Book Talk Wednesday: Just in Case You Ever Wonder

When I worked at Family Christian Stores, I never had reason to spend much time in the Children's section. Yes I stocked books, and sorted and organized toys, but never had a personal attachment to the products. Even for the last few months I was there, while I was pregnant with Abby, I didn't see it as a section for me to shop in.

(Now I would love to go back and spend all of my time there... :)

Some of the most popular children's books we carried were the ones by Max Lucado. From the Hermie series to the Wemmicks collection, to many stand-alone books, he always had something in the top ten. When Booksneeze offered Lucado's book Just in Case You Ever Wonder, I jumped at the chance to review this one.

Just in Case You Ever Wonder is a book I think my daughter will appreciate more in the years to come. It's not the best book for a 17-month-old to sit still through, but the message is very powerful. It tells your child that no matter what happens as they grow, you will always be there for them and will always love them. "I'll always love you. I'll always hug you. I'll always be on your side. And I want you to know that... just in case you ever wonder." The images are in soft colors, which again I think will appeal to my daughter more when she's older.

Overall, it's a book that I personally appreciate very much, but will need to wait a couple of years for my daughter to appreciate it.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Talk Thursday: A Mud Pie for Mother

A Mud Pie for Mother by Scott Beck is one of the books we received last spring from the Imagination Library. It sat on the shelf for awhile, but once Abby discovered it, it quickly became a new favorite! It's one of the first books she's actually searched for on the shelf, then taken it and plopped in my lap for me to read to her. So cute!

It tells the story of a little pig who needs a gift for his mother's birthday. He visits other farm animals, who all give an excuse why the pig shouldn't take the things he sees. So he gets sad that he can't find a gift for mother pig's birthday. But it has a happy ending. :)

The pictures are very simple and there are only a couple of sentences per page. It's a great chance to teach Abby animal sounds as the little pig visits a bee, cow, chicken...

I think there was one day when Abby had me read it five times in a row...

A very fun, little-known book! 

Book Talk Tuesday: Fresh-Brewed Life {and a giveaway! *closed*}

*The giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated!*

I was first drawn to Nicole Johnson's Fresh-Brewed Life simply because I love coffee. :) The subtitle states "a stirring invitation to wake up your soul." Over the summer I've felt pretty dry in my faith, just going through the motions and not taking time to dig deep into my relationship with Christ. I used this book as a morning devotional, getting up before my daughter and enjoying it with a cup of coffee.

Probably my favorite aspect of the book is the practical advice the author gives. I'm one who likes "do this" type of encouragement, and Nicole gives it! Each chapter is about different parts of a woman's life (longings, beauty, anger, sexuality, friendships, etc.) and each features a call-out box of "fresh brewed adventures" of practical things you can do to enhance those areas of your life. She is also very big on journaling (the entire second chapter is dedicated to it!), and every chapter also features directed journaling questions to help you think about and record your thoughts on those topics.

And I love coffee. Some of the descriptions about grinding the beans and the aroma of a coffee shop wake up my senses before I've even finished brewing my own cup!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for practical advice on how to "wake up to a richer, fuller, more flavorful life." And to anyone who loves coffee. :)

*I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.*

Because I received this book for free, I'm going to give it away to one of you! My very first giveaway! One lucky reader will receive this book, Fresh-Brewed Life, AND a lovely coffee cup! (or a hot cocoa cup, or a tea cup, or whatever you'd like to use it for ;-)

"Wake up, enliven your heart in the quiet of God's Spirit"

Here's how to enter: (please leave separate comments for each!)

1. Follow this blog with Google Friend Connect ( <----- over in the sidebar) , then leave a comment on this post about why you'd like this book. 
2. Follow my new blog, and leave a comment here telling me you did!
3. Like the Facebook page for my new blog OR follow it on Twitter, and leave a comment here telling me you did!

So you could potentially have 3 entries!

This giveaway will end at 11:59 pm EST Monday 9-19. I'll "draw" a winner from all the comments below, and post the winner on Tuesday the 20th! Good luck! :)

Book Talk Thursday: Good Night Gorilla

Image from Amazon.com

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann is Abby's newest book obsession. I'm not sure what started it, but now she can't seem to get enough of this book! When I offer to read her other books, she pushes them aside and reaches for this one. She will actually bring it to me and plop down in my lap for me to read it to her. And we have it in both the boardbook format and the hardcover with normal pages, so she always seems to know where one of them is...

There are very few words in this book. The story is mostly told in pictures, so I've done a little commentary for them as we turn the pages so Abby continues to associate certain words with certain pictures. The one page with the most words is of all the animals saying "Good night" in the dark (makes me think of the Waltons :) and now whenever I get to that page Abby starts babbling, trying to say "Good night" seven times.

It's not my favorite book to read to her, but as long as she likes it and snuggles with me while we read it, we'll keep going!

Book Talk Thursday: The Pawn

Almost a month ago I started reading this book on a friend's Kindle one evening while our hubbys played backgammon. Big mistake. The following day I wanted to keep reading, but of course I no longer had her Kindle with me. So I requested it at my local library. Second big mistake -- it was over the 4th of July weekend. So nearly 2 weeks after I started reading it, I got an email saying it was in! But it was a Thursday. And our library closes at 1 on Thursdays. I finally picked it up last Friday, and finished it yesterday. Third big mistake -- I should have put in a request for book #2 in the series a week ago...

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

I'd remembered seeing Steven James' The Pawn when I worked at Family Christian Stores. It's the first in the "Patrick Bowers Files", which caught my eye because all of the titles are chess pieces -- pawn, rook, knight, etc. -- and Rocky likes chess. It's considered a thriller novel, which is not the type of genre I would usually pick up. But because of my love for NCIS (port-to-port-killer, anyone? :-) and the style of many Ted Dekker novels, The Pawn had me hooked.

As I was reading, I found myself wondering why it was featured in a Christian bookstore. While there are a few references to pastors and Scripture, the majority of it is just part of the "good vs. evil" overtone. And one of the great things about being part of this mini-genre? No swearing, and no sexual encounters. Just great crime-solving, family-mending, edge-of-your-seat suspense.

I'm anxiously watching the library website for my next book. The Rook is currently in-transit...

Book Talk Thursday: The Imagination Library

*Please note, all of the links in this post are anchored in the USA part of the site. If you are visiting from Canada or the UK, (welcome!), please choose your starting point from the site's main homepage.*

Many of the books I write about in Book Talk Tuesday/Thursday are children's books I've received from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. It's a program I found out about last summer through our local library. I had never heard of it before, and when I stopped in one day with Abby in the stroller (only a month or two old!), the librarian gave me the information and our first free book. I mailed in the registration form and a month or two later began receiving books -- one every month, addressed to Abby.

The idea is that children should have the opportunity to develop a love of reading, so any child signed up for the program will receive one book every month until they turn 5 years old. Since I started when Abby was a newborn, we will have received almost 60 books once we're through!

There is no cost or fee to sign up for this program, if it is already established in your area. It is paid for by donations from the community. When I sent in our registration form, it did include information on how much it cost to provide the books, and I felt compelled to send in a donation. But it is not required.

So how do you get your child involved? First you can check out the affiliate page on the website, and see if something has already been established in your community. When we moved into our new house, we became residents of a new county, one with a DPIL program through the County ISD. You can also go directly to the online registration page and input your mailing address, and it will tell you if a program is available for you.

If a program is not currently available in your area, maybe you'd like to start one. The website describes it this way:

"A community must make the program accessible to all preschool children in their area. The community pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database. From there The Dollywood Foundation takes over and manages the system to deliver the books to the home. You can find out more of the operational details on other pages in this website – so what are you waiting for! Hundreds of communities are providing books to hundreds of thousands of children. Let your town be the next one."

You can find how much the program would cost your community on the Get Involved page, and then you can find your local/regional contact person on the Contact Us page.

I hope you have the opportunity to be part of it with your children! This really is such a great program. As someone who loves to read, I hope I can foster a love of reading in my own kid(s).

