Mama Kisses, Papa Hugs

 

 About the Book

From the creator of the best-selling God Gave Us You comes a warm exploration of the ways parents show affection--and how it mirrors God's affection for his followers.

Parents are always looking out for the perfect bedtime book to create a sense of well-being before a night of rest. Mama Kisses, Papa Hugs explores a child's curiosity about how love is shown between parent and child, with the reassurance that Mama and Papa will always love their little one. And like Lisa Tawn Bergren's young protagonist asks his mother, this question is pressing on the minds of many children:

"Mama, how does God kiss us?"

Mama smiled. "He kisses us a hundred times a day; although if you don't pay attention, you might miss it."

"At night he kisses us with a shooting star. In the morning, he kisses us with sunlight, crawling across the fields and into our windows. On a hot summer afternoon, he kisses us with a gentle breeze. But most of all, he kisses us through our family. That's how God made us. That's why I give you Mama kisses." (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

This is such a great book! The illustrations are lovely and the story is a fun read along for kiddos. It goes through and talks about all the fun ways that animals "hug" or "kiss". So for example lions and tigers give their cubs "slurpy licks" to take care of them and pigs snuggle in the mud etc. It is fun and the wording makes it a perfect story. The only thing is I wish that it was a board book but it is still a fun book for littles. 

 

Five Stars. 

"I received this book from the publisher for free. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review."

God Gave Us the Bible: 45 Favorite Stories for Little Ones

 

 About the Book

Introducing a Bible storybook from the creators of God Gave Us You, God Gave Us Christmas and God Gave Us Easter, featuring 45 stories from the Bible, with reflections from adorable Little Cub and her friends.

God Gave Us the Bible introduces kids to the STORY of stories--the love story between God and his people. Ideal for readers aged 3 to 7, written in a framework where Little Cub and her animal friends reflect many of the questions young readers have about Bible stories. The book features forty-five Bible stories and concepts that every child should know/be introduced to, like Noah and the Ark, the Birth of Jesus, and Jesus Feeds the 5,000 in a very warm, conversational, reassuring manner. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I really enjoy books by Lisa Tawn Bergren. Of course the art by David Hohn is fantastic and adds a fun element to this book. The story starts with Mama Bear wanting to share the best story (the Bible) with the different forest animal kids. So starting in Genesis and ending in Acts this book quickly takes you through the main "Bible stories". I think it was a decent book and could be good for littles to get conversation started and interest in the Bible. I think further discussion is needed but I did enjoy the parts where the kids interrupt and ask questions. This shows children that it is okay to ask about things and really take time to listen to the story. 

I would back this up with the Bible of course but for little ones this could be a nice addition to your library. 

Five Stars. 

"I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for free. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review."

One Christmas Bear Kid's Book Review

 

 About the Book 

Count the Blessings of Christmas

Follow the merry adventures of a polar bear and the artic animals as they enjoy winter fun! From crunchy candy canes and frosty snowballs to friends to play with and a family to love, your little one will enjoy counting God’s wonderful gifts.

Anne Vittur Kennedy has been delighting young children with her humorous and playful books for thirty years. Her awards include American Library Association’s Notable Books List, Teacher’s Choice, The Green Earth Book Award, and The Green Prize for Sustainable Literature. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I love Christmas books and this one has some fun illustrations. This is also a board book which is nice for little ones and more difficult to destroy. There isn't really a deep meaning to this book or much to learn from it is just a bright Christmas book about playful animals. This would make a good gift for the holidays or just nice to add to your collection. 

Four stars. 

"I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for free. All opinions are my own." 

 

When God Made You Children's Book Review

 

 About the Book

YOU, you... God thinks about you.
God was thinking of you long before your debut.
From early on, children are looking to discover their place in the world and longing to understand how their personalities, traits, and talents fit in. The assurance that they are deeply loved and a unique creation in our big universe is certain to help them spread their wings and fly.
Through playful, charming rhyme and vivid, fantastical illustrations, When God Made You inspires young readers to learn about their own special gifts and how they fit into God's divine plan as they grow, explore, and begin to create for themselves.
'Cause when God made YOU, somehow God knew
That the world needed someone exactly like you! (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

This book is wonderful! This would make a great gift and would be something I would buy for the little people in my life!  The illustrations are fantastic and the meaning within the book is important for children to understand. Kids are special and made in the image of God and this book makes it very clear. 

Wonderful kids book, highly recommend!

Five Stars.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for free. All opinions are my own."

Thank You, God, for Grandma Kid Book Review

 

About the Book

 

Thank You, God, for Grandmas, Nanas and Mimis too, Gigis and Grams and Grandmommies--They're great, grand gifts from You!

No matter what you call her, there is nothing like the love between a grandma and her grandchild! With sweet, rhyming text and adorable illustrations, Thank You, God, for Grandma encourages little ones to treasure God's special gift of grandmothers.

Grandmas and their grandchildren alike will love this heartwarming story that celebrates their precious relationship.

Amy Parker's children's books have sold more than 800,000 copies, including two Christian Retailing's Best award-winning books and the bestselling A Night Night Prayer. She lives outside Nashville with her husband and two children. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

This is the perfect book! It's a board book, which is important in my opinion. It is also just the right size with wonderful illustrations. I adore my Grandma so this book seemed fitting on how it explains how wonderful Grandma's are to have in our life. I think any child would enjoy this book and the illustrations. 

Five stars. 

"I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for free. All opinions are my own." 

 

VeggieTales The Best Christmas Gift Ever Kids Review

 About the Book

In this festive VeggieTales book, the Veggies are celebrating Christmas—decorating the tree, singing carols, and exchanging gifts. But in the middle of all the activity—though it’s so much fun to give and receive presents—the Veggies all know that the greatest gift of all was God’s gift of Jesus, his Son. Children will love the colorful art featuring their favorite Veggie friends. Parents can use this book to introduce little ones to Jesus’ birth as the reason we rejoice at Christmastime. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

This is such a cute board book! I love VeggieTales and I know many little ones who think they are great fun. This book you could read as if in song, I can hear Junior in the background in my mind as I turn the page. While Christmas is a fun time of year it is difficult to get children to understand anything other than gifts and trees and candy. This book says those things are nice but really we are to celebrate the birth of Christ. 

This would make a wonderful addition to your Christmas kids library.

Five stars. 

" Thanks to Worthy Publishing for the gift of this book. All opinions are my own."

A Royal Christmas to Remember Kids Review

About the Book

 

With the arrival of the most spectacular winter in years and Christmas only a night away, Princesses Joy, Grace, Faith, Charity, and Hope find themselves in the midst of a scene right out of a holiday fairytale in this newest adventure in the Princess Parables series A Royal Christmas to Remember. But then the threat of bandits in the village lead the king away from the castle on Christmas Eve! Suddenly, the bandits come crashing into the castle. Praying to God for courage and safety, the princesses are soon rescued by five brave knights and then do some rescuing themselves. The next day, the princesses go to the village to see how they can be of help to the people, discovering that the true meaning of Christmas is honoring and giving glory for the greatest gift of all. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I was hesitant about this book because of the whole princess theme. We seem to get over run with princess stuff, but this book really surprised me. There are spoiled little princesses but then something happens and their Christmas plans are ruined. Because of the seriousness of what has happened their hearts are changed and they realize what Christmas is all about, and no that is not the gifts and biggest tree. 

I think this would make a great little girl gift, and it should be read and talked about so they understand what Christmas really is all about. 

Five stars. 

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for the copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Parable Treasury Kids Review

 

 About the Book 

With more than 1.1 million units sold in the Parable Series, Liz Curtis Higgs has given parents and kids alike beloved parables they can read throughout the year. This adorable compilation, Parable Treasury, allows families to get all their favorite stories in one value-packed book.


