Sunday Morning With Kids – Delayed Yara’s Tawari Tree

Of course, I’m a few days late and always a dollar or two short, but I have made a vow to do this and I will not neglect what I’ve promised to do.Also, I have a marvelous book that I was dying to share with you so shame on me for being too scattered to correctly set the date on my posts! Bad Mackey!

On the bank of the river, in a house made of wood,

Close to the place where our scared seedling stood,

A hard-working mother and her kindhearted child,

Lived freely together, eating food from the wild.

Yara and her mother live in the rain forest but, sadly it is slowly being destroyed by those who want to use its beautiful big trees for lumber and other chemicals. Yara and her mother work very hard to care for the forest, to nurture and give back to the forest and all those who live within it. One day, when Yara falls dangerously ill, the forest finds a way to return the love by helping to heal Yara with the magic of the Tawari tree.

Yara and the Tawari Tree is very simply told book written in rhyming verse that is perfect for young children who still love to be read to or for younger readers who enjoy reading verse. The children that I read this to absolutely adored the sing-song rhythm of the text which was furthered enhanced with the absolutely brilliant and colorful illustrations which burst off the pages with their vibrancy. Most importantly, this book teaches children about the importance the rainforest and the value that it offers to all of us. From rare species of plants and animals, flora, fauna and its contribution to our delicate climate balance, the rainforest is a resource far too important to lose. Yara’s Tawari Tree is the first in a what will become a picture book series showing children how all living things on our beautiful planet depend on one another.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough! The entire series will find a home on our library shelf!

Thank you to #Netgalley, #YossiLapid and #IBPA for my copy of this marvelous book. If you would like to know more about #YaraAndHerMysteryTree , and the kids I read to absolutely did, here is a link with information on the Tawari Tree. It’s fascinating stuff!

If you have a book that you’ve reviewed for Sunday Morning with Kids, please link up with us here. One blog that I want to share with you is Reading Tonic. Her post on Sunday, Wish, is absolutely wonderful. Be sure to take a look.

 

 

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#SundayMorningForKids featuring The Saga of Baby Divine! by Bette Midler

Whoo hoo!!!  I’ve been waiting all week for Sunday to come around again so we could celebrate Sunday Morning for Kids and share our favorite kids books!!

Today is my daughter’s birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY – so I thought I would share one of her favorite books published the year she was born. Omgosh, that’s make both us very YOUNG!!!  🙂   The Divine Ms. M was extremely popular, well she still is, but she was the rage that year and she wrote a children’s book that reflected her outrageous personality, a book that she wished had been around for girls like her when she was a wee one. After reading The Saga of Baby Divine, I totally understood what she meant!!

When the Divines have a baby she isn’t quite like the rest of the babies they’ve known or seen. The first thing they realize is that their baby comes with high heels and a grand curl of red hair on her head. But the greatest shock for the poor Divines is their child could already say one word and that word was “MORE!” The poor Divines did not have clue  what to do with their unusual child. But lurking around were three very smart chicks who knew how to care for the marvelous Baby Divine! They whisked her away on moonbeams and shadows and taught her about laughter and joy. They teach her about singing and dancing and fun and made sure that she knew about MORE! But the best gift they gave her, which lasted her whole life through, was this:

“Make sure that your life is a Rare Entertainment! It doesn’t take anything drastic,  You needn’t be gorgeous or wealthy or smart – just very enthusiastic!”

If I read this book once, I had to have read it a thousand times over the years to each of my kids. The tongue-twisting rhymes are marvelous, the illustrations will leave you breathless and there’s even songs to sing throughout! It truly is a book made to order for those kids who love to shine.

Over the years, I’ve watched this book’s popularity rise and fall. Right now there are those, like my daughter, who are scrambling to find it for their own kids because they loved this book so much. There also are those who never really read it who assume it is about greed, material possessions and hubris. It is not. In fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Midler grew up an overweight, large nosed, curly red-headed Jewish girl who teased her unmercifully every day of her life. She dreamed of flying away at night to a land where she was divine, funny, brilliant, love and accepted. That is what we all want. Every single child who lives wants to be loved. Throughout their lives kids will be told to sit, stand, put their hands by their side, fit in, blend in, don’t stand out, follow the crowd. Sometimes, rarely, there are those who do not! They soar, they shine, they jump, they sing, they glow and they want MORE!!!! Molly grew up to be a climate negotiator for the US State Department and a key author of the Paris Agreement.  She was a homeschooled girl who was told she never would get accepted into the big league universities because she was homeschooled but she asked for MORE.  I say this because books matter. Reading books that encourage your kids to excel, matters. Letting their imagination grow off of the charts matters. Allow them to ride into the night on moonbeams and always want MORE! Who ever achieved anything in life wanting LESS?

You can find a used copy of The Saga of Baby Divine on Amazon. I hope you’ll give it a read. Now, what are you reading this week? Have you found a delightful new kids book that has captured your imagination? Share it with us….

 

 

 

Sunday Morning for Kids featuring Pip the Gnome and the Forest Feast

Happy Sunday! Yesterday I was reading my blogger friend, Carla’s, post “Saturday Morning for Kids” and thought it was a wonderful idea. As you know, I’ve been reviewing kids books on Sunday because that was the time when I would chill with my neighbors and read. So, I’ve combined the best of both worlds to bring you Sunday Morning for Kids here at Macsbooks with HUGE gratitude to Carla at Carla Loves to Read. Please be sure to check out her blog – she’s terrific!! You can read her on Saturday and come here on Sunday – TADA!