Book Talk Tuesday: Lullabye Little One

Time for a post about Abby's most-recent-favorite book: Lullabye Little One by Dianne Ochiltree, illustrated by Hideko Takahashi. This was actually the first book Abby ever got off the shelf and brought to me to read to her. We received it a few months ago as part of the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (I'll write a post about this amazing program another day).

This book tells about a child's basic bedtime routine in a fun, rhyming story. There are only a couple of sentences per page, and the illustrations are very simple, warm, and peaceful. I've read it so many times I actually have it memorized, and one evening I even recited it to Abby while we got her ready for bed. ("lullaby, lullaby, put blocks away -- lullaby, lullaby, all done! hurray!") She loved it!

It is definitely our current go-to book at bedtime right now, and Abby will also bring it to me any other time of day to read. :) Our only trouble is that it is a "real" book (not a boardbook), so for a 13-month-old, the pages are getting wrinkled and Abby did rip one of them the other day (scotch tape to the rescue!).

My girl is famous!

One of my first posts in Book Talk Tuesday/Thursday was about one of Abby's favorite books - Ten Little Ladybugs. I often think of this blog as a little thing that not many people really read (<---- based on my '15' followers...), so imagine my surprise when I got a comment on that particular post:

"Hi! I work for the publisher of Ten Little Ladybugs, Piggy Toes Press. If you'd like, we can make Abby our fan of the week and send you a free book. Email me at ...... if you are interested!"

How cool is that?? So we were in touch, and here you have it: my Abby-girl is Piggy Toes Press's Fan of the Week!! Thank you thank you Piggy Toes Press!!

Book Talk Thursday: The Red Tent

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant was recommended to me by a few people when I asked for suggestions of something new to read. I came across it on my friend's Kindle a few weeks ago, and then I checked it out of the library. I honestly have mixed opinions on it...

As a work of fiction, I really enjoyed it. It was very well written, with great character development.

But as a work of historical fiction, I was a little turned off. "Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons in the book of Genesis. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood -- the world of the red tent." There were many times as I was reading that I thought to myself, "There is NO way Jacob's wives would have done that." A lot of the traditions and rituals described were very idolatrous and heathen, and while there is nothing written in the Bible about the women's beliefs, I can't imagine the house of Jacob would have behaved that way...

So as I read, I continued to remind myself this was a work of fiction. And I really did enjoy the book. I'll be looking to see if Diamant has written other books, and searching for other authors of similar style.

Women in the Word Wednesdays

You may remember one of my New Year's resolutions was to be in the Word every day. Wow, looking back it was #1 on my list. And I haven't been doing too well. As time has gone on, I've chosen to spend my mornings after Rocky leaves "relaxing" with Facebook and reading the bunch of blogs I have in my Google Reader. Well that's gonna change!! I found out about a website/blog called Good Morning Girls. I joined up with a group of ladies in Michigan who are sharing emails every couple of days, keeping each other accountable for being in the Word. GMG has provided a reading schedule of a verse a day for the next 12 weeks. So here are a few thoughts I've had from what we've read this week...

Monday 5/16: Psalm 127:1
God needs to be the builder of my home -- involved in the laying of every piece, not just the foundation, but all the other little bricks in our live too.

Tuesday 5/17: John 15:4-5
No branch can bear fruit on it's own. It has to be connected to a source. I can't serve and fully bear God's fruit for others to enjoy by myself.

Wednesday 5/18: Matthew 6:33
From my Life Application Bible notes: "...turn to God first for help, fill your thoughts with his desires, take his character for your pattern... What is really important to you? ["these things" = v. 31: what shall we eat? drink? wear?] ...Any of these can quickly become most important to you if you don't actively choose to give God first place in every area of your life." (italics and brackets mine)


Starting next week we will also be doing a book study on Sally Clarkson's The Ministry of Motherhood. (the book picture on Amazon doesn't match the actual cover of the book...) Be on the lookout for this book to be featured in the next few weeks in my Book Talk Tuesday/Thursday! :)

Book Talk Tuesday: Big Red Barn

While Goodnight Moon is supposed to be the "classic" children's bedtime book, I wasn't very fond of it the first time I read it. Or the second. Or the third. I will admit it's growing on me a little. But not much. Maybe once Abby is older and can identify the things in the book.

