Family Briefs

Several years ago, we stumbled across a book at the library called, Moon Glows, by Bethea verDorn. My firstborn child checked this book out over, and over, and over . . . well, the library finally asked us to go buy our own copy. Well, that’s what their *eyes* said. Well, at least in my imagination - no matter the excuse, I went online and found us our own copy!

I ordered it from Abebooks.com because I couldn’t find it anywhere else! They are a wonderful resource for hard-to-find books, so click on their ad above to head over to their site and search for a book YOU’VE been looking for.

Moon Glows is a great bedtime story for children in a wide age-range. The simple, repetitive story takes you all around different scenic settings, describing them at bedtime, and following up with a part of nature going to sleep: Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, we had a few symptoms in our youngest. By Wednesday, a conversation with our pediatrician convinced us that our 19-month-old daughter had the flu. We began crossing fingers and toes that no one else would come down with it (and I began guzzling “Airborne“). By Thursday afternoon, my 3-year-old daughter was running just a low-grade fever . . . maybe just a cold? or a tempered form of the flu? (after all, we ALL got our flu shots this year). And just today, I noticed my 5-year-old wiping his nose, leaving the “red chapped marks” just above his upper lip. It’s no surprise then, why I chose Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson for this week’s storytime Saturday book!

I’ve reviewed her original Bear Snores On book, and this book certainly doesn’t disappoint! In this rhyming story, our beloved Bear comes down with the flu (well, he’s achy, so I’m assuming it’s the flu!) just as the autumn leaves are blowing. While he struggles to get comfortable with all the awful symptoms, his friends stop by to play. When they realize Bear is sick, they immediately offer to help!

Aside from the comforting words they whisper in his ear, they cook him up a fine broth, get a cool cloth for his head, gather herbs for his tea, and even sing him a lullaby. One of the colorful illustrations by Jane Chapman, shows pictures his animal friends have drawn for Bear; it reminded me of all the (dozens of) pictures my 3- and 5-year-old drew for my youngest this week when her fever was topping out around 104.5. How very poignant for the illustrations to so closely convey how even a preschooler can help a sick friend feel better!

After Bear wakes from his nap, he is feeling well enough to go out and play in the leaves. Unfortunately, his friends start to wheeze and sneeze (because there wasn’t any “Airborne” in the story ). Ah! The sacrificial caregivers!

“Bear murmurs, “Don’t worry,”
and tucks them in bed.
He bundles them up
and he kisses each head.

He tells all his friends,
You’ll soon feel like new.
You took care of me . . .
now I’ll take care of you.”"

Add this book to your home library and read it to yours whenever they are sick - it just makes everyone feel a little better. I’m going to read it again just for me before I turn in tonight! Happy reading!

Do you ever feel like you’re just falling flat on your face and can’t quite get it all together? I didn’t realize I had planned a slow cooker recipe for supper until 4 pm - KERSPLAT! I left the snacks for preschool at home on the dryer and had to go back and get them - KERSPLAT! I took my youngest son to the wrong Tae Kwon Do class - KERSPLAT! And that was just Monday!

So I can completely relate to the Platypus in the book, , by Susan K. Mitchell. This was one of the books I received from Sylvan Dell Publishing to review, and it is certainly as enjoyable as the other book they sent me. The illustrations by Sherry Rogers are so endearing and bring the personalities of each animal to life.

The story begins when an Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday is here again already, so here I am with another picture book review for all of you moms and dads out there!

I love it when I find a book that reminds me of my children. It may remind me of their Read the rest of this entry »

I recently received a couple of books from Sylvan Dell Publishing that I agreed to review (I’m always on the lookout for good children’s books). The mission of Sylvan Dell Publishing is to bring science and math to children through literature, so I was a little skeptical - I didn’t expect an educational book to have much entertainment value.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, by ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Christmas is over and done, my kids have given up on any snow this year. They don’t quite understand that December isn’t the coldest month of the year, especially here in the south!

We just don’t get that much snow here in Alabama, and it isn’t much even when we do! My oldest thinks it’s Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is unpacking our Christmas boxes from the attic. O.k., well not really. Lugging all 500 boxes of Christmas stuff out of storage is not fun, but I love opening up the box of collected Christmas books and curling up in front of the fire to share these “new again” stories with my children.

In addition to our favorites that we keep packed away until December, I found a new favorite at the library a few weeks back. “SantaKid” by James Patterson and illustrated by Michael Garland, is a wonderful Christmas tale for older children (by older, I mean like 5-7 years old). Read the rest of this entry »

It looks like a cold front is moving in this next week. Just from what the weatherman said, I’m ready to go hibernate for the winter . . . Brrrrrrrrr! (I know I’m a sissy - that’s why I live in the south .)

Thinking of hibernating reminds me of one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve been waiting months to review it for you until it was seasonally appropriate! The day has finally come for me to share with you about Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to be a mother of a young child. It’s harder to be a mother of young children. It’s even harder to be a mother of ACTIVE young children!

Laura Numeroff nails a few hours day in the life of a mother with all the books in her series “If You Give . . . A Mouse A Cookie, A Pig A Pancake, A Moose A Muffin” and many more!

After I hit the ground running this morning, I don’t remember Read the rest of this entry »

Friday doesn’t seem to be working out for me as a good day to do book reviews. And I swear, I went through some kind of time warp (or a brain warp) that made last Friday vanish into this Friday.

I had a perfect book picked out that would be very timely for Halloween. Then suddenly Halloween went by in a frenzy of costumes, candy, and parties, and a week of my life had disappeared (it’s probably all Shannon’s fault for Read the rest of this entry »