The Katie Books by James Mayhew

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

Katie Books by James Mayhew a book review

When I first found Katie, I was very excited.

A colorful book that is fun to read AND teaches kids about art history?

Wow.

Now, I may not be all that familiar with the specifics of art history, even being an artist myself, but I have at least a basic knowledge. Enough to pronounce the names correctly when I read the books – but that isn’t an issue anyway since there are pronunciation guides in the back.

The point is, I was delighted that there existed this spirited little girl to introduce my kids to a culture I was desperate to try to share with them. Then I found that she didn’t just explore the paintings of Monet and Van Gogh and Goya, but she travels to different countries and travels back in time to run around with dinosaurs, too.

It just kept getting better and better.

Now, honestly, my favorites are where she visits the dinosaurs and travels to Scotland for an adventure with Nessie. But, honestly, my 4-year-old seems to request the Impressionists and Spanish Princess more often. My 2-year-old likes them all.

Here are a couple of pages from Katie and the Dinosaurs:

I love the brilliant colors in the fun artwork, but also the story.

The stories are very easy to read and great at bedtime because words flow.

Katie often jumps in and out of paintings in the stories, joining Degas’ dancers on stage or learning to paint with Jean, the son of Monet.

The interaction with the paintings in the museum is wonderful. Below is a page from Katie and the Spanish Princess, where you can see a painting come alive.

Overall, even though I mentioned which are my favorites, I highly recommend all of the books. We only own about half of them right now, but I plan to finish our collection this upcoming Christmas.

The books are all very well done and a joy both for my children and for myself. The stories are entertaining, often exciting and amusing. My girls have laughed out loud at the tales. As have I.

Here is a list of Katie books:

Katie and the Starry Night

Katie Meets The Impressionists

Katie and the Spanish Princess

Katie and the Mona Lisa

Katie and the British Artists

Katie and the Dinosaurs

Katie in London

Katie in Scotland

Katie’s Picture Show

Katie and the Sunflowers

Katie and the Waterlily Pond

Katie’s London Christmas

Happy Reading!

Roaming Rosie Signature

Save

31Aug2014

The Outlander Attraction: Part Deux

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

A little while ago, I wrote about my reactions to viewing the first episode of Starz’s new series Outlander.

The show is based upon the books by Diana Gabaldon, which were already on my wish list, but as of yet, still unread.

After watching the show, I immediately ordered the first book in the series.

And once I opened it, I was absorbed.

At first, all I could see in my head were the characters and scenery from the show, which actually wasn’t a bad thing as I feel the show did a good job in representing the novel, but, eventually, my mind took over and the novel transformed from a television show into a fully layered world.

I walked around, in between reading binges, seeing castles and forests and thinking in a Scottish accent.

I dreamt of Jaime and wondered what I would do in Claire’s position.

I often thought that I was so completely taken with the story because, even for Claire’s tendency to make hasty decisions and lose her temper, I felt that I would have made all of the same decisions had I been in her place.

Well – most of them, anyway. But that’s part of what makes a story amazing: its ability to surprise the reader.

And shock was certainly in ready supply.

The book was often violent, and the words often tore at me. I sobbed into the pages more than once.

But for all of the violence, there was also a palpable tenderness. In both the characters and the environment. I longed not only to find myself nestled along the shore of a loch, with the breeze in my hair and the song of the birds in the air, but also firmly within Jamie Fraser’s arms.

I became so taken with the book, in fact, that as I found myself nearing the end, I made up an excuse to rush to the bookstore and purchased the second novel in the series. I nearly shook with fear at being abandoned by the book when I finished reading it. I needed to have the second one sitting next to me as I finished the first, for comfort.

It wasn’t all that necessary, though. After I finished the book, and sat there with it clung tightly in my fingers, I felt no desire to pick up the second book. I wanted to open up the first novel and read it all over again.

I loved it that much.

The witty words, the beautiful setting, the fierce adventure, and the burning passion…

It didn’t really end when the book ended. It’s still playing in my mind.

But I’m still going to read the next book.

Tonight. :)

If you’re at all interested in experiencing romance and adventure in the 18th century Scottish Highlands, I strongly suggest you read Outlander. You won’t regret it.

