Congrats to all the December Winners!

 

All winners have been emailed for mailing address.  Congrats!

Winners for Rion by Susan Kearney

sweetaddiction07

Miss Cindy

Elaine

Debbie Lester

John

Winners for Knight of Pleasure by Margaret Mallory

Freda

Stacie

Renee

Sue Ahn

Beth C

Winners for I, Alex Cross by James Patterson

Hodgepodgespv

Jennifer

Jaime

Review: Gifts of the Heart by Karen Boes Oman

Gifts of the Heart by Karen Boes Oman

Paperback: 36 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-10: 1449961592
ISBN-13: 978-1449961596
Rating: 4/5
Review Copy Provided by Author

"When a terrible storm whisks Grandpa and Grandma off the road on the day before Christmas, it scatters their grandchildren's presents all across Mother Goose Land. Their search for the lost gifts leaves them empty-handed but with hearts overflowing with love. But what will Grandpa and Grandma tell their grandkids when they arrive without presents? A knock on the door leads grandparents and grandchildren on an exciting Christmas Eve adventure, a night filled with music, magic, and the best gifts of all - gifts of the heart."

Gifts of the Heart is an excellant book that portrays the true meaning of Christmas which is to give of ones heart and love with very pretty illustrations as well!

Review: The Mud Hogs by Dalton James

The Mud Hogs by Dalton James

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 32 pages

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN-10: 1432745603

ISBN-13: 978-1432745608

Rating: 5/5

Review Copy Provided by Author

"Three little pigs try everything in their power to make or find mud. Along the way they learn a valuable life lesson. "

**OKay I review quite a few childrens books and I thought I should briefly mention that I do rate them a bit different than others for obvious reasons.

The most common things I rate them by are:

1) Did they hold the kids interest?

2) Were they able to retell the story for me?

3) Did the story make sense and get its message across?

and a few others that just depend solely on the particular book I am reviewing.

The Mudhogs passed all three of the above with flying colors! It was a cute and simple story that did get its point across which basically was Home is a wonderful place to be!

I was really impressed that not only was this book written by an 8-year old but that it's not even his 1st published work! This is his 3rd published book! I can't wait to see what stories he has yet to tell in his future! Great job Dalton!

Review: Bait For Lunch by K. A. Okagaki

Bait For Lunch by K. A. Okagaki

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 28 pages

Publisher: 4RV Publishing LLC

ISBN-10: 0981868584

ISBN-13: 978-0981868585

Rating: 5/5

Review Copy Provided by Author

"Gilroy Tanaka thinks Grandpa staying with him while Mom and Dad are away will be a treat. Poor Gilroy's delight turns to shock when his grandfather serves octopus for dinner and squid kabobs for lunch. What's a hungry kid supposed to do?"

This was a really funny childrens book and reminded me so much of myself when I was younger and my folks tried to get me to sample "different" foods and I wouldn't have none of it. No Way! Our little girl loved the book but I dont think it inspired her to eat the octopus just yet!

Outside of being fun and an easy read I enjoyed that this book was broke into small chapters even as short as it was to get small children used to reading chapter books.