Book Review: Flippy Floppy Lift a Flap Jungle Animals

Posted in books & book reviews, usborne by Rosemary Lynn

Flippy Floppy Jungle Animal Board Book

This Flippy Floppy Jungle Book is one of my kid’s newest fascinations. They’ve been having a lot of fun with it.

It’s a great lift-the-flap board book from Usborne/Kane Miller that offers a lot of interaction for kids.

The purpose of the book is to lift four flaps in order to slowly reveal a hidden animal. As you go, the animal you’re looking for appears as bits and pieces of other animals. For example, the tail of the tiger is also the beak of a toucan and the body of a snake.

There are cut-outs to look through and a little bird to find on all of the pages. The last page challenges kids to find all the animals again, and it’s sturdy enough for little hands to get excited about with thick pages and rounded corners.

I go into some more detail in my video review, where you can also see how it works:

And, yes… I’m aware that I have a strange expression on my face in the video thumbnail. TRUST me – it was the best one!

I’m also aware that I keep calling it “Flippity Floppity Jungle Animals” on the video. I don’t know why, but “Flippy Floppy” seems to be difficult for me to say…

Anyway, to see the book, or add it to your online wishlist, click:

Flippy Floppy Lift-the-Flap Jungle Animal Book

And if you like this book, you’ll also love:

Flippy Floppy Lift-the-Flap Farm Animals

Flippy Floppy Lift-the-Flap Ocean Animals

Happy Reading!

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1Jan2015

Hello Sun {eBook}

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

Hello Sun is my newest picture book, and I’m so excited to share it with you!

This is a simple text with words that flow and rhyme as you journey from the morning to the night. With your Little Ones on your lap, you can greet the morning sun, the flowers and bugs and birds, and the stars and moon together.

It’s a great book for bedtime because of the soothing rhythmic text and the bold, striking illustrations. It’s something I enjoy sharing with my toddler and preschooler, and it’s fun for them, too. They can interact with the text {like by waving goodnight to the sun} but it’s meant to be read slowly, to help induce a calm before bedtime. It’s also great to read to babies, who will especially appreciate the bold colors.

I had some fun with paper textures while making the artwork, and the words themselves were inspired by my kids. My 4yo and 2yo always greet the moon and sun {“Hello, Moon!!!”}, and so this was a story that mimics our own daily paths through life.

You can get the ebook on Amazon and you can see all of my picture books there, too.

I’ve also posted about my picture book Alice’s African Alphabet Adventure.

Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook for updates on my books, but also to see our latest glitter-covered crafts and sprinkle-covered food! :)

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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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15Feb2014

The Incredible Book Eating Boy {Book Review}

Posted in books & book reviews by Rosemary Lynn

We loved this book.

I loved the illustrations and the words and the story, and my daughters seemed to love all of it.

As soon as our first reading of it ended, my 3-year-old said, “Can we read it again?”

That’s always a good sign.

So, The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers instantly made our list of favorites.

It’s a fun and slightly absurd story of a young boy named Henry who accidentally discovers that he likes to eat books. All kinds of books. And the more he eats, the smarter he gets. Until he eats too many, and things begin to get a bit jumbled and confused. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem like such a good idea to eat books anymore.

This makes Henry sad, until he realizes that – rather than eating them – he could read them instead! And he finds that he enjoys reading them even more than he enjoyed eating them. Although, when you read it yourself you’ll see that sometimes, quite by accident, Henry still takes a bite or two … as evidenced by the big chomp taken out of the back cover.

The gorgeous illustrations are so much fun. I find them to be delightful, as do my children, who scour the pages as I read. It’s definitely a book to be read by adults or older children, though, as it may be a bit too busy for emerging readers. But that’s the trade-off for the charm.

It’s recommended for kids 4 and up, but my 3-year-old loves it and my 20-month-old enjoys it as well. They are both engaged during the story. It spurs conversations and questions with my preschooler and my toddler likes to point out different objects, like the red books that Henry favors.

The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers

Oh – and don’t worry, on the back of the book is this “Disclaimer: Do Not Try to Eat This Book at Home.”

I completely recommend The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

So fun to read. Easy to devour. :)

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3Feb2014

Home Sweet Play Home Tents

Posted in wanderings in the world & web by Rosemary Lynn

I saw this Home Sweet Play Home tent at Parents.com today and I got so excited!

I mean, it’s like a circus tent, which normally I wouldn’t like, but it’s delicate and charming, too! That’s not an easy task.

Plus, it comes with it’s own windows to peek in and out of, and there’s a matching floor pillow!

I’m getting all excited just thinking about how much my girls would love this!

Although I am a little tempted to get the pink one…

But blue would go better with my decor. :)

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29Dec2013

Roaming Rosie Reads Harry the Dirty Dog

Posted in roaming rosie reads by Rosemary Lynn

Harry likes to get dirty and he hates taking baths. Typical ~~man~~ dog. :)

Anyway, this is a much requested book in our household. Both of my girls love reading about Harry. We have a few other Harry books, but the original is our favorite.

And, I just found out there’s a stuffed version of Harry:

How cute is that?

27Dec2013

Roaming Rosie Reads Franklin in the Dark

Posted in roaming rosie reads by Rosemary Lynn

Franklin is my favorite turtle. :)

I read this book with my girls all the time. The rhythm is fantastic, so it’s especially great at bedtime.

It’s about being brave, it’s about problem solving, and it’s about family. A great combination. But mostly, kids just find it fun and entertaining. Can’t beat that. :)

Franklin recently celebrated his 25th anniversary. You can find him here.

Enjoy!

13Oct2013

Roaming Rosie Reads Ten Apples Up On Top

Posted in roaming rosie reads by Rosemary Lynn

Ten Apples Up On Top was written by Theo. LeSieg, or, as he’s more affectionately known, Dr. Seuss.

There’s a lot of repetitiveness to the story, but a good rhythm and my girls love it.

It is often requested at home, so, here it is:

13Oct2013

Roaming Rosie Reads Owly

Posted in roaming rosie reads by Rosemary Lynn

Owly was my favorite book as a child. Still is.

I read it to my children often.

But as my divorce progresses, things have become difficult in ways that I never imagined. Like having to say goodbye to my children at the end of every other week.

One day, as their father was about to pick them up, I was talking to my 3-year-old and telling her that I’d miss her but that she was going to have a great time. I try not to say “I’ll miss you” or “I miss you” too often, because I don’t want her to connect any negative emotions with the time she spends with her father. But I’m human. It slipped out.

And she smiled at me and said, “you can read my books while I’m gone.”

It was such a grown-up sentiment. It was all I could do not to cry. I’d once told her she could hug a stuffed animal if she was missing me, and now she was giving me the same advice. And with books! As a writer (and a reader), story time with my girls is SO special to me.

This happy memory blossomed into the idea of me reading the books to a camera, so my girls could still have me read to them even when I wasn’t around.

And then I thought – why not share them?

Books are a gift, after all. A wonderment. A comfort. And certainly worth sharing.

In the spirit of privacy, I had already decided not to make the stories too personal, (including their names in the video, for example), so I simply added a title onto the front of the video.

Seemed pretty nice.

Nothing too fancy, though. The books themselves are magical enough. And I wanted it to be like when we curl up in bed or on the couch or on the floor together and read the book, page by page, sharing a simple moment. Books are powerful enough on their own with no need for special effects or soundtracks.

So the videos will be just me. Reading.

Here is my first video, Owly: