Recently they sent me a few of their titles to check out and I really think that they are so original that I wanted to pass along a couple of the titles to you, so at the very least you can be informed about them. Starting with Welcome to Monster Isle we find a family of tourist who are marooned on an unknown island. Turns out it’s Monster Island and I think it’s safe to say that the family members are a little freaked out. But what they don’t realize is that the monsters are actually more scared of them. Of course, I kind of think that the people have good reason to be frightened because the monsters are a bit creepy. I confess, I did not read this book to my oldest child because I wasn’t sure how he would take to it. I figured I’d rather not risk him walking away with a fear of monsters. (We haven’t actually used the word “monster” in our house yet. We call things creatures and this seems to have effectively avoided the ‘monster-under-my-bed’ fear.) However, if I had decided to read it to my son he would have realized that in the end everything works out quite nicely. Nothing truly scary. You just have to get to the end to find that out!

Baltazar and the Flying Pirates was a little more our regular speed. Baltazar loves hearing tall tales of pirates (are stories of pirates referred to as ‘tall tales’?) from his grandfather. Imagine his delight when he discovers that he is a decendent of a pirate and is being called upon to search for treasure!? This book is written by Oliver Chin and illustrated by Justin Roth in a very appealing way. This title, in particular, really looks like it is animated and you can visualize the characters coming to life. Fantastic story and hilarious illustrations. Definitely more our speed.

But the crowning work by Immedium, in our humble estimation, is Sid the Squid: and the Search for the Perfect Job.

Sid is looking for a good job in the city. His arms are both a blessing and a curse and he is having a frightful time trying to find a job that is just right for him. Eventually he meets with success though.

A whole book with pictures and illustrations of a squid?! Be still our little three year old hearts! Awesome book title. Loved it thoroughly.

Like I said, Immedium does have a unique style all their own. Very curious and engaging. If you’ve never sought them out before, you might want to give them a look-see.

Carrie finds such picture books intriguing at times. Her son finds squid books intriguing at all times and so she occasionally indulges him and blogs about squids and various other ocean creatures at book blog, Reading to Know.

My husband, Jonathan, beat me to reading this book and so we both ended up giving this one a read. This book makes the point that simply sending your children to Sunday School without living out faith at home is not going to produce a committed Christian for life (should that be your intent.) Authors Kurt Bruner and Steve Stroope are here to remind parents/guardians that it is what children see lived out at home that will most effectively impact them during their life walk. With that in mind, the authors address Christian parents and give practical tips as to how the parents can share their faith. And how, exactly? By living it. Which is a lot easier said than done!

Bruner and Stroope talk about the importance of providing your children with a lens of truth – a worldview, if you will. (This is true no matter what your faith. If you want your children to believe what you believe, you’re the only person who can convince them by the way that you live that what you believe is correct in any way, shape or form.) The authors stress the importance of intentional parenting and that’s something that I think is lacking to a great degree. In this fast-paced world, it’s hard to set aside the time and be focused enough to intentionally parent. It’s something that definitely requires commitment and passion and, let’s face it, we’re just too tired and lazy to do it!

The authors suggest “120 Days of Intentional Parenting” in order to really focus on how you want to be and what message you want to present to your children as parents. They say to start with a clear purpose:

“As one blessed with the gift of children, you are called to inspire and nurture the faith of the next generation as life’s greatest privilege and priority.”

Christian or not, I think that society today downplays the blessing of children and the importance of raising them well.

The authors though are very much coming at the reader from a Christian perspective and I found their encouragements and reminders to work with my children’s giftings and temperaments, to play and laugh and build a legacy to be a fresh kick-in-the-pants reminder that this current stage of parenting will not last forever. Thus, I need to make the most of it.

I should say that the front cover of this book is branded with a recommendation to read by Rick Warren. Honestly, that was enough to make me want to put the book down. (I know there are those who really admire and respect Warren but I’m not so much of a fan.)

The main gist of the message of this book:

- Create and provide a clear purpose for your parenting/for your family
- Create a safe environment
- Purpose to pursue truth
- Pay attention to your own faith. Actually live it.

The back of the book also includes a chapter on “Intentional Grandparenting” for those of you in that phase of life.

An intriguing book, mostly encouraging and one that I offer for your consideration.

Editor’s note: This is Carrie’s last post, so this is really and truly farewell (but not goodbye!).

Carrie finds that she needs a lot of encouragement to “press on” as a stay at home moment. She finds and blogs about books such as these on her own book blog, Reading to Know.

I have been familiar with Carson Dellosa books for some time. They are most easily found at (any) school supply store, however, their books are also available on their website and on Amazon. They have a wide range of educational products to promote and encourage reading in even the youngest of children.

Jennifer and I explored their booth at a bit at the Book Expo this past May and I got caught up on some of their newer product lines.

I was very interested to see that they have a series of readers all about animals and the natural world. I picked up a copy of Nature’s Amazing Partners, Level 1 which is a part of their “extreme reader” series. Using real-life photographs, the pictures of the animals just pop out at you. (My son, being interested in sea life, was especially happy to see a picture of “Nemo” appear in this book.) Several of their books now include the text in both English and Spanish which makes these books even more valuable if you are working on a second language. Books such as Tiny Terrors, Level 2 also hold unique appeal to boys who might be the more reluctant among us (at times) to read. Other titles to check out from the series: Creatures of the Deep, Level 1, Wild Weather, Level 1, Space Mysteries, Level 3, and The Bizarre Body, Level 3. (There are a lot of books in their Extreme Reader series. I’m just providing you with a sampling of titles to give you an idea of what you’d be looking for!)

Our current favorites from the readers series is their books based on the Little Critters series. (I always liked Little Critter growing up! I think he’s adorable!) These were a perfect way to introduce my son to Little Critter. We read Helping Mom, Level 3, Grandma’s Garden, Level 2 and Country Fair, Level 1 when reviewing these titles. Each book reads as a story and then in the back there is a section entitled “Skills and Practice” where the young reader can further engage with the story. Instead of telling my son we were going to be learning new words or spotting specific letters or finding adverbs – I simply told him we were going to “play the games” in the back of the book. He eagerly went back through the story and hunted up various words with me. It was a fun way to read and engage with the story, my son, and a cute little childhood favorite of mine!

There are many titles in the Little Critter series as well including My Trip to the Zoo, Beach Day and Show and Tell.

There are tons of ways to engage children with books that they will enjoy and love and I think Carson Dellosa has offered some solid readers to help build a love of reading in young children. Check out your local school supply store or browse Amazon to see what you can find! I think they offer a good variety, enough to attract a variety of children with varied interests. Thanks, Carson Dellosa for making these available!

Carrie very much enjoys reading with her kids. She reads and blogs about children’s books periodically at Reading to Know and always at Reading My Library

This series of books highlight songs that you are all probably very familiar with. The title of each book indicates the main track on the CD and also is the song which the book illustrates. For example, in Ten in the Bed we are given a book to read along with as the story is first read and then sung. We watch as ten little bears take their turn rolling over and falling out until the last little one has the bed all to herself and says, “Goodnight!” There are twelve songs total on this disc and you can also print off the lyrics from the CD if you would like to do so. These books really have it all. Ten in the Bed includes well known tunes such as This Old Man, THe Muffin Man and (every mother’s favorite) One Hundred Bottles of Pop. (I used to love to sing that song when I was younger!)

There are a variety of titles to choose from in this series. The nice thing is they are also extremely affordable at only $4.99 a title! That’s not a bad price at all and makes for a great little Christmas or Birthday gift! It’s also a fun baby shower gift to throw in along with a new little outfit. I am so pleased that Twin Sisters made such an affordable gift that is fun to kids and parents alike as they familiarize themselves with new songs and enjoy some old favorites.

Last year I was looking high and low for a good children’s CD which would include the song The Twelve Days of Christmas so I was delighted to see the Twin Sisters book by that title! I’ve excitedly tucked this one away, waiting to pull it out this holiday season. The book illustrates the song nicely, in a cute but simplistic way so that the children can hear what the individual gifts are as well as see them for themselves. I like that the illustrations focus on the gifts only and do not try to put them into any particular setting. This is a really fun song but for a little kid who is trying to learn it, the gifts can run together so that it makes it hard to catch on. I think this particular Twelve Days of Christmas book/CD set is fantastic! Another great Christmas title from this series is Down Through the Chimney which includes such songs as Up on the Housetop, Five Little carolers, and Here We Come A-Caroling.

As I mentioned, there are quite a few titles in this series and not at all hard to find one that would suit the little one in your life. You might check out B-I-N-G-O, Old Macdonald Had a Farm or The Wheels on the Bus (Read & Sing Along) Book & CD Set for every day fun. They also have faith titles such as Jesus Loves the Little Children. Twin Sisters does produce some quality children’s music (and now books!) for little children and I think you’d find these enjoyable. I know we have.

Thanks, Twin Sisters, for allowing us to test out some of your new Read and Sing Along Books! We appreciate your willingness to allow us to give them a listen!

Carrie enjoys singing familiar songs with her two sons. She blogs about a variety of children’s books that she and her children have enjoyed over on her book blog, Reading to Know.

