Jumpin-Beans

Not all little girls want to wear dresses and play princess, I am learning that these days!  Savannah will just as soon grab her brothers cars, trains and army men to play with as fast as she will play with her barbies or dolls.  I don't force either on her and figure she can play with whatever makes her happy.  Another cute book arrived for us to review from Sterling Publishing and it keeps on with that theme for us. In a different take on the Cinderella Story we know, this one is opposite.  Elly and the Smelly Sneakers has us meet Elly... FTC Compliant Review Policy:   The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation. Like I said,   Elly and the Smelly Sneakers by Leslie Gorin is a tale totally opposite of another "princess" we love.  I personally love Elly ...

Summer slump happening yet?  Around here, we have books a' plenty to read and we have also been visiting the library each week!   While I do love that both my kiddo's love books, I am not all about Savannah having a book from the library yet, as she isn't the best with them.  (She either gets too excited turning the pages and messes them up, or she chomps on the board books like its a big candy bar... I can't win with that one these days!) We were recently sent a couple great books from Sterling Publishing and I wanted to share the first one with you now.... Ella Who is the title and it is super cute.  I know we will be reading it plenty of times, but down the road, it will be passed on to my sweet baby cousin that was recently born named Ella! FTC Compliant Review Policy:   The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my ...

Sometimes all you really need is right there with you, but you are too busy wanting bigger and better and you miss out on the things most important.  That is the message I took from the book, Thousand Star Hotel by The Okee Dokee Brothers.   FTC Compliant Review Policy:   The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation. We love working with Sterling Publishing, so when I had the chance to review Thousand Star Hotel by The Okee Dokee Brothers , I was so excited.  This is a hard cover book, with no book jacket.  Two BIG things I LOVE when looking at childrens books!  Another added bonus to this book?  It comes with a cd!!!!    This is a book about Mr. and Mrs. Muskrat (or you can call them "muskets if you are Broxton!)  They go fishing each ...

Want to know something that makes my heart happy?  When I am reading to Savannah and Broxton comes in to sit and listen too.  He doesn't look at it as a "girl / boy" book or "baby / big kid" book.  He looks at it as mama is taking time to spend reading and normally the books are cute and funny, no matter what the target age is meant to be.   FTC Compliant Review Policy:   The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary c ompensation. I was sitting in the living room reading Mary had a little glam to Savannah when Broxton came in.  He listened to the last page and then asked me to start over and read it again because he missed the whole book.  After I read it to him, he decided to read it to himself and I just love seeing a book in his hands.  I also love when I catch...

There seems to be a "National Day" for everything now.  Some just seem dumb to be, but today is one I can get behind.  Today is National Book Lovers Day!!! You know we love books here and if you follow me on Instagram , I told you I was sharing a couple with you today. FTC Compliant Review Policy:   The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary c ompensation . Up first is The Bot that Scott built.  This book is by Kim Norman and I thought the name sounded familiar.  I knew I had read something else by that name and as soon as we started the book, I knew! Come to find out, I have read several by her!!!!   This book is no different, meaning it is a great read!  In "The Bot that Scott Built" we see the disasters that go on all day, as soon as we are introduced to "th...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I shared a few monster books with you the other day and today I have two additional ones to share!  As I mentioned, Monsters aren't just for Halloween, they can also be friendly creatures and are also great to help in teaching things.  While Broxton knows his numbers, letters and colors, everyone struggles with feelings from time to time.  (Not to mention the manner thief comes and goes, as it seems he steals Broxton's manners from time to time!) Savannah will be learning all of this soon, so these are great to have to add to our growing children's library for her (and Broxton) to enjoy!  These are both great books and I am sure your little monsters will love them too!  Image Credit - Barn...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. Halloween might be in the past, but that does not mean that our love for monsters has to end... Especially when they are cute ones in books that makes you realize there is nothing to be scared of.  While I love books that go with the holidays, it is great that you can have books that "tie in" with the holiday, but don't have to be put away once the holiday has passed. That can be said with the books that I am about to tell you about.   We were sent a few books to check out, with the whole Monster theme going on and they were super cute!  So cute that Broxton has asked me to read them to him over and over again!   Today I will tell you about two of them. Image Credit - Barnes and Noble ...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. Image - Amazon  I am not a hippie at all, but I do think that VW Vans are super cute. I think I could have had a good time with the colors and all of the hippie time, but anyways.  I was excited to review the book, This Old Van by Kim Norman.  Please tell me that I am not the only one that started singing THIS OLD MAN as soon as I read the words...   If you are like me and the This Old Man song popped in your head when you read the title of the book, you might be like me and have a hard time READING the book.  I tried and tried, but every time I did, it came out as a song!    Here is one part of the book: This   old   van , she passed one,  shining in the rising sun...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. Image Credit - Barnes and Noble  We have recently started reading a cute and funny rhyming book by Josh Funk called  Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast .  This book has had us laughing and has had Broxton asking for me to read it each night before bed.  In Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, we get to watch the two of them as they go on a journey through the fridge to see who can get to the syrup first.  It was full of fun adventures and we were cracking up as we read each page.  The book is full of wonderful illustrations and it is sure to delight kids of all ages! Tell me, if you read this... wouldn't you want to see what the book was all about : LADY   PANCAKE  &...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I don't know how the first day of school went for you or your children, but I hear that many young ones have a hard time adjusting.  It was easy for Mr. Social (Aka Broxton) but it was tough on me when he started K3 and then again when Kindergarten rolled around.  Not because I was worried about him, but because I was watching my little one grow up and hitting milestones.  It was a sweet emotion... but emotional all together.  To get us ready for school, we read books and talked about how things would be.  I love the book part, as it helps to show different situations. We were recently sent a new book, by Richard Torrey.  It is called Ally-Saurus and the First Day of School.  I really th...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation . We are already stocking the library with books for Savannah.  Granted, many of them will be coming from Broxton's collection, but she will be getting new books as well.  When I saw the adorable bedtime books from Sterling Publishing, I knew we would love to check them out!   Sleepy Kitty and Sleepy Puppy are the two new titles that we were sent.  These books are both board books and are the perfect size for little hands to hold and check out each page.     I am not a fan of cats / kittens, but Broxton and I both thought that the Sleepy Kitty book was cute.  I love that you have one page with a sweet little photo and then the opposite page has a solid background with simple ...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.   Image Credit - Amazon It might be spring break, but that doesn't mean that the reading ends, or the learning for that matter! We were sent a really cool book from Sterling Publishing, ABC UNIVERSE and we could not wait to check it out!  (We already have the ABC ANIMALS   book, so we knew we would love this one as well!)  This was a really great book with lots of information.  As we read each page, Broxton was surprised to know that there was plenty of information he already knew.  I loved watching his face as he told me what he knew, then we would read about it! He does pay attention in class!!! This is a sturdy board book that has great information on it, with photos to...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.      If you have a fan of bugs in your house, then I have the book for you!!!  We were recently sent the book, Bug Detective for review and let me tell you, I am so glad it is an illustrated book versus a photo book.  I can't hide that I am NOT a fan... and lucky for me, Broxton likes looking at them, but he isn't one to want to hold them or have them for pets.  Bug Detective is clearly a kids book, since the pages are all packed full of information.  I think the kids will like that all of the pages are covered with illustrations and information, adults will love that they are learning while having fun!  An added bonus is that on the cover of the book, they have taped a min...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.     As a book lover, I have several authors that I enjoy and I get so excited when a new book comes out from them.  As a book reviewer, I get to check out many cool books for kids from authors I might not have heard about otherwise.  When I was contacted about reviewing the latest book, Rufus Goes To Sea by Kim T. Griswell, I knew that was one to be excited about, since we had already checked out Rufus Goes To School and we loved that one!  One thing I love about the Rufus books? The fact that they make reading cool and important!!! (We know how much I love reading!)  In the latest book, Rufus heads to school to learn that the school is closed for summer break!  He sits down an...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.   Photo Credit - Sterling Publishing     A new book that we have added to our library is from Sterling Publishing, I Love You Near and Far . This is such a cute book and as soon as Broxton saw it, he immediately took it in the car with us for a ride to the store.  We have read it a few different times and I just think it is too cute. It started off as a cute book that hit home for me, with Marc being in the military.  The miles were once far when he was deployed, but we talked about the love from daddy could go across miles and that is what this book tells. Since daddy is home now, we used this book to talk about how much he loves his family that isn't close in miles, but is super clo...

