Emily is Away

 

Title: Emily is Away <3  Game System: PC (Steam)  Game Type: Text Simulation

The year is 2008 and AIM is dead (for those of you old enough to know what I am talking about) all of your friends are on "facenook" and finally convince you to join. With your friends' help you navigate the end of high school. There are multiple ways the game can end, you get to decide how it does. You go through a few chapters to decide how the end of high school ends for you. 

I enjoyed this small game, I would have enjoyed seeing more added to it. However, for what it is it's a nice game. In order to type you just have to hit only 1 button to type it and then hit enter for it to send. It's a game to sit and enjoy for a couple hours. 

Pixie and the Green Book Mystery

Title: Pixie and the Green Book Mystery  Author: Coraline Grace  Pages: 103 Genre: Beginner Fantasy

~Review Request by Author~

     Pixie is a unique little 2nd grader that likes to read and wear apples. It's a bad day at school for poor Pixie. She races home so she can go to the library with her Mom (her favorite place). While she is there she sees a book that she hasn't seen before, this book isn't like any others. She soon meets Alice from Wonderland with that time crazed white rabbit and Cindi which is short for Cinderella. They quickly tell her that there is a  book guardian and he is trying to get them stuck in this new green book so their stories are erased forever! Cindi and Alice decide to trust their fate to little Pixie, good  thing she likes to read...but can she get them back to their books fast enough without getting herself caught by this mysterious book guardian?

I read this book with my twin 8 year old girls and they fully enjoyed it. They could relate to little Pixie and they loved the adventure she went on they can't wait for the next book in the series. I enjoyed the book and having a book that I can read to them and watch the excitement on their face was awesome as a Mom. It was lively and cute and I myself can not wait for the next book in the series to continue this bonding time with the kids and see what happens to Pixie next. So from this family Coraline is getting 6 thumbs up!!

The Diary of a Young Girl

Title: The Diary of a Young Girl  Author: Anne Frank   Pages: 268 Genre: Autobiography 

anne Frank is a typical 13 year old. she gets a diary for one of her birthday presents and is very detailed about the things that happen around her.
the detail anne puts into her diary made me feel like I was a friend and I was there with her. the drama at the annex and the tension of everyone cooped up. by the time the book ends anne is 15 and she has brilliant ideas and thoughts and knows more about herself than most adults do in this day and age. I would consider myself fortunate to be her friend.

Parenting with Love and Logic

Title: Parenting with Love and Logic  Authors: Foster Cline MD and Jim Fay  Pages: 224 Genre: Self-help/Parenting

I was recommended this book by my sister, it is a way to parent your kids and have them be more self reliant. Instead of chastising your child for a bad grade, its about how you can have them shoulder the responsibility since its about their work and how they are paying attention at school. There are two parts to this book; the first part is about general little tidbits and giving an overview of it all. The second part is the "Pearls" where it is a small chapter about a specific problem you maybe having. It covers things like grades, peer pressure, lying, stealing, disrespect among much more. 

This book went up and down with me. I enjoy getting insight from other parents and books about how to best help my kids. See if I can change how I look at something to make their lives better and mine easier, as much as it can be with kids anyhow haha! There is a bit of scripture at the beginning of this for those that want to avoid that or have more of it at home. One of the parts that got me was that the underlying message is more important then what us as parents actually say; as an example you can say that something doesn't matter to you but your tone of voice and your body language could be saying the opposite and it can really effect a child's mindset. There are some of the "Pearls" I will want to try at home to give my kids a tad more freedom and give them more responsibility. There are other things that I didn't agree with and will not be pursuing in my home. To each there own. I suppose this is why there are so many different parenting books out there. Good luck to all you parents and soon to be parents out there that decide to pick up this book! 

Dark Places

Title: Dark Places  Author: Gillian Flynn  Pages: 538  Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Libby is a young girl that is home when her whole family is killed. Her brother is blamed and sent to prison. 25 years pass since that day and she gets a letter from "The Kill Club" to come and be involved. This is where people start planting seeds that her brother Ben is innocent. They pay her some money to go back and talk about the past with some key people. She unveils the truth and her life is in danger again. Barely escaping she gets to tell the truth of what happened that night and maybe save her brother. 

