Write a Review Wednesday: The Great Reindeer Rebellion November 25, 2009

Welcome to another Write a Review Wednesday, a meme started by Tara Lazar as a way to show support to authors of kids literature. Last week I looked at a great new picture book for preschoolers, Meeow and the Big Box (age 2-4 ) fromSterling Children’s Books and written/illustrated by Sebastien Braun. With December just around the corner, I can’t help but get into the Christmas spirit all ready. And it’s easy with The Great Reindeer Rebellion (4-8), a funny Christmas rhyme written by Lisa Trumbauer and illustrated by Jannie Ho. Thank you Derry from Sterling Publishing for my review copy.

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‘Twas the week before Christmas,
and somewhere up north,
dear Santa was frantic -
he paced back and forth.

He had just heard some news
that he sure didn’t like:
It seemed that the reindeer
were going on strike.

Following the same rhythm as The Night Before Christmas story, Lisa Trumbauer spins a laugh out loud tale about Santa’s trials and tribulations on finding a new sleigh team. How hard could it be to find eight animals to help Santa and save Christmas. Not hard it turns out. Cats and dogs, flamingos and kangaroos, even elephants all offer their services to Santa; eager to pull the sleigh on that one magical night.

But Santa and the animals soon discover that not everyone is cut out to pull the sleigh. Fresh baked cookies, mice and even the Christmas presents seem to cause problems for sleigh team after sleigh team. It’s not until the reindeer offer a solution that everything back on track.

The first thing I noticed with this book is the page stock. Unlike most picture books, the pages are stiff cardboard making it easy for even younger readers (or lookers) to enjoy without much fear of page ripping. Although The Great Reindeer Rebellion isn’t a touch-and-feel book, some of the images are embossed adding a nice dimension to the pages.

Reindeer on strike!

All three of my kids loved this story. The familiar rhyme drew them right in. The pages are layed out in such a way that the kids enjoyed guessing what mess the new sleigh team fell into. The placement of the text also added to the lyrical feel of the whole story; it weaves wonderfully through the pages. Jannie Ho’s illustrations are bright and fun, adding to the feel of the whole story as they fill the page. She did a wonderful job carrying the reader from one sleigh incident to another. The kids loved seeing the background images of the flamingos with bandages in the background as the next sleight team made their attempt.

The Great Reindeer Rebellion is delightful Christmas story. When we were done reading, my kids went on at great lengths discussing and debating other animals that could pull Santa’s sleigh and if they’d be successful or not.

The Great Reindeer Rebellion will certainly have a spot on our holiday book shelf. You can add a copy to your personal library from Amazon.ca If you’re looking for other great book suggestions, read some the past Write a Review Wednesday posts.

Review: Tickle Tap Apps, preschool fun for the iPhone November 23, 2009

I must admit, after I set-up my iPhone, one of the first things I did was tap my way over to the Apple App Store to check out all the cool (and in some cases bizarre) apps I could now get on my phone. I was like a kid in a candy store.

Of course my kids were interested too, even my youngest at just two. When I heard about Tickle Tap Apps, iPhone fun designed for kids 3 to 5 specifically, I had to check them out.

There are currently three completed apps available: Sort Slider, Count Caddy, and Sound Shaker but there are plans for seven more.

Sort Slider ($1.99) is a shape matching game. The screen consists of two fun shapes, like say a flower pot and a tree branch, and a silhouette of one of the shapes. Your child needs to match the silhouette to the correct shape by either tilting the iPhone to slide the silhouette shape or touching and dragging the silhouette shape.  As your child completes matches successfully, Harvey the dog barks enthusiastically and does tricks to encourage them.

My daughter loved playing this; she especially loved when Harvey did tricks after so many correct matches. The movement, either sliding or touching, was easy for her to master. And there’s no negative feedback which is great; if a child slides a silhouette over the incorrect shape nothing happens. The game continues until the slide the shape correctly. The number of shapes is limited but the variety of combinations and placements always makes this game feel new, never repetitive.

Count Caddy ($1.99) helps children learn and practice counting. Jinja the cat encourages kids to drag the balls of yarn into a circle. They start with one, then two and so on up to eight. After accomplishing counting by ones, Robin the bird has them count feathers by twos and Harvey the dog has the kids count bones by threes (and the number count goes higher, to almost twenty). Along with the repetitive audio, the numbers are reinforced visually with the balls of yarn (or features or bones) and the actual number. There are three levels overall and once they are all completed they can be played over again.

My daughter had a little bit of difficulty with the touch and drag, but she quickly figured it out with assistance. She loved the different animals, though she’s only made it half-way through counting by twos. As my daughter played, she became familiar with the numbers and would recite them along with the game.

Sound Shaker ($1.99) is a fun, interactive music making app. Kids can choose from six different sound categories, like chimes, drums or even barn animals. Once they have their sound chosen, they can add it to the screen. A simple tap and a sound ball appears. The longer they hold their finger on the screen a bigger sound ball appears with a different tone of the sound they choose. But that’s not the best part. Once your child has added all the sounds they want, tilt the phone to hear a new musical masterpiece as all the sound balls roll around the screen.

I think this was my daughter’s favourite app out of the three (mine too actually). I love how creative this is. My daughter especially loved the surprise of the bird when she held her finger on screen for a long time. On the streetcar ride home my daughter would play and passengers all around were craning their necks to watch her. The sound is wonderful too, not tinny and annoying to your ears (which is good because your kids will be playing this for a long time).

All three apps, Sort Slider, Count Caddy and Sound Shaker have fun colourful graphics. The layout is very clean, no cluttered background images, which makes it easy for young kids to concentrate on the task at hand, having fun.

I can’t wait to see what’s instore for the next seven Tickle Tap Apps. If they’re anything like these three, I’ll have to own them, ALL.

I have to thank Limelite PR and zinc Roe Design for giving me access to these three apps for my review.

And in this corner… November 20, 2009

School’s in full swing, the weather is colder and the flu bug seems to be creeping around every corner, time for the flu fighting gloves to come off.

Before I had kids I never got sick, okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I certainly didn’t get sick as much as when I had kids. There’s something about kids and bugs. And with this new flu strain, the H1N1 virus, you can’t help but worry about your child’s health and well being.

We haven’t changed our routines any when it comes to staving off the flu and colds and so far this season we’ve been lucky (knock on wood). Some of the things we’ve been doing to keep us bug free are:

• Drinking plenty of water to flush the system and a good nights sleep so the body can re-energize (sadly that doesn’t seem to include me lately).
• Keeping the fingers out of noses (which is much harder than it sounds) and ensuring finger nails are always clean and trimmed short (it’s amazing what can hide in my oldest daughter’s nails if not cut).
• Blowing the nose to get ’stuff’ out instead of sniffling and keeping it in.
• Increasing the body’s immunity system. Checkout my review of Nayla Natural’s Anti-Monster Spray immunity system booster
• Regular and proper hand washing. This is a big one. To ensure my kids spend enough time scrubbing with the soap they now have to sing a song. A chorus of Happy Birthday and We Wish you a Merry Christmas seem just long enough. Only after the chorus can they rinse. Here are my two youngest to demonstrate (though my shy two-year old seems to have lost her voice, especially when she realized the camera was on her):

But sometimes even with the best intentions and practices kids get sick. If your child does get sick here are a few simply measures you can follow from The Ontario Ministry of Health:

• Treat your child’s fever. Take off heavy clothing/blankets. Dress your child in lightweight clothing and keep the room temperature at 20C (68F). Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever and muscle pain in the dose recommended on the package (unless your doctor says other wise).
• Treat your child’s other flu symptoms. Encourage your child to get plenty of rest. Use salt-water nose drops to treat a stuffy nose. (See my review of the non-medicated Breathe Right nasal strips for kids we tried.) As your pharmacist about over-the-counter medicines for cough.
• Protect others from the flu. Keep you child at home until his/her fever has been absent for at least 24 hours and he or she is feeling well enough to resume normal activities. It’s important for your child to stay home if there’s a fever so that the virus doesn’t spread to other children. Your child can return to school 24 hours after the fever has resolved and he/she is feeling well enough to get back to normal activities.

If you’re concerned that your child has more than just a simple cold or flu, you can take The Ontario Ministry of Health’s online Influenza assessment tool. The Ontario Ministry of Health has also set-up a pretty comprehensive flu section on their site. There you’ll be able to find details on the open flu vaccination clinics, tips on staying healthy, information on the H1N1 vaccine and more.

Here’s to winning the fight against the flu.

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central and received a Mom Central gift pack to thank me for taking the time to participate.

A Parent’s job is a sleepless job November 18, 2009

Nothing like a nap

When my kids were little I expected to get up at night. But waking at night wasn’t just reserved for when my kids were babies. It seemed that every time my kids were learning a new skill they’re sleep patterns would suffer.

But the sleepless nights do pass; I think knowing that is what has kept me sane. My oldest daughter and my son sleep soundly through the night, sometimes to the point that it’s next to impossible to get them up the next day. I was even starting to think that my youngest daughter was giving up her night waking too.

All that changed a few nights ago. I was awoken by my youngest daughters sobbing cries. These cries were different, they were full of fear and distress. Usually my daughter doesn’t think twice about padding down the hall to my room when she wants something, but that night she wouldn’t leave her bed. Through her cries she told me she was scared; she told me she was scared of the monsters in her room.

I’ve heard kids can go through a stage of monster fear, but we’ve never encountered it, not with either of my two older kids, so this is new to me. I tried to calm her and turned on the light a little to show her nothing was there. I sprayed a little Anti-Monster Spray in the corners. I held her until she calmed down. When she was settled in her bed I said good night and prepared to leave the room but she asked if I could stay and hold her hand. Lights off, I laid down on the hard floor beside her bed and held her hand while she drifted off to sleep. By the time I worked myself back to my bed it was almost time for the alarm to go off. I was tired, but my daughter was able to sleep for the rest of the night.

The monsters haven’t visited since but I’m sure that won’t be the last time they show up. Some parents may not agree with how I handled it; some may not be so indulgent in their child’s nighttime habits when they’ve moved beyond the baby stage, but that’s why I’m responsible for my kids and they are responsible for theirs.

I’m counting on a few more years of sleepless nights (let’s not forget when my kids are teens and are out late at night or when they’ve moved out of the house and are on their own or when they’re waiting to hear on a job interview or the night before they get married or when they are expecting a child…) I guess sleepless nights are just one of those things we endure in our role as being a parent.

Now it’s time for my nap.

Write a Review Wednesday: Meeow and the Big Box November 17, 2009

Welcome to another Write a Review Wednesday, a meme started by Tara Lazar as a way to show support to authors of kids literature. Last week I ventured into the realm of non-fiction with Enslow Publishers’ Adding with Sebastian Pig and Friends At the Circus (age 6 to 9), written by Jill Anderson and illustrated by Amy Huntington. This week is about the younger set. Meeow and the Big Box (age 2-4 ) is a fun book from Sterling Children’s Books and written/illustrated by Sebastien Braun. Thank you Derry from Sterling Publishing for my review copy.

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Meeow is a black cat. Meeow likes the colour red. Meeow likes to make things. What will Meeow make with red paint, a big box, an orange chair and a blue mug. Clever Meeow!

My kids love cats so they fell in love with Meeow even before we opened the book. My youngest loved the velvety feel of Meeow on the front cover of the book also; to her Meeow felt fuzzy like a real cat. The story of Meeow taking simple household elements like a brown box, a blue mug and an orange chair and using imagination to convert them into something fun, is something all kids do and can relate to. The type is big, clear and uncluttered making it easy to read. The dialog is like the a conversation the parent may have with a child, simple yet descriptive. Each step Meeow takes is described. Primary colours are used in the simple illustrations and in describing the elements Meeow uses; instead of just a chair it’s an orange chair.

