I’m a Dirty Dinosaur Book Review

Posted in books & book reviews, usborne by Rosemary Lynn

This is a fun book to read. It has lots of sounds, or onomatopoeias, which kids enjoy. And you can kind of dance about while reading it, or, you know, maybe leave the dancing around to the kiddos.

Either way, this dinosaur may be dirty, but he does wind up taking a bath at the very end. Before the bath comes along, though, the kids will have a lot of fun with the stomping and shaking and snuffing about over the pages of simple illustrations mixed with bright colors.

Real mud was used in creating the illustrations, so that’s something that would be fun to incorporate into crafts with your own kids.

Watch my video review to see inside the book:

And you can read a little more about it on my book website:

I’m a Dirty Dinosaur

Is your kid/grandkid/niece/nephew a BIG dinosaur fan? Because then you really should check out some of these awesome titles, too:

Happy Reading! (Roar)

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19Aug2015

Muddle and Match Book Review

Posted in books & book reviews, usborne by Rosemary Lynn

I love these Muddle and Match books! They make great gifts but they also keep my kids entertained during both story time and long car rides. The reason for this is because they are SO interactive.

The concept of the books is this: you have three sections on each “page” that are all able to be turned independently. So the story on the left and the picture on the right can be changed over and over. You could end up with a cowgirl head, a fairy body, and a mermaid tail – kind of like the picture on the cover. And then you can change it up again!

Another thing I love is the alliteration. Each page of the story focuses on one letter – which makes it easy to incorporate these books into lessons of learning the alphabet.

The books themselves are like a board book with thick pages, and they also feature rounded edges.

And, you know, they are super silly and fun! Which is an awesome way to help kids learn to love reading.

Watch my video review to see the books in action:

And check out the whole collection on my book site:

Muddle and Match Books

Happy Reading!

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9Jul2015

Usborne’s “Noisy” Books Review

Posted in books & book reviews, usborne by Rosemary Lynn

Do your kids love to be noisy? Because mine certainly do.

And, to be perfectly honest, the word “noisy” carried a rather negative connotation for me…. until I found these books!

I mean, I love when my kids get “noisy” by running around the backyard or playground and making a healthy ruckus…. but noisy TOYS? No. I avoid those things like the plague.

But when I started selling Usborne Books, I was intrigued by these. Usborne has such amazing books, but would I like the ones that made sounds? YES! Would they be annoying like others I’ve found in stores? Not at all!

In fact, even though my kids benefit by my being a consultant in that they get to read all the books that come through my house, the one I bought just for them was the Noisy Orchestra. WE. LOVE. IT. No kidding: this thing rocks. It has beautiful sounds, gorgeous illustrations, and it’s actually pleasant for me to listen to while my kids play with it in the car.

But the best part is – even though the orchestra book is our personal favorite – there are a TON of noisy/musical/sound to choose from and you can find one to fit the interests of the kids in your life! Got a little one who loves monsters? Pirates? Trucks? Castles??? We’ve got you covered! :)

These books are rated for age 3 and up, but they’re also wonderful for beginning readers and early elementary ages. Plus, they’re also sturdy enough when the younger siblings get hold of them: rounded edges and thick pages for safety and a lifetime guarantee for accidents. (Contact me for details!)

Here’s my video review of a few of the books:

And here are direct links to the books pictured above and featured in the video:

Noisy Castle

Noisy Circus

Noisy Diggers

Noisy Jungle

Noisy Monsters

Noisy Noah’s Ark

Noisy Orchestra

Noisy Pirates

Noisy Robots

Noisy Spooky Book

Noisy Train

Noisy Zoo

If you’d like more information about getting these books for free by throwing a Facebook party (anywhere in the U.S.!) or about how to become a consultant and enrich the lives of children by encouraging early literacy with amazing books like these, contact me on my book site or on Facebook!

Happy Reading!!

29Sep2014

Alice’s African Alphabet Adventure {eBook}

Posted in books & book reviews, my books by Rosemary Lynn

Introducing Alice’s African Alphabet Adventure!

This tongue twisting romp through Africa’s wildlife is a tale that I wrote for my oldest daughter when I was pregnant with my youngest.

My daughter LOVED animals and was showing an interest in learning the alphabet, but I was getting tired of reading about cats and dogs and x-ray fish. There had to be more out there.

Plus, my daughter responded with curiosity and amusement at larger, more complicated words – even if it took a few tries for me to pronounce them. That just led to even more giggles.

We certainly found what we were looking for with Dr. Seuss and his Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz, but I also wanted to present real animals to her.

So I went on a quest to find animals that represented every letter of the alphabet, and I was delighted to find such a colorful plethora across the beautiful African continent. Thus was born Alice’s African Alphabet Adventure.

Here are a couple of example pages:

There is – obviously – a great deal of alliteration, which is part of what makes this tale a tongue twister. It also rhymes, since that helps lend a soothing rhythm to the text {which is always a plus at bedtime!}.

For the illustrations, I chose actual photographs of each of the animals, altering them slightly to give them a softer feel, and displaying them atop bright pops of color.

I also added the names of the animals to the picture, to make them easier to identify, and to help with letter recognition. My girls like to point out the animals as we read the story.

You can find the eBook on Amazon in the Kindle Store.

If you don’t have a Kindle – don’t worry! You can download the free Kindle app for your smartphones, tablets, and computers.

And if you like the book, please rate it on Amazon. Many thanks in advance!

Happy Reading!

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7Sep2014

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!

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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.

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