Roaming Rosie Signature

11Aug2014

Painting Birdhouses With The Kids

Posted in activities for kids, books & book reviews, toys & games & gifts by Rosemary Lynn

painting birdhouses

My kids were SO excited about this project.

I hadn’t realized that picking up a couple of $1 wooden birdhouses at the store could make a day so very eventful.

It was pretty awesome.

Anyway, the reason we even went looking for birdhouses was because of this book that was given to us by a neighbor:

This First Discovery book about Birds was something I thought looked kind of fun, but I wasn’t sure how my kids would respond to it.

Surprisingly, it’s been requested over and over again at bedtime.

Even though it’s a learning book and not a story book, both my 4yo and 2yo enjoy reading it.

This is partially because they love all kinds of books where they get to discover things (the 4yo often requests a book that spells out the life cycle of butterflies) but also because of the fun way they allow kids to “discover” the facts about their subject matter.

This series of books includes transparent pages.

The transparent pages are printed with pictures on both sides and “hide” part of the page that’s underneath it. When you turn the page it reveals the hidden image.

My daughter calls these the “puzzle pages.”

And, from looking at the pictures of others in the series on the back cover, she’s already ardently requested that we get the ladybug book.

Thus, a ladybug and a dinosaur book are in a box on the way to my house right now. And I will be buying more in the future.

If you think your kids would love this kind of interactive learning, too, here are a few others in the series for you to view:

Do you own any of these books already? Which are your kids’ favorites? Your favorite?

Roaming Rosie Signature

3Aug2014

The Outlander Attraction

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

STARZ Outlander television series

I had heard of the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon a while ago and had even put the books on my {rather long} wishlist of books to read.

I hadn’t gotten around to reading them yet, but I was excited when I found a free preview of the STARZ series based on the books.

{You can find the first episode at Starz.com/videos.}

And now that I’ve watched it, I feel that I really, really, really need to read the books. Now.

Why? What’s the appeal for me?

First of all, I love historical novels. Because they’re different. It’s the same reason I love Sci-Fi. I don’t live in a spaceship any more than I live in Scotland in the 1940s or the 1740s. So reading books like this lets me experience things I wouldn’t get to experience in my own life.

Like time travel. And having two lovers living in two different centuries.

I don’t expect that to happen in my lifetime.

{Although I wouldn’t mind a steamy affair with a Scottish warrior…}

And I loved seeing the story made into a television show. Aside from the gorgeous backdrop of a fascinating country and culture, I was also drawn to her wardrobe.

What can I say? I love travel and adventure, but I love a pretty dress, too.

Anywho, here are the first few books in the series, in case you haven’t seen them yet:

And you can find more at Diana Gabaldon’s Amazon page.

If you’ve read the books, please let me know what you think! I know there are a ton of fans out there, and I’d love to know what draws you to the series.

Roaming Rosie Signature

1Jul2014

I’d Rather Be Reading

Posted in books & book reviews, wanderings in the world & web by Rosemary Lynn

I’d rather be reading.

Really.

This is pretty much how I feel most of the day.

Except when I’m already reading.

And since I’m not the only bibliophile in the world, this is the newest sentiment that I’ve added to one of my Zazzle stores.

For example, here are a ring and a charm bracelet featuring the new design:

Of course, there are also t-shirts, coffee mugs, cell phone cases, and the like, all decorated with this saying. Heck, you can find everything from pendant lamps to pacifiers in this design.

Check it all out at my I’d Rather Be Reading Zazzle Store.

Enjoy!

If you need me, I’ll be … well, you know.

Roaming Rosie Signature

21Jun2014

The Bookmark

Posted in books & book reviews, musings by Rosemary Lynn

I have many bookmarks.

And by bookmarks, I mean tiny pieces of paper or old receipts or expired coupons that find their way into my books.

Part of the reason for this is that I can’t ever seem to find the few actual bookmarks I own when I go to start a new book, which leads me to the other reason: said bookmarks are already being used within other books.

I tend to read multiple books at one time.

Or maybe I should say that I “start” to read multiple books at one time. Over the years, there are more than a handful of books that I’ve drifted away from during a chapter that lagged and simply never finished them.

But I digress. I came here to discuss bookmarks.