Mary Lynn Archibald writes this memoir to tell other potential cowpoke what life on a ranch is really like. She and her husband Carl had visions of grandeur in their heads as they signed papers on Twin Creeks Ranch. They envisioned themselves hiking, rocking in rocking chairs on the front porch of their ranch style home, lovely wildflowers and calm breezes. What they didn’t bargain for were bridges in need of repair, and cattle which multiplied faster than they could count. Hiking experiences turned into opportunities to hike ranch equipment to various and necessary locations. Their lazy life plans didn’t quite work out.

I would say that Archibald has various Bombeck qualities in her writing. She strives to make amusing that which clearly was not. Her book acts rather as a warning against those who think that living on the land is the cheap and easy way to live. She makes clear that a lot of hard work was involved.

I thought this book was ok. It’s true, I can’t really rave about it. Certainly it was interesting to hear about Mary and Carl’s life on the ranch. It was funny to hear what their expectations were in comparison to the reality that they came to terms with. If you are wondering, they no longer live on Twin Creeks Ranch, although they don’t mind the idea of country living! You should know that there are some foul words scattered about the book, occurring mostly when something is broken or causing distress.

This book is a couple’s experience of trying their hand at ranch living and all of the ups and downs related to such an ideal. Mary Lynn talks about how she read a lot of books and articles that idealized the experience for her prior to her own life decision – and this book counter-attacks such resources that might case readers and city-dwellers to look through a life ranch experience with any kind of rose-colored glasses.

All in all I can’t say that I was not necessarily wow-ed by this book but it definitely has its moments.

Carrie enjoys also enjoys the idea of living off the land and living a country life. In fact, she and her husband live outside city limits and enjoy the peace and quiet of country – and the beauty of knowing that the “city” is a mere 5 minute drive from their front door! (She reaps the benefits of both worlds!) She blogs about life and books on her own site, Reading to Know.

Now the lovely ladies here at 5 Minutes for Books were each given an opportunity to read from this 100 Classic Books game on the new Nintendo DSi XL. As any of you who know me through my book reviews, you know that I like reading with an actual book on my hand. Reading a book on a game console is typically not my cup of tea. However, I was willing to give it a go after traveling to New York in May (for BEA.) My affinity for words on a printed page kind of got the better of me as I discovered that I didn’t have very much space in my carry-on luggage to cart a lot of books around! On that trip, and at that time, I wished I had some small, portable system on which to read books, simply to save space! Honestly, the only time I’d be tempted to read a book on a screen would be when traveling. I have to be in space-saving mode. Otherwise, I really prefer the feel and the smell of an actual book.

That said, I enjoyed the opportunity granted by Nintendo to give this 100 Classic Books game a whirl.

Here are my positives from the experience:

* I actually appreciate the fact that this is a game on a game console. When I travel, I typically travel with children. When traveling with children, I like having something with which to distract them. Hand held games are attractive to my three year old. I like the fact that I can be reading a book on the console on minute, but then switch it over to SeaWorld Adventure Parks Shamu’s Deep Sea Adventure (which I picked up locally, upon receiving our game console.) (Have I ever mentioned that I am also a big fan of Tetris?)

* I desperately liked the fact the game console gives you three bookmarks to use per book you read. As a book reader/reviewer, I find myself marking multiple passages in books that I want to come back to and think more about. I appreciated that I could mark up to three spots in the books I was reading on the Nintendo DSi XL. (Usually, when I’m reading a book, I allow myself to mark 3-4 spots for thought/discussion purposes so this was a handy and very perfect number of bookmarks for me!)

* I like the fact that there are 100 titles to choose from, some short and some long. I personally chose to read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the console because a.) it was short and b.) I wanted to get a feel for how reading a book on screen would be for me.

The negatives:

* I don’t really like reading books on screen.

It’s just not the same. I being able to feel a book and turn the pages myself. That said, I know that when traveling, this can be a convenient game to have on hand that is not only useful to Mommy when she’s bored, but for the little children when they become antsy and squeamish.

I definitely plan to add games to our Nintendo DSi XL collection – strictly for traveling (to keep the novelty of it alive!) And when we’re traveling, I know that I WILL make use of the fact that there is a 100 Classic Books game. I can absolutely see myself utilizing that when traveling space is limited. This game is a fun idea and much more convenient to families at large, which I think gives it special appeal. It’s small, convenient, (and did I mention it takes pictures? Bookworm1 and I got a bit distracted with that feature…) A solid book in hand isn’t quite so distracting. But then your typical book doesn’t offer Tetris. So there’s your trade off!

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Disclosure: Nintendo sent a DS game system and a copy of the 100 Classic Books, for review purposes.

Carrie very much enjoys reading good books. She reads and blogs regularly at Reading to Know and at Reading My Library

I was not wrong. Bookworm2 absolutely adores both Old MacDonald Had a Farm and The Wheels on the Bus, both by David Ellwand

Both of these books contain photographs of stuffed teddy bears interacting within a scene to illustrate the song. In Old MacDonald Had a Farm we find Teddy Bear driving a tractor, scooping hay into a horse-drawn wagon, feeding pigs and generally looking quite cute.

In The Wheels on the Bus we find multiple teddy bears riding the Teddy Town Bus. There are bears waiting at bus stops with dogs on leashes. We see teddy bears of all types – some with glasses, some without, some holding cameras, and others content and enjoying their bus ride.

Furthermore, on each book there is a magical button. Push the button and it tinkles out the tune for the well-known songs which each book is named after. Does Bookworm2 like these books? Nothing delights him more and when he is getting antsy and agitated I hand them over. A smile erupts on his face and it becomes his immediate goal to see how long he can keep both songs going at the same time. (Do you know what I’m talkin’ about? Raise a hand!) If we can keep both songs going simultaneously, we have found something good. And we keep doing that until Mommy rethinks things.

On the whole, I found the illustrations in these books supremely cute. I like the concept of photographing teddy bears – a toy that many young children can identify with. I like the songs (played individually) and it makes it easy to sing along and turn the pages. If I only give him one book at a time, these books work out well for both of us and we have a fun time.

Definitely a cute novelty book and I offer my thanks to Silver Dolphin Books for giving us the opportunity to check them out!

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.

Before you read this review, you really ought to check out the Youtube video which I will include for your convenience here below. Now, to set this up a bit for you – this was originally presented to me with the following lesson attached:

If this is what an earthly father is willing to do for a son whom he loves, how much more is our Heavenly Father willing to do for and with and through us? With that – here’s the video:

Devoted is a story of love and passion that a father has for his child. When Rick Hoyt was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck for a time, cutting off his oxygen supply and causes brain damage. In the 1960′s people were not really sure how to handle children with disabilities, and the Hoyts’ doctors suggested that Dick and Judy Hoyt institutionalize their son. They refused, instead choosing to raise Rick themselves, come whatever difficulties.

Dick Hoyt documents Rick’s life for us in this book – the challenges that were faced and overcome and some personal family struggles also. To be honest, in some ways, Hoyt reads as being kind of arrogant. He delights in all of his achievements to an almost excessive degree. Let me be clear – I do not fault him for those accomplishments for there is much to be proud of. But he kinda unnecessarily stresses that he’s a really great guy and easy to get along with in person. When an author has to convince me of his humbleness, I’m not all together convinced. Despite that issue with the book, I read through that to see that Dick’s heart for his son is commendable and there is certainly room on this earth for him to share his story so that others can be encouraged and inspired by it. My only other concern, if you will, (and this really isn’t a spoiler because you discover something amiss almost from the get-go) is that, ultimately, Judy and Dick’s marriage does not survive. Dick doesn’t share the details and I’m rather glad of it. I was sorry though that whatever happened between them a.) could not be resolved and b.) that Judy was left out of the family photos which were included in the book. I felt that since they were married for close to 30 years, it would have been nice to see a photo of her with her son when he was a baby. Not sure why that didn’t appear and no doubt there is a good reason. It was just sad to discover that brokenness in the family. You spend the book rooting for their success that that particular aspect is disheartening.

I think I saw this Youtube video of them almost two years ago and I was positively delighted to find out more of the “behind-the-scenes” of their story. Today’s society is so quick to dismiss those with disabilities and we parents each want our own children to be born perfect. (We quickly realize that they are not, but we hold out hope for awhile.) People who do not meet society’s standards of perfection are easily looked down upon and quickly dismissed. Therefore I very much appreciated Dick and Judy’s gumption in fighting for the right of their son, Rick, to be treated as a human being who has great worth and value. I agree with their perspective of human life – in whatever difficult form we may greet it from time to time. I admire them for their efforts to break down barriers on behalf of the disabled and for believing that anything was possible for Rick.

While Devoted‘s primary purpose is to tell the story of Rick, from birth to triathlete, it comes across more of a labor of love.

Simply put, I think the Hoyt story is intriguing and inspirational on the whole. It’s a story worth telling, worth hearing, and worth reading about. Thank you, Da Capo Press, for offering it to us.

Carrie enjoys hearing about the personal stories of others. She especially enjoys hearing inspirational stories that strengthen her faith. She enjoys blogging about faith and books on her own book blog, Reading to Know.