'The Dragon of the Month Club' . . . The First Book in a New Series by Iain Reading

Thank you to Iain Reading for providing a copy of The Dragon of the Month Club for us to base this review upon.  All opinions expressed are our own.

The book The Dragon of the Month Club is about a girl named Ayana and a boy named Tyler who are really into reading. While in the town’s public library, they find a small book called The Book. It is very short, but it has a page in it where it tells you how to summon a Water Dragon. After they summon it, they are able to apply for the Dragon of the Month Club. When they are accepted, they are told that they will receive instructions for a new dragon on the thirteenth of every month.

With a thrilling storyline, this book would make an excellent gift for someone that is interested in myth and legend, or simply wants a good book. But, there is a HUGE cliffhanger at the end that makes you want a sequel. My favorite dragon is the sand dragon, Dune Buggy. He was playful and curious like my dogs. My favorite part is when they sleep inside a book on giant marshmallows.

About the author:
Iain Reading is Canadian, but lives in the Netherlands and works for the United Nations. He has a deep passion for root beer, music and writing.

You can learn more about this book by visiting www.dragonofthemonthclub.com, where you can also learn about the Dragon of the Month Contest.  This book is available to be purchased on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.

Who do you think this book would make the perfect gift for? Share with us in a comment here!

Guinness World Records Books . . . Easy Gift Ideas for Kids, Teens & Adults (Gamers Included!)

Thank you to Guinness World Records for providing a copy of Guinness World Records 2016 and Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer's Edition for this review.  All opinions expressed are our own.

Guinness World Records is a company that makes annual record books that have exciting records and amazing pictures. Each year, they release a new book with hundreds of new records. Since the Guinness World Records book is produced annually, it is also great for people who like to collect things. It is the ultimate gift idea for the holidays!

Also, there is the Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer’s Edition that is completely filled with records about amazing gaming feats, like finishing a game on hard mode in fourteen minutes, or scoring 321 goals in FIFA soccer. This is a great gift for gamers of all levels, with gaming records about Fallout, Minecraft, Call of Duty, and much more.

Personally, my favorite record from the Guinness World Records 2016 book is the ‘Most Layers in a Sandwich’ with 40 awesome layers of bacon, fluff, and peanut butter. My favorite record from the Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer’s Edition is highest score on Fruit Ninja’s zen mode because I feel that I can beat that record.

As you can see, these records are interesting, awesome, and sometimes funny. I would recommend these extremely awesome books for people ages 7 to 200.  To see more amazing world records, visit www.guinnessworldrecords.com!

Have you read one or both of these books?  Share your favorite records with us on Facebook!

'Book Three: The Cavern of Promise' Completes Clark Burbidge's Giants in the Land Trilogy

Thank you to PR by the Book for providing a copy of the Giants of the Land Trilogy for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are our own.

Giants in the Land is a book series by award-winning author, Clark Burbidge, about a young man named Thomas, who goes on exciting adventures as he grows older. In Book One: The Way of Things, he has to find the giants who have gone missing. In Book Two: The Prodigals, he has to find and neutralize a common threat to the giants and humans. In the recently released Book Three: The Cavern of Promise, there is a tyrannical giant king that captures Thomas and wants to kill the true king, Sonspeaker.

I liked the trilogy, mostly because I love adventure/action books. Also, I like how the book is based in medieval times. I like learning about what life was like back then. One of my favorite parts is when Thomas battles a giant warrior in the evil king’s arena and wins against all odds.

There were some parts of this trilogy that could have been better, such as the cliffhanger at the end of the first book. I think that it was a little discouraging, and I wasn't looking forward to reading the second book as much as I was originally. Also, I think the giant king of Westwood was a little overly dramatic with the explanation of the Madog.

This trilogy is definitely worth reading.  I would recommend it for kids 10 years old and above. There is some bloodshed, so be cautioned.

Award-winning author, Clark Burbidge

To learn more about the Giants in the Land Trilogy, where to purchase the books, and Clark Burbidge, visit www.giantsinthelandbook.com.

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Of All the Things Our 4th Grader Could Inherit from His Parents . . .

Every month, our son is required to do a 4th grade Book Talk Project.  This month's genre is poetry.  Not having had much experience with reading or writing poetry, he did not know which book to choose.  I named several famous American poets and, when I came to Robert Frost, he chose that one.  I think he chose Frost because that's the only name he remotely recognized.