I could see my two-year old trying to figure out what Meeow was trying to build. With each page turn a little more was revealed. The way the pages are layed out, the dialog encourages kids to think and guess what Meeow could be making before it’s revealed at the very end. And I love how the last page illustrates what Meeow sees the actual creation to be.

While reading Meeow and the Big Box my kids made guesses like a rocket ship or a car or a house. I love the simplicity of this story and the warm, fun, child-like nature of Meeow, but the best part of the story to me was when we finished reading. The book done, my kids went away and started making their own in home creations out of chairs and pillows and blankets. A book that impresses upon kids beyond the reading experience has to be one worth adding to your own personal library.

You can also read the review on Meeow and the Little Chairs.

To add Meeow and the Big Box to your own personal library, visit Amazon.ca For other book suggestions checkout the past Write a Review Wednesday posts.

Call it a gut feeling November 16, 2009

Yesterday we went to the cities big Santa Clause parade. It was a little chilly but the promised rain didn’t show so we were happy. The kids were happy because they didn’t have to wear their snowsuits like last year.

Hey mom, look at what I'm colouring

We arrived early to get our curbside seat. A family near us had brought a bag of chalk which was a great idea. They let the kids take a piece and cover University Avenue (at least where we were sitting) with pictures and messages to Santa. My two girls were right into drawing on the road (my son’s not very keen on drawing so he passed).

My youngest got right into her drawing by laying down on her tummy colouring away, oblivious of the thousands of people around her. A reporter from one of the community papers took a picture of her (with my permission of course).

But then a young man, maybe in his twenties, came up and commented on my daughter, saying she was such a cute baby (what baby, my daughter’s two, almost three) and asked if he could take her picture. He was with a young woman, but I thought it was a strange request. Yes my kids are cute, all moms think that and it’s a wonderful compliment if a stranger agrees, but I’ve never had someone not in media ask to take her picture.

Of course my instant mommy protector mode kicked in and a fained an excuse that she really doesn’t like her picture being taken (ha) and that was the end of it; they walked away. Of course they may have gone and taken a snap of her without my knowledge; having kids out in public, you can’t guarantee that doesn’t happen, but I didn’t see them even standing nearby.

Perhaps the request was completely innocent and they did just want a picture because she was doing something cute, but you can never be sure. And when it comes to my kids I’d rather err on the side of caution.

Has something like this ever happened to you?

Review: Jumpstart Escape from Adventure Island Wii Game November 14, 2009

Not that long ago our family had a chance to review JumpStart’s 3D World, an online learning environment, as well as JumpStart Pet Rescue Wii game.

We’re big fans of JumpStart so the kids were tickled pink when given the chance to review Knowledge Adventure’s newest Wii game: Escape from Adventure Island.

Game Synopsis

During an emergency landing on Adventure Island the blimp you and Frankie were traveling in gets damaged. Now you’re on a mission to collect sand dollars, which you’ll trade in for helium tanks to fix your blimp. Complete challenges to earn either white or gold sand dollars.

Story and Practice Modes

The game is played in Story Mode, where you help Frankie complete various challenges, like letter recognition, math problems or just following instructions, and earn a sand dollar. There are various levels to each challenge making it easily adaptable to your child’s skill level now and as they improve. You can practice some of the skills you will need to complete the challenges with educational games in Practice Mode.

On Land or in Water

JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island has two main areas: the Island Hub, where kids play and learn above the water or the Scuba Hub where your jumpee is dressed in scuba gear and you can explore and play under water. Both of my kids loved the Scuba Hub in this game; this environment wasn’t something offered in the JumpStart Pet Rescue game. My son spent most of his time underwater. My son wanted to get right into the game; he didn’t even adjust or customize the default jumpee character.

My daughter missed the fact that there weren’t worlds to explore (in JumpStart Pet Rescue there were more locations to jump to). She also missed the pet adoption aspect. But I think it’s great that the two games are different; you would play them for a different experience.

Improved Use of the Wii-mote

I remember one of my disappointments with the JumpStart’s Pet Rescue game was the lack of intuitive use with the Wii-mote. Well that isn’t an issue with JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island. Watching the kids play, they turn and twist and point the Wii-mote; they seem more involved in the game.

But What do the Kids Think

Rated E for Everyone

The JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island game for the Wii has been rated Everyone (E) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board which means ‘it has content suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.‘ The game play seemed pretty similar to the JumpStart Pet Rescue which received an Early Childhood (EC) rating.

In Stores

JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island for the Wii (recommended for ages 5 to 9) will be available in major retailers starting November 17, 2009 for $29.99US

Time to Escape and WIN

Knowledge Adventure, the creatures of the JumpStart games is running an amazing contest. Visit their blog and tell them how your family uses imagination to escape the everyday and turn life into and adventure. Your story could win one (1) of fifty (50) copies of JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island or maybe even one (1) of the three (3) Grand Prize Family Escape Packs (valued at over $1000). Contest closes November 16 so be quick.

* a review copy of JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island was provided by Knowledge Adventure

Practicing for Winter November 13, 2009

You may remember the video of my son and younger daughter doing their crazy slide tricks. I thought that was bad enough until I turned around and caught my two older kids doing this:

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that my son came up with the ‘bright’ idea. I mean, he’s the one with the creative way to solve those pesky slide puzzles.

And when asked what made him do it: Winter’s coming and we want to tobogganing but we don’t have snow yet. It’s almost like tobogganing down the big hill.

Hopefully the snow will arrive before a trip to the emergency room.

I love Disneyland but… November 13, 2009

You may be aware that I made a trip to Disneyland this past Halloween in celebration of my birthday. I’ve been to Disney World a few times but this would be my first time to Disneyland, where it all began. It was kind of exciting.

I had a great time but Disneyland isn’t the same as Disney World and I’m not just talking weather or size. In my opinion, the only connection Disneyland has to Disney is the name. The things I love about Disney World weren’t part of my Disneyland experience or at least they weren’t that obvious:

**** Photo Pass ****

At Disney World there are PhotoPass photographers throughout the park, at all parks. They take pictures of you at key locations and save them on your PhotoPass card which you can order from later. They’re usually super kind enough to take pictures of you with your own camera too. We’ve never really taken advantage of the PhotoPass photographers but on this trip, probably my only trip to Disneyland, I had decided to get photos at every spot I could and order a CD with all the pictures. As the family photographer in our house I’m not in many family vacation shots, so having a collection of pictures of my family AND me would have been great.

Problem of course, the PhotoPass photographers were nowhere to be found (I think we had one picture taken). Even during the special Mickey’s Not So Scary  Halloween Trick or Treat party they weren’t there. So needless to say I have very few family shots from this trip.

Shhh...pin negotiating in progress

**** Pin Trading ****

Our kids were first introduced to pin trading during out last trip to Disney World and they loved it, especially my seven-year old daughter. All three of my kids have pin trading books at home and they plan which sets they want to collect and have an amazing time trading with the staff.

In Disney World you can’t pass a staff person without a sash of pins up for trading; even those cleaning up in the stores have these on. In Disneyland we were hard pressed to find anyone with pins to trade. On our Disney World trip the kids went through almost 100 pins in one week; in Disneyland we were lucky to have traded 10 pins. A bit of a disappointment.

Then she met the real Cinderella

**** Costumed Characters ****

My youngest was so excited about going to Disneyland. On the plane ride there (two planes actually) all she talked about was seeing Mickey and Cinderella and the other characters. In Disney World there are designated areas to see certain characters, but walking around the parks we would see Captain Hook or  Buzz Lightyear or Chip and Dale walking around, waiting to greet people. Our whole trip we saw Goofy and Minnie Mouse and that was it (though there were more characters at the Halloween Party).

