Is God Real or Pretend?–Book Review

I was given a copy of the book “Is God Real or Pretend?” from TLC Book Tours.

My first impression of this book wasn’t great.  It looked cheap.  You can see the words from the page behind throughout the entire thing.  I don’t know if it’s something that will be fixed in future publications or not. 

Within the first few pages the main character of the book, Franklin, reveals that there is no such thing as Santa Claus.  I don’t know about you but I know in our house Santa Claus is very real!  We are a family of firm believers and that includes Anthony and myself.  Needless to say, I was not impressed with that.  I was glad that this was a book I chose to read on my own for review.  I wasn’t sure what the content would be and didn’t just want to hand it over to my children as soon as we got it.  What a sad day that would have been!  (For the record, Miss K has known how the magic of Santa Claus works for a couple of years now.  Miss A just learned this past Christmas season.  If Miss H had been the one to read the book she would have been devastated.  Anthony and I have a very special way that we go about this subject.  Santa Claus IS real.  That’s another post for another day.)

So almost immediately I was turned off from this book.  It continues on and talks about Franklin’s findings through many different religions and what they believe about God.  While I’m sure that much of the information is true, I am somewhat of a skeptic when it comes to any one person or group writing about another’s religion.  From personal investigating I know that much of that kind of research is often misconstrued.  The author doesn’t always know what they are talking about, only able to draw from word of mouth, things they’ve heard, and possibly a google search.  I’m not saying that this is the case with this author.  I just know that my particular faith is a very misunderstood religion around the globe and when things are written about my church it is often only partially true or completely untrue. 

While the different insights to how different religions perceive God was interesting I wouldn’t say that this is must have book for my library. 

**And now you know that even when I get a book (or any product) for review I will always tell you the truth about what I think about it.  ;)

Brady Needs a Nightlight- Book Review

I was a given a copy of this book for review by TLC Book Tours.  Please know that all opinions are my own.  I would never recommend something that I don’t love.

Meet Brady… a bat.  Bats are not supposed to be afraid of the dark.  But Brady is.  How is he supposed to get any sleep in the cave when all he can do is think about is his fear of the dark?  And then he meets the fireflies. 

This book is written in a cute stanza poem format which I love.  It flows well and the story is very relatable to a child.  We really liked it at our house.  My kids thought was engaging and sweet.  The little fireflies become the heroes and it’s great to see Brady make some friends.  It was so refreshing to come across a book like this that is well written and captures the imaginations of children.  And the illustrations are great, though I have to admit that I would never have pegged that to be a bat without being told.  ;)

I guarantee that your kids will love it just like mine did.  It’s written by Brian Barlics who is a pediatrician.  I hope that he writes more books like this.

Brady Needs a Nightlight is highly recommended. 

The Remarkable Ronald Reagan–Book Review

TLC Book Tours gave my family the opportunity to review this book. 

Ronald Reagan just so happens to be one of my favorite presidents so I was happy to do it!  ;)  I learned several things about him that I didn’t already know.  For one, I had no idea that was married to someone else before Nancy. 

It was fun for the kids to learn about him as well.  They loved that he had so many different jobs (including acting) before he was the President. 

I knew that he was an actor but do you know how many different movies he was in?  I was shocked when I found out!  Nope, not gonna tell, you’ll have to read the book to find out.  But it’s way more than the 2 or 3 I thought it was…..

President Reagan had a great sense of humor and great insight for our country.  We could definitely use a few more leaders like him. 

Truly, this book was a great read.  Story format instead of poetry this time.  The kids missed spotting the hidden object as in past books I’ve reviewed but this is a different author than the others.  We really did enjoy it.  And there are a lot of extra goodies at the end.  Kind of like Bonus Features!  ;)  I would be ok with a book like this about every president!

**I was given this book at no charge in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed herein are my own.  I was not required to give a positive review. 

Millie Fierce!–Book Review

It’s book review time again!  This one is NOT about a mouse ;). 

This time we received Millie Fierce by Jane Manning. 

It’s about a little girl who is quiet, mindful, and almost invisible.  She always receives the smallest piece of cake at birthday parties and is hardly noticed at all during show and tell at school or anywhere else for that matter.  Until one day, some girls from school walk across her sidewalk drawing and smudge it. 

THAT is when Millie becomes fierce!! 

And everyone around her notices.  She is loud, rude, trouble-making, and mean!  She likes the attention.  Finally they all start to ignore her and then Millie feels bad.  This is when she realizes that she enjoys being nice far better than being fierce. 

Cute book, really and there is a message there though I didn’t feel it was quite as bold as it could have been.  Maybe I would have liked to have seen more details, maybe I could have known a little more about Millie.  I think it’s definitely targeted to a younger audience, maybe 4-6 years old.  My girls liked it but thought it to be a little young for them. 

I really appreciate TLC Book Tours allowing me to review this book. 

Woodrow for President–Book Review

Once again I was asked to do a review for TLC Book Tours.  I figured we liked the last book so much, why not? 

This time we got to review Woodrow for President.  It’s about a mouse nation and Woodrow Washingtail who runs for President. 

What a darling way to present the process of how candidates become candidates, how the different parties choose their delegates, and just the entire process of how a President is chosen.  But my favorite part is that throughout the fun, poetic charm of the text it is repeatedly talking about how it is our duty and responsibility to vote.  And not only that but become educated about the candidates and their different positions.

At the end there is even a contract for both the parents and the children to sign pledging that you will uphold your duty to your country by taking part in the voting process.  (I must admit that I have never voted… EVER!  I’ve never felt educated enough about the delegates or their stances to vote.  But after reading this book I’m feeling more of a sense of pride and obligation to find out these things and make my vote.)

It’s very similar to the last review I did in the sense that the main character is a mouse and the fact that it’s written in the fun poetic way.  There’s even a ‘spy mouse’ to find in each image.  Kind of the Where’s Waldo thing again which the kids love.  This time, however, there were no similarities to real life events or characters.  They were all fictional and yet it got the point across very well.

I’m so glad that we were able to review this book!  Highly recommended!