Christmas Gift Ideas Continued: Kid Books

Looking for some great stories for the young ones in your life?  Here are some of my favourite children's book authors and a few recommended titles -- these are all well-loved by the kids I've taught and baby-sat for!  (The pictures are nabbed off Amazon, my favourite site for ordering books online).

1) Melanie Watt (*Canadian Author):

My grade two practice teaching placement taught me all about Melanie Watt's characters Scaredy Squirrel and Chester.  I recieved two Scaredy Squirrel books as a parting gift from the class, and I'm hoping to collect more of the set.  These books are great because there are teaching points in them about types of text, there's also lots of humour, and kids are enthralled by these loveable, kooky characters.

2) Kevin Henkes:

My personal favourite is the classic, Chrysanthemum, about the little mouse with the BIG, UNIQUE name. Kevin Henkes writes as well as illustrates his books, and his books are beautiful and classic.  They have a nice message, and they're enjoyable stories.

3) Jane O'Connor:

Fancy Nancy stories are so amusing to read ("amusing is a fancy word for fun").  Little girls LOVE the sparkley illustrations, and all of the "fancy" words that Nancy uses.  These stories are also great for teaching children about Word Choice and being descriptive as Nancy uses many of those "million dollar words" that make the writing more descriptive and interesting.   

4) The Classics
Just because I can't leave them off a list, don't forget these classic storytellers!

Robert Munsch -- my personal faves are The Paperbag Princess, Mortimer, Stephanie's Ponytail, and Pigs, but you can't go wrong with any Munsch story!

Paulette Bourgeois -- I personally want to collect the entire Franklin the turtle series, don't you?

Mercer Mayer -- I love the Little Critter series.

Stan & Jan Berenstain-- I grew up with The Berenstain Bears, and I hope kid's today are still reading and enjoying these stories; I know I cherish my large collection and will be reading them to my own kids one day!

Don't Kiss The Frog: Princess Stories With Attitude

This will be the first in a string of "Christmas Gifts Ideas" posts.  I also recommended these kid's books last Christmas, check them out too!  I think books make fabulous Christmas gifts, don't you?

I'm currently baby-sitting a family of three, the oldest child is a five-year-old girl who is very GIRLY, but is also a leader type.  I was looking to get her and her brothers each a little Christmas present, and I found THE MOST AWESOME BOOK at my local Chapters store.  I've never heard of this one before.

It's called, "Don't Kiss The Frog: Princess Stories With Attitude" and it's an anthology of stories chosen by Fiona Waters.  The inside of the book jacket describes it as follows:

This collection of six stories about princesses with attitude turns fairy-tale traditions upside down.  Meet princesses who tame dragons, rescue princes, win prizes, and have hidden talents.  Spells don't always work as expected, happy endings come with a twist, and life as a princess isn't always all it's cracked up to be.  Full of humour, charm, and lots of sass, each enchanting story is enhanced by beautiful illustrations.  This sparkling anthology is essential reading for modern little girls who love their tiaras but want something more than "happily ever after".

I couldn't help but read through the book myself tonight.  The illustrations grab you first, even within the text itself the words are written in various fancy fonts.  It's very fun to look at, let alone read.  The stories themselves are cute and funny. Mom's and Dad's alike would share a laugh with their daughters as they read about these Princesses with Attitude.

I think this would make a really cute Christmas gift for that little Princess on your list, who you still want to assure can be the girl who tames the dragons, who chooses her own prince, and who can compete alongside knights and win.

Available Online Here:
Amazon  (Canadian)
Amazon (American)
Chapters Indigo.ca 

The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

I have finished up to Book Seven in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I am LOVING this series, and cannot believe I hadn't heard of them until last winter. Janet has written FOURTEEN (* I apologize, last summer the FIFTEENTH book came out actually!) stories so far in the "numbers" series, and a few other Stephanie Plum books called "between the numbers" stories - so I still have a long way to go to catch up on everything she's written.

