Revew: The Berenstain Bears and the Gift of Courage

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Jan & Mike Berenstain

and the book:

The Berenstain Bears and the Gift of Courage

Zonderkidz (April 9, 2010)

***Special thanks to Krista Ocier of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Stan and Jan Berenstain introduced the first Berenstain Bear books in 1962. Mike Berenstain grew up watching his parents work together to write about and draw these lovable bears. Eventually he started drawing and writing about them too. Mike is married to Andrea, and they have three children. They live in Pennsylvania, in an area that looks a lot like Bear Country.


Visit the authors' website.


Product Details:

List Price: $3.99
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz (April 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310712564
ISBN-13: 978-0310712565

PRESS THE BROWSE BUTTON TO VIEW THE FIRST CHAPTER:

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What Mom Liked:  We're Berenstain Bears fans at our house, and I'm loving the Christian themes coming up in them!  This was a nice story about how God gives courage for us to do the right thing (particularly in defending others), even if we don't think we can do it beforehand.

Esmé's been on a David and Goliath kick lately, so this book was the perfect combination.  (Somewhat to Dad's detriment - one morning found her swinging her purse around and around, hitting Dad in the groin.  "David and Goliath, Daddy!" she explained.)

And the part I found amusing:  David is known for fighting off the lions and bears, but of course, you need to come up with an alternative when David IS a bear!  So the book has him fighting off lions and WOLVES.

What Mom Didn't Like:  Got nothing for you!  A sweet book we both love...

Exciting Day…

Other than Esmé coming down with a cold and it raining all day for the first time in months, yesterday was an exciting day!

It was my birthday, and our first day of homeschool…

Which marks the announcement of a couple of new blogs:

Esmé’s Very Own Blog.  I’ve always intended to hand this blog over to Esmé at some point, but it just isn’t working that way.  But we ARE starting to do her journaling online, on her very own blog.  And I am loving it!  She picked out the design and will be taking all the photos and dictating all the posts (until her typing gets up to speed…).  I provide some of the writing prompts, just like with journaling, but other than that, it is ALL her.

Can’t say exactly what will show up there, but if you’re by chance a preschool-aged media socialite, come on over and say hi!

Glistener.  I’ve been wanting a more personal blog for myself, and the arrival of a new camera (and a new year) gives me a great excuse to get started on the Project 365 thing I’ve been wanting to do for years but never felt quite capable of.  I love the word “glisten,” and the purpose of this blog is capture those glistening moments of life, or those objects that reflect His light…

Mozi Esmé won’t see much change, though I might do more writing as Mom now that Esmé has her own outlet!  It’ll be Esmé’s adventures and learning activities, from Mom’s perspective.

Winning Readings also won’t be changing.  By the way, if you haven’t been over there recently, we’ve started doing some neat weekly features/guest posts that you might be interested in.  Winning Kids (on Mondays) includes children’s book lists and book-related activities.

Back to the first day of school thing…

We only got about 1/2 way through the day, thanks to the cold and all that, but we did do our verse/favorite things collage poster.  I traced Esmé, since she loves that…


Here’s the finished poster.  I was impressed to see a series of babies with cleft palates in the list of favorite things – that’s my mission-minded girl!  Of course, there was a picture of nail polish included to balance things out.  And a picture of a girl on strike against carrots.  As well as a heart-shaped necklace, a peanut, Mickey Mouse, fairies, violins, and gymnasts.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

And our picnic had to be indoors!


Happy learning!

Near East Party

On Saturday night we had a Middle Eastern-themed party  at Auntie Audra’s house!  I even got to ride a camel.  :)

 

 

And little Eleanor and I were official photographers!

Thanks to Near East for providing couscous for the party and gifts for the guests…

Winning

Us cousins are all excited…

Just passing on some excitement to a couple of you (thanks to random.org):

Winner of 250 Customized Labels (Digital Room):  #11 – Anonymous (kaysweep)

Winner of Children's Recliner (CSN Stores):  #170 – MoMoKG064

Thanks to the giveaway sponsors!

Not Me! Monday

No way would I take Mom's house key off her key chain and carry it everywhere, especially after she warned me of dire consequences if I lost it. So no way would I lose it.

And no way would I insert it way into a book about fireflies that was due to go back to the library.

If I did, there is no way I would forget all about doing it. Especially while being threatened and experiencing the dire consequences.

And Mom would never administer dire consequences.

And we would never be stuck in the middle of town late at night, waiting to connect up with Daddy so we could get a key to get inside the house 28 miles away.

Are you kidding? There is no way Mom would leave her key chain lying around for me to get a hold of. Right? Mom?

Moving on...

There is no way I would get sick for my first day of (home) school. Especially when that means missing my first ballet class.  Sniffle, sniff...

Schedule

I helped Mom put my (home day) schedule together today.  Here it is, only MINE is in color…

  School starts tomorrow!

Bambi Go Home!

Dear Deer:

All the trees in our orchard - apple, pear, plum, grape – you may freely eat of these.  (They're a tad bit on the wormy side this year.)

