Destiny and Faith go to Twincentric Academy Book Blast

Mother Daughter Book Reviews is pleased to be coordinating this Book Blast on behalf of author Jourden Cleghorn who writes under the pen name of Teddy O'Malley.

Jourden was recently involved in a serious automobile accident resulting in severe injuries just days after her new book, Destiny and Faith Go To Twincentric Academy, was published in May 2014. The indie author community has come together to support this young author/illustrator during this challenging time. Please read below to see what you can do to help in a small way.

About the Book

Title: Destiny and Faith Go To Twincentric Academy | Author: Teddy O'Malley | Publication Date: May 11, 2014 | Publisher: Independent | Pages: 62 | Recommended Ages: 6 to 10 Summary: Destiny and Faith are going into second grade and their mom has a great idea. She's going to send them to a school for twins! They're not sure whether to be excited or terrified. Come join them and see what happens!    

The Buzz

"Anyone who's tried to buy a book or birthday card for a child who isn't white will know how few are available. Golden hair and blue eyes rule. I was delighted by Destiny and Faith, who are mixed race/bi-racial, perfect for some children very close to me. However, let me quickly say that this is a story for all children. A school for twins is such a great idea and Destiny and Faith's adventures have a universal message about friendship and learning how to get along with each other. This would also be a good book for actual twins as some of the issues that arise in twin relationships come up in the story." ~ 5 Star Review, Mary Josephina Cade, Amazon

"I just finished reading this book. I got it for my daughter and decided to read it myself. It is so ORIGINAL and totally ADORABLE! A MUST READ for young children looking to read their FIRST CHAPTER BOOK! My daughter LOVES it!! I highly recommend this book!! " ~ 5 Star Review, radams, Amazon

"A great story for young girls, with lots of fun dialogue. Accompanied throughout by black and white drawings. These capture the body language and expressions of the different characters perfectly. Looking forward to more in the Destiny and Faith series." ~ 5 Star Review, M.J. Kinsman, Amazon

 

About the Author: Teddy O'Malley

Jourden Cleghorn, who writes and illustrates children’s books under the pen name Teddy O' Malley, was born in in Saint Louis, Missouri. She has traveled all over the United States and enjoys learning about new things and other cultures. She dreams of visiting a foreign country. She has enjoyed studying Spanish, German, and now Italian as well. Jourden paired her language skills with pictures of puppies to write Tell Me How You Say Good Night, a bedtime story. And a childhood friendship with a biracial girl named Hope influenced Jourden to make the Destiny and Faith characters biracial in her series about twins. Many of her books include a thread about friendship and acceptance of others. Jourden previously worked part time as a nurse assistant helping the disabled and elderly.

Author Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

How You Can Help

On Thursday, May 15, 2014, Jourden was the passenger in a small car when a much larger truck turned in front of them. She suffered severe injuries as a result of this accident including a cracked sternum, punctured lung, broken arm, and broken foot. Unforutnately, the nature and severity of Jourden's injuries have limited her ability to promote her books effectively. I was very moved when I was approached by a member of the Facebook group, "Fun-tastic Children’s Books " (of which Jourden is an active member) to help this young author. This wonderful group took it upon themselves to promote Jourden’s books on her behalf. They bought, reviewed, tweeted and shared her books throughout social media and are sponsoring (along with MDBR) the giveaway below. If you should choose to enter the giveaway below (open worldwide), you will see an option to earn 10 extra entries in the giveaway by purchasing a copy of Teddy O'Malley's latest book, Destiny and Faith Go To Twincentric Academy from Amazon for only 99 cents. I hope you will consider helping out the author in this small way. Of note, during her recovery, Jourden found the inspiration for another children’s book. It will be about a child recovering from a car crash and having to cope with learning to write with the opposite hand, and other hardships that must be overcome during the healing process. Jourden usually writes with her right hand, but plans to illustrate the book using her left. She wants to show that hardships can be overcome if one does not give up.  

* $50 Book Blast Giveaway *

 Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest ends: July 30, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by author PJ LaRue/Fun-tastic Children’s Books and Mother Daughter Book Reviews, and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.


Rafflecopter giveaway

Poppins Book Nook Birthday Giveaway: Win a Kindle Fire!

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since we first joined the Virtual Book club led by Jill at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom. In the last 12 months, the Piwi kids have grown like crazy and life is unpredictable as ever. One of the things that hasn't changed, is our love of books. 

The Poppins Book Nook gave us a chance to explore kids books we may not have otherwise. Every month we shared a book based on set themes like Dinosaurs, Transportation, Knights and Castles and the fun activities we used to learn more. 

This year promises to be just as fun! Take a look at all the exciting themes:

If you would like to learn more about how you can join in the fun please check out the introductory post HERE. This year Jill will also be offering free printables for you to use with your children each month. 

The club might be virtual but the birthday celebration isn’t. You can enter to win a Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 32GB WiFi 4G w/ Charger!

The winner will be randomly picked by Rafflecopter and will be notified by Enchanted Homeschooling Mom via email and posted here. This giveaway is open to all people ages 18 and over with an active USA address for delivery (United States Domestic and APO/FPO/DPO as designated by the USPS) of the prize. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other entity unless otherwise specified.

By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the Rafflecopter terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s HERE.  Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are all the Blogs participating in the 2014/2015 Book Club, be sure to visit them to check out all the fun they are having:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Faith and Good Works ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ The Kennedy Adventures ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom's Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

6 different ways to explore Feelings with Preschoolers



The week before Mini Piwi did this unit, she had mastered the potty. While we were hanging out in the bathroom (while she did what she was there for) we had a lot of time to talk about how proud she was feeling. I remembered pinning a Feeling tot book from 1+1+1=1 and realized that this would be the perfect time to print it out.