Stephanie Plum (who has a lovely first name, don't you think?) is a girl from New Jersey who loses her job and turns to her shady cousin Vinnie for help. In "One For the Money" (book one; the book titles have numbers in them which definitely helps you remember the order of the series!), Stephanie goes to Vinnie's office to ask about a filing job, but finds out the job has been filled. Instead she finds herself accepting a job as a Bounty Hunter to look for vice cop Joe Morelli, a guy she has a history with since childhood. The stories unfold from there, Stephanie ends up sticking to her job as a Bounty Hunter (or, Apprehension Agent for "FTA's" or "Failure to Appears"), but she's not particularly great at her job. She gets lucky a lot, and she has a whole slew of sidekicks from ho-turned-friend-and-coworker Lula, to her energetic and sassy Grandma Mazur. She has love affairs with hunky Joe Morelli, but also with Ranger -- the elusive, sexy, and actually-good-at-being-a-Bounty-Hunter Bounty Hunter who also works for Vinnie.

Each book finds Stephanie chasing after a new FTA, and she usually winds up in some pretty crazy situations. It has humour, a touch of romance, a touch of mystery and mostly it's just a good read.

I highly recommend checking out the Stephanie Plum series, I'm sure you'll enjoy them as much as I have been. I'm really looking forward to diving into Book Eight, which I just checked out of the library today!

Summer Reading

Hello, friends. I began the following post in August, and never returned to finish it/post it! Oh Em Gee! Time has flown and I've just been so busy. I really do mean to keep up with this blog, and WILL be making a better effort going forward. For now, enjoy this post from August!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*tap, tap, tap*

Hello?

Oh hai, Reading Blog. I'm so sorry you've been neglected. I've been reading, albeit not as much as I usually do (sad), but I took this pesky trip to Poland for the month of July and I just haven't been so diligent with the posting.

But I have returned!

So, what have I read this summer, and how do I feel about it? Let's see...

The Shack by W.M. Paul Young

This was a very inspiring book. While it starts off with a tragic event, what the main character experiences is beautiful and spiritual in a refreshing way. I'm not an overly religious person, but I am a spiritual person, and I found this story worked well with how I'd really like to believe God is. It was absolutely a beautiful book, and gives the reader something to think about.

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

A favourite book of mine is The Secret Life of Bees, so I have been wanting to read The Mermaid Chair for awhile - and it does not disappoint. Sue Monk Kidd is a lovely writer, and I highly recommend her stories.

Where Rainbows End (or: Love, Rosie) by Cecelia Ahern

This book is written completely in correspondence letters, emails, etc between two best friends who have to move away from each other as young teens. It is one of those "will they or won't they" end up together type of stories. It's a very good story, and I was gripped by the characters and what they were going through. I'm not sure I like the style of reading an entire story as emails, etc but it was a nice little reading experience change. My only complaint was that the book started to feel a bit long, and I was getting a little frustrated with the constant back-and-forth and drama between the main characters. Generally a good book, though.

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Oh Sophie Kinsella, how I do love your books. Another hit right here. I will admit, this doesn't jump to "My Favourite Sophie Kinsella Novel Ever" (I found it a little slow to get into - my most favourite is Remember Me if you're wondering), but I loved and read it just as quickly as I have every other books of hers. Totally recommend this to chick-lit lovers everywhere, and Sophie fans of course!

Acting Up (or: Pride, Prejudice & Jasmin Field) by Melissa Nathan

I'm a sucker for Pride & Prejudice remakes, so in that regard this book did not fail. However, I wasn't drawn into this story as much as I have been with Melissa Nathan's other books. It was almost like the Pride & Prejudice parallels were the entire thrust of the book, so unless you really enjoy P&P remakes, I'd stick to Melissa's other books, which are much better.

Other Books I Read In Summer 2009 (but did not get a chance to expand on, and now it's been too many months so this is all you're getting):

A Wild Affair by Gemma Townley (this is a sequel to The Importance of Being Married, and there will also be a third book to this series)

The Chocolate Lover's Club by Carole Matthews and its sequel The Chocolate Lover's Diet by Carole Matthews

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Since August, I've read a ton more books, so be prepared for more updates soon! Sorry for this long hiatus, ai yi yi!!