**** For the little Princesses/Princes ****

My first trip to Disney World, years ago, the first thing that struck me was how much the people in the parks focused on the kids. They talked to them. They called them princess and prince. The kids are the focus and parents second, which is what I want for a trip to Disney. This has stuck with me and is one of my favourite things about Disney World; something that I thought was  a Disney trait. But in Disneyland this isn’t the case. Sadly I didn’t feel a lot of Disney magic in the park.

I think my husband said it best:  Disney World is a destination. Disneyland is only a theme park.

And I think he’s right. Visiting Disneyland was just like visiting Wonderland or Six Flags but with the Disney name attached.

The big advantage to Disneyland is it’s size; it’s much smaller and easier to get around and to the other parks. Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney all branch off from a central courtyard so it’s easy to hit all three without taking a bus (not true in Disney World). And there are some differences in the rides too. Haunted Mansion has the Nightmare Before Christmas theme and it was amazing. It’s worth the trip to Disneyland just to see that. Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean were different (and I actually preferred the Disneyland versions), plus there are all new rides.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time, but I expected a little more from Disney; Disney World has set the bar high. If given the choice of travelling to Disney World or Disneyland, Disney World would be my choice hands down. And good thing because we’re back there in December for the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I can’t wait!

Write a Review Wednesday: Adding With Sebastian Pig and Friends At the Circus November 10, 2009

Welcome to another Write a Review Wednesday, a meme started by Tara Lazar as a way to show support to authors of kids literature. Last week I talked about the first book in Chronicle Books’ delightful girl series Ivy and Bean (age 6-10), written by Annie Barrows and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. This week I’m switching gears and looking at the non-fiction book Adding with Sebastian Pig and Friends At the Circus (age 6 to 9), written by Jill Anderson and illustrated by Amy Huntington. I have to thank Lisa from Enslow Publishers for my review copy.

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Sebastian the pig is off to the circus and wants to keep track of all the different performers he sees. He carries with him a handy notebook to record his numbers and add them up. Perhaps you can help him.

My daughter loves math. Yup, you read that right. I think that’s great. I remember loving math too. But math doesn’t have to be all about worksheets and drills. When I first read about the book Adding with Sebastian Pig and Friends at the Circus on Enslow Publishers website, I thought this would be an ideal book for my daughter. It incorporates math into a story.

I must admit they didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about reading the book the first time. I’m partly to blame. I think they were expecting more of a bedtime story and I pulled this book out. But as I started to read the story they started to listen. I did find some of the writing a little clumsy; I don’t think it was necessary to break the story into chapters. However, the simple text does make it ideal for beginning readers. As for the kids, they enjoyed the animal antics depicted in the illustrations. The inclusion of Sebastian’s notebook in the bottom corner of each page spread worked well and was a real help with the addition. The illustrations sometimes made it difficult to clearly count all the characters, so having the notebook with very clear images made counting and adding a breeze.

As we went through each page my oldest daughter asked me to cover the addition answers so she could figure out the problem on her own. My five-year old son got into the addition fun too. Even my young two-year old loved counting the animals. She could easily count the heads on Sebastian’s notebook page. The numbers written on each head helped reinforce the counting. A combination of the image on the page, the illustration of animal heads on the notebook as well as the actual addition equation helped with understanding how addition works. I also liked that some addition vocabulary was used and explained in the book too (like sum, and dozen). My daughter loves math, but this book might help explain addition to a child who isn’t so keen on math.

In addition to the story, no pun intended, there is a handy addition table at the back of the book covering numbers from one to ten, plus some suggested reading and websites to further enhance your child’s interest in math. Adding with Sebastian Pig and Friends at the Circus is part of the series Math Fun with Sebastian Pig and Friends. You can get other Sebastian Pig books on subtracting, measuring, money, as well as counting and finding shapes.

You can add Adding with Sebastian Pig and Friends at the Circus to your own library by visiting Amazon.ca. Looking for other great books? Checkout past Write a Review Wednesday posts.