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Mom & Me: An Art Journal to Share, Create and Connect, Side by Side by Lacy Mucklow and Bethany Robertson

Source: QuartoKnows
Paperback, 128 pgs.
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Mom & Me: An Art Journal to Share, Create and Connect, Side by Side by Lacy Mucklow and Bethany Robertson is a way to foster greater communication with young children, especially those who are just learning how to cope with their feelings and address issues in their school lives or at home.  For a mother and daughter or even a father and son, this journal could be a jumping off point for deeper conversations about what may be causing a child to act out or cause trouble. However, parents should be careful in using it and make sure that it remains a stress-free and fun activity and not something the child feels pressured to do.

Each 2-page section includes a prompt for both the parent and child to draw or even write how they feel on their own page, and when they are done, they can share those pages aloud or in silence with a few questions to clarify. Parents also will need to remember this is a journal to foster greater communication and that the quality of the art inside created by themselves or their child is irrelevant to its purpose.  If you both become better doodlers, all the better.

From drawing out our feelings to creating a coat of arms for the family and depicting yourself with the best animal qualities, these activities will have parents and their children laughing together and sharing quality time, as well as communicating. One of the best activities in the book is drawing your inside self and drawing your outside self, which can not only be enlightening for the child, but also the parent when they contemplate how they view themselves.

Mom & Me: An Art Journal to Share, Create and Connect, Side by Side by Lacy Mucklow and Bethany Robertson includes activities to reflect on the past, on emotions of the moment, self-image, qualities we want to have and do have, and much more. Once this journal is filled, it could give way to more activities together and greater communication as well as the creation of your own personalized journals that you can share together.

RATING: Quatrain

About the Author:

Lacy Mucklow (MA, ATR-BC, LPAT, LCPAT) is a registered, board certified, and licensed art therapist who has been practicing art therapy in the Washington, DC area since 1999. She has experience working with a variety of mental health populations and settings, including schools, home-based counseling, and hospitals with adolescents, families, and adults. Lacy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Studio Art from Oklahoma State University, and a Master of Arts degree in Art Therapy from The George Washington University.

The Art of Drawing Dangles: Creating Decorative Letters and Art with Charms by Olivia A. Kneibler

Source: QuartoKnows
Paperback, 144 pgs.
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The Art of Drawing Dangles: Creating Decorative Letters and Art with Charms by Olivia A. Kneibler has a colorful cover and it is clear from the drawings that your lettering will never be plain Jane again.  When kids doodle adding things to their letters or words, they are often told to write the letters as they should be written.  But this book allows their imaginations to run free, adding all sorts of designs to the dangles hanging from their letters.  There are chapters in the book to guide them through the process of drawing them, and there is no limit to how many dangles or what types of items can be made into dangles.

The introduction explains what dangles are and how different strings on which the charms hang can determine the mood of the lettering — evoking different emotions and reactions from the reader.  This type of lettering is great for stationary, artwork, and other creations.  Create wedding invitations with dangles, create monogrammed stationary, and use a variety of materials and styles.  There is a recommended list of materials in the beginning, including watercolor paints, colored pencils, markers, and more.  This is the perfect companion for Hand Lettering A to Z, which would enable you to create even more elaborate designs.

I loved that there are faint outlines for kids to practice creating some of the designs they see in the book. The Art of Drawing Dangles: Creating Decorative Letters and Art with Charms by Olivia A. Kneibler can help kids slow down and be creative, while providing parents with some quiet time. It also can help parents recharge by having them step away from their day-to-day stresses to create art with their children.

RATING: Quatrain

Find out more about the Author:

“Art has been my bliss since I was a very young girl, so much so that I majored in fine art in college with a minor in psychology. I have been producing and selling my art for many years using mostly watercolor as my main medium. When I began focusing solely on art as my career I freelanced for various companies and continued on that path for years creating illustrations for greeting cards, invitations, promotional materials, fabric, figurines and plush teddy bears. Some of the companies I freelanced for were pcCrafter, Bradford Exchange, Gibson Greetings, Paper Magic Group, Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company (exclusive artist), Leisure Arts, Gooseberry Patch, Walter Drake and more. I was the in house Senior Designer at DecoArt and worked in all aspects of the creative department and extensively on the Liquid Rainbow product, completing four books and numerous projects. After years of working with different companies I decided I would start working for myself so I opened my site, Olivia and Company.”