After thinking about this for a day, I thought I could solve the problem by buying the book American Poetry from the Poetry For Young People book series, which contained poems from a wide array of American poets.  Unfortunately, after looking through the book, our son said he did not understand any of the poems.  I certainly do not blame him.  He's 10 and I'm 40, and I still needed to read the explanatory paragraph that accompanied each poem in this book.  I even tried to walk through Walt Whitman's Oh Captain! My Captain with him since it was about Abraham Lincoln, one of his favorite historical figures.  He still just looked at me blankly . . .

That's when I pulled out this book titled Kids Pick the Funniest Poems: Poems That Make Kids Laugh, a book I had previously purchased, but had not given to him yet.  I have to say that he loved this book and is anxious to share his favorite poems from this book with his class.  The poems are about topics that every child can relate to.  For this project, he chose to create a book jacket as part of his presentation.  He's nowhere near done with it yet, but I was so impressed with his illustration for the front cover that I just had to share it.

Of all the things our 4th grader could inherit from his parents, I am thrilled that he has inherited my husband's and my love of drawing.  Of course he also inherited my need for perfection, which is why it took him 3 hours to complete this illustration.  And, he inherited my husbands tendency to procrastinate, which is why he started on his monthly project six days before it's due.  Still, in the end, he always produces something wonderful that we can all be proud of.

The 2014 Guinness World Records Book Amazes Fans with a Companion Augmented Reality App

Thank you to Guinness World Records for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The Guinness World Records is a huge company who makes a book every year of world records that is categorized by types of records.  I have five Guinness World Records books so far, including the 2014 book.  The 2014 GWR book is very different from all the other books because there is a free See It 3D app for your Android or iOS phone or tablet.  The app makes 3D images pop-up on the screen that aren't there in the 2-dimensional book, using augmented reality technology and your device's camera.  Each 3D image has a special feature that allow you to do things that affect the image.  Some things that pop-up aren't images that you can play with, but are videos of the records in the making.

On page 26 and 27, there is one of my favorite 3D images about Prehistoric Life.  It is a Spinosaurus, the largest carnivorous dinosaur, compared to the sizes of a London phone booth and a double-decker bus.  There are three buttons used to control the 3D image.  One moves it around the page, another makes it roar, and the last one makes it bite down with its jaws.  It would have been even cooler if we could make the Spinosaurus destroy the double-decker bus and the phone booth.

The app on page 14 and 15, the Restless Planet, makes an image of the world flattened out on a flat surface.  Then, with the press of a button, it rolls up into a globe.  If you press the button on the bottom right corner, you can pick a certain natural disaster that you want to see pictures of.  It also tells you which natural disaster it is and where it happened.  My favorite natural disaster from this feature of the app is volcanoes.  It is my favorite because it is neat to see pictures of volcanoes erupting.

On page 28 to 29, the section on Snakes, the 3D image is a giant spitting cobra popping out of a lidded basket and spitting poison all over your screen.  This page is one of my favorites because you get to see how a giant spitting cobra would act in that situation, plus it is very action-packed.

At the beginning of the section Animal Extremes is Hercules, an adult male liger.  A liger is a mix of a lion and a tiger.  Hercules is the largest living cat in the world.  This is quite a coincidence because I saw Hercules in person at the Tiger Show at King Richard's Faire in 2012, but unfortunately in 2013 he retired.  I like this section because it's great to see Hercules in the Guinness World Records book.

I recommend the 2014 Guinness World Records book as a Holiday present to kids 7 and up.  There are cool photographs if the child can't read all the words.  I hope that, in the future, the next book will have augmented reality features for more pages, as the 2014 book only contains a handful.  To learn more about the 2014 GWR book, visit www.GuinnessWorldRecords.com.

"A Parent's Guide to Flu Season" . . . What You May Not Know About the Flu (#MC)

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for MedImmune Specialty Care. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

For most of their childhoods, all 3 of our children received the flu mist every year.  Despite this, our family would still get hit with a bad flu each winter.  So last year, I decided to forgo getting the flu vaccine for the whole family.  I thought, since we were going to get a bad flu anyways, why bother to get the vaccine?  Was that ever a mistake!  I would say that our household got hit with a flu or stomach bug once every 3 weeks throughout the fall and winter.  Since it took 1-1/2 to 2 weeks for the bug to make it through all 5 family members, it seemed like we would get sick again just when everyone was feeling better every single time.  It was the roughest flu season we ever had.

