Absolutely fantastic story. Not only does it explain the reasons this little frog can't be a cat, rabbit, pig, or owl, but it also has a super funny ending that makes him happy to be exactly what he is - a wet, slimy, bug-eating frog. Super cute. Also, the last page sets it up perfectly for kids to write their own "I don't want to be a ...." story.
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In honor of the first day of classes here at SHSU, I read EDDA: A LITTLE VALKYRIE'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. A cute story of a little girl isolated in Asgard with a wish to meet kids her own age. Her father sends her to school, and while there learns there are differences between school and home. Because of her bravery, she meets new friends and has new adventures.
This is also perfect because I'm almost finished listening to The Strange Maid by Tessa Gratton.
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What a sweet book about unlikely friendship. One day, out of nowhere, Bear shows up at the Ducks' house. The friendly ducks invite him to stay and have no problem with all the room he takes up, but eventually Bear feels the squeeze and decides to go off and find somewhere else to live. He doesn't want to be a nuisance to the ducks.
Eventually, Bear finds another home, but once he gets settled in, he realizes how much he missed his little ducks. The ducks miss Bear, too.
Soon, Bear can't take it anymore and comes up with a plan to get his friends back.
Like I said, this is a sweet story, but it didn't knock my socks off. I'm curious to see what kids will think of this one.
Combining humour and surreal fantasy, Shaun Tan pictures a summer in the lives of two boys. Each spread tells of an event and the lesson learned. By turns, these events become darker and more sinister as the boys push their games further and further.
In order to get the whole picture be sure to read the inside flap of the book.
Shaun Tan is such a deep thinker. This story is an amazing telling of two brothers spending their summer together attempting to get along. The Rules of Summer turn out to be the arbitrary rules that an older brother creates on a whim for his younger brother. The tone starts out light and quickly turns darker as the rules gets harder and harder to follow.
No worries though, the brothers survive the summer.
Here is an example of one of the illustrations.
Amazing, huh?
Download the iPhone/iPad app. $4.99 at the time of this post.
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This is a cute and lively book filled with great vocabulary. Ninja, armed with his ninja stick, silent ninja footwear, sticky ninja gloves, unbreakable ninja rope, and a bouncy ninja paddle creeps and tumbles and hides around his obstacles in order to accomplish his mission. Excellent!!
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“We need you to kill again. . . .”
West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life. But the Board isn’t through with her. Somehow they know her past as an assassin, and they offer her a deal that’s almost too good to be true: safety for her future children and a clean slate if she kills one more time. It should be an easy job. Except West recognizes her target: It’s her dead brother’s Alt—hauntingly familiar and yet a stranger.
The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future. How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves?
Fast-paced action with surprising twists, DIVIDED is an exhilarating page-turner that delivers a fierce punch as West’s decisions kindle rebellion!
ELSIE CHAPMAN grew up in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, before graduating from the University of British Columbia with a BA in English literature. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two children, where she writes to either movies on a loop or music turned up way too loud (and sometimes both at the same time). For more information, please visit Elsie at ElsieChapman.com.
How would you like to win a copy of this thrilling sequel? All you have to do is enter below.
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One year ago, Callie was found in an abandoned apartment, scrawling words on the wall: "I KILLED HIM. His blood is on my hands. His heart is in my soul. I KILLED HIM." But she remembers nothing of that night or of the previous thirty-six hours. All she knows is that her father, the reverend at the Church of the Holy Promise, is missing, as is Hannah, a young girl from the parish. Their disappearances have to be connected and Callie knows that her father was not a righteous man.
Since that fateful night, she's been plagued by graphomania -- an unending and debilitating compulsion to write. The words that flow from Callie's mind and through her pen don't seem to make sense -- until now.
As the anniversary of Hannah's vanishing approaches, more words and memories bubble to the surface and a new guy in school might be the key to Callie putting together the puzzle. But digging up the secrets she's buried for so long might be her biggest mistake.
Enter to win a copy of this amazing thriller using the Rafflecopter below. You have Friday, May 30th to enter. Good luck.
You can follow Sasha Dawn on Facebook and Twitter.
A futuristic blend of Beth Revis's Across the Universe and Lenore Appelhans's Level 2, Burn Out will satisfy the growing desire for science fiction with a thrilling story of survival, intrigue, and adventure.
Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.
Holed up in an underground shelter, Tora is alone--her brilliant scientist father murdered, her mother and sister burned to death. She dreams of living on a planet with oceans, plants, and animals. Unfortunately, the oceans dried out ages ago, the only plants are giant cacti with deadly spines, and her pet, Trigger, is a gun--one of the bio-energetic weapons her father created for the government before his conscience kicked in.