Stitching with Jane Foster by Jane Foster

Source: QuartoKnows
Hardcover, 52 pgs.
I am Amazon Affiliate

Stitching with Jane Foster by Jane Foster is similar to the Suzy Ultman book of stitching with its templates and fun designs.  Many of these are animals, which my daughter loves. You need the same materials for this: embroidery thread, embroidery needles, and a needle threader.  This one also has step-by-step instructions for cross-stitching.  We haven’t gotten to that step yet, but I’m sure we will.  There are other stitches as well, including seed stitching and back stitching.

This one includes bookmarks, which I’m hoping she’ll make me one.  Some of these designs also can be colored by the artist before they do the stitching.  This has so many possibilities for little artists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stitching with Jane Foster by Jane Foster is another great project book for kids as young as age 6.  She has a great time picking out her templates and matching the colors.  She creates her own designs with simple stitches.  Since her and nana started, she can’t seem to stop making them.  Right now, she’s working on a frameable one and it is only 9 a.m.

RATING: Cinquain

About the Author:

Jane Foster is an illustrator and screen printer living and working in south Devon. Her work, which is strongly influenced by Scandinavian and British design from the 1950s and 60s, has been featured in many publications including Vogue, Homes & Antiques, and Mollie Makes. She is a designer for Clothkits and has done commissions for Ikea. Jane’s products are stocked throughout the world.

She’s recently been working with the company Make International who are using her designs on ceramics, glasses and kitchen textiles. These are sold globally.  Jane is the author of Creative Craft With Kids (9781909397439) and Fun with Fabric (9781908449900), published by Pavilion. Jane’s recent two books (May 2015) are for pre-school children – 123 and ABC, published by Templar.  Follow her on Twitter. Visit her Website and check out her Instagram.

Fun with Stitchables by Suzy Ultman

Source: QuartoKnows
Hardcover, 36 pgs.
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Fun with Stitchables! by Suzy Ultman is a simple way to get kids interested in creating things through sewing. My daughter and I had to grab some essentials for this book, such as embroidery needles and embroidery thread.  It took me a while to grab these materials, but once we got them, she was off to the races.  She even learned how to use a needle threader when her nana was here visiting.  She already learned how to make knots at summer camp with the Girl Scouts, so she had that part down.

It was good to see her enthusiastic about these designs and learning to use different colors in the designs.  The book includes step-by-step instructions on how to thread the needle, how to tie the knot, and some stitching basics, as well as knotting the end.  The book includes frameable prints, ornaments, embellishments for greeting cards, and so much more.

Fun with Stitchables! by Suzy Ultman is a fun activity for kids to learn about sewing and coordinating colors and creating patterns.  My daughter and her nana had a fun time creating together, and I’m sitting here next to her while she does another one.  She must love it if she keeps going back for more.

RATING: Cinquain

About the Author:

Suzy Ultman was born in Pennsylvania, but colorful and vibrant Amsterdam also plays a large part in her work. She has lived on three different continents and embraced the culture and communities of each, allowing them to influence her visual aesthetic. Suzy’s style of illustration is influenced by her childhood, love of nature, and travel experiences. She enjoys being in beautiful habitats among nature’s playful palette of forms, textures, and colors. Suzy explores the worlds within our world, the little details that make us smile, and the connections that make us all part of the global community.

2017 New Authors Reading Challenge

Hand Lettering A to Z: A World of Creative Ideas for Drawing and Designing Alphabets by Abbey Sy

Source: QuartoKnows
Paperback, 128 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Hand Lettering A to Z: A World of Creative Ideas for Drawing and Designing Alphabets by Abbey Sy offers new letter artists a great deal of advice from what tools they can use to different types of fonts they can experiment with. I’ve never really considered creating new letters an art form, but as a teen, I used to do different kinds of bubble letters in notes to friends (yes, I’m dating myself). It was fun to make these notes visually interesting. I considered it a way to doodle when bored in class. In today’s high-tech world, it’s clear that lettering will be considered more of an art, rather than a way of writing.

Book Trailer:

Tools range from different types of paper and different types of pens and markers, but did you also know that you should have a good light source, a compass to ensure your lettering is on target, and clips. Carrying a sketchbook around can also be helpful when you have time to work on your lettering techniques, which reminds me of the small notebook I carry around for writing poems. Users will learn the technical terms for certain aspects of letters, such as those swashes or flourishes that are applied to certain fonts. There are techniques for slanting the letters and applying watercolors, among other things.