We definitely did not make the same mistake this year.  All 5 of us have been vaccinated.  Unlike before, I would feel lucky this year if we only came down with the flu once this winter.  I think one of our biggest battles is capturing the germs.  According to A Parent's Guide to Flu Season by Elizabeth Pantley, it is ideal to capture the germs by catching them in a tissue whenever possible.  The problem is that, for the past few years, the schools have been teaching the children to cough or sneeze into their sleeves, which is not incorrect, but apparently using a tissue to catch the cough or sneeze is better.  With how quickly a flu bug spreads through one classroom (and the entire school), I think every student should have a box of tissues within arms reach, at the very least during peak flu season.  If the students threw away their used tissue right away and immediately washed or sanitized their hands, we could drastically reduce the number of absences due to flu symptoms this school year.

If you struggled with the flu last year like I did, download Elizabeth Pantley's ebooklet A Parent's Guide to Flu Season.  Did you know that children are 2 to 3 times as likely to catch the flu than an adult because their immune systems are still developing or that virus particles from a cough or a sneeze can reach a distance of up to 6 feet?  Which facts found in Pantley's ebooklet surprised you?

TIME For Kids Top 5 of Everything: Tallest, Tastiest, Fastest!

Thank you to Time For Kids for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this book review upon.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The Time For Kids book series always has interesting facts, but I have never seen so many facts in a book this small.  The TIME For Kids Top 5 of Everything: Tallest, Tastiest, Fastest is a truly amazing book.  Did you know that Earth is the 5th biggest planet?  Did you know that the tiger is the heaviest cat?  Did you know that the most popular dog name is Bella?  You can find those facts and other great ones in this book.

The 'Top 5 Biggest Cats' page is my favorite one in the book.  This is one of my favorite pages because the tiger is #1 in weight.  I love tigers!  Another interesting thing about this page is that I learned that a lion is actually lighter than a tiger.

The 'Top 5 NFL Teams' page is also one of my favorites because the New England Patriots are #1 in victories from 2003 to 2012.  One surprising fact is that the Pittsburgh Steelers are in 3rd place.

This book would be a great gift for people who love exciting facts.  I think that this book would be good for kids 6 to 12 years old.  You can learn more about the TIME For Kids Top 5 of Everything: Tallest, Tastiest, Fastest, by visiting www.TimeForKids.com.

Two New Books from Sterling Publishing Encourages Children to Explore the World of Animals and Their Own Artistic Talents

Thank you to Sterling Publishing for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

Animals Everywhere: A Pop-Up Adventure is new children’s book from Sterling Publishing. This hardcover book recommended for ages 4 and up takes an in-depth look at over 100 animals from both land and sea and even features 3-dimensional looks at some of them via the amazing pop-ups. These pop-ups are very cool and my kids were surprised at how many details they had. The story was great and the animals facts were interesting as well. This book is sure to be a favorite in your child’s personal library and would be a fun gift idea as an alternative to toys.

My 6 ½ year old son, Quinn, is quite a little artist, so when I saw Craft-A-Doodle: 75 Creative Exercises from 18 Artists, I knew it would be right up his alley. This book takes you on a crafty journey with short intros and prompts that get you doodling, painting, and using your creative skills. Some of these exercises are great for adults, some for children, and every age in between. Quinn loved trying out different styles of art and learning a little bit as well.

Sterling Publishing’s newest books are great additions to our home library and we’ve really enjoyed reading them. Both books are available at many major retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. Animals Everywhere: A Pop-Up Adventure retails for approximately $14.95 and Craft-A-Doodle retails for $19.95.

The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles

Thank you to No Starch Press for providing a complimentary copy of this book to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lego’s have been part of my life since before I was the age my kids are now (6, 6, and 9). I am sure many of you are in the same situation and understand my thrill to see my kids enjoying a toy that was also such a huge part of my own childhood.

Whenever I get a chance to check out a LEGO product I jump at it. Recently we received the LEGO Build-It Book (Volume 1):  Amazing Vehicles and I was excited. Not only did I get to play with LEGOs, I had a grown up excuse to do it!

