Books | That Bald Chick

BooBoo by Olivier Dunrea

January 3, 2012 By Virginia 10 Comments

Another favorite of Sister’s is a book about a curious blue gosling, called BooBoo, that likes to eat.

BooBoo is one of a series of books by Olivier Dunrea about cute and quirky goslings. Aside from authoring well-loved children’s books, Olivier Dunrea, is a painter and a sculptor. Gossie & Friends, the gaggle of tales about cute and quirky goslings, began in 2001 when Dunrea sat staring out his studio window as Canada geese flew overhead. As he sat sketching them, he started drawing them wearing red rubber boots, a pair of which sat on his bookshelf. Thus, Gossie was born, as well as her friends. BooBoo is one of them.

BooBoo the gosling likes to eat from morning to night and thinks everything is “good food.”

Well, almost everything.

Age Level: 3 and up

Series: Gossie & Friends

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

We first met BooBoo at the local library, and Sister fell in love. The book is simple, with just a few sentences per page. The illustrations are cute and colorful. Most importantly, it is FUN and FUNNY. In the story, BooBoo eats different things and then says, “Good Food.” She learns, however, that not everything makes good food.

Sister goes into panic mode if she can’t find her BooBoo. And if someone else picks up her BooBoo, she says, “Hey, that’s my BooBoo. BooBoo’s a gusling.” It’s funny.

Hubs had adopted BooBoo’s simple phrase of “Good Food” to give his approval to different things. “Good Food,” said BooBoo he’ll say after a meal. Or, “Good show,” said BooBoo after a television show. He’s cute and funny, too.

BooBoo gets 5 out of 5 stars around here!

Gossie & Friends books are available on Amazon as boardbooks, hardback books, and for your Kindle, too!

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books, homeschool, ilovetoread, preschool, Reviews

Cloud9World Books

January 2, 2012 By Virginia 40 Comments

One of the reasons that we decided to homeschool this year is because we want to focus on character development with Mister.

We were in the midst of praying about our decision for this school year when I caught Mister telling a lie. Twice. In one week. When that happened, I realized that developing his character in the next year was far more important that any scholastic achievement could be.

Not to mention, since he tested too smart for the public preschool program, I knew that chances were, if we elected to send him to the public preschool (via a district lottery), chances were he would get bored and become a trouble maker. I know that he has trouble sitting still when he is bored. The last thing I wanted was to have my son labeled as a problem before he even has a chance to excel. That being said, after praying long and hard, we decided that it would be best to keep him home for the year and work on character as well as scholastic’s.

When I learned about Cloud9World™ books, which are specifically aimed at teaching about character, I was excited. My kids love to read, I love to read to them, and I especially love books that make the rest of my job as a parent easier.

About Cloud9World™… “Cloud9World™ was created by mothers who developed a common language that helped them aid their own children during challenging times. The messages were simple, but results were incredible. Thus, the Cloud9Kids™ collection was born. By instilling good thoughts, engendering good behavior and boosting the wearer’s self-esteem, Cloud9Kids™ products empower both children and parents to become better human beings.”

Cloud9Books use animal characters and illustrations to explore character and virtues. From Cloud9World, “Animal illustrations are among the earliest known examples of human self-expression. Kids are drawn toward animals because they appeal to their curiosity and kinship with the natural world. Animals are our kindred spirits so their images are easy for kids to understand. Cloud9Kids™ draws on our shared experience with animals as a teaching tool to help our children develop social and emotional skills. Through the animals’ examples, our children can grow into becoming better creatures themselves.”

There are currently three sets of Cloud9Books- the “I Love Giving” set, the “I Bring Happiness” set, and the “I Can Do It” set. Each set has six books, and each book covers one character attribute. We received the “I Love Giving” set of books for review. The six books in this set explore giving and selflessness. They demonstrate the effect generosity has on love in your life by exploring Love, Generosity, Loyalty, Respect, Integrity, and Compassion.

The Cloud9World Books are beautifully illustrated, and do an impressive job of introducing each character quality and then explaining it and showing it in action. The stories are both fun and engaging, and encourage learning. My kids both enjoy the books, and right now their favorites are Compassion (the gorilla) and Respect (the turtle). I thought it was interesting that the gorilla is used for compassion, when the gorilla is one of the fiercest animals of the rainforest, yet extremely scared of humans. The Respect book has a strong “love our earth” message. While I don’t believe that animals are our kindred spirits (we are not animists), I do know that animals have long been used as characters to teach children important life lessons, and Cloud9World Books do just that. I plan to get the other two sets to round out our collection.

I give Cloud9World Books 4 out of 5 stars.

Cloud9World would like to give one lucky That Bald Chick reader a set of Cloud9World books of their own!!!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books, homeschool, lovetoread

Rating Scales for Book Reviews

January 2, 2012 By Virginia 11 Comments

Okay, so I mentioned yesterday that I thought I needed to come up with a ratings scale for book reviews. I read a lot. Especially now that I have my new Kindle Fire. I also read a lot to my kids. As my Mom used to say, my kids have more books than Carter’s has pills. I have no idea who Carter was, or what kind of pills he had, but apparently, it mattered.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think my rating scale on MY books should look like this…

1 star- Really? THIS was published?
2 stars- I just wasn’t that into it.
3 stars- Worth a trip to the library to check it out.
4 stars- LOVED this book. Worth spending money on.
5 stars- It CHANGED me. I’d give this one as a gift.