When family friend, Markus, arrives with mercenaries to take the weapons by force, Tora's fury turns to fear when government ships descend in an attempt to kill them all. She forges an unlikely alliance with Markus and his rag-tag group of raiders, including a smart but quiet soldier named James. Tora must quickly figure out who she can trust, as she must choose between saving herself by giving up the guns or honoring her father's request to save humanity from the most lethal weapons in existence.
Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy writer. You can find her musing about space monkeys, Star Trek, and other random topics on her blog. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, kids, and behaviorally-challenged dogs.
Want to win a copy? If so, enter the Rafflecopter by Friday, May 2nd.
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It's hard being different from everyone else. Sometimes it feels like you'll never find someone to love. Monster is in exactly this situation when we meet him at the beginning of this charming story. He decides he is going to do something about it and takes off for the big, wide world to find love. Monster looks high and low; he looks inside and outside - never having any luck. Monster gets sad and finally decides to just go home. But, then, when he least expects it, love finds him!
Rachel Bright used solar etching to create the illustrations in LOVE MONSTER. I decided I needed to know what that process entails so I went to YouTube and, lo and behold, there is a video of Rachel creating Monster using the technique. Check it out. (Seems like a lot of work to me.) I wonder why she needed the print instead of just the drawing? Any artists out there want to chime in?
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THEIR ARRIVAL WAS FORETOLD FOR YEARS….
Andriana is a Remnant, gifted as an empath and one of the Ailith, destined to act as humanity’s last shield against the horrors that now plague those who remain.
After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond their protected Valley is more dangerous than they imagined.
The Sons of Sheol will stop at nothing to prevent Dri and Ronan from rescuing anyone sympathetic to the Remnants’ cause. And as the Remnants battle the demonic forces, still other enemies close in. Dangers intensity, but so do Dri’s feelings for Ronan–the one emotion she is not meant to feel. In the midst of their mission, Andriana must fine a way to master her feelings. Or risk compromising everything…
I am so excited to welcome Lisa to the blog. She is sharing her thoughts on...
WHY I LOVE LIBRARIES
As a kid, there was hardly a happier place for me than the library. I’d check out huge stacks of books, feeling like a hog in mud, a glutton among intriguing, tasty pages that I could languidly sample and decide if I wanted to go deeper. I read constantly, late into the night, wishing I could spend all day with my nose in a new one, rather than go to school. Then I’d return to the library and check out a new stack.
These days, I mostly listen to audio books, and I miss the smell of musty stacks and intriguing bindings, calling me to pull it out and read the jacket copy. But I love my local library because it’s where I go to write most of my books.
There, in the chair by the magazines, I sit down, put on my soundtrack music via iPod, and dive into my own story. The bonus? I can watch others wandering the shelves, deciding on a book or ten they want to try, and once in a while—on especially sweet days—I catch a glimpse of a reader with one of my books in their arms.
In the library, I engage only with my story, as others get pulled into other stories around me. I put aside the email, the Facebook, the Twitter, the laundry, the bills, and I get lost in Italy or France or future-America or wherever my newest tale is taking place. I appreciate the air conditioning or heat, the natural light and quiet room. The love of the written word that everyone in the building shares. And I write…
Be sure to write down this STOP #9 LAUNCH TOUR CLUE: IN MONTANA
Collect all the clues and fill out Lisa’s Rafflecopter form on her launch tour post at LisaBergren.com at the end of April and you could win either a Kindle Fire HDX ($229) or iPod Touch ($229)!
DO YOU UTILIZE YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY? WHY OR WHY NOT? COMMENT BELOW.
Thank you so much, Lisa.
Lisa Tawn Bergren is the best-selling, award-winning author of over 40 books, with more than 2.5 million copies sold. Her most recent works includes a YA series called River of Time (Waterfall, Cascade, Torrent, Bourne & Tributary), God Gave Us Easter, a devotional called Upside-Down Prayers for Parents and the Grand Tour Series (Glamorous Illusions, Grave Consequences, and Glittering Promises). She’s currently at work on a new YA series called Remnants, coming out in 2014.
Lisa’s time is split between managing home base, writing, and working on ducks with her husband, Tim (RMrustic.com). Tim’s a worship leader, graphic designer and duck-sculptor. They have three kids–Olivia (18), Emma (15) and Jack (10).