Fifteen Books in Fifteen Minutes

Nabbed this from Brandie, and thought it looked like fun!

This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

2. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

3. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks

4. Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella

5. Twilight Saga (all four) - Stephenie Meyer

6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

7. Harry Potter (whole series) - J.K. Rowling

8. The Deep End of the Ocean - Jacquelyn Mitchard

9. Dead Until Dark (and the entire Sookie Stackhouse series!) - Charlaine Harris

10. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella

11. A Bend in the Road - Nicholas Sparks

12. Little White Lies - Gemma Townley

13. Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger

14. Something Borrowed / Something Blue - Emily Giffin

15. A Walk To Remember - Nicholas Sparks

Okay, there may not be many "classics" on the list or anything, but these are the books I came up with in under fifteen minutes - ones I've just really enjoyed, and have read more than once (or want to read again if I haven't yet!).

With or Without You - Carole Matthews

Many years ago I read my first Carole Matthews book. It was called Let's Meet On Platform 8, and frankly, I didn't really enjoy it. I was bored by the characters and the storyline didn't grip me. Mind you, I was still in high school at the time so I think I might have been too young to understand the characters and their love affair. Over the years as I have been on my quest to read all the chick-lit there is out there (or so it seems!), I avoided Carole Matthews like the plague because I didn't want to waste my time again.

Then last year, I picked up The Sweetest Taboo from the cheap rack at Chapters, and decided to give her a go again because I thought the story sounded cute. AND I LOVED IT.

So, Carole Matthews has been added to my "want to read" book list, and I started with With or Without You.

Without any real spoilers, let me give a brief synopsis:

This story is about Lyssa, who wants nothing more than to have a baby with long-term boyfriend, Jake. But Jake has other plans for himself, which he quickly realises are the wrong plans. As Lyssa tries to cope in a life without Jake at her side, while he figures a few things out for himself, she heads off on an out-of-character adventure trek in Nepal. By the end of the story Jake and Lyssa have learned a lot about themselves and each other, and they see that in just a month people can really change.

This book was pretty good. I like the characters, they were pretty witty. Jake's best friend Pip and Lyssa's sister Edie provide good comic relief as well. It was a fast read for me, and was pretty enjoyable.

My next Carole Matthew's adventures will be reading The Chocolate Lover's Club and its sequel, The Chocolate Lover's Diet; I bought these books a little while back but I'm saving them for my big trip to Poland this July.

I'm quite glad I've given Carole Matthews another shot, and look forward to reading more.

Murder Unleashed: A Dead-End Job Mystery - Elaine Viets

Thanks to GoodReads.com I am discovering so many book series' that I had never heard about before! Also thanks to GoodReads.com I've started up a "want to read" list that's nearly 100 books long.

It's a good thing I read at least two novels a week, three when I'm really in my prime.

A book series I wanted to check out was the "Dead-End Job Mystery" series by Elaine Viets. At my local library, where I've been trying to take out some books in an effort to conserve my precious few dollars, they did not have the first book in the series. I decided to go ahead and take out a later book, because I read on Elaine's website that you didn't necessarily need to read the books in order.

The series follows a woman named Helen Hawthorne who is on the run from her ex-husband and St. Louis police. She's forced to take dead-end jobs that pay her cash under the table so that she can pay her living expenses. Each book follows Helen working in a different dead-end job, and includes some sort of mystery that she gets wrapped up in. The book I took out was called Murder Unleashed, in which Helen was working at a dog grooming/pampered pet boutique, and gets involved in a murder investigation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Helen is a great character. I agree, judging by this book (which is the fifth book in the dead-end job series, I believe) I don't think they have to necessarily be read in order. I do hope to go back though and read the first four in order, just to get the full effect of Helen's backstory... but each novel has it's unique case in it, and I didn't truly feel "lost" while reading this book having not read the others.

This was a fun change to my typical chick-lit romance fare (although Helen does have a love interest, so it's still there), and I definitely can't wait to read the others. Now if only my local library would have the whole set!