Hand Lettering A to Z: A World of Creative Ideas for Drawing and Designing Alphabets by Abbey Sy can help you improve your lettering or just be a great way to relax and enjoy creating something new and colorful. Kids will love this as they learn their letters, allowing them to explore their alphabet in a new way and letting their creativity bloom.

RATING: Quatrain

Peek inside the book:

About the Author:

Passionate about both art and travel, Abbey is best known for her hand-lettering work and travel illustrations. She is also Founder and Creative Director of ABC Magazine, a magazine for artists, crafters, and makers. She has written best-selling books on hand lettering and journaling, and continues to explore ways to make art and share stories through her own eyes.

Mailbox Monday #440

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog. To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links. Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Martha, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

Stitching with Jane Foster from QuartoKnows for review.

Stitching with Jane Foster includes 37 quick and easy cross-stitch sewing cards with punched holes for easy stitching, as well as a 36-page project book featuring instructions for designing your own unique stitching patterns and color combinations. Gather all the tools and materials you need to get started and learn stitching basics, including the straight stitch, cross-stitch, back stitch, and more. A project gallery then shows examples of how to use your adorable stitched cards: everything from bookmarks and journals to greeting cards and ornaments. The simple stitching patterns taught in this book promote growth and development, hand-eye coordination, and creativity and imagination. Includes 37 adorable punch-out templates to get you started! Color them, stitch them, press them out, and play with them; Stitching with Jane Foster will entertain and delight crafters of all ages and is sure to inspire a lifelong love of embroidery.

My Dear Sophy by Kimberly Truesdale, a Kindle freebie.

Sophy Wentworth loves her life in sleepy Milverton…

Twenty-three year old Sophia Wentworth lives a quiet life in the small country town of Milverton. Here she helps her Papa, the town doctor, visits with her friends, and attempts – usually unsuccessfully – to keep her younger brothers Edward and Frederick out of trouble. When the opportunity to marry the handsome and attentive young curate who’s just moved into the next town presents itself, Sophy is tempted by a life of pleasant repetitions and obligations, a life that will keep her at the center of the town and the community she loves so much.

Until a stranger arrives…

Captain Conrad Croft grew up in Milverton, where his father is the rector. He has spent the past fourteen years traveling the world with the British Navy. On a surprise visit home, Conrad meets Sophia – who was just eight years old when he left. He becomes intrigued by this woman, the silent core of strength for the entire town. When his attempts to draw her out succeed, Conrad discovers an intelligent, witty, strong woman who might just be his perfect match. He only has to convince her of it before he sails away again.

Fifteen years before the events of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, this is the story of how the Admiral and Mrs. Croft first meet.

Pride and Persistence by Jeanna Ellsworth, a Kindle freebie.

Undaunted by a threatening storm, Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley insists he must deliver his letter to Miss Elizabeth Bennet–– then tragedy strikes. Riddled with guilt, Elizabeth comes to the aid of the comatose Mr. Darcy and stays by his side until he regains consciousness. She soon learns that although Mr. Darcy has awoken, he has not returned to himself. And with no memory of his first disastrous proposal, he has concluded that there is nothing he wants more than to propose to Miss Elizabeth.

This humorous journey of love leaves one asking, can persistence pacify prejudice? Can Elizabeth see the real gentleman behind the injury, a man who persists in professing his love to her every chance he gets? In this Regency variation of Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet both learn the value of persistence.

The Young Phantom by David Coward, a Kindle freebie.

The tale of the murderous Phantom of the Opera and his addiction to Christine is one that is known around the world. But the early years of the horribly disfigured Erik remain shrouded in mystery.

His life begins in a lonely tavern on a deserted, French road. An emergency birth and the only help available is from the man-midwife, Père Lapôtre. Unskilled and unfeeling, Lapôtre’s gruesome attempt at the child’s delivery dooms the child to grow up to be the one called the Phantom. Rejected by his parents, only Françoise truly cares for him. When his mother reclaims him, it is only to humiliate and punish him for sentencing her to a life of pain and misery. Cast out again to fend for himself, he embarks on a life of loneliness and danger which takes him to the other side of the world.

He returns to France where he seeks human love only to find it is written that he is not made to know human happiness.

Stubborn by Heather C. Myers, a Kindle freebie.

Ronnie Bixby is a sassy, foul-mouthed American college student with a penchant for Joel McHale and dancing to Katy Perry songs. Aiden Shawe is a sarcastic, uptight Englishman with more money than either of them can count. When they collide, steam rises and puddles form. Due to social situations – including but not limited to: Aiden’s sister becoming Ronnie’s college roommate, Ronnie’s sister falling in love with Aiden’s best friend – they are forced to interact with each other. As they slowly start to get closer, an old school acquaintance of Aiden’s enters the picture and does something that could potentially ruin any chance Ronnie has with Aiden, especially if Aiden’s influential Aunt Judy Solomon has anything to do with it. But that’s only if Ronnie and Aiden can overcome their respective pride and admit to having feelings for each other in the first place.

