved this because it was not romantic.  It was realistic, emotional, and leaves you with hope.  It was filled with suspense and excellent writing.  I definitely give it five stars!  Though this is part of a series, I did not read the first two books.  This truly stands alone!

The only thing that I think could improve is the title of the book.  I wouldn't have read it based only on the title, but I am so glad I did!

Thank you Tyndale House for providing me with a review copy.

Phonics Flip Book

Ages ago I saw a phonics flip book over at Activity Mom.  I made one for M thinking it was appropriate since she knew all of her sounds.  (I say she knows all of her sounds, but really she knows typical consonant and short vowel sounds.  At this point I don't think she needs more than that.)

Well, M was totally disinterested.  I put it away for several months.  And now both she and E are a bit interested in it.  Maybe I should share that this is minimal interest.  She'll read a few words and E likes to flip pages and say letters.











I cut a spiral bound 3x5 booklet into thirds.  Consonants are placed on the first and third sections, and I wrote vowels in the center section.  (I repeated the vowels several times.)

It's fun to read familiar words, but it can be more fun to say the silly words.

I think a phonics flip book is fabulous for a beginning reader.

Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge

I already mentioned that I am participating in the Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge over at the Library Hospital.  As a participant in the challenge, I have the chance to win a Deep Valley book.  (These are not part of the Betsy-Tacy series, but still Maud books...and I'd love to have them.)  All I have to do is answer a few questions.


a. Why you joined the MHLRC.
I joined the MHLRC because last year I enjoyed reading Betsy-Tacy (linked to review) and Betsy-Tacy and Tib.  Those were the only books that my library had.  Then during the summer I won several books (three actual volumes, but they cover the last six books in the Betsy-Tacy series) from Reading to Know.  Yep.  I am blessed!  These books are wonderful.  So I had to join the challenge!
b. Which book you are currently reading for the challenge.
I have read Heaven to Betsy this month!
c. Something new you have learned either from participating in this challenge or from a MHL book you have read.
Hmm...I just loved reading the biographical information in the back of my Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself.   I am not certain what I learned from the book and from posts at the Library Hospital, but it's been fun.  I think it was lots of fun to know even back then girls were boy crazy.  I'm glad Maud found her journals so that she was able to write the "rest of the story" for the Betsy-Tacy series.
d. Which book in the Deep Valley series you hope to win and why.Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself
I think I'd like to win Emily of Deep Valley...but really, I'm sure both would be highly enjoyable.