Book Review Time!!
My Favorite Animal: Cobras
Victoria Marcos

This nonfiction book about cobras from Xist publishing would make a great addition to any primary school library. It shares interesting facts about these deadly creatures and pairs relevant, real-life pictures with them to engage the reader. The book has a great format for younger readers; every few pages the reader is asked to recall a fact previously read. This is fabulous for helping children learn to read for content, and to retain what has been read. The answers are shared in the back of the book, along with a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to younger children.

The publisher has identified the target audience of this book as children from age 4 to 8. While I am sure this age group is appropriate, I felt that even younger children would be able to enjoy having this book read to them. There are very few sentences per page and the language is kept fairly simple. Children as young as 2 ½ could find this book entertaining, with the right individual reading it. The close-up pictures alone are fantastic for engaging pre-school children. Older children will still love learning how cobras hear and how their hiss sounds. The author did a great job of ensuring that this appeals to a wide range of young readers.

The book does repeat itself a bit, but it is done in such a way as to reinforce and provide detail about information previously introduced, as teachers do in the classroom. The information shared in this book was all relevant and factual, though I did feel there were places where more information should have been shared. For instance, the book tells us that cobras are deaf and “hear” through vibrations in the ground. This is certainly true; however, it is also true of all snakes, not just cobras.

All in all, I felt this was a great, informative book that would be enjoyed by children of a wide range of ages. A great introduction to non-fiction for younger children and a fantastic example of how interesting non-fiction can be!

Product Review Time!
Vitamin C Lotion by Foxbrim

I received this product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This review can also be found on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R18GV65REXMKRC/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00NXZK0A4

When I first used my pump bottle of Foxbrim’s Vitamin C Lotion, I was immediately thrilled by how little fragrance it had. Perhaps some would rather a product like this smell sweet and fragrant, but I’ve had too many issues in the past with finding moisturizers that I could use due to added scents. I can’t use anything with too much fragrance on my skin, so finding a skin care product that was light in fragrance was a treat. I also appreciated the fact that the amount dispensed by pressing the pump once was exactly the dime size amount suggested for use, as I tend to slather stuff on my skin like I would butter on toast.

I decided to try it solely on my hands first. I use diluted bleach all day at work (without gloves) and the skin on my hands has really taken a beating; so, I figured the skin there could benefit the most from this product. I began by carrying the lotion around in my purse and massaging it into my hands three or four times a day. After just the first use, I could see a difference. My skin was immediately less dry and healthier looking. After three days of using it solely for my hands with no adverse reactions and plenty of positive ones, I began moisturizing my face with it as well. The impact was not as immediate and dramatic with my face as with my hands, but I imagine that is because the skin there was not as damaged. I have been using it for three weeks now and could not be happier with it! Not only is it gentle on my sensitive skin, but it works as advertised. My skin feels softer, looks healthier and is more even in tone. Since using Foxbrim’s Vitamin C Lotion, I haven’t had to worry about my face getting wind chapped or looking blotchy from the cold. We’ve had freezing temperatures with strong winds around here for weeks and usually under these conditions my face would be a patchwork of multi-colored raw messes. Not this year and not ever again! (Well, not as long as Foxbrim keeps creating magic skin moisturizers, anyway!)

I think it is clear that I am happy with this product and would recommend it to others. The list price is a little steep at $45.99, but I was able to find it advertised for less than twenty. The results I experienced are definitely worth a $20 investment, in my opinion, and it is an investment I will be making! Foxbrim has some other products that I am itching to try as well, but I can’t imagine that I will be regularly using anything other than my new Vitamin C Lotion to moisturize from now on.

You can get your own from Amazon by visiting here: http://goo.gl/xrjF3Z

Review of "Tea With The Queen"
Written by Crissi Hart
Illustrated by Stephen Macquignon

I received a free copy of this e-book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This story concept is quite cute and the illustrations are just as adorable. A mouse named Charlie, in the company of his grandparents Arthur and Harriet, gets to fly on the back of a goose named Percy to Buckingham Palace so that his grandmother may have tea with the mouse Queen. This is an honor given to mice who have reached their 100th birthday, as Harriet has. The book opens with the family already in the air, on their way to the Palace. The story details their exciting ride atop Percy the goose, during which Charlie loses his hat and feels threatened by seagulls. The flight ends with a water crash landing in a rose garden right outside of Buckingham Palace, where the family has to escape the Queen’s guard dogs so they can scurry inside the Palace just in time for tea with the Queen!

I would say that this story would be most enjoyed by preschool aged children, from around age 2 ½ to around age 6. The story has several subtle “teaching moments” embedded within it that are great for that age group as well. I have listed a few below:

Harriet, Charlie’s grandmother, is unable to recall where they are going and why, so her family must remind her, which is certainly understandable at 100! This is a brief moment in the story dialogue and is very nonthreatening, perfect for preschoolers.

Percy the goose is a bit of a show off, and flies in a rather unsafe manner, which delights young Charlie but causes his grandparents some distress. What a great way to bring up a discussion on being safe and making sure that we think about the feelings and well-being of others! Again, this is a brief moment in the story, perfect for a non-confrontational introduction to behaving nicely and being safe.

Charlie experiences many emotions on the trip, from delight to fear. He feels nervous with seagulls flying around them, even though the seagulls offer no threat. He is also not entirely happy about flying, preferring to stay on the ground. There are a few, very brief displays of emotion by characters in the story. Reading this could be a wonderful way to initiate a discussion about feelings with younger children.

Assorted characters also hear the screeching of seagulls, feel cold air, smell salt from the sea, see distant objects on the ground, and remember eating their favorite cheese. A fabulous way to briefly introduce the five senses.

What I love the most about each of these small “teaching opportunities” is that they all begin and end on the same page, which keeps it simple for the children, as well as for whoever is reading and turning pages!

As I said above, the story concept is cute and there are moments written into the story that parents and teachers can definitely use and appreciate. That being said, I have to admit that the story content could flow and transition a little smoother. There are times when it seems the only transition from one situation to the next is the turning of the page, rather than content that outlines or explains the transition. For example, Percy flies upside down and scares Charlie’s grandparents so much that Arthur yells at him not to do it again… we turn the page… and find there is no further mention of it. Percy does not acknowledge Arthur’s request in any way. Arthur is the last one to speak on that page but on the next page, the “he” that the first paragraph refers to is Charlie, who is in an entirely different situation. I had to go back and read it again just to be sure I hadn’t missed something. This is not a lone example of choppiness with the story content. There are several places where the story seems too choppy for some children within the target audience range to follow without explanation. The choppiness could be an editing issue. There were pages where sentences had been grouped into paragraphs in a confusing manner. With very little thought it was easy to see where it made more sense for the break in text to be, but for the target audience of this book, it probably would not be so easy. Also, while I saw no other grammar issues, on the first page there is a sentence with proper tense disagreement. Nothing that most people will notice, only former teachers and grammar police like myself.

I read this to a small group of children, ranging in ages from five to ten. They all seemed engaged and focused on the book. No one got confused, so maybe I am letting my years as a teacher focus me a little too much on grammar. Overall, this was a cute book that I think young children will enjoy.