My favorite bedtime book has actually been one called Big Red Barn. (wow I JUST realized it's by the same author as Good Night Moon. Hmm...) I think I was initially drawn to it because of the subject. Many of you know I grew up being really involved in 4H and FFA, and had what I like to call a "mini-farm." We had chickens and rabbits and goats and a few 4H sheep and cattle here and there. Not to mention my college degree is in Agriscience with the Animal Science specialization. So yes, I love animals. Especially farm animals.

The book is about the animals who live in the big red barn and what they do all day, told in simple rhymes. The pictures are very colorful and simple as well, and the last few pages get darker and darker as the sun goes down. We have this one in the board book format, and Abby loves to turn the pages herself.

All in all, it's a great kid's book that I highly recommend, especially if you've read Good Night Moon a few too many times! :)

Thoughts on Love and Logic: Part 1

This is the first post in a series about the book Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years For other posts in this series, click here.
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I really hadn't given much thought to what my parenting style would be like, especially discipline, until very recently. I'd kind of figured I would just go with the flow of whatever happened, and hope Abby turned out to be a good kid...

I first heard about the concept of Love and Logic when Rocky was reading the book Teaching with Love and Logic a few years ago. I glanced through it and thought it was a neat idea for the classroom. Then I noticed a copy of Parenting with Love and Logic for sale when I worked at Family Christian Stores, which I bought just before Abby was born. I read through the first couple of chapters last summer, but got discouraged because I didn't think it applied to us yet. The stories presented were about older, school-age kids.

So I visited the Love and Logic website, did a little browsing around, and, lo and behold, Jim & Charles Fay had indeed written a book about younger kids -- Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years. I checked it out at the library, then eventually bought it for myself (I guess you can only renew a library book twice before returning it...).

"Your children will learn how to live with the consequences of their actions, avoid blaming others for their problems, and make wise decisions." 

There are four basic principles of Love & Logic:

1. Build the self-concept.
Instead of 1) finding faults and criticizing, 2) insisting on doing everything for their children, and 3) not allowing them to experience the joy of independent success, parents 1) offer empathy, understanding, and unconditional love, 2) allow their kids to struggle and solve their own problems, and 3) encourage them to learn to succeed through personal thinking and learning.

Children need to know how to handle situations that appear without warning, situations that require them to think for themselves. Then they'll begin to believe "Hey, I've got what it takes!" Every time we rescue our children and solve their problems for them, we erode their self-concept.

2. Share the control
Give control away when you don't need it, so you can get some back when you do! Share control by giving the types of choices that do not cause a problem for you. Make sure your choices are framed by firm limits. And make sure in each choice you give, you are ok with either choice!

For example: Do you want milk or juice with breakfast? Are you going to wear your coat to school or carry it? Are you going to brush your teeth now or in five minutes? Would you rather have peas or carrots with dinner?

3. Provide a strong dose of empathy before delivering consequences
Consequences are a big part of life. The pain of poor choices helps kids learn to avoid mistakes. Children need to make and learn from their mistakes while the consequences are still small and affordable. Consider the difference of wasting one's allowance at age five versus wasting one's paycheck at age 21...

If a kid makes a mistake and parents respond with sternness or anger, the child's brain goes into a "survival" mode instead of a "learning" mode. They think more about escaping your anger, or possibly getting revenge, instead of how to make smarter choices in the future. Rather than set ourselves up as the enemy, wise parents use empathy in a way that makes the child's mistake the "bad guy," while keeping the parents the "good guys."

4. Share the thinking
The more anger and frustration we show, the less our kids think -- and the less they learn about solving their problems. Shared thinking involves lots of love and empathy, and guides a kid toward solutions rather than doing it for them or automatically giving out punishment.

The key to getting your kids to think is to ask questions. Allow them to think more about a solution to a problem or a mistake than you do. "What are you going to do about ____? How are you going to pay for that? Would you like to hear some ideas? How would that idea work for you?"