During the holidays I downloaded the most adorable book assuming it was for the Christmas season, after all, it had an elf on the cover. Silly me, it wasn’t an elf! It was a GNOME!!! I have become enamored with Gnomes recently and I should have known better but I was in an elfish kind of spirit and not thinking. Pip the GNOME and the Forest Feast by Admar Kwant, is part of series for very young or brand new readers. It encourages young children to learn very important life lessons. In the Forest Feast, Pip is gathering food from the forest for a marvelous meal that he preparing for all of his forest friends. Everyone throughout the forest is invited and they all come to enjoy what he has prepared. Soon, it becomes obvious, however, that he has left nothing at all for himself. Oh dear, his friends think, what shall we do?

Pip the Gnome and the Forest Feast is a delightful book that helps guide children to embrace the joy of sharing so that everyone can enjoy something and no one is left with nothing. It is, perhaps, a lesson that we all need to learn. What sets this book apart from so many others is the incredible illustrations! I am, as you know, a enthusiast for great art and page after glorious page of color-washed images will keep children of all ages captivated. While I thoroughly enjoyed Pip, I suspect it might be geared more toward pre-school, early readers, those who are being read to and enjoy a nice book before bedtime.

Thank you to #Edelweiss, #IngramPublishing and the author, #AdmarKwant for my copy of #PiptheGnomeandtheForestFeast

Sunday’s Mini-Reviews: Stanley the Walrus and Aya and Papaya Meet the BIG little Creatures

When I was young all the way through high school, Sunday afternoons were a time set aside specifically for reading and listening to music on the stereo. Yes, I know, I’m that old. 😉 While my parents listened to “cowboy western” songs, my neighbors only listened to classical music. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in my neighbor’s study reading and enjoying the classics, both books and music. With that in mind, I thought Sunday’s would be good time to share reviews of children’s books. I adore children’s and middle school aged books. It was during this time I that developed my love of reading (and music) and I can only hope that some of the books I share here will do the same for others.

AYA and PAPAYA and the BIG little CREATURES

You may recall that I shared a review about Aya and Papaya last week. You can read that REVIEW HERE. Now Aya and her little doll, Papaya are back, along with her neighbor, Sammy and his doll, Bamboo. It is warming up and outside and they want to explore in the play-castle at the far end of the garden. However, in order to get there, they have go all the way through the garden! That means they have to be brave enough to go past all of the wiggly, creeping, crawly things that live there! Of course, soon the kids learn that all of these creatures are necessary to make the garden healthy and to grow and soon they are on their way to play along with all of their new flying, crawling, creeping friends.
I adore Aya and her insatiable curiosity about the world. More importantly, I love the illustrators who design for this series!! The colors are vivid and bold and absolutely perfect for children for whom this book is targeted. I cannot get enough of this duo and I’m quite sure that your pre-school aged kids will feel the same way! I highly recommend #AyaandPapayaandtheBiglittleCreatures   This book is available now through @TroubadorPub who provided my copy to me. Thank you!!

STANLEY the WALRUS

Poooorrrr Stanley!!! Stanley the Walrus has a bit of a problem; he stinks. Yep. Stanley doesn’t like to brush his tusks and over time, well, his breath has become rather stinky. YUCK!! But Stanley has fallen in love with Stella and he will do whatever it takes to win Stella’s love – including …brushing his TUSKS!

This was a super cute book that had a very hypnotic, sing-song rhythm to it with each phrase ending in “brush your tusk.” While I grew bored rather quickly with the sheer number of words that rhymed with tusks (I had NO idea!) the children I was reading it to, ages 2 and 4, were mesmerized by the illustrations and the delightful rhyme. Obviously it hit the target audience perfectly! I had such a difficult time getting my own kiddos to brush their teeth when they were small and I suspect that Stanley and Stella would be a great help in that area. If you keep this book geared to the younger pre-school ages, then it should a great addition to your library.

Thank you to #Netgalley for both of these books and to #KoboWritingLife for my copy of #StanleytheWalrus by Sherri Funk and Dave Watland

 

Aya and Papya Find Happiness

It’s Sunday and believe it not it is a very rainy but very warm day here in the midwestern US. I actually love rainy Sundays because it means day to curl up with a good book and read and that makes me super happy. That sounds simple enough, right? Which is exactly what Aya and Papya Find Happiness is all about – finding what makes you happy!

Aya and Papya Find Happiness is a darling children’s book written and illustrated especially for the pre-reader otherwise known as pre-school aged child. Aya is a young girl who has woken up to discover that she is unhappy and no matter where she looks, she simply can not find where her happiness has gone. After searching high and low, everywhere possible, she discovers that her happiness was inside herself all along. It’s a simple story but one with a lesson that is very important to teach young ones: others cannot make or influence your emotions, only you can do that. As adults so often we teach children that other people make them happy or sad or angry or mad, then as adults we have to “unlearn” that behavior. This book helps children learn an important life lesson correctly from the beginning. Yes, of course, there are times when a child will feel sad, depressed, lonely or angry and those are legitimate feelings as well. But sometimes, kids are grumpy and books like Aya and Papaya helps them learn to self-comfort, a good tool for life.
In addition to teachable moments, I also look for good illustrations in children’s books. There is no point in writing a book for kids if you are not going to illustrate it properly. I recently purchased a book that had amazing line drawings but every picture was in stark black and white. For the ages for which it was intended, that was not acceptable. Children need and want colorful, well expressed illustrations and this book is filled with them from beginning to end. As you might have guessed from the title, there is a multi-cultural theme to the book – also a wonderful reason to include it into your children’s home library. Glowing stars all around for this beautifully told, wonderfully illustrated book.

Thank you to #Netgalley and @Matadorbooks for my copy of #AyaandPapayaFindHappiness on sale now at Amazon.