For the kids books? I’m thinking something like this…

1 star- Not worth the paper it’s printed on.
2 stars- Meh, it was okay.
3 stars- Cute and/or fun. The kids liked it. Great library book.
4 stars- Promotes learning and we all liked it. Add this to your personal library or give as a gift!
5 stars- A fast favorite. Makes a great gift for any child.

Whatchathink?

I’d love your input. Do you write book reviews? How do you rate them?

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Book, rating, Reviews

Baby Einstein Alphabooks

January 1, 2012 By Virginia 6 Comments

For over a year now, one of Sister’s favorite books (or set of books) is the Baby Einstein Alphabooks that we received from my cousin, Heather.

Product Description

Learning the alphabet has never been more fun than with this Alphabooks Board Book Set from Baby Einstein.

These 26 mini board books feature real-life photos and illustrations of everyday objects that help teach Baby about each letter. The books come in a colorful storage box that can be decorated. Each book is four pages long.

Box dimensions: 5″L x 5″W x 5″H.

We received the set from my cousin without the cute little box, because her kids had loved them first, so I can’t attest to the quality of the box.

The books, though, are cute, and have been good companions for Sister. While Mister never really went through a “must tear paper because it is there and can be torn” phase, Sister has. In fact, I’m not quite sure she is done with it yet. So these books have allowed our other books to be spared… for the most part. She often goes to bed with one of the letters, and usually has one or two in her pink backpack or in the van for day trips.

While some of the books have pictures on the cover that don’t necessarily go with that letter, *such as lizard for “A” and a dolphin for “U”, the set has been invaluable in teaching both of the kids their letter recognition.

Each of the books has three different pictures with corresponding words in block type print, so they are also great for learning some basic sight words.

All in all, the Alphabooks have been a great set to have around. Given that the books have last through my cousins sons and now my two, they are sturdy construction.

I would definitely recommend this set to a friend, and it would make a great baby shower gift or birthday gift up through two or three years old.

While I don’t have an official rating system for children’s books– I think I need to come up with one, as I will be posting more kids books reviews– I would give this set 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a great value for the money, but the odd cover pictures on some of them steal that fifth star.

Filed Under: Books, Homeschool Tagged With: Book, homeschool, preschool, Review

Weaving Destiny

December 29, 2011 By Virginia 11 Comments

Have you ever cooked a meal, and when eating the leftovers realized that it was even better a few days later than when first served? Two days ago, I told you about the book The Soulkeepers, by G.P. Ching, which I downloaded free to my Kindle Fire from Amazon. I devoured the entire novel, equivalent to 309 pages of print, in under twelve hours.

Since that post, I’ve had the pleasure of inhaling the second book in the series, Weaving Destiny. And I can’t help but think, as I digest what happened in the second book, and ruminate on what happened in the first, that reading the second makes the first even better.

In the second installment of this series, Malini Gupta’s character is spotlighted.

Once again, G.P. Ching has chosen to highlight a minority as the focal charachter of the story, which is so refreshing. Malini, an Eastern Indian raised in London, now living in Paris… Illinois. Paris is a small town, that is predominantly caucasion, where generation after generation of one family remains. One of those towns where everybody knows your name, and you either grow up and raise your children there, or you grow up and run as fast and as far as you can. Sort of like the town I grew up in, in Illinois. Anyway, as a Christian, Malini is not only a minority in her culture, but as an Eastern Indian raised in London, she is certainly a minority in Paris.

Malini thought Jacob Lau was her destiny. But after months of failing to decipher how she fits into the Soulkeepers, frustration threatens to tear their relationship apart. And it doesn’t help that a new Soulkeeper named Mara is ready to stop time itself to earn Jacob’s love.

When Malini faces her worst fears, and even death, she learns a funny thing about destiny. Fate is a tapestry of choices, and she has the power to weave hers.

Once again, G.P. Ching has succeeded in writing a story that I simply could not put down.

Weaving Destiny does have, in my opinion, significantly more cuss in it than did Soulkeepers. It also had a heavier dose of teen angst, with the relationship between Jacob Lau, the new Soulkeeper Mara, and Malini keeping you guessing. Another new character, Henry, is quite interesting.

The book is geared toward young adults, and would be enjoyed by older teens as well, if you don’t mind letting them read cuss. My Mom never filtered (or censored) my reading, but did encourage me to explore other ways the same thing could have been said without the cuss. I’m not sure I would allow a twelve year old to read it, but wouldn’t have a problem with a mature fifteen or sixteen year old reading it.

The supernatural elements in the story nothing short of fantastical. You have to read it to understand. There are no insignificant details in this book. G.P. Ching is very deliberate in her writing, and often times something that seemed inconsequential is later used, and you are left going, “wait, where did I first see that?”

This is one sequel that defies the rule, and is just as good, if not better than the first book! My only regret is that the third book of the series isn’t yet released, so I am left to wonder what happens next! Make sure you have some free time set aside when you get this one, because you will NOT want to put it down! If G.P. Ching is not yet on your radar, I suggest you put her there, because this is one author that is going places!

I received a courtesy copy of Weaving Destiny from the author to facilitate my honest review. I am not required to post a positive review, but couldn’t help myself.

Filed Under: Books