Storytime Sunday (Book Reviews)

"White Rabbit"

by Michael E. Schultz

"White Rabbit" is the story of a stray Beagle who goes from home to home because of different circumstances.  He goes by a few different names in the story such as Dee-O-Gee, Floyd, Henry, and Barny.  The book takes you through a big range of emotions as happy and sad things happen to the Beagle. 

My daughter and I read the book together and our favorite parts were when he finds the old farmer, when he finds the right home, and when he hunts rabbits. 

We were really able to relate to this story because we had a female Beagle who was a stray when we found her.  She loved to hunt rabbits too, just like the Beagle in the story.

We also thought that his dream about the bull in the field was a nice touch.  And we liked that the story was written from the Beagle's point of view.  The author tells us at the beginning that the Beagle (Barny at the time) wanted him to help him write his life story.

This would make a great book for anyone from a teenager on up. 

To purchase your own copy of "White Rabbit" you can do so by going here. 

Disclaimer:  I received the above book for free from Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. in exchange for my review but all opinions are my own.

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

Mommy in PA says:

We talked about book series a couple of weeks ago so I just wanted to add a little more to that topic.

I am lucky to have a mom who held on to a lot of the books I had as a child.  When my daughter started reading I was able to pass my books along to her.  Now my son has all of my old elementary aged books and my daughter has all of my more teenage aged books.  A series that we all love is the "If You Give..." series. 

I got "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" when I was in elementary school.  When my seven year old started to bring book order forms home back when he was in kindergarten I started to notice a lot of "If You Give..." books so we started to add to our collection.  These are very affordable books and when my son gets tired of them I will put them away and save them for his children, maybe they can add to the collection too.

Disclaimer:  I received nothing in exchange for this review, all opinions are my own.

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

Princess Rachel

This weeks Storytime Sunday is "Princess Rachel"

Written By: Jorge R. Guerra

Okay so i sat down with my own three "princesses" to read this story and we talked about the pictures!! very colorful and lots of them , my girls like the pictures because it helps them to see the story more clearly!

The story is about a girl who has everything she could ever want including a castle to live in, a forest and large yard to play in, all the toys and games you can think of, and she played with the forest animals........she has all of this stuff and is still very sad and lonely because she has no friends to share her things with.

She wanders outside the castle walls and forest i n search of new friends because she wants to share her games and toys and her large home with them!!

As she walks through the forest she comes across a playground full of children.  The children stopped playing so they could ask who she was, and where she was from, and why she dressed so fancy.

she answered all of the questions and told them she was looking for friends, 4 of the children went back to the castle with her and played, the 5 children became very good friends and the princess was happy!!!!

My 9 year old and 6 year old said "It was a really good story and I like it!"

My 7 year old said: " I think the point of the story is that you should love your fiends and always share, don't be selfish!"

This is a good story to read and enjoy.  The value is as my 7 year old said, don't take your friends for granted because you would be very lonely and sad without them!!!!

Disclaimer:This story was provided to me for free from dorrance publishing in exchange for my honest review But all opinions are my childrens' and my own.

 

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

"The Fourth Fisherman"

By: Joe Kissack

 Mommy in PA says:   The book I chose to review from WaterBrook Press was "The Fourth Fisherman".  It is the story of five fishermen who set out on a normal fishing trip from San Blas in Mexico and end up adrift at sea for over nine months.  Two of them never made it home again, losing their lives at sea. 

  The thing I didn't really care for about the book is that it isn't just about the fishermen, it is also about the author and his own personal struggles with his job, over the counter drugs, and his marriage (which if I would have looked more closely at the title I would have seen the small print below stating "How Three Mexican Fishermen Who Came Back from the Dead Changed My Life and Saved My Marriage).  I immediately thought that this would not be the book for me. 

  I loved the parts about the fishermen but the author alternates the chapters at the beginning of the book.  They'll be one chapter about him and then a chapter about the fisherman.  I would much rather read the whole thing about the fishermen first and then about him or vice versa.  Maybe it would have been better if the chapters were more similar to each other than they were. 

It did make sense though as it was a story of survival of the fishermen and survival of the man's marriage.  It was also similar in that they had used their faith in God to help them survive.  The last few chapters were very hard for me to read because they mainly focused on the author and how he was going about trying to get the fishermen to agree to a deal for the movie rights and finding a company to help make it a reality.  Then it goes back to talking about his marriage again.  I felt like I was being dragged in so many different directions. 

All in all an OK read but I was more interested in the fishermen parts.