But these pictured here?  These are forbidden fruit.  These are my babies.  I have carefully nurtured and watched as each little flower turned into a nub and grew, and grew, and grew, and transformed in color…

Do you understand?

Look carefully!  Read my lips!  Stop grazing and pay attention!

Whatever.  Too late already, anyways.  My babies are all gone, and nothing can bring them back.

I may never attempt a garden again.  The only skill I’m teaching my daughter is how to waste a lot of time.  And how to feed the deer.

Esmé’s Mom

Photos of visitors in our yard courtesy of our neighbors; the act of tomato and cucumber and onion destruction absent in this set.

Curriculum Clean-Out!

Esmé’s Mom here…

 

I’ve been copying and printing and cutting like mad, getting ready for our official homeschool launch next week!  Just wanted to peek out for a moment before this cool Curriculum Clean-Out even is over, though…  We’ve won a few great things in the past and really wanted to contribute this time.

I wasn’t sure what we could possibly pass on until Esmé pulled out this puzzle, saying “When I was a tiny baby, I used to play with this.”  So she did it a few more times for memory’s sake, and now we’re ready to let it go, I think!

To enter to win this Bright Ideas Family Tree wood puzzle for toddlers/preschool, please leave a comment below.  If you’re a follower or subscriber, leave a second comment for a second entry.

Open worldwide.

A winner will be randomly chosen after September 9th, 2010.

Now go, enter some of the other Curriculum Clean-Out giveaways if you can!

Review/Giveaway: Download N Go

In spite of being on summer vacation and all, Mom has me busy doing "summer discoveries!"  We'll get some photos posted this weekend, but just wanted to get this review/giveaway of the product that triggered all our activity posted today...

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Introducing the newest title in the Download N Go™ line ... SUMMER SENSATIONS!
Turn school into . . .    cool!

Make a splash to start the new school year --

Your child will investigate how seasons change, what summer is all about, how shadows work, why trees are important in the summertime, and yummy--discover some history about snow cones and ice cream!

And it's a great time to seize many of those cool summery interests that your kids are intrigued with.

Day 1: What is Summer?
Day 2: Science Secrets of Summer
Day 3: People and Places of Summer
Day 4: Time for Tips and Treasures of Summer
Day 5: Goodies and Surprises of Summer

Exciting changes abound for kids of all ages to experience, so why not take all of their pent-up excitement and enthusiasm and put it to good use as they dive right into learning about summer and all that it holds?

It's time to watch the trees grow and enjoy their shade, feel the hot temperatures, take a plunge in the water, and enjoy a slower pace of life as summer spreads through the neighborhood.

There's an additional Learning Links page, and all lapbook components are ready to print and go! 

Want to read more about Summer Sensations? Go here.
 
About the author:

Amanda Bennett has been a successful homeschool parent, a well-known author and speaker at homeschool conferences. Amanda loves to share her faith, homeschool experiences and a contagious love of learning.  She says "Learning should be an exciting adventure - SHOULD BE but that's not always the case, is it?" If you're overwhelmed with all the work that it takes to be a success at homeschooling check out the Download N Go™ Series. Come on and join the adventure! All you have to do is dive in with your kids and learn! 

For more information, go to The Old Schoolhouse. 

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What Mom Likes:  I love how everything is put together for you!  In addition to bright, attractive worksheets and lapbook components, these series make great use of resources available online - with links to videos, informational websites, and activity idea sites, as well as suggested book lists.

The series is geared to lower elementary, with some pieces that work great for a K level, while others are more advanced.  It would work wonderfully for a multi-aged family, I think.  (Since we only have one little one, I had to do some of the research work, but I don't mind the learning!  For instance, one worksheet on the subject of popsicles links to a website with the age of the inventor.  It has several numbers on the page, instructing the child to color in the correct age.  So I do the research ahead of time, talk to Esmé about how popsicles were invented, and then have her locate and color in the number.)

So there is lots of fun to be had, as well the learning.  How many 3-year-olds can tell you that seasons are caused by the earth's tilt?  She's just barely realizing that there ARE seasons, as she's only been in the northern hemisphere less than two years now.  Yet the earth-tilt video clip is one she wanted to watch over and over.  (She would make ice cream over and over too, if I would let her... :)

What Mom Doesn't Like:  Other than the feeling of being overwhelmed, nothing!  (I haven't quite figured out how to get over the checklist mentality and just pick and choose what we do - I want to do it all!)  This unit is LOADED with topics that could take a week of their own to do, from fireflies to Northern lights, to ice cream, to bird watching, to leaf identification, to so much more!  While we managed to get through it in 6 days, I could easily see it covering a month instead of a week.
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To Enter to win a download of this Download N Go Summer Sensations unit (currently priced at $7.95):

Leave a comment on this post.  Be sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

If you are a subscriber or follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.

Open worldwide.

A winner will be randomly picked after August 31st.  

Thanks to litFUSE and The Old Schoolhouse Download N Go for the review download of this product.

Play Date