Blog Hop and Kid Lit Giveaway Hop

It's time for another weekend blog hop! This is my Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop and anything family friendly is welcome. Today is our 61st week. The rules are easy and you can find them below along with the hop.

I'm also taking part in the

Kid Lit Giveaway Hop

Holiday Extravaganza.

Our lovely hostesses are

Katie @ Youth Literature Reviews and

Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews

My Giveaway

One of the ways that I could participate in the Kid Lit Giveaway Hop was to give away a Christmas themed book. I jumped at the idea as I have an extra paperback copy of one of my favorite Christmas time stories, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I'll be mailing this brand-new book to one lucky winner. It's about the same size as an A4 page, about 11"x9" (29cmx23cm) and is beautifully illustrated by Christian Birmingham. This raffle is open World Wide. Just follow the prompts on the Rafflecopter below to earn entries for the draw.

My Review

I did an interactive review of the book with Amanda almost a year ago. I wanted her to experience the story. She owns the same book, only hers is in hardcover. You can check out this fun book review here.

Amanda is having a cup of tea with
Mr. Tumnus and Lucy.

Father Christmas meets the children and gives them gifts.
Amanda is holding a picture of the same scene from the movie.

Win a copy of The Lion,

The Witch and The Wardrobe

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Another Book Giveaway

A bloggy mom and friend of mine is hosting a giveaway of her young adult fiction novel, A Tale in Two Parts. You can visit her blog, Typative Mama Cat to enter the giveaway and you can visit my book review and author interview to find out more about the book and the mom who wrote it.

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I'm also participating in

Finish the Sentence Friday.

The sentence to finish this week is:

One of my favorite childhood memories is…

eating spaghetti ice cream in Germany at the ice cream parlor (Eisdiele). Delicious vanilla ice cream is squeezed through a "potato ricer" type Spätzle maker to look like spaghetti. Strawberry sauce is poured over it to look like tomato sauce. Shavings of vanilla chocolate are sprinkled on top to look like Parmesan cheese. Hidden underneath this tower of heaven is a dollop of fresh whipping cream.

The best ice cream I've ever eaten was in Italy and Germany. Here's a fun cultural article about ice cream in Germany.

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And, I'm participating in

Friendship Friday.

The theme for this month is

"A Season to Celebrate."

Everyone who participates has been asked to link something with a Christmas theme. My book giveaway has a fabulous Christmas theme in the story. Make sure you enter to win a copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

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It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.

All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to
link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Leave me a comment with your link and I will follow back!

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow Tina (your host) @ Amanda's Books and More.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Please try to add my hop button on your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Visit at least the last two blogs before your link and leave a comment.
• Follow any new blogs that you like.

Blog Button Code:

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This is a blog hop!

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5 Mermaid eBooks Giveaway!

Girly Comments & Graphics

I first want to wish all moms a very Happy Mother's Day!

And, all women who care for others and animals should be

honored today too. We are the backbone to a healthy society.

My 12-year-old daughter made me breakfast this morning.

I wanted to show you how pretty it looked and the omelette

she made was delicious!

This week is Children's Book Week from 13 - 19 May.

Renee at Mother Daughter Book Reviews and

Katie at Youth Literature Reviews are hosting

an awesome Blog Hop featuring links to giveaways

for fabulous children/teen's books, gift cards, cash

or other prizes! Their hop will go live on the 13th.

My giveaway goes live now, so keep reading!

I am taking part and have joined up with E.S. Ivy, the author of

Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret. It's a really neat mermaid

story like no other for girls ages 6 - 12. I read the first

book in the series and got really caught up in the story.

I wanted to read more! The story has lots of little bits of

cool scientific information that makes the story feel possible.

It will even keep Moms entertained.

Summary: 
A young girl, who hates fish and other slimy things,

finds out she’s a mermaid princess and must overcome her fears

to visit the mermaid city of Kai Kaona and meet her mother.

E.S. Ivy is giving away 5 of her Miri Attwater and the

Ocean's Secret eBooks! Please let us know in the comments

what format you would like to have it emailed to you if

you do win (mobi, epub, or pdf).