The Amazing Vehicles Book includes 10 sets of instructions for some very cool vehicles ranging from race cars to a baby stroller (that's right, a baby stroller!). As I expected, the instructions were colorful and precise. The book spends a few pages making sure readers understand some of the building concepts using a comic like style and layout. Although the book is slightly geared towards adolescent readers, it's definitely not too young for adult LEGO enthusiasts.

I started by heading out to my local LEGO store to buy all the parts I needed using the provided parts list. I estimated the parts would cost me less than $15. We own thousands of LEGOs already, but I thought it would be a nice touch to use the exact parts and colors used in the book.

Although I was able to get a few of the parts required at the store, they didn't have what I needed and the trip was mostly in vain (can a trip to a LEGO store ever truly be in vain?). I went home deciding I was going to use what I had and make the best of it. But isn't that part of the charm of playing with LEGO ? For the record, LEGO's Pick A Brick is an excellent online service where I could have ordered every single part I needed, but I felt like a kid again and wanted to play right away!

I’m going to cut to the chase and state I was not able to finish any of the projects in the book. The book's instructions were superb and easy to follow and 95% of the parts required are mostly common, but in the end I didn't have enough to finish anything. At first I was feeling like I failed in some way, but then I realized something:  I just played with LEGOs for a few hours and had a blast. And I am 43 years old!

After my attempts at making some cool vehicles, my kids weren't impressed and had me step aside, it was pro time. My 6 year old son Luke made his own interpretations of some of the book's designs.

Whether I finished any of the projects in the book is secondary to the fact that I had a blast trying. I felt like a 7 year old again pushing through my kids' mountains of LEGOs looking for that perfect piece or color. This LEGO Build-It Book book is an excellent guide and reference for any level of builder and I heartily recommend it. What an excellent companion to a LEGO kit for a gift. If you want a gift that's truly unique, order all the parts at Pick A Brick to go along with the book for a flawless LEGO experience!

You can learn more about LEGO Build-It Book (Volume 1):  Amazing Vehicles at Shop.Oreilly.com.  This paperback book retails for $19.95 and just $21.95 for both the paperback and the ebook.

Meet the Dooples is a Children's Book That Encourages Creativity in Writing, Thinking, Drawing, and More

Thank you to Dr. Lynn Hunter for providing a complimentary review copy of this book for us to base this review upon.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Meet the Dooples is a new book, the first in a series, introducing readers to the characters The Dooples. Each of these characters is a writing tool, such as a pen or crayon, who comes to life at night thanks to the kooky professor Mr. Dooba Dee Doo. The other characters are cute and colorful and kids are sure to have a favorite. With characters like Sketchy the pencil, Marky the marker, and Dusty the chalk, how could they not? The book’s objective is to motivate real life children to write, think, read, draw, and be creative. This book is very comic book-esque with bright, colorful pictures and text boxes that tell the story (in rhyme, no less).

This engaging, interesting book is sure to motivate young readers to write and find the fun in it. You can learn more about The Dooples at www.thedooples.com, where Meet the Dooples retails for $13.95.

TKD Kid Review: Time For Kids Dinosaurs 3D Book

Thank you to Time For Kids for providing a complimentary book sample for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

Time For Kids Dinosaurs 3D is an incredible 3D book.  A 3D book is book that you need 3D glasses to look at the pictures.  The book may or may not have 3D words.  I own another 3D book by Time For Kids called Time For Kids Zoo 3D.

This book is about all the kinds of dinosaurs, where they lived, when they lived, and how they died.  One of my favorite pages is the one about the Spinosaurus.  This page is one of my favorites because it has a really cool picture.  I like the picture because in 3D it looks almost real, especially the trees and plants.

The page about the Tyrannosaurus Rex is also one of my favorites.  This page is one of my favorites because there are some really cool facts.  Some of the cool facts are that the T-Rex was one of the fiercest hunters that ever lived and it may have croaked like a bullfrog.

The 3D effects in Time For Kids Dinosaur 3D is amazing!  The 3D images are much better than the images in Zoo 3D.  It's fun to read the book with a friend because the book comes with two pairs of 3D glasses.  I have one complaint about the book . . . the packaging for the 3D glasses keeps ripping when I put the glasses back in because it is made out of paper.

I think this book would be great for kids 7 to 11 years old.  It would also be good for classrooms.