I enjoyed this book more then I thought I would. I think Libby was written like a real person. We all want to feel like when we are hit with tragedy that we will rise above, but do we really? Sometimes even getting out of bed is a feat on its own. The story progressed well as you got flashbacks on how that day unfolded and how it all happened from Ben, Patty (the Mom) and of course Libby. 

Hello Kitty A Collection for Early Readers

Title: Hello Kitty: A Collection of Early Readers  Author: Abrams Brooks  Pages: 191  Genre: Kids

It has 7 stories of adventures for Hello Kitty and her friends and family. One of my daughters Zoe read most of this book to me over a course of a few days. The stories are a tad lengthy but most of the words are short and simple but pose a challenge to help them learn to sound it out. It has reading levels 1 & 2.
The stories were cute and my daughter loved reading a story to me and learning new words. I'm sure it will be read to me many more times. It is a great starter book though for your first graders :)

Mia and the Too Big Tutu

Title: Mia and the Too  Big Tutu  Author: Robin Farley  Pages: 31  Genre: Children

Mia wants to be just like her big sister and dance, her Mom helps her see her dreams come true with a dance class. When Mia is getting ready she realizes she grabbed her sister's tutu instead of hers, she is so embarrassed to be tripping over it. With the help of a friend she dances with all her heart on the stage for the class and forgets her fears.

It's a good moral story for beginner readers. My daughter read it to me and I couldn't be more proud. This is a great beginner book to start that confidence and to start learning a bit more complex words. I did have to help my kindergartner with the harder words but she sounded out most of it. 

Princess Posey and the Perfect Present

Title: Princess Posey and the Perfect Present  Author: Stephanie Greene  Pages: 85  Genre: Children's Fiction

Posey is a first grader that loves school. She is Princess Posey when she puts on her favorite pink tutu. She gets told in school that it's her teacher's birthday the next day and she wants to get the perfecct present. The flowers she has helped take care of in her yard are just the right thing right? What happens when your best friend gives flowers too? Now she has to find a new perfect present for her teacher to let her know she likes her the best! 

This book is a quick read. I read it in a couple days with my twins. It has a great lesson in it and its a cute story. It even had me choke up a bit with how cute it was. It is something that young kids can relate with. I enjoyed reading this with my kiddos :)

The House on Pooh Corner

Title: The House on Pooh Corner  Author: A. A. Milne  Pages: 180  Genre: Children's Fiction

This is the second installment of the Winnie The Pooh series. It is more stories of the adventures of Pooh and his friends. This book does include Tigger along with the others. 

Again, I grew up on Winnie the Pooh and I wanted my kids to have the same thing. I will reread this series until I can no longer read. It is one of my all time favorites! Saying that I am an adult with 3 kids and still obsessed with all things Winne the Pooh and Tigger :) If you haven't read this for yourself or to your kids I urge you to do it now!

Winnie the Pooh

Title: Winnie The Pooh  Author: A.A. Milne  Pages: 161  Genre: Children's stories

Winnie the Pooh is a bear of very little brain but he goes on some grand adventures with his friends. In this book he goes on 10 different adventures that you start to get to know the characters in the Hundred Acre Woods. 

Winnie the Pooh is a classic in my household. My twins just hit kindergarten and as a "homework" they need to read for 20 minutes a night. This is the first book that came to mind for me and they loved it as much as I did. Even got my 3 year old to sit down for a few minutes each night to hear about Pooh bear and his friends. This is one book I can read over and over again.

Big Book of Little Stories and New Spring

Title: Big Book of Little Stories By: Various Authors  Pages:  359 Genre: kids

There are some great stories in this book. From Gingerbread Man to Pinocchio. My kids loved having a small bed time story. It was short and funny and held their attention and they couldn't wait to read another story.

Title: New Spring Author: Robert Jordan Pages: audiobook  Genre: Fantasy

This story is how the world is changing and a new hero is about to be born. Moiraine is set out to find the baby before the dark power can.

I enjoyed this book. It is the first I have read/heard from Robert Jordan. I have been meaning to read Wheel of Time for a while now just haven't gotten to it with so many other books out there! It was a great thing to hear with my husband on our roadtrip with our kids in the car as well :)