You can read more about Miri’s world and ask questions

when you visit the series’ blog, Miri Attwater’s World.

While you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter!

A Little Bit About the Author

Growing up in East Texas, E.S. Ivy preferred her adventures to be in books,

where things were nice and safe. Ivy graduated from college with a degree

in Chemistry. She learned how to grow a certain type of fern upside down

and sideways! She sent some of them up on the space shuttle Columbia and

got to see the nighttime launch at Kennedy Space Center in person.

Ivy also worked as a writer and editor of children’s science textbooks.

But she got tired of the publishers taking out all of the fun parts.

Novels are much more fun. She also likes to craft and has had original

crafts published in Family Fun Magazine.

Ivy now lives in the hills of Central Texas with her husband and three kids.

And – because there’s a rule that all pets have to be a type of critter that

mom is willing to catch – a dog named Topaz.

Visit E.S. Ivy's author blog,
which also includes some posts on crafts

and other interests.

5 Lucky Winners will be chosen for the

1st book in the Miri Attwater series!
Don't forget to let us know in the
comments if you would like your
eBook in mobi, epub or pdf
format if you win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To find more giveaways of fabulous

children/teen's books, gift cards,

cash or other prizes, click on the

links below!

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Teaching Amanda Her ABCs

Most of you know that Amanda turned 5 this year.

I was concerned that she had to remain in the

playgroup another year before graduating to

Kindergarten (Grade R in South Africa) and
that she'll only be in Grade 1 when she's 6

turning 7.

From what I understand, that's a
whole year later than in the States.
So, I decided to start teaching her at home,
after school. I only spend about 5 - 10 minutes
with her, but I've seen that it makes a difference.

Today I'm sharing about 3 of the books that

I've been using with her. We have several

other ABC resources too. Some are
battery operated with sound. I like variety,

so I don't focus on the same books or

teach with the same method every day.

I also like to be spontaneous. Here's

a peek into a few of our lessons. Enjoy!

First Fun ABC is published by Miles Kelly.

I like this book, because Amanda gets to

practice the alphabet at the top of the page.

Also, the letter that the page is focusing on

is highlighted in the alphabet row.

I noticed that Amanda

was running the letters L - N as one

word, so here we practiced slowing

the famous alphabet song down and

saying each letter name carefully.

I got My First ABC Glitter Book on sale.

It's published by Hinkler Books and they have

a whole series, including Colours and Numbers.

Amanda commented that it was for babies.

I liked the shiny pages. I also knew that

even though it's in a toddler's book style,

it's still right for her age.

I like that each picture has the upper case

and lower case letter. I think it's better

if kids learn both from the beginning.

What I didn't like is that the letter A

on the inside of the book stood for

"alarm clock" and R stood for "rubber

duck." Amanda saw the clock and said,

"A for clock" and saw the duck and said,

"R for duck." This was too confusing.

Amanda got this wonderful Animals, Wipe Clean,

Learn to Draw Activity Book for her birthday

a year or two ago. It's published by Priddy

Books. She used her marker until it ran dry,

so the one in the photo is not the one that

it originally came with, although it does

look similar. This book also comes in a

series, including Letters and Numbers.

What makes this book so versatile is that

it not only teaches drawing, it also teaches

how to write the alphabet in upper case

and lower case letters.

I got Amanda

to practice some of these letters on a

white board that we could wipe clean

and use again and again.

We could have used the book

for this, but I wanted her to

see how the letters make words.

In the last picture, Amanda had a word

with a missing letter. Each time I gave

her a different missing letter for the same

word, to help her see what letter was

missing and to put it in the right place. 

If your child isn't old enough to write yet,

you could simplify this exercise using magnetic

fridge letters. Let your child place the

correct letter in the missing space.

I found this neat ABC internet resource today.

It's called ABCya and has free games and apps

from Grade K to Grade 5. I'll let Amanda

check it out with me tomorrow. Maybe

you've already heard of it. I'm living in a

corner of South Africa, so I'm still

discovering these things.