You can purchase your own copy by going here.

Disclaimer:  I received this book free in exchange for my review from WaterBrook Multnomah Press but all opinions are my own. 

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

This week for storytime sunday mommy in Ga would like to share a tip!!  My 9 year old daughter and my 7 year old daughter love the books that are series rather than single books, they are a lot like me and love to get to know the characters and the backgrounds, they like to get drawn into the story!

Another great thing about the series are that they are the gift that keep giving! My kids go back to school tomorrow and if you look through all the scholastic fliers that get sent home you can order the series through them or your local book store online or even at walmrt, they make great birthday presents, or Christmas presents, a fun treat for if they have been good or have done the chores. 



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

My 9 year olds favorite are the Magic Tree House series.  She LOVES them, when she starts reading she doesn't want to put it down until she is finished with the entire book.

Some other great series that range in ages are:

Diary Of a Wimpy Kid
Harry Potter
39 Clues
Fancy Nancy
Junie B Jones
Moody Judy
and of course Dr. Seuss

These are just to name a few and most of these are popular hits right here in my house!!  Hopefully this storytime Sunday has been helpful to you and hope to see you here next week!!!!!

Disclaimer: I have not received any compensation for this post and all opinions are my own.

 

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

"The Tale of a Turtle Who Learned a Good Lesson"

ByWilliam K. Zimmer

Illustrated by Judith A. Zimmer-Baker

  This week's Storytime Sunday is about "The Tale of a Turtle Who Learned a Good Lesson" by William K. Zimmer.  Tobias is a box turtle who lives under a fallen tree in a meadow near a pond.   Tobias starts out as a very grumpy turtle who complained a lot about his shell.  He would see the lizards running all about and felt very jealous of them and how they could move so quickly and gracefully. 

Tobias didn't really talk to anyone but the one day when he returns to the fallen tree he meets a toad named Lumpy.  Lumpy tries to explain to Toby, short for Tobias, that the lizards are fast but they don't seem very friendly.  Soon Toby and Lumpy are the best of friends.  Toby even ends up saving Lumpy's life from a snake by using his shell to protect him.  But Toby still doesn't see the value of having his shell.

One day, when Toby was going for his usual walk to the berry patch he happens upon an evil vulture who tells Toby that there is a magical place he can go to loose his shell.  The vulture tells him to travel to this magical place and that he will meet him there in three days.  Well the magical place ends up being the highway and we all know what vultures like to eat. 

Luckily for Toby, Lumpy found out where he was going and the story ends up having a happy ending.  Toby also ends up having a dream about his shell coming off and the snake being able to eat him.  He then realizes how scary it would be to not have his shell. 

This is a great story to let people understand to accept themselves just the way they are.  I love how the author totally immerses you into the surroundings in the beginning with all the details about the pond, the brook, and the meadow where Tobias lives.  The pictures are also very beautiful though my seven year old and I both agree that more pictures would be better as this is a pretty long story and he was losing interest between pages. 

The author had me a little worried at the part where Tobias has the dream about losing his shell.  See I didn't realize it was just a dream and thought that the author believed a turtle could come out of his shell like that.  I almost shut the book and didn't read the rest but figured I better keep reading.  I was relieved when I understood what the author had done there. 

 

So to sum up, great story, great lesson for everyone, great pictures.  We would have liked to see more pictures. 

"The Tale of a Turtle Who Learned a Good Lesson" is published by Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc.  and can be purchased by going here.

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. in exchange for my review but all opinions remain my own.

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

Calabash Tales

Written by:

Penny P. Abrams

Illustration by:

Mikki

Today for storytime sunday mommy in Ga is reviewing The Calabash Tales.  I picked this book to review by letting my girls' look through all the books to choose from and they thought this one was pretty cool.  We like the art work on the cover too!!

The story was very touching! It is about a young iguana named Greenie who is friends with an older named Old Fred iguana.   they start talking about the beach and Greenie wants to see it, he can't believe Old Fred has been to the beach.  Fred tells Greenie he will show him the beach so, they make the long trip to see it.  They meet several new friends on the way!

The 2 iguanas think the adventure is over once they finally make it to the beach but, it turns out it has only begun because Old Fred realizes there is about to be a hurricane.  Old Fred tells Greenie they need to make a shelter and collect food and water because when the hurricane comes it will ruin everything.  All of the new friends they met laughed at them or thought they would survive even if a storm came so none of the friends' made a shelter but, they were nice enough to help the iguanas make theirs.