The tot book is sooo cute and Mini Piwi really enjoyed adding the correct 'feelings' face to the characters as I read out the pretend scenarios.

While we waited for Big Sis to finish her math we made an impromptu paper plate face. The mouth was attached with a metal brad so it could be happy or sad. It seemed to bother Mini Piwi a bit and eventually she glued it so it could only look happy.

Mini Piwi loves making and supervising me making her snacks. Here is her smiley face yogurt....

...And a Heart smiley chocolate peanut butter bread....the mouth she decided should be made out of nori after we had  'sushi'' for lunch. Her version of sushi is seaweed wrappers and rice.

Mini Piwi praticised her cutting skills with this simple matching craft. The shapes are pre printed on the contruction paper we bought. I just drew some feelings faces and made some label to describe how the feelings they showed. Mini Piwi taped them to the different shapes and then added the correct labels.

We had great fun with this unit and it is something that we hope to expand on in the future! What are some of the ways you have explored feelings with your little ones?

Goliath's Secret: A Review, Giant Frogs, Lifecycles & Sign language

I am so pleased to be able to share a great Picture book called Goliath's Secret written by Bonnie Feuer and illustrated by Sharai Platt. Following the review are some fun ways we 'stretched the book' and it's message.

Told in prose and rhyme, this story is about a group of West African animals watching a Goliath Frog. At first they are confused when he will not respond to them. Throughout the day each Animal tries to get him to say something using they way they each think is the best. Still the Goliath says nothing. By nightfall all the Animals are feeling sorry him until he ultimately shows them that he has no problem making himself understood.

The illustrations are beautiful and show off the beauty of the African river habitat. Overall the book spreads an important message of Caring, Diversity and Acceptance. It teaches an important lesson: we should not assume that there is 'something wrong' with someone that does not behave how we expect they should. It also touches on the need to respect all people regardless of their abilities.

 Learning more about Goliath Frogs:

• Endangered Animals for Kid from Konicaminolta.com provides a very good overview of the Goliath Frog and the reason for the decline in Population.
• A Short video showing a Goliath frog up close from Arkive.com..what an amazing animal!
• Animal Diversity Web from The Musuem of Zoology (University of Michigan) is an Amazing resource! It is a lot of text and perhaps a bit much for younger grades but still worth a read together for lots interesting facts,

Here is what Miss K discovered when we did some research together on the Internet.
The Goliath is the largest Frog in the world, weighing around 7 pounds and up to a foot in length! You might think it would have a very loud croak. However, this species does not have a vocal sack and so is mute.

Different ways to communicate:
We discussed what it might mean if a Person is unable to speak. Both kids were able to think of different ways to communicate without their voices. Together we all learnt how to sign 'Frog' in American Sign language and Finger spell our names.
Some other methods of Non verbal communication we talked about were Body language, Written words, Braille and Art.

Making a 'Pond Life cycle flap book'

There are so many amazing Free Montessori Frog resources available. Here are the ones I used with Mini Piwi (Pre K)

• Frog Match up and Memory game from Montessori Print Shop
• Parts of a Frog Nomenclature Cards & Book from Montessori Print Shop
• Frog Life cycle sequence cards from Montessori Mom (these are the images we used on the Pond craft)

One of my favorite resources this week was only 99c. 'A Life Cycle App' is full of information about the Life cycles and Cycles of a variety of Insects, Frogs, Rocks, the Moon and more...it was will worth a download on my Kindle!

As chance would have it, a few days after this project we had a visitor on our front porch...

This guy was 'only' around 3 inches long and a Toad but we decided that was as close as we were going to get to a Goliath Frog in Texas!

I come from a long line of Reptile 'Phobs' (ironic since New Zealand is Snake and Giant Lizard Free). My kids are fascinated with them...from a safe distance. How do you feel about Frogs, Snakes and Lizards?

Follow all the Fun and Learning!

Shaped Animal Science Report: Bats!

I wanted to share a Science lesson Miss K did as part of an Amazing Animal unit.

We had been learning all about (non feathered) Flying creatures and I asked Miss K to choose one species to write a report on. She choose Bats.

Miss K has been fascinated by them ever since we saw one outside a Star bucks (of all places). While crossing the parking lot we heard some commotion outside the store. Three men were pointing up and dancing around. They were seemingly terrified! It turned out there was a (very) tiny bat that must have decided to come out of his sleeping spot a few hours early. It was just sitting there looking at everyone and the kids thought it was hilarious that they were 'freaking out' about a little bat. They had just watched a Wild Kratts episode about Bats. I did explain that some Bats can make you sick if they bite you. Miss K pointed out that a Bat would bite you if you are yelling and screaming at it. Good point!

I had a Bat and Bat Skeleton image from Evan Moor and used this to create a shape book.
This Bat image and Bat Skeleton will also work well if you would like to make bat book too!

 One the second page Miss K wrote about what the different things that Bats eat.

 One the third page was a Bat Food Web.

 One the final page was a paragraph about the largest and smallest species of Bats.

Our Books


We loved the Little Red Bat By Carol Gerber. Little Bat is faced with a big decision and visits all the creatures in the wood to ask their opinion on whether she should fly south for the Winter. It is a good introduction to Bats, Migration and food chains. Christina Wald's illustrations are full of expressive but realistic Animals in detailed forest scenes. You will want to look closely at each page to make sure you don't miss something!


We love the National Geographic kids Magazine so Miss K wanted to borrow this title from the Library. It is full of information and the amazing photos that Nat Geo is known for. I really like this series