I'm linking with the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,

by C.S. Lewis

This blog is best viewed in Google Chrome.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

This hardcover version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was abridged by Amanda Benjamin and illustrated by Christian Birmingham. The illustrations are detailed, the faces are full of expression, and every picture has atmosphere. The pages are not numbered, but there are 46 pages counting from where the story begins. This book is suitable for ages 4 and up, with the older children getting more out of it. Amanda was 5 years old at the time that we did this review.

The opening scene has the four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy exploring the large country house of a kind old Professor. In this first picture you can see how we set the scene using a plastic doll house and the characters from the Disney movie with toys from McDonalds. The toys we got several years ago, but we still have them and they are really great.

Lucy is the first one to stumble upon the magical world of Narnia after entering the wardrobe in the spare room. She is invited to tea with Mr. Tumnus, a faun, whom she met by chance or by providence. We had tea and cookies at this scene. I had to explain to Amanda that when the English have tea, they have a meal with it. I think she's been somewhat Americanized by me and thought that it was incorrect to say that they were having tea when so much food was included. Hahaha!

I'm not going to tell you the whole story, as you need to read the book or at least watch the Disney movie. I'll only share snip-its to explain the scenes.

A little bit later, her brother Edmund ends up in Narnia after following Lucy through the wardrobe on her second visit. Edmund has a naughty streak and this gets him into trouble. He ends up meeting the White Witch, who gives him his favorite treat, Turkish Delight. He doesn't realize that it's enchanted and eats all of it up. Of course, we had to have some Turkish Delight ourselves to taste what he was enjoying, but ours was luckily not enchanted. And, if I might add, they were delicious!

By the way, I have been to Turkey and to Cyprus. The people in Cyprus are very proud of their Cyprus Delight, which is basically the same thing and very yummy, I might add. Amanda hasn't had these experiences, so it's fun introducing her to new things.

On Lucy's third visit to Narnia, all four of the siblings end up going together. The oldest two who hadn't been before realize for the first time that Lucy was telling the truth. They borrow fur coats from the wardrobe, as it is winter in Narnia.

At this point, I allowed Amanda to put on my fur coat, which was given to me when I was a teenager by my great aunt. She was an eccentric woman who enjoyed her role as aunt and great aunt as she never had children of her own. Now, I never asked to own a fur coat and I'm not sure what to do with mine, but I sometimes wonder what type of animal was used and if they were farmed, etc. We do care about animal rights at our home. We also eat meat, but we try to buy free range eggs and free range meat when we can.

The scene opposite is an exciting part of the story, especially when it's played out in the movie, where the children meet Father Christmas. Here we have the picture from the movie in front of the book's illustration. This picture also came with the Narnia toys from McDonalds years ago when the movie was showing in theaters/cinemas.

Father Christmas comes with news that Aslan is on the move and gives the children unusual gifts with special purposes. I put Aslan, the lion, in front, as he is a key part of the story. C.S. Lewis was a Christian author and the story of Aslan, especially in this book, has many similarities to Jesus and His death and resurrection. If you are a Christian or not, you will still enjoy The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a great piece of children's fiction.

Purchase on Amazon

Disclosure: I did not receive anything for this review. All opinions are entirely my own.

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The 12 Days of Christmas

We own a few children’s Christmas books that I pull out at Christmas time. It makes the season more fun for Amanda when she only sees them this time of the year. It’s hard to imagine Christmas when living in a hot climate, but the books help.

The book that has kept Amanda and me busy for the last couple of days is The Twelve Days of Christmas by Paula Cloonan and published by Blackie London and Bedrick/Blackie New York.

The first time I read the book to her, she asked me to read it and then to sing it afterward. We went through the lyrics together a couple of times. She was so keen on learning it that she wasn’t happy when we had to stop for dinner.

The pages in the book are not numbered. It’s mostly made up of illustrations with one stanza on one page for every two pages of illustration. Amanda’s favorite part of the song is the five gold rings. Paula keeps it interesting for curious minds by hiding the five gold rings on the subsequent pages. Amanda had a lot of fun playing “I spy” as she looked for the rings.

(In this photo, Amanda is pointing out the five gold rings hanging from the doorknob.)

I brought the book out again the following day. This time I included a memory flash card game, which I created myself by printing images off of the computer and gluing them on to cardboard paper cut into equal sized squares. I hadn’t numbered the cards yet on the picture side. Instead, I asked her to help me remember how many French hens there were, how many pipers were piping, and so on. I wanted to help her memorize the song as well as recognize numbers and number association. (She's pretty confident with recognizing the numbers 1 - 6, which I attribute to her playgroup teacher.)

At this point I discovered that the images I had printed from the computer had a few of them in a different order. I thought that I was teaching her the way that everyone sang it. Why was my book different to the website? Well, our book doesn’t seem to have the most popular version, but it’s closer to the oldest version in print. This is what I found on Wikipedia:

The earliest attested version of the chant in England appears in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, as follows:

The twelfth day of Christmas, | My true love sent to me | Twelve lords a-leaping, | Eleven pipers piping, | Ten ladies dancing, | Nine drummers drumming, | Eight maids a-milking, | Seven swans a-swimming, | Six geese a-laying, | Five gold rings, | Four colly birds, | Three French hens, | Two turtle doves, and | A partridge in a pear tree.

The colly birds are another name for blackbirds. Many newer versions have changed it to calling birds just as our book has. Also, some versions use “golden” rings instead of “gold” rings. Our book uses “gold” rings, but Amanda preferred singing it as “golden” and that was without prior knowledge of this being another option.

The pictures seem too busy for my preference, but Amanda likes it that way. I found that out by asking her what she least liked about the book. She took me to the beginning where the first and only present gets introduced, namely the partridge in a pear tree. She said that it wasn’t interesting enough. She liked the other pages more, because there were more things in the pictures.

I think that this book is ideal for reading to young children ages 3 – 6 for both boys and girls. It held Amanda’s attention for an unusually long amount of time. For that reason alone, I’d say that this is a great book to buy for the holidays.

Here is a fun American 12 Days of Christmas website with lots of gifts and activities that you can make, games to play and other great Christmas resources. It’s the same website that I used to print my images for the memory cards. They also stick with the more common version of this song.

I did not receive any pay or gift for this book review. All opinions are entirely mine and my daughters.

I'm linking with the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

The kitten joined us for story-time.

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Co-Hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop

I'm excited to be co-hosting today's 4th Kid Lit Blog Hop. These Hops take place on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Last time was our biggest Hop yet with 78 links to all kinds of different blogs and websites. We are having a fabulous time meeting and exchanging ideas with children's books bloggers, authors, and publishers and parents seeking their next great read. So join in, link up, and hop around to make some new friends. Let's see if we can get 100 links this time around!

<div align="center"><a href="http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com/category/kid-lit-blog-hops/" title="Kid Lit Blog Hop" target="_blank"><img src="http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Kid-Lit-Blog-Hop-Button-Sep-2012-e1349976901756.jpg" alt="Kid Lit Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Suggestions For How to Participate:

1. Although not mandatory, we ask that you kindly follow your hostesses and co-hostesses. You can follow us any way you choose (Email, GFC, Twitter, Facebook, G+, Pinterest, etc.). Renee's preferred way to be followed is in bold in parentheses by her name. All email subscribers to Mother Daughter Book Reviews are automatically entered into her Monthly Book Giveaway (click to see last month's giveaway). If you leave us a comment on our websites, we will be sure to follow you back.

Hostesses:

Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews (Email)

Jaymie @ Snacks for Max

Heidi @ Geo Librarian

Our Co-Hostesses for This Week:

Tina @ Amanda's Books and More

Diane Estrella: That's What I'm Here For

Dee @ The Mom Connection

2. Link up any Kid Lit related post. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.

* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post*

* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one *

* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*

* Feel free to link more than one post.*

3. Check out some other books. Don't be a stranger, go see what books other families are checking out, and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!

4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!

5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop! Thanks!

Interested in co-hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop? Please email renee @ motherdaughterbookreviews (dot) com and put Co-Hosting Blog Hop in the subject line.

Happy Hopping!

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