The hurricane comes and to make the story short and not ruin the book (because i think yall should purchase it!!!) and the friends' were not safe but, the iguanas were nice and safe in the shelter although  it was still scary!  After the storm they went out to find their friends and help them clean up. 

After all the friends were safe Greenie made another new friend, a young iguana that looked just like him, his name was Jumper.  Greenie took him back to his home, the Garden and the Iguanas became a bigger and happier family!

I read this story to my three girls and their cousin, and i asked them for feedback here is what they said.

Moral of the story by my 7 year old and her 7 year old cousin:  2 lizards that have friends teaching you to work together and make a shelter, also be nice and help somebody who does.'t have a family and they also taught that friends' can take friends' to new places.

my 6 year old said:  I liked the end because they were telling the mom stuff.  I liked the beginning  and i didn't like the middle but, i don't know why

My 7 year old:  I liked it at the beginning when he went to see the beach and i liked the end because they were a bigger family oh and when they saved their friends'!!  I didn't like it when the big storm scared Greenie.

My 7 year old niece:  It was long and i didn't like it.  But, i did like the end when they had a bigger family.  ( I swear to yall i thought she was going to say she liked the end because it was over...lol!!!!!!!!!!!)

My 9 year old:  I liked everything (she is my child of many words!!)

My opinion is that this is a very good story and yall should read it with your families it teaches many good lessons and also has great illustration, All of the kids made great points, as far as being to long i made them sit through all 59 pages at one time, so that was probably my fault!!!

Disclaimer:  I received this book from dorrance publisher in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

 

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

"Bengal and Sengal"

by Ellie

Today's Storytime Sunday is "Bengal and Sengal" by Ellie.  It is published by Dorrance Publishing Co.,Inc. and can be purchased by going here.

"Bengal and Sengal" is a book about a mother tiger named Tigress who gives birth to two playful male cubs that she names Bengal and Sengal.  Bengal is the more playful one of the two where as Sengal is the more responsible one.  Bengal has a habit of getting into quite a bit of mischief.  This reminds me a lot of normal kittens in how they all have very unique personalities.  We could easily relate to this part having cats and kittens of our own. 

The author does a great job describing how the cubs acted when they were playing and I really like the fact that she used rhyming names. 

As it always goes the cubs grow up and end up going their separate ways to start families of their own.  Sengal meets a female and they have two cubs named Jenny and Benny.  Again, we really love those names. 

Bengal who up to this point had been the "slacker" of the family had to learn some responsibility, and he did.  He found a female and they also had two cubs named Jingle and Jangle.  Tigress had always wished that Bengal would have a cub that was just like he was as a youngster.  And Jingle was just that, always getting into trouble just like his father. 

We really liked the end of the story when it said that the two families had such a good time together that they decided to live together.  It really made for a nice, happy ending. 

We all liked this story and the illustrations were very pretty (simple and got the point across).  I believe this story would be a great beginning to a series of books about this tiger family.  I was also excited to see that this author is from PA just like us. 

This is a great book for any cat lover, domestic or wild. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book from Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. in exchange for my review but all opinions are my own (and my kiddos).  

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

Firestorm

Written By: Lisa Tawn Bergren

I chose this book based on the fact that I always love a good romance story, I like my books to have a good love story but, also to include a great backround of the main charachters.  I like to get drawn into the story as if i really know them and know exactly what is going on.

I started reading this book and found myself drawn into Reyne's life as if i were right there with her!!!  You feel the happiness and the sadness as if it were actually there, this book is very well written and detailed.

They start out by telling you about her job and the reason that she ends up where she is, It tells you of the dangers of being a firefighter in the forrest from all aspects, she also has a great circle of friends that you will laugh and (if you are anything like me) cry with as well, she falls in love and you are right there with her!!  It touches on every aspect including your faith, but not the pushy kind of faith that some people write about, the right amount that shows you she beleives and why she does, or why she is having trouble recognizing when she needs to have faith.

This is book number 6 in a series and at the end they give you a preview of the next to come, my only regret is i wish i had read all of the books in the series!!!! Here is a brief description of the other 5 books that have me wishing i had done the whole series!!!

 It begins with Refuge: Rachel Johanssen dares Beth Morgan to answer a personal ad, she never dreamed her citified friend would fall for a rancher and become his wife, she also never imagined she herself would fall in love with the city or Dirk Tanner ( a friend and fellow ranch owner to Mattthew Morgan)  Rachel's friend Jake Rierdon likes the ranch life also and meets a love interst in Emily walker.  The shadows from the past threaten the happy future of these couples!!

torchlite is book number 2:  Jake Rierdon's (refuge) sister Julia inherits the family light house.  She sets out to restore the estate with a mysterious strnger named Trevor Kenbridge, she finds he is just the man to help renovate the home, and may also be the man for her.