For nearly twenty years, Liz Curtis Higgs has made the holidays a little brighter throughout the year with her Parable Series. In a lovely padded hardcover format, the Gold Medallion–winning books from the Parable Series will include:


The Pumpkin Patch Parable,which focuses on the harvest season and shows that we can let God’s love shine through us

The Pine Tree Parable,a heartwarming tale of the farmer and his family, who nurture tiny seedlings into fragrant Christmas trees

The Parable of the Lily, which helps children understand the power of grace and forgiveness and the true meaning of Easter

The Sunflower Parable, which helps children discover the value of planting seeds, not only in the ground but also in the hearts of those around us
With simplicity and creative storytelling, this is sure to be a family favorite. (Goodreads)

 My Thoughts

What a wonderful book! I love the illustrations and while being simple parables for kids to understand, they have a great lesson! There is a story for each season and a farmer is included in each story. Something I noticed is how Liz Curtis Higgs explains her fall story and how it's not about Halloween or creepy things. She wanted kids to see that this time of year is not about the scary but about a new season. This is also a much bigger yet better made book than I was expecting. It's got a nice cover and is in an easy to read format for kids. This would make a great gift or just something fun for kids to read. Verses are included with each story so you can talk to your kids about the Bible stories that parallel these. 

Five stars. 

"I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for free in exchange for an honest review."

 

Princess Charity Sticker Book Kids Review

 

 

 

 

Book Description

Sticker books girls will love! The Princess Parables come to life through age-appropriate puzzles, activity pages, and 50 colorful and reusable stickers in the friendly and fun Princess Charity’s Sticker and Activity Book featuring Charity, her four princess sisters, and their friends.

Join Charity and her sisters in some creative and interactive fun with 16 pages of stickers and activities that are sure to please, featuring her father the king and her special animal friend Daisy the Horse.

About the Illustrator

Omar Aranda studied Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was born. Many top publishers and companies worldwide have commissioned him for projects including story artwork, comics, and character design. He started his career as an artistic painter but now devotes all of his time to illustrations for children's products.




My Review 


This is such a fun book for little girls! This is a sticker/activity book that has 50 reusable stickers! There are coloring pages, connect the dots, mazes, draw your own princess, and more. While I did expect the book to be a little bit bigger, I think this is a great activity book and I'm excited to share it with the little girls in my life.
Age recommendation is 4-8.

"I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for free in exchange for an honest review."

Bash and the Chocolate Milk Cows

About the Book

Anytime boring Beamer visits Bash, his crazy farm cousin, weirdness always rules. This time, Bash schemes a way for the cows to give chocolate milk on April Fool’s Day. Meanwhile, there's a robber on the loose, and Beamer is stuck with his crazy cousin, the pesky neighbor Mary Jane, and a goat of many colors. But somehow Beamer manages to learn an important lesson about baptism and the Great Commission. It's just another day at the farm!

Based on Matthew 16:15-16, this third book in the Bash series is hilarious fun for kids 8 to 12. (Goodreads)

My Review

I love these books by Burton Cole because they really are fun to read. I can't wait to share this one with all of the littles in my life. This story revolves around April Fools Day and what the kids are going to do for pranks. It reminded me a bit of past April Fools myself and made me giggle. Here is a quote that just cracked me up, "Did he ever shoot anybody? Nope. Break into houses? Bash laughed. Nobody breaks into farmhouses. We own pitchforks." They are talking about a robber who has been going around stealing random things like a jug of syrup. It's fun for kids and adults both and the story continues from painting a goat multiple colors to turning the entire dairy into chocolate milk cows.

Aside from the comedy, there is a great message of Christ and the kids always learn a lesson. I love these books and highly recommend!


Five stars.

"Thanks to the publisher for offering me a free copy in exchange for an honest review."