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While a lot of these concepts still sounded like too much for my then-6-month-old to handle, chapter 2 is called "It's never to early to start!" Though there were so many great concepts and ideas in this chapter -- and I could easily share them all! -- I'll just quote one paragraph:

Some people believe that children cannot learn or benefit from discipline until they can converse. Nothing is further from the truth! Can the family dog learn how to sit, stay, come, fetch, and lie down? I've never met a pooch who talked, but I have met some parents who seem to believe and act like the family dog is smarter than their kids. How sad! By the age of nine months, human babies are more intelligent than any other creature on the planet... Replace lectures, warnings, and lots of words with actions." 

I think that's enough of a summary for now... I'm re-reading the book and underlining and keeping these concepts fresh in my head, so I'll hopefully take the time over the next few weeks to expound more on each of the four principles of Love & Logic!

In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Do you have a parenting style? Does this one sound worthy of pursuit to you? (please note, I won't look down on anyone who disagrees, and I'm still learning too :-)

Book Talk Tuesday: Ten Little Ladybugs

Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth has quickly become one of Abby's favorites books. I'm not sure if it's because of the cute 3-dimensional ladybugs on each page, or the lulling rhyme, or the colorful pages, but she settles right in on my lap when I read it to her (most of the time...). The boardbook format also makes it possible for her to turn the pages herself. "...along came a butterfly, and then there were..." and I lightly hold up the page for her to grab and turn.

I have to admit, the very first time I read the book, I wondered what the heck was going on when all these creatures were appearing and the ladybugs were disappearing... This is a kids book, they're not getting eaten, are they?!

Another of Abby's favorites with a similar concept is Eight Silly Monkeys by Steve Haskamp. We received both of these books as shower gifts, and I think they will be part of our library for a long time. I can just imagine Abby reading along and learning to count backward!

When we were at Frederick Meijer Gardens last week visiting the butterfly exhibit, I was in the gift shop and wanted something for Abby to "remember" her first trip there. Lo and behold, I found another of Melanie Gerth's books, called Good Night Sweet Butterflies! Perfect! This one was all about colors, and while Abby does enjoy looking at the pictures now, I think she'll really like it in a couple years when she starts learning her colors.

One of my New Year's resolutions has been to read to Abby every day -- these books sure are helping me accomplish that goal!!

Book Talk Thursday: Refiner's Fire Series

I'm going to start a new blog topic -- Book Talk Tuesday or Thursday (depending on which day I get to it :) ). I plan to review mostly books that I am currently reading, but will probably look back at some of my past favorites too. It's kind of like the Musical Mondays idea.
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A few months ago, I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions of new authors for me to read. I was looking for something easy-to-follow, hold-my-attention, historical fiction. Some of my favorites have been Francine Rivers, Beverly Lewis, and Tracie Petersen. A number of people mentioned Lynn Austin to me, so I picked up the only book of her's that my local library had on hand. And I was hooked.

Now I've found my church library has a bunch of her books, so I grabbed the highly-acclaimed Refiner's Fire Series. They are set in the Civil War -- I love the description on Austin's website: "Each book—one each told from the northern, southern, and slave points-of-view—offers a unique and shattering perspective on the conflict while exploring the deep affect the war had on the faith of a nation." It's been very interesting to see the thoughts of the characters involved about whether or not the war was "right". They also contain a fair amount of actual history (battles, cities, living conditions), but it's so much more interesting than what you might learn in a school history class!

I didn't realize when I finished the first book that they can be read as stand-alone novels. I picked up the second book just after closing the first and expected to continue the story with the same characters. I was wrong! In fact, I was so upset that the second book was about some cousin who was barely mentioned in the first, that I put it aside for a few days. Eventually I picked it up again, and through Austin's amazing story-telling and character development, I was soon hooked. Now as I begin the third novel in the series, I know better what to expect!

While Austin's books don't appear to be any larger than any other novel, they are surprisingly deep and full and have actually taken me awhile to get through. Not that I really mind -- like I said, there is so much character development (but none of it is irrelevant!) and twists and turns that you never know what is coming next. I have to admit, I'm glad I can now get her books from my church library, where I don't have to worry about paying overdue fines. ;-)

Overall, I'm very pleased with Lynn Austin's story-telling, and am looking forward to reading more by her!