The Bedtime Math Children's Book Incorporates Math into Your Child's Daily Routine

Thank you to Bedtime Math for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

It is my wish that my children love to learn, and I do as much as I can to make sure they are having fun while they are learning. Math is one of our hardest subjects because “it’s boring”, they say. When I heard of the book, Bedtime Math by Laura Overdeck, I was excited to give this method of incorporating math a try. Bedtime Math is a unique book that presents simple math problems along with a paragraph of information on a particular topic. Each math equation comes in 3 levels (Wee Ones, Little Kids, and Big Kids) so there is one for any age of child. Plus, the answers are discreetly placed on the bottom of the page so math-challenged parents like myself don’t have to hurt themselves figuring out the more complicated ones. The book is well written and colorfully illustrated so it makes learning fun.

To give an example: one page has a bit of information about frogs (they are amphibians, born as tadpoles, etc.) and then a math problem for 3 different levels of learners that relates to the frog theme. This simple way of putting math into our daily lives has been very effective! My kids love getting their evening math problems and I love that there are 3 different levels so there is a problem that suits each of them. We’ve had a lot of fun with this book and will continue to use it for a long time.

You can learn more about Bedtime Math  including where to purchase, on their website, www.bedtimemath.org. This book retails for $14.99, but is currently selling on Amazon for $9.37 with Free Super Saver Shipping.

Learn Interesting Facts About Your Own Home, the Earth, and Outer Space from the Time for Kids "Big Book of Where"

Thank you to Time Home Entertainment Inc. and TIME For Kids for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Time for Kids Big Book of Where is very similar to the other books in the Big Book series.  They all contain more than 100 facts about things.  Another way that they are similar is they all contain awesome photos.  The Big Book of Where is different because it has a section for each of the continents, oceans, space, and home.  My favorite section is about the oceans.

Two of my favorite facts are about the ocean . . . Where Did the Titanic Sink? and Where's the World's Newest Island?. Where Did the Titanic Sink? is one of my favorites because, after I read it, I learned a lot more about the Titanic and other shipwrecks.  The coolest thing I learned is that the Titanic was holding 2,200 passengers and only 700 survived.

Where's the World's Newest Island? is one of my favorites because I thought it was really cool that the Yemeni fishermen got to see a new island formation.  I learned that it formed from a volcanic eruption underwater and went above the surface when the lava started to cool.

Another favorite fact of mine is Where Do Most Germs Hideout?, which is in the home section.  I learned that most germs hideout on items that many people touch, such as TV remotes, door knobs, kitchen faucets, and countertops.  How to fight the germs is by washing your hands with regular soap and warm water often.

I like this book compared to the other ones because it is more organized and it's easier for me to find facts with a table of contents.  I recommend this book to kids 7 years and older.  I look forward to getting more Time for Kids Big Books because I enjoy learning facts about the Earth and space.  I also think they should add the topic 'Where is the Solar System's Tallest Mountain?' to the space section because I think everyone would be interested in it.

To learn more about the Time for Kids Big Book series, visit www.timeforkids.com.

Popar Toys’ Augmented Reality Books for iOS or Android Devices

Thank you to Popar Books for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize. All opinions expressed are my own.

We are tech people here in my home (as most of my readers already know), so when Popar Books offered me one of their “Augmented Reality” (AR) books, Bugs 3D, I was excited to try out this new technology. These AR books use any computer, webcam, or mobile device (iOS or Android) to create an impressive virtual reality experience. This turns an ordinary book into something quite extraordinary with 3D objects that come alive in your hands. This technology takes the old concept of pop-up books to a new and amazing level.

Words cannot tell you how absolutely incredible this book and app are! We used our iPad to bring our bug book alive and it is the neatest use of technology I’ve possibly ever seen. The animation is very detailed and the information both in print and via the narrator is very educational.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Since the first day we received this book, we have been completely engaged. The kids have loved interacting with the bugs and learning things they didn’t already know. This is a seriously fun and interesting way to learn and we will be keeping an eye on Popar Book’s future uses of technology.

You can learn more about Popar Books on their website, www.popartoys.com. This book retails for $19.99 and the app is free to download on iTunes and on Google Play.

Our contest winner will choose one of the following augmented reality books to receive . . .

• Bugs 3D Book
• Princess and Her Pals 3D Book (Recipient of The National Parenting Center's Spring 2013 Seal of Approval)
• Construction Machines 3D Book

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!