Gardening 101: Friendship Gardens by Henry Owen and Katherine Metzo, a Kidle freebie.

At Friendship Gardens, we believe everyone should have access to fresh, healthy food and the knowledge to grow it themselves

Friendship Gardens is a nonprofit project teaching gardening and growing food for Friendship Trays, Charlotte’s meals on wheels program. This ebook is our ‘Gardening 101’ guide designed to help gardeners grow more food.

In this book you will learn organic and sustainable growing practices on a range of gardening topics: Garden bed preparations, soil life, spring gardening, summer gardening, fall gardening, watering, composting, planting, and more. This book has great general gardening information that will be helpful to any gardener new or experiences, and it includes some specific information about gardening in our climate and clay heavy soil here in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.

What did you receive?

Stick It to ‘Em: Playful Stickers to Color & Create: 275+ Stickers with Sass for Family, Friends, and Frenemies by Bailey Fleming

Source: Quarto Books
Paperback, 104 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Stick It to ‘Em: Playful Stickers to Color & Create: 275+ Stickers with Sass for Family, Friends, and Frenemies by Bailey Fleming is a unique collection of stickers and tools for doodling and creating your own stickers.  My daughter hasn’t created her own yet, but she’s had a great time coloring the pre-made stickers and sharing them with her parents — putting them on our phone cases and laptops.  I’m just happy they are not all over the house.  What’s great about this collection is that it is for young and old alike, as some of these stickers are for adults to deal with their own stresses through coloring and creating their own snarky comments and pictures.  Some recommended tools for creating colorful stickers include felt-tip pens, colored pencils, water color paints, and brush pens, among others.

There are techniques for adults and kids to use to create visually enticing lettering for logos and sayings on their stickers, as well as ways to enhance those statements with accompanying doodles.  There are even pages that break down images into simple steps to make them easier for kids to replicate in the blank sticker spaces.

Stick It to ‘Em: Playful Stickers to Color & Create: 275+ Stickers with Sass for Family, Friends, and Frenemies by Bailey Fleming is an excellent creative outlet for young and old.  Let your imagination soar with these stickers.

RATING: Quatrain

2017 New Authors Reading Challenge

Mailbox Monday #437

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog. To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links. Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Martha, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

Wrecked by JB Salsbury, which I purchased after seeing it on Mailbox Monday at Herding Cats & Burning Soup.

When you can’t trust yourself, how can you ask anyone else to?

It’s been months since Aden Colt left the Army, and still the memories haunt him. When he moved into a tiny boat off the California coast, he thought he’d found the perfect place to escape life. Then Sawyer shows up and turns his simple life upside down. Beautiful and sophisticated, she seems out of place in this laid-back beach town. Something is pushing her to experience everything she can-including Aden. But as much as he wants her, starting a relationship with Sawyer puts them both at risk. For Aden, the past doesn’t stay there; it shows up unexpectedly, uncontrollably, and doesn’t care whose life it wrecks.

Darcy and Elizabeth What If? by Jennifer Lang, free for Kindle.

A collection of three novellas. All the novellas in the Darcy and Elizabeth What If? series are separate, standalone stories. They can be read in any order. Contains Mr Darcy’s Valentine, A Ball at Pemberley and Mr Darcy’s Waterloo

New World Rising by Jennifer Wilson, free on Kindle.

Since witnessing her parents’ murders at the age of eleven, Phoenix’s only purpose in life has been to uphold her mother’s dying words- to be strong and survive. But surviving outside of The Walls- outside of The Sanctuary- is more like a drawn-out death sentence. A cruel and ruthless city, Tartarus is run by the Tribes whose motto is simple, “Join or die.”

Refusing to join and determined to live, Phoenix fights to survive in this savage world. But who can she trust, when no one can be trusted? Not even herself.

The Longbourn Letters: The Correspondence between Mr Collins & Mr Bennet by Rose Servitova, free on Kindle.

Where Pride and Prejudice ends, a new relationship begins.

Good-humoured but detached and taciturn, Mr Bennet is not given to intimacy. Largely content with his life at Longbourn, he spends his evenings in the solitude of his library, accompanied only by a glass of port and a good book. But when his cousin, the pompous clergyman Mr Collins, announces his intention to visit, Mr Bennet is curious to meet and appraise the heir to his estate.