A Perfect Pet for Peyton Book Review

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About the Book

 This wonderfully imaginative children's hardcover book by bestselling authors Gary Chapman and Rick Osborne, featuring four-color illustrations (with hidden details!) by Wilson Williams, Jr., will help children learn the importance of love. Based on Gary's highly successful The 5 Love Languages®, A Perfect Pet for Peyton tells an entertaining and playful story of five children who each, with the help of Mr. Chapman and the unique pets at his special emporium, discover their own personal love language. Children and parents alike will experience firsthand the power of the love languages as they cuddle up and spend precious time together reading this book over and over again.

The cast of child characters in this whimsical story include: 

Peyton, one of the birthday celebrants, loves to help others, and appreciates it when others do little things for him.
Penny, Peyton's twin sister, who receives love best when others spend quality time with her.

Jayla, one of Penny's close friends, is always saying nice things about people. Her love language is words of affirmation.

Kevin, one of Peyton's close friends, enjoys giving things to people.

Sofia loves to pet the animals, and to show her love for others with special hugs. (Goodreads)

 My Review

  I love children's books and I enjoy watching my nephews learning how to read. This book was much better than I had anticipated. The pictures are great as is the main story line. My seven year old nephew would love this book mainly because on each page it has the reader try to find something in the picture. Think I Spy only interwoven with the story line. Also at the end of the book is when all the children in the book figure out what Love Language they have. I am married and have read Gary's 5 Love Languages. I had no idea how he would fit this into a children's book but it was actually well done. Each person is unique and in the book each child got a pet that fit with their love language. Also, at the very back of the book is a section to find your own love language. 

This is one of the best kids books that I have read in a while, I highly recommend!! 

"I received this book from Moody Publishers for free in exchange for an honest review."

The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone Book Review

Picture Credit

ABOUT THE BOOK

Archaeologist Dr. Michael Stone looked for the lost medallion his entire life, and now his son Billy has taken up the search. Amazingly, the medallion ends up in Billy's hands and a spontaneous wish in a precarious situation takes Billy and his best friend Allie, back 200 years to what they realize is a very different Aumakua Island. When Billy and his friends are not jumping off waterfalls, avoiding animal traps, crossing the ocean, sneaking through caves or escaping a prison they're facing their nemesis Cobra, who wants nothing more than for them all to disappear. With no other way to get home, and the well being of the entire island resting on his shoulders, Billy must discover the key to reclaiming the medallion and its tremendous power. One way or another, this adventure will change Billy, and life on the island, forever. Best-selling author and film director Alex Kendrick (The Love Dare, Courageous) and Youth for Christ veteran Bill Muir bring us this exciting novelization of The Lost Medallion movie.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Lost Medallion, go HERE.

My Review

I was excited to review a book for kids! This exciting new book is also a new movie, which I have not seen but I need to.

The start of this book starts before the actual book story takes place, then goes to present time. Billy goes on a search for a medallion and ends up in the middle of an exciting adventure and nemesis Cobra. With no other option they uncover a mystery and take you away on an island of excitement. While this story is very predictable it is a great book for kids, and I can see how it would be a good movie as well. 

I highly recommend to those with kids, I am not sure what age, maybe 5 and up?  Though it reads more as a young adult book so in order for the child to read they will need to be older. 

"I received this book from CFBA for free in exchange for an honest review."

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Lost Medallion B&H Kids; Mti edition (June 1, 2013) by Bill Muir and Alex Kendrick

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Bill Muir is a popular speaker, an international award winning film maker and a sought-after consultant.

Having completed his new novels The Lost Medallion and A Hidden Treasure, Bill has turned his creativity to his new Children’s novel, Howdy Neighbors.

When Bill isn’t writing a novel, he’s busy directing and producing movies. He recently spent four months in Thailand filming, The Lost Medallion: the adventures of Billy Stone. The movie will be in theaters this fall. When he isn’t working on movies, he’s having fun with his family working their farm.

Alex Kendrick is associate pastor of movie outreach for Sherwood Baptist Church. He is also an actor, writer, and director whose film credits include Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous. He and his wife, Christina, have six children.