And sometimes you don’t even need bookmarks. For example, one book I’m in the middle of is on my tablet. The magical electronic device remembers my page for me. In fact, when I was a kid, I didn’t even use bookmarks most of the time. I just remembered the page number where I stopped.

My memory is no longer equipped for such a task.

Granted, my OCD forces me to look at the page numbers when I’m turning them to make sure I don’t miss a page {as if I wouldn’t notice}, but whether I put the book down for a few hours or a few days {or a few months}, I now find bookmarks to be essential.

Even tho I recently used a recipe that I’d cut from the back of a box of pasta as a bookmark, my normal go-to these days is two Post-it notes stuck together. I usually have little pads of them lying around to jot down ideas or phone messages or grocery lists. And I’ve found that by taking two Post-it notes and sticking them to each other with the sticky edges at opposite ends, it makes a nice sturdy square of paper.

Perfect for an impromptu bookmark.

But the fact that it also looks precisely like a normal Post-it note is what lead me to believe that my four-year-old daughter was just playing with a piece of the nearby pad of Post-its when I saw the yellow paper in her hand.

Until she opened up my big hardcover book, stuck the Post-it in between some pages, and closed it again.

Recognition {and panic} dawned.

“Was… was that my bookmark? Did you take it out of my book?!?”

“Yes,” she answered, smiling sweetly. “But I put it back.”

Roaming Rosie Signature

{photo source: Zazzle}

19Jun2014

The Library Gingerbread Man {Book Review}

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

When my daughter came across The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle, I suspected I would love it.

And I did.

I probably should have been a librarian.

Sigh… not the point.

Anyway, the book is really cute and clever, placing the familiar story of the Gingerbread Man into the setting of a library.

I like how the author incorporates the dewey decimal system into the story. For example, some of the characters that try to catch the Gingerbread Man are a word wizard who pops out of a thesaurus in 423.1 and a robot with stilted commands who emerges from a science fiction book in 629.892.

He meets more and more characters until he finally runs into a hungry fox. But he doesn’t get eaten, because the librarian saves the day.

My girls absolutely loved chanting, “Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

My 4yo is still singing it. (I guess we haven’t read a bunch of Gingerbread Man stories before now.)

The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle {Book Review}

The only complaint I had was that the text got a little lengthy once the cookie started reciting who he was running away from (I ran away from the librarian and the word wizard and the robot…).

Once I skipped over most of those descriptions and stuck to the basic “you can’t catch me,” but then I decided to test their reactions to reading out each of the characters he was running from. My girls seemed to like it when I read the full text. Maybe because it made the story last longer. I’m not sure, but I decided to go with it. I use a fun voice, though, to keep it from getting tedious, if only for me.

Anyway, we enjoyed The Library Gingerbread Man, and I recommend it to anyone who loves books.

Roaming Rosie Signature

16Jun2014

Just How Long Can A Long String Be {Book Review}

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

We recently read Just How Long Can A Long String Be?! by Keith Baker.

My 2-year-old picked it out because of the bird on the cover, and both my girls liked it.

It’s a simple rhyming text about a bird and an ant discussing that they can do with a long string, such as tie up a package or make a nest.

Just How Long Can A Long String Be? By Keith Baker {Book Review}

My 4-year-old got excited about finding the ant on each page, then her sister followed suit.

So each time we read it, they point out the little bug: “There’s the ant!”

It’s a cute book, and both girls liked it and have requested it over and over. It was a library book, and we’ll definitely be borrowing it again.

Roaming Rosie Signature

21May2014

Children’s Picture Books by David Wiesner {Book Reviews}

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

Children's Picture Books by David Wiesner {a book review}

I recently sat down with my daughters and “read” some of David Wiesner’s books to them.

I put “read” in quotes because most of these books have little or no words.

But the pictures… well, the illustrations are breathtaking.

I was a little nervous when I first saw them. I was afraid maybe the illustrations were too intricate to hold a preschooler’s and a toddler’s attention.

I was wrong.

My 4-year-old would ask me to tell her the story, and then we’d flip through the book again and she’d tell me the story. My 2-year-old would point out all the little details as we read. They both requested the books over and over.

I’d borrowed as many as I could find from the local library, because I didn’t know yet if they were worth the investment to purchase them. But now I know my girls love them.