Despite Mr Bennet’s initial discouragement, Mr Collins quickly becomes a frequent presence in his life. They correspond regularly, with Mr Collins recounting tales of his follies and scrapes and Mr Bennet taking great pleasure from teasing his unsuspecting friend.

When a rift develops between the men, Mr Bennet is faced with a choice: he must withdraw into isolation once again or acknowledge that Mr Collins has brought something new and rich to his life.

Tender, heart-warming and peppered with disarming humour, The Longbourn Letters reimagines the characters of Pride and Prejudice and perfectly captures the subtleties of human relationships and the power of friendship.

The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Beau North and Brooke West, free on Kindle.

“He could no longer claim to be Fitzwilliam Darcy of Derbyshire, brother to Georgiana, master of Pemberley. In that moment, he was but a man. A man filled with more frustration than most souls could bear. A man torn asunder by his desperation, his fruitless dreams and desires.”

After Elizabeth Bennet rejects his marriage proposal, Fitzwilliam Darcy finds himself in the most unusual of circumstances. At first believing the extraordinary turn of events has granted him an inexplicable boon, he is eager to put the humiliating proposal behind him.

He soon discovers that he is trapped in the same waking dream with no end in sight and no possible escape. All that he holds dear—his name, his home, his love—remains ever out of reach. How will he find his way back to his normal life? Will one mistake haunt the rest of his days? It will take all of his fortitude to weather the storms of his strange new fate, and all of his courage to grasp the promise of his future.

Hand Lettering A to Z: A World of Creative Ideas for Drawing and Designing Alphabets by Abbey Sy for review QuartoKnows

Your hand lettering contains a little bit of you! It expresses what you have to say, and demonstrates your creativity in all your communications. In Hand Lettering A to Z, artist and author Abbey Sy has invited four international artists–Meg Hyland, Joao Neves, Tessa Go, and Lisa Lorek–to join her in designing all new alphabets for you to draw and use in many different languages.

You don’t have to be a trained artist to master the art of hand lettering. These alphabets are for every skill level, and will suits any taste: colorful, or black and white, classic or just plain fun. It’s all about getting creative with the twenty-six letters and a little bit of you.

What did you receive?

Build A … T-Rex and Build A … Butterfly by Kiki Ljung

Source: Publisher
Hardcover, 12 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Build A … T-Rex and Build A … Butterfly by Kiki Ljung are geared toward children ages 5-8 and aim to teach children about the anatomy of the T-Rex, as we know it, and the Butterfly by engaging them in a fun activity.  Each book contains a set of parts children can use to build their own 3D model.

The directions are fairly simple, but the T-Rex head was a bit confusing for my kindergartner, and we had to tape his head back together.  She folded him the wrong way.  And one of the legs on the butterfly got ripped when she tried to pull it from the book.  If anything, some of these pieces in each book were secured inside the pages a little too well, making it harder for little kids to pull them out without causing some damage to certain pieces.

The Build A … T-Rex includes some of the latest information about the dinosaur, including his lizard-like hips and posture.  It offers a guide to kids about what the dino ate, how it ran, and whether it had a loud roar like in the movies.  It contains a great deal of information, alongside colorful (but not gory) illustrations of the T-Rex in action.

Build A … Butterfly illustrates the life cycle of the painted lady butterfly and how long it takes them to transform from an egg into a butterfly, as well as how long they actually live.  There’s a great deal of information about each body part and how it functions, what they eat, and where they migrant.  And so much more alongside the colorful illustrations.

Build A … T-Rex and Build A … Butterfly by Kiki Ljung both allow children to put back the parts of their 3D models, but we chose not to do that and she’s planning to display them in her room.

RATING: Quatrain

Stuck on Fun! Play with Patterns, Sticker Tape, and More! by Jannie Ho

Source: QuartoKnows
Hardcover, 36 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Stuck on Fun! Play with Patterns, Sticker Tape, and More! by Jannie Ho has stickers, pop-out characters to dress up, and patterned paper and stencils to create clothes and accessories. The paper patterns are mostly flowers and other embellishments, though there are a couple that are geometric or have animals. The stickers you can use to make belts and other accessories are a wider variety. The book also contains several scenes that kids can use to create their own stories, such as going to shopping or going on a trip to outer space.

Here’s some of the fun creations we made (she made them; I was just the assistant):

The book tells you what materials are available inside and what additional materials you’ll need, such as scissors and glue. You can also add your own pom poms and glitter if you have those on hand. There are other project ideas inside as well. This book could offer kids hours of fun, especially if they like to create their own characters. We really liked that there were a variety of characters, including an alien. One draw back for us was that you couldn’t remove the stencils from the book, unless you cut the cardboard to take them out. It makes it hard to trace the clothing patterns inside the book because of how many stencils are inside.

Stuck on Fun! Play with Patterns, Sticker Tape, and More! by Jannie Ho is a great book to use on a rainy or wintry day with kids. Have a blast; get creative.

RATING: Quatrain

Mailbox Monday #398

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links. Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

A Lowcountry Christmas by Mary Alice Monroe, a surprise from Tandem Literary.

A wounded warrior and his younger brother discover the true meaning of Christmas in this timeless story of family bonds.

As far as ten-year-old Miller McClellan is concerned, it’s the worst Christmas ever. His father’s shrimp boat is docked, his mother is working two jobs, and with finances strained, Miller is told they can’t afford the dog he desperately wants. “Your brother’s return from war is our family’s gift,” his parents tell him. But when Taylor returns with PTSD, family strains darken the holidays.

Then Taylor’s service dog arrives—a large black Labrador/Great Dane named Thor. His brother even got the dog! When Miller goes out on Christmas Eve with his father’s axe, determined to get his family the tree they can’t afford, he takes the dog for company—but accidentally winds up lost in the wild forest. The splintered family must come together to rediscover their strengths, family bond, and the true meaning of Christmas.

Stuck on fun!: Play with patterns, sticker tape, and more! by Jannie Ho

Stuck on Fun introduces young crafters to the creative possibilities of decorative tape and patterns. This interactive book comes with fully illustrated punch-out cards and characters, as well as stickers, sticker tape, patterned paper, and stencils to decorate, embellish, and personalize each punch-out in a unique and colorful way. Also included is a 16-page project book filled with simple instructions for designing and creating unique patterns from the included materials as well as an assortment of common craft supplies. Kids will have a blast creating their own unique character designs, doodles, and patterns. From washi tape, patterned paper, and stickers to stencils and punch-outs, this book is a perfect gift for crafters of all ages!

What did you receive?

Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson edited by Susan Snively, PhD, illustrated by Christine Davenier

Source: QuartoKnows
Hardcover, 48 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson edited by Susan Snively, PhD, and illustrated by Christine Davenier is ideally for ages 8-13, and the illustrations are gorgeous and can be appreciated by readers of any age. Davenier uses a watercolor technique to illustrate the 35 poems in this volume, which Snively curated. Some, if not all, of the poems included have been modified from the original poem. In some cases, the em dash is removed and replaced with other punctuation, and in other cases, words that she capitalized are not in these versions. Dickinson readers will notice these changes very easily, and if these changes bother you in a kids book, this is not the volume for you.

I loved how the poems were presented here, and although this is a little old for my daughter, she listened as I read. The terms she would not be familiar with are defined on the pages where the poems appear. She may not have understood everything I read, but the lines and words Dickinson used — especially as nature is front in center — are things that even younger kids can relate to. She really loved the colorful pictures. They’re wonderful.

Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson edited by Susan Snively, PhD, and illustrated by Christine Davenier breaks down the poems by season and in the back, there is a list of what Emily Dickinson might have been thinking at the time the poem was written. For the age group this book is curated for, it is well presented and could be a stepping stone for deeper discussion of Dickinson, her unconventional life and writing, and what she was “thinking” as she wrote.

RATING: Quatrain

About the Poet:

Emily Dickinson was an American poet who, despite the fact that less than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime, is widely considered one of the most original and influential poets of the 19th century.

About the Editor:

Susan Snively grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and now lives in New England where she is a guide, discussion leader, and film script writer for the Emily Dickinson Museum. She was the founder and first director of the Writing Center at Amherst College, where she worked from 1981 until 2008. She taught courses in writing and autobiographies of women, and has published four collections of poems: From This Distance (1981), Voices in the House (1988), The Undertow (1998), and Skeptic Traveler (2005). View her complete bibliography. Susan Snively has received numerous Prizes and Awards for her writing, and continues to lecture and give readings.

About the Illustrator:

Christine Davenier is an author and illustrator of children’s books. She has illustrated a large number of books, the authors of which include Jack Prelutsky, Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton, Madeleine L’Engle and Juanita Havill, and has received critical acclaim.