Pathways is book number 3:  the cousin of Trevor Kenbridge (Torchlite), Bryn Bailey has come to Alaska to tend to those who can not get to traditional care .  She, with the aid of Eli Pierce, a bush pilot are able to reach the most remote people in need of care. A plane crash leaves Bryn looking for pathways back to civilization, god......and love.


Treasure is book number 4:  Dr. Christina Alvarez, roomed with Bryn Bailey (Pathways) at Harvard, is a nautical archeologist.  In search of her ancestories treasure, she meets Mitch Crawford who refusess to help her, in her effort to get his help they may find an even more valuble treasure together!

Chosen is book number 5: Alexana Roarke, friend to Christina Alvarez (Treasure) , is the archeologist  supervisor of a dig in Jerusalem.  She knows she is in danger but refuses to let anything or anyone (Ridge McIntyre is a handsome , world renowned new correspondent who couldn't change her mind) Her stubborness might cost her her life and a future with the man she loves!

I hope you enjoy the book and hopefully you and myself get a chance to look into thfe other 5 books, i am very intrigued by all of them!!

Disclaimer:  The book Firestorm was given to me by Watebrook Press  in exchange for my honest opinion i recieved no other compensation, the opinions are all my own.

You can purchase your own copy of Firestorm or any of the other books in the series by going here.

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

The Little Guitar

by Eric Manos

Illustrated by Eva Serencisova

  "The Little Guitar" is about a little guitar who is built with care by a loving craftsman.  He put a lot of effort into her and in return she played beautiful music.  She loved when people wanted to play her so she always helped them play their best, even playing beautiful notes when they didn't play it quite right. 

Everything was going great for the little guitar when she was purchased by a man to be given to his teenage son as a present.  He was wanting to learn how to play.  The little guitar was so hopeful but things didn't go so well and she ended up forgotten.  At first she was in the closet getting banged and bruised, then she ended up in the attic. 

  Things did get better in the end.  An older man, who used to be a woodworker who loved to play guitar, came to the yard sale that the people were having and got the little guitar for free because nobody wanted her.  The man took her home, fixed her up, and she was again able to play her beautiful music.

  I thought the book was very well written.  It was much better than I had originally expected.  I love when authors put personalities to inanimate objects so that children can relate to them.  I also love the lesson in this story.  No matter how banged up and bruised we get, if you find the right friend they can help put you back together. 

  I read this book to my 7 year old son and 14 year old daughter.  My daughter thought it was O.K. and my son said it was "Good, I guess". 

This would be a good book for kids of all ages (I'd say up to around 10 or so).  The story moves smoothly though I would really have liked to have seen a little more about when the guitar was happy in the beginning.  The pictures are cute and really go well with the story.  All in all, a good read.

"The Little Guitar" is published by Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. and can be purchased by going here.

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc. in return for my review.  All opinions are my own. 

 

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

All I See Are Stripes

By: Teresa White

 

This weeks storytime Sunday is called "All I See Are Stripes"

Written By:Teresa White And Illustrated by: Olivia White and Andrew Lovell.

This book can be purchased from Dorrance Publishing Co by following this link here!!

 

Mommy in Ga says:  I read this story to my 3 youngest children and the little girl i baby-sit the other day and told them to pay attention because i wanted them to tell me what they thought of the story too!!  My 6 year old actually picked this book out.

This story is to teach children about not being afraid of people that are different than yourself.....to quote my 7 year old daughter "It doesn't matter how you look on the outside, It matters how you are on the inside."   (yes i am one proud momma!!!)

The story is about a horse named misty who lives on a farm, in the words of every child we know, she was BORED!!  She did the same things everyday.  She has seen many different kinds of horses since living on the farm but, one day a very different "horse" came to live on the farm with them.  This "horse" was different because he had striped and Misty did not know what to think about that.  Zack ate, walked and ran the same as her (sometimes a little different than her) but, when he talked she could not understand him, the way he looked and talked were different than her and so this made her nervous.  

Misty spent so much time worrying that his stripes were contagious and wondering why he couldn't just talk like her that it took her a long time to really get to know him....he is not a horse at all.........he is a Zebra!!!

This is a well worded book to teach your children that being different is not a bad thing and i loved the illustration as well....Our family enjoyed and i think y'all will too!!!

 

the 9 year old girl i baby-sit said:  That was a pretty awesome book!

My 7 year old daughter said:  I t was like super awesome and it teaches you good lessons.......she mostly liked when misty learned that it was not nice to judge people.  the thing she liked least about this book was When she judged the zebra in the beginning.

My 6 year old daughter said:  Good...(she gave me the thumbs up lol)  her favorite part was seeing the picture of the farm that misty lives on.  Her least favorite part was that sometimes misty was mean

My 2 year old said: Well he did not say much, but he really enjoyed the drawn illustration in the book!!

This book was provided to me for free by dorrance publishing co in exchange for my review, which was only written by the opinions of myself and the kids!!

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

"The Lonely Penguin"

By David C. Lee

  This week's Storytime Sunday is "The Lonely Penguin" by David C. Lee.  It can be purchased from Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. by going here.

 Now I want to start off with the old saying "You can't judge a book by it's cover" which is true for this one because I was totally expecting actual photographs on the inside after seeing the photo on the cover but that was the only photograph in the entire book all other pages were very pretty drawn illustrations. 

 That being said, this is a very cute book.  It starts out with an old woman who makes pillows to support herself financially.  The one pillow she makes ends up doing more than that.  It is a pillow with a cute picture of a smiling, happy penguin on it.  This pillow ends up going on quite an adventure that takes the young reader through the tale of how the pillow goes from person to person to ... penguin.  The pillow meets some bad characters but always ends up getting away from them by some odd circumstances and eventually ends up being just what the lonely penguin needs to make him not so lonely anymore. 

If I said too much more I would be giving away the whole story and this is one of those ones that has a totally unexpected ending. 

 I read this to my seven year old and he thought it was pretty good but my fourteen year old daughter didn't really care for it.  We figure this is one for the younger audiences. 

  In summary, loved the illustrations, cute storyline, fun for the little ones, and a good example of how good triumphs over evil. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc. in exchange for my review but all opinions are my own.

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

Cleaning House

A mom's 12-month experiment to rid her home of youth entitlement

Written by:

Kay Wills Wyma

Mommy in Ga says:    I was looking for a book that would be both interesting and helpful to me (you know the whole 2 birds one stone theory!!)  and i came across this book title.  I read a little about the author and thought, wow we are really going to connect....her 5 kids, my 4 kids.....her kids thinking mom should do everything, my kids thinking mom should do everything!!  Now that you know why i chose this particular book lets get to it!

I started reading the book and the first few pages i wasn't sure i was getting the connection i needed ( i am one of those you really gotta hook me if you want to keep me interested.....4 kids is a whole lot to tune out and read, so i have to choose my time wisely!!!)  But i kept reading, and i did connect.   She started a money jar her kids got to keep on the dresser and if they did not do the current chore they lost a dollar,so i love that aspect of it.  I also love that she introduced only 1 new task to her kids a a time, as to not overwhelm them with the change.

To me in pats of the book i had a really hard time staying in it, but she talks about her younger kids and her older kids as well, and i am a true procrastinator so i do not want ot think about my kids getting older, that may be where we got into trouble!!   I would recommend this book for people who have older children as well as young or, people who are prepared to follow the experiment the whole way through.....organization and planning ahead, the whole 9 yards!!

The author had so many great strategies and ideas and not only did she motivate her children to "clean house" but at the same time she also gave her children more self confidence in showing them the abilities they have within themselves........It is very motivating and makes you look around your own home and wonder why you haven't done this sooner and then like a smack in the forehead she points out she has tried (and so have all of us ) but then to make things easier on you and to have less whining and complaining she does it herself (and so do all of US!!)  She so clearly points it out and you so clearly see it at the same time.

I guess where we did not connect was when she was talking about jobs (although i will have to go back and read that chapter wen my kids hit the double digits in age!!)  and she talks about the expensive car her son thought he would drive at 16 and my kids aren't quite there yet.........But really the cleaning of the bedrooms and bathrooms, the kids pitching in in the kitchen and in the yard....all of that is really great stuff and i will be taking that stuff and putting it under my belt to use for my 4 young children and teaching them what capabilities they have and how proud they can be!!!

All in all i think that it is a well thought out book and that she has a lot of great stuff in there even though,  i personally didn't connect through the whole book I am very glad i stuck in there.........I have learned a lot of valuable lessons for me and my family and i think it will help "clean this house!!!"

Thank you sooo much for listening (reading!!) and i hope it was helpful to you!!

This book was provided to me by Watebrook Press as a review item, the book was free and ALL opinions about it are my own.

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

  "Native Treasure"

by Rita K. Nicholson with Vaughn Wilson

  This week's Storytime Sunday is by Mommy in PA.  The book is titled "Native Treasure" by Rita K. Nicholson with Vaughn Wilson.  It is published by Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. and available to purchase here. 

  Mommy in PA says:  "Native Treasure" is a beautiful collection of photographs and sayings about the Appaloosa horse breed.  The photographs are beautiful.  They give you a real glimpse into what it is like to have one of these marvelous and beautiful animals.   
  I love that it tells you of the history behind the Appaloosa, as I'm sure there are many horse lovers out there who have never even stopped to think about each breed and how it actually came to be what it is today.  From the Spanish explorers, to Nez Perce tribe, to Lewis & Clark, and their almost non-existence these horses have such a deep history.  I am now inclined to read even more about them.
  The book has numerous quotes and sayings throughout.  Some are from the King James Version of the Bible, some from Indian tribes, and some from the Lewis & Clark expedition.  All are very beautiful and I love how the author placed them with the perfect photos.  This is one of those books that you can read in a few minutes but look at the gorgeous photographs for hours.  This would make the perfect gift for any horse lover. 
  My 14 year old daughter (who wants to be an equestrian when she graduates) also loved the book.  She said "What I liked about the book was that it had great pictures and great sayings". 
  In summary, we loved the photographs and the sayings and thought they went very well together.  I would love to see more books by this author about other horse breeds. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book free from Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc. but all opinions are my own.

 

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

Hugs and Kisses

this book is titled Hugs and Kisses, A Michael Neugebauer book

Mommy in Ga says: This is a very sweet book about a puppy who gets up before his parents and sisters, The puppy goes searching through the surrounding area to all the other animals searching for something.........He is searching for who out of all the animals give the very best kisses!  The puppy goes all around to come home and find that his mommy was very worried about where he had been all that time and she kissed him, he discovered it had been his mommies kisses had been the very best the whole time!!  The illustration was great and the book was long enough to get the story across but not too long that my kiddos got bored, here are the kids' reviews:

My 9 year old daughter:  " I though everything was good, except that the puppy wandered off  and nobody knew where he was, other than that i liked the story."

My 7 year old daughter:  "I didn't really like the book, I thought it was strange the puppy was going around letting all those animals kiss him.  That is gross." 

My 6 year old dughter: "I liked everything except when the ducks kissed him, that was weird!!!"

My 3 year old son:  Well he didn't say much about it but he did sit through the whoe thig and really liked the pictures.

Overall i think my kids enjoyed it and so did i, I think the morale of the story is, the best love you can find comes from your family at home!!!!
Disclaimer: I purchased this book myself andreeivedno compensation for review.  All opinions are my own and my childrens!!

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

"Three Raccoons Raised by a Human Mother"

by Nieves Monge

 This week's Storytime Sunday is by Mommy in PA.  The book is titled "The Adventures of Three Raccoons Raised by a Human Mother" by Nieves Monge.  This book is published by Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc.  and available here.

  Mommy in PA says:  This is the charming story of three baby raccoons named Bobo, Jiggy, and Squirt who become abandoned by their mother when they are very young.  A caring human named Nieves Monge takes them in and raises them to be released back into the wild where they belong. 
  The story starts out a little odd as the raccoons are the narrators and I was having a little bit of a hard time keeping everything straight for the first few pages but then I finally was able to read through it at a pretty good pace without getting confused.  I read the story to my 14 year old daughter and 7 year old son.  My son actually lost interest at about half way through but said that it was ok. 
  My daughter and I really liked the educational value of the story as it is about something that really happened and the author is well educated on rehabilitating wildlife.  We really appreciated the informational paragraphs that were included towards the end (when the raccoons were taking a nap). 
  The story follows the three baby raccoons from the very first day they met their human mother until the day she sets them free back into the wild where they came from.  The story takes you through various stages of emotion.  We were sad when their mother didn't come home to them, happy when the human found them, we laughed as they discovered their new surroundings, and we felt the sadness that Nieves experienced when she had to tell them goodbye. 
  I really wish Nieves would have had more photos than just the one on the cover and would love to see her make a children's book of this with full page photos and more simplified story for the little ones (like my seven year old). 
  In summary I really liked the educational value of this book but it read a little choppy for me trying to read it aloud to my kids.  We would have loved to see more photo of the raccoons.

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc.  but all opinions are my own.