I am not sure how or when Broxton got into enjoying Pirates, but he did ... and when he sees a pirate book, he loves to read them. So much that one day, Marc had to make a special trip... He had in his mind he wanted to buy Broxton a new pirate book, so they had to go to a book store and find the perfect one.  Now, Broxton has several pirate books and I am not ashamed to admit that when I read the books to him, I do notice I attempt (not very good) to sound like a pirate.   The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. One Christmas we were sent a book to review called A Pirates Twelve Days of Christmas ...    It was a cute book, so when I opened the mail and saw we had A Pirates Night Before Christmas from the same author, I knew we were going to be in for a treat!  ...

The Night Before Christmas brings several traditions to our house.  I don't really remember any "traditions" growing up, just a routine we had each year...  We would go to my Mema and Grandaddy's house, then come home and do Christmas with my parents and brother.  The next day (Christmas) we would go to my Grandma's house and do Christmas with her.  Now that I am married and we don't live near home to go to those events, we have started making our own traditions. Broxton bakes cookies for Santa, we put out reindeer food for the reindeer and starting this year. we are going to read The Night Before Christmas.  It is going to be the last book in our Christmas Countdown of books....  The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. We were sent a copy of The Night B...

Seems like everyone is going on strike, or asking for more money these days!   Even the reindeer at the North Pole think that things need to change!!   Guess the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots and treats for the Reindeer just were no longer cutting it anymore!  The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. So, what is the big deal this year?  Well... in The Great Reindeer Rebellion , we learn that all the reindeer told Santa that they were tired of pulling his sleigh and that they were all on strike until things changed.  Of course Santa was a bit worried, but then he realized it was a super special job to get to do that and make Christmas come true for boys and girls all over the world...  He then sent out his elves to place HELP WANTED posters f...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. If you remember, we started the tradition of the book countdown as we start the month of December...  I mix in new and old books and each night we open one up to see the book inside.  I normally just have a big stack of books and he can pick whichever one he wants... but after reading the book, When, When, When will it be Christmas ? I decided that I will number this one as first and it will kick off our book countdown!    Broxton is learning to read and the repetition of this book is a great way to help him out.  This book starts with red birdies and red berries...  looks like they are getting the decorating taken care of!   Then we see the white mice and not only are they d...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. Knowing how much we love books, I was thrilled when I was contacted to review the next book from Phillis Gershator and illustrated by David Walker, Time for a Bath .   Broxton and I love their other book,  Time for a Hug  , so I was eager to get this one.   As soon as it arrived, Broxton saw it and asked me to read it to him... Of course I did!   In Time for a Bath, we get  the colorful illustrations that we fell in love with in the first book.  We also get the cute rhyming of each page that makes it great for kids of all ages!   "Rise and Shine!  We'll work and play all year long and every day."   As the pages turn, we see little bunny make a mess in the k...