The Bergrens make their home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Not only should you preorder REMNANTS, but you should definitely download her other books. You can find them at:
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It is that time again! Time for a chance to PIMP your booklikes blog. You know you want it!!!
Check out the last winner - what do you think? Pimped?
Just enter the giveaway using the hand-dandy rafflecopter widget. Check below for all the deets.
Extra bit of awesome. If this giveaway reaches 1K entries - another winner will be added. That means two people will have their booklikes blog pimped. Here is hoping, right? If I only get 100 entries, I will form a support group for rejected designers. Anyone can join...
Design Giveaway Deets:
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One of my favorite Greek myths is Hades and Persephone. This one sounds so much like it that I can't help but be excited. Complete the tasks below in the Rafflecopter for your chance to win a copy. You'll have until April 7th to enter.
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.
Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.
Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
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This is the second book like this. The first one was EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK. It was okay, but I thought it was way too short and just ehhh. BUT, this one is great. It is much longer and flows so much better than the first one. Of course, it's fun picking out the pages from the Little Golden Books that I owned as a child. I especially loved seeing the pages from THE SWEET SMELL OF CHRISTMAS: A GOLDEN SCRATCH AND SNIFF BOOK. I loved that book as a kid and just about scratched holes through the pages. I loved the hot chocolate page, which is featured in this book. :)
This would be a fun addition to anyone's collection. For adults, we can reminisce. For kids, they can just enjoy another holiday story.
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One day, a boy and a robot meet in the woods. They play. They have fun.
But when Bot gets switched off, Boy thinks he's sick. The usual remedies—applesauce, reading a story—don't help, so Boy tucks the sick Bot in, then falls asleep.
Bot is worried when he powers on and finds his friend powered off. He takes Boy home with him and tries all his remedies: oil, reading an instruction manual. Nothing revives the malfunctioning Boy! Can the Inventor help fix him?
Using the perfect blend of sweetness and humor, this story of an adorable duo will win the hearts of the very youngest readers.
A wonderful story of friendship. Boy and Bot both have to learn what the other needs to be happy and healthy. In spite of their differences, they find out that they enjoy many of the same things. The text is simple and the illustrations are big and bright. This is definitely a book that I could read multiple times and I'm sure the kiddos will, too.
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Missy loves her librarian, Miss Brooks. And she loves to go to Miss Brooks’ before-school story time. But to get to Story Nook, she has to pass Billy Toomey’s house—and she does not love Billy Toomey.
Billy always tries to steal her hat and jeers, “I’m going to get you!” It’s vexing. Then one rainy (and hatless) day, Miss Brooks changes story hour to storytelling hour. She teaches the kids about characters and plot and action and satisfying conclusions and encourages them to make up their own tales.
And that’s when Missy has a brainstorm. She sees a way to use her made-up story to deal with her real-life bully.
In this terrifically funny ode to inventiveness and ingenuity, Barbara Bottner and Michael Emberley celebrate the power of stories and how they can help us to rewrite our own lives.
Missy likes to get to school a little early because the librarian, Miss Brooks, has Story Nook right before class starts. Most of the time Missy takes the long way to school in order to avoid Billy Toomey, the pest that lives down the street. But, unfortunately, on the day of our story, Missy is running late AND it is raining so she decides to take the more direct route, which goes right by Billy's house.
When Missy finally arrives for Story Nook, the lights go out in the school. Miss Brooks suggests that everyone takes a turn making up their own story until there is light to read by again. Missy doesn't like this idea. She says, "I mainly like to read stories. Not tell them." Miss Brooks tries to convince her that good readers make great storytellers, but Missy doesn't buy it.
Finally, after listening to her classmates ramble on about weird and lame ideas and getting some gentle guidance from Miss Brooks, Missy begins telling her own story. Will Missy's made up story help her solve her Billy Toomey problem?
This is a delightful story and the illustrations are adorable. Also, I'm always a sucker for a book with a great librarian in it.
I didn't know this at first, but there is another book called MISS BROOKS LOVE BOOKS! (and I don't). Now I'm going to have to track it down.
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Alliterative and rhyming words of wisdom surrounded by all new art fill this energetic alphabet book by Dallas Clayton. Bursting with color and life, each spread offers a rhythmic phrase and an abundance of artwork illustrating the featured letter. The message of dreaming big and living life to its fullest permeates every page, inviting readers to "learn some new letters that you can use to make magical words and share big ideas."
Not only is this a great ABC book, but it also contains wonderful picture clues on every page and rhymes. This is definitely a book to add to your collection. You can never have too many alphabet books.
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 - Barbara Bottner)