I narrowed down my daughters’ favorites to two: Flotsam and Sector 7.

Flotsam

Flotsam is a tale of a young boy who discovers an old camera while exploring the shore.

He digs it out of the sand and develops the film.

What he finds in the photos is, quite simply, amazing.

There are sea turtles with tiny cities growing on their shells. Sea horses watching tiny aliens play. And so very much more.

I enjoy this book at least as much, if not more, than my girls.

Here are some images from Flotsam:

Children's Picture Books by David Wiesner: Flotsam

Sector 7

Sector 7 is the story of a young boy visiting the Empire State Building on a school field trip.

While on the observation deck, he meets a curious character: a mischievous cloud.

They become fast friends and the cloud takes the boy to on a trip up into the sky. They visit Sector 7, the Cloud Dispatch Center, where clouds receive their instructions about how they should be shaped and where they are to go.

The boy happens to be an artist, and the clouds happen to love his sketches. The clouds decide to replicate these sketches, and mayhem ensues.

Here are some images from Sector 7:

Children's Picture Books by David Wiesner: Sector 7

While those two are our favorites, Wiesner has some other gems as well. Similar books include:

Tuesday

On Tuesday, strange things happen. This Tuesday, lilypad-riding frogs take to the skies, exploring the town by air.

Free Fall

In Free Fall, a young boy falls asleep with a book in his arms and visits magical, far-away lands and the knights, castles, and dragons within.

Hurricane

In Hurricane, two young brothers see a tree fall to the earth during a storm. It becomes their playground, representing everything from a pirate ship to an exotic jungle.

June 29, 1999

In June, 29, 1999, a young girl’s science project of vegetable seeds is launched into the atmosphere, has an extraterrestrial encounter, and we find out what happens when lima beans loom over Levittown and artichokes advance on Anchorage.

Roaming Rosie Signature

21Mar2014

Why I Write {a work forever in progress}

Posted in musings, writing by Rosemary Lynn

snoopy writing at typewriter

Just a few days ago I found myself sitting across from a man that helps people find suitable career paths for a living.

He asked me: “If you could do anything, what would it be?”

“I’d be a writer,” I said, without even the slightest hesitation.

Because that has ALWAYS been the goal.

When I was about ten, I began writing a, ahem, novel. It was probably a dozen pages long. But it was a start. And I promised myself – promised – that I would have my first novel published by the time I turned eighteen.

Yeah… and then, sometime in my twenties, when I still hadn’t managed to finish any of the novels I’d started, I extended that deadline to my thirtieth birthday.

Which came and went years ago.

So what the hell happened? I mean, I’ve never completely stopped writing: I wrote a ton of poems and short stories in college (NONE of which were ever accepted to any of the literary magazines to which I submitted them – yea for motivation…), but I just don’t seem to be on track with my goals. Why? What’s happened that’s gotten in my way of pursuing the one thing I believe I was put on this earth to do?

For starters, I don’t write enough.

That’s really one of the big reasons I started this blog. Sure, I love, love, love posting about recipes and crafts and kid toys (no, really, I do), but if nothing else, it forces me to sit at a keyboard and put words together.

But sometimes that’s easier said then done.

Boromir: One simply does not start writing without coffee.

For example, coffee is very important.

If there’s not enough coffee surging through my veins, then I don’t really function. But that can also pose a problem since I get my best writing done at two in the morning.

Well, that and having to get up with my kids when the sun rises.

So, why do I bother?

Why do I keep trying?

you write because you need to write quote

I keep trying because I have to.

And I know I’m not alone. If the advent of internet memes has taught me nothing, it has taught me this: I am not alone in my literary torment.

The procrastination gene goes hand in hand with the writing gene.

So, at this point, I haven’t given myself a deadline for completing (or publishing) my next novel. Mostly in an effort to avoid sobbing fits of devastation.

Instead, I have promised myself to write every day.

I mean, I’m aware that some days there will be very little or no writing done because I will be too busy controlling the beautiful but consuming tornado that is my toddler and preschooler, but I still promised myself I would try.

It’s kind of like a New Year’s Resolution – but for the rest of my life.

How hard could that be…

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. Ernest Hemingway quote.