Showing posts with label true story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label true story. Show all posts

Monday, July 31, 2017

Bessie, Queen of the Sky has arrived!

Bessie, Queen of the Sky
First Book in the Queen Girls Series


Amanda and I received a free digital copy of Bessie, Queen of the Sky, at the end of last year, before the book was out in print. We were promised a physical print copy once it was published. Recently, we collected a package at the post office and were delighted to discover that the book has finally arrived! Here are two photos of Amanda with her new book. I'm also including our original review below.


Queen Girls

Stories of real women turned into fairy tales. Inspiring girls to follow their dreams!
About the First Book in the
Queen Girls Collection:
Bessie, Queen of the Sky


The first fairy tale is ‘Bessie, Queen of the Sky’ inspired by the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to hold a pilot’s license. The book will be available in English and Spanish.

‘When Bessie was growing up, no one could have imagined that a girl from a humble family would get out of the cotton fields and become a pilot. But with the help of her best friend Bloony, Bessie uses her courage and determination to make her dream come true!’

● Available in English & Spanish
● Recommended age - 4 to 7 years
● 32 pages, hardcover & digital


A peek inside...




Order One for One
Bessie, Queen of the Sky
on INDIEGOGO!

Or Purchase on Amazon:


MY REVIEW

Bessie, Queen of the Sky is a beautifully illustrated picture book that brings to life the true story of a girl who had the courage to follow her dreams no matter what roadblocks she faced along the way. This book teaches that a person's gender, skin color, or social position does not equate with ability. As long as you are willing to work hard and persevere, you can be just as good or better than anyone else.

In an ideal world, all people ought to have equal opportunities. Unfortunately, our daughters are not growing up in an ideal world, but things are changing. My own daughters do not feel the same restrictions that I felt growing up and I believe this has a lot to do with the brave women who went before us. We can be thankful for girls and women like Bessie who have trail blazed ahead, making it easier for us to follow in their steps.

When I got to the end of the story, my 8-year old daughter, Amanda, was impressed to see the photograph of Bessie and to learn that it was based on a true story. For me, this has been one of my favorite picture books that I did with her this year. It was truly inspirational. I highly recommend it for girls ages 4 to 8.


To find out more, visit my original post:
Bessie, Queen of the Sky


Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
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Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Celebrating International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women's Day, I have compiled a list of books of courageous female characters. All of these stories I have reviewed over the years on Amanda's Books and More. I'm sure you'll find something here to inspire you! Just click on the book titles in blue and the links will take you to my review posts.




This book is based on a true story.




Children's Book: The Mystic Princesses and the Whirlpool (Volume 1): Color Illustrations Edition-Mythology and Role Models for Kids by [LaRue, PJ]





maryssong






The Princess Madeline Trilogy






The Book of Deacon (The Book of Deacon Series 1) by [Lallo, Joseph]


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Monday, January 9, 2017

Mountain Chef

Mountain Chef
by Annette Bay Pimentel


About the Book:

Title: Mountain Chef | Author: Annette Bay Pimentel | Illustrator: Rich Lo | Length: 40 Pages | Genre: True Story | Ages: 6 - 9 | Grade Levels: 1 - 4


A Peek Inside:


Book Description:

The true story of a Chinese American mountain man who fed thirty people for ten days in the wilderness—and helped inspire the creation of the National Park Service.

Tie Sing was born in the mountains. The mountains were in his blood. But because he was of Chinese descent at a time in America when to be Chinese meant working in restaurants or laundries, Tie Sing’s prospects were limited. But he had bigger plans. He began cooking for mapmakers and soon built a reputation as the best trail cook in California.

When millionaire Stephen Mather began his quest to create a national park service in 1915, he invited a group of influential men—writers, tycoons, members of Congress, and even a movie star—to go camping in the Sierras. Tie Sing was hired to cook.

Tie Sing planned diligently. He understood the importance of this trip. But when disaster struck—twice!—and Tie Sing’s supplies were lost, it was his creative spirit and quick mind that saved the day. His sumptuous menus had to be struck and Tie Sing had to start over in order to feed the thirty people in the group for ten whole days. His skills were tested and Tie Sing rose to the challenge.

On the last night, he fed not just the campers' bodies, but also their minds, reminding them to remember and protect the mountains.

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, created by Congress on August 25, 1916.

Today, you can hike to Sing Peak, named for Tie Sing, in Yosemite National Park.

Purchase on Amazon:


My Review:


Mountain Chef is a true story that takes place in 1915 about a Chinese American man named Tie Sing. He helps inspire 30 men over 10 days along wilderness trails to establish a National Park Service with his scrumptious food. While the men climb steep peeks to get the best views and swim in mountain pools, Mr. Sing is planning the next meals. The trip is met with disaster twice when provisions are lost, but that doesn't stop Mr. Sing from keeping the men well fed.

This story teaches the value of hard work, persevering in the face of difficulty, and the importance of protecting our natural wonders.

Amanda and I enjoyed the story very much. It was well written with appropriate vocabulary for older children. The water color illustrations were of the highest standard. There are also some original photos with further historical facts at the end of the story for those who want to learn more.

I highly recommend this book for children ages 6 to 9.



Mountain Chef is a great reminder that eating outside is a wonderful way to enjoy nature. In the photo above, Amanda is having a picnic in our garden with a friend. Sometimes we use a picnic blanket, but this time we took out a little table and chairs. The girls decorated the table with play food too.

Last year she had a picnic with us at Cape Town's National Botanical Garden and several times at our local one. During the Christmas holiday, her grandma organized a picnic for all of us at a nature reserve on South Africa's West Coast. From our picnic table we could see the beach and dolphins swimming in the waves.

Mountain Chef also inspires children to learn about making delicious meals. In the photo below, Amanda made her own creative play dough meal adding in bits of garden plants. She also helps me sometimes in the kitchen and knows how to read a recipe.



About the Author:
Annette Bay Pimentel


Annette Bay Pimentel loves research! For this book she spent almost a week at the Bancroft Library in Berkeley, California, paging through photo albums and reading old magazines and newspapers. She also went to Yosemite to talk to ranger Yenyen Chan,, the authority on Chinese American contributions to the park. Annette lives with her family in Moscow, Idaho.



About the Illustrator:
Rich Lo


Rich Lo's family emigrated from Hong Kong to the United States when he was seven years old. Like Tie Sing, Rich speaks both English and Chinese, loves good cooking, and believes in doing your best at whatever you do. Rich grew up in Chicago, where he still lives and works today.


Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/17) is in its fourth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators. 
Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCBD Team are on a mission to change all of that.
Current Sponsors:  MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. Platinum Sponsors include Scholastic, Barefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. Roman, Audrey Press, Candlewick Press,  Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTV, Capstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle Swift, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee& Low Books, The Pack-n-Go Girls, Live Oak Media, Author Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books


We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

Links of Interest:

Multicultural Children's Book Day

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
(limited supply - open until February 2017)

Free Kindness Classroom Kit for
Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians
and Educators

Diversity Book Lists and Activities
for Teachers and Parents



Disclosure: I received a free Kindle version of this book for my honest review.

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Friday, December 23, 2016

A Girl's True Story with Linky

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -
Make My Saturday Sweet #202!


This blog is best viewed in Google Chrome.
Click on the images to see them at their best.


First I want to wish my readers and friends a very Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a safe and blessed holiday weekend. I chose the photo above with the red flowers and green stems, because these are traditional Christmas colors. I also thought it goes with the YouTube video below about "A Blooming Girl". The flowers are growing in a hanging basket on my balcony.

Today's post is about a girl's true story - and I happen to have two! One is a YouTube video by Youth With A Mission (YWAM) about a girl named Henrietta who is growing up in South Africa and the other is a picture book about a girl named Bessie who was the first African American woman to receive a pilot's license.

Planting seeds in a girl's life
on "A Blooming Girl -
Teachers of the Nations"



***************************

My Latest Book Reviews:


Bessie, Queen of the Sky
Based on a True Story



Mary's Song
with a $25 Giveaway!

maryssong 


*********************

Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...

Amanda’s Books and More

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

Here are the easy rules:
  • Follow Tina (your host) on one or more links listed above.
  • Link up a post from your family friendly blog.
  • Please try to add my hop button on your post or side-bar.
  • Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
  • Visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment.
Blog Button Code:

Amanda’s Books and More

Weekend Linky

This is a blog hop!



Visit my Blog Hops page to see
what link-ups I take part in.

Read More

Monday, December 19, 2016

Bessie, Queen of the Sky


Queen Girls

Stories of real women turned into fairy tales. Inspiring girls to follow their dreams!


Queens are the New Princesses!

The multicultural team behind Queen Girls is formed by Jimena Durán (Spain), Andrea Doshi (USA) and Chiara Fabbri (Italy). They bring their diverse experiences to this initiative along with tons of love and dedication.

Their mission is to inspire girls to follow their dreams and envision them as possible. This is the reason why the Queen Girl’s fairy tales are based on stories of real women stories.

They also believe in giving back to the community and this is why they stand on a One for One model. Every time you purchase a book, another will be donated to local and international organizations who are fighting illiteracy and empowering girls.

About the First Book in the
Queen Girls Collection

The first fairy tale is ‘Bessie, Queen of the Sky’ inspired by the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to hold a pilot’s license. The book will be available in English and Spanish.

‘When Bessie was growing up, no one could have imagined that a girl from a humble family would get out of the cotton fields and become a pilot. But with the help of her best friend Bloony, Bessie uses her courage and determination to make her dream come true!’

● Available in English & Spanish
● Recommended age - 4 to 7 years
● 32 pages, hardcover & digital


A peek inside...






MY REVIEW

Bessie, Queen of the Sky is a beautifully illustrated picture book that brings to life the true story of a girl who had the courage to follow her dreams no matter what roadblocks she faced along the way. This book teaches that a person's gender, skin color, or social position does not equate with ability. As long as you are willing to work hard and persevere, you can be just as good or better than anyone else.

In an ideal world, all people ought to have equal opportunities. Unfortunately, our daughters are not growing up in an ideal world, but things are changing. My own daughters do not feel the same restrictions that I felt growing up and I believe this has a lot to do with the brave women who went before us. We can be thankful for girls and women like Bessie who have trail blazed ahead, making it easier for us to follow in their steps.

When I got to the end of the story, my 8-year old daughter, Amanda, was impressed to see the photograph of Bessie and to learn that it was based on a true story. For me, this has been one of my favorite picture books that I did with her this year. It was truly inspirational. I highly recommend it for girls ages 4 to 8.

Order One for One
Bessie, Queen of the Sky
on INDIEGOGO!


MISSION

One for One - Every time you purchase a book, another will be donated to a child who may be struggling to dream. To reach as many kids as possible and distribute donated books, Queen Girls is partnering with local and international organizations who are fighting illiteracy and empowering girls. The stories are based on real women to give girls a positive view of life and help them envision their dreams as possible.

‘Often times, classic stories highlight the strength, courage and skills of men. Female characters are often stereotyped or one-dimensional: the mother figure, the homemaker, the exotic beauty, the love seeker. We believe that we should be telling different stories to our children. Let’s encourage girls to find their happiness, passions, drive and self-confidence from within. At the same time, let’s help boys to move to a place of equality’


TEAM

● Jimena conceptualized and co founded Queen Girls inspired by her son Luca! Her previous experience in the startup world helped her to led content strategy and social concept development. She was also part of the book creating process and changed tons of diapers at the same time!

● Andrea co created Queen Girls, alongside her sister in law. Working with kids as a speech therapist combined with her experiences traveling has fueled the inspiration for this project, teaching her first hand that girls from all around the world are struggling to dream. Andrea loves flying just as much as Queen Bessie!

● Chiara brings her incredible power of imaginations to this project. She brought Bessie back to life with beautiful color and eclectic scenes. She is a young Italian on the quest for the true essence of all around her.

BOOKS

COLLECTION SUMMARY
‘Queens are the new princesses!’

1) “Bessie, Queen of the Sky!” Inspired by the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to hold a pilot’s license in the world - When Bessie was growing up, no one could have imagined that a girl from a humble family would get out of the cotton fields and become a pilot. But with the help of her best friend Bloony, Bessie uses her courage and determination to make her dream come true!

2) “Isadora, the Rebel Queen!” Inspired by the story of Isadora Duncan, a ballerina who danced away from rigid ballet technique towards what she perceived as natural movement. Influenced by the sea, she started dancing like no one ever did before, imitating the waves of the sea with her arms and feet - She defied conventionalist minds by creating what today we refer to as Modern Dance or “Barefoot Style.”

3) “Savi, Queen of Education!” Inspired by the story of Savitribhai Phule, a woman poet, an educationalist and a social reformer, Savi was one of the earliest crusaders of education for girls in India. She defied all odds to become the first female teacher at the first women’s school founded by her and her family.

4) And more books to come! We have the firm intention to grow this collection and open it up to fellow authors and illustrators that could potentially bring their own queens on board.

Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of this book for my honest review.

Read More

Friday, December 11, 2015

Christmas Nostalgia with Linky

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -
Make My Saturday Sweet #156!

My blog is best viewed in Google Chrome.


If you're a regular visitor to this blog, then you'll know that my family lives in South Africa. Christmas in South Africa is not like North America or Europe. I spent my childhood growing up in the States and Germany where I experienced the beauty and wonder of all the decorations and sometimes even snow at Christmastime. A couple of our Christmases were also spent with my aunt, uncle and cousins in Switzerland!

Christmas in South Africa is not the same. The decorations in shops are often basic and it's summertime, not winter. That means hot kitchens are to be avoided. And fireplaces? No way!

How could I capture those experiences and share them with Amanda? Her older siblings can remember an American Christmas in 2002 and they've played with snow, but not Amanda.

Well, for the last three Christmases Amanda has received an interactive Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar via email from her grandparents and great-grandmother in the States. This year's one is set in Victorian England. Each Advent Calendar has brought the nostalgia of Christmas to our home.

If you have a child or a grandchild, I think you should check it out. Even though we are part way into December, you can still send the Advent Calendar later in the month and everything up to the current date will be viewable, so no one misses out on anything – and catching up is great fun!

Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar


I'm sharing with you some of the things
that Amanda has created on this year's
Advent Calendar. I'm especially impressed
with her intricate snowflake designs.
The second one is my favorite.


Amanda decorated this Christmas tree.

Amanda chose the stained glass that went
into these window pains.

Here's one of Amanda's snowflake designs.

Here's another one of Amanda's snowflake designs.



Make My Saturday Sweet
At the end of July
I did a neat post
on the topic of "Nostalgia"
with a short YouTube video.
Please take a moment
to check it out!

Nostalgia



- True Story -
In case you missed it,
here's a short video about Breno
who was a Brazilian student at the
YWAM English Language School.

This is the same school where I teach.



Check out this great post:
Nostalgia, Free Graphics & Gift Ideas
by Renee Ann Smith



*********************

Book Blasts with Giveaways:


Princess Madeline Trilogy
with a $25 Giveaway!

The Princess Madeline Trilogy


Goo and Spot: Do Not Wiggle Riddle
with a $25 Giveaway!




Goddess Girls: Hestia the Invisible
with a $25 Giveaway!




Arthurian Legend - Two Books
for middle grade readers
with a $25 Giveaway!



*********************

Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...

Amanda’s Books and More

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

Here are the easy rules:
  • Follow Tina (your host) on one or more links listed above.
  • Link up a post from your family friendly blog.
  • Please try to add my hop button on your post or side-bar.
  • Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
  • Visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment.
Blog Button Code:

Amanda’s Books and More

Weekend Linky

This is a blog hop!

Visit my Blog Hops page to see
what link parties I take part in.

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. Any blogs, videos and/or websites that I am sharing about today, I did for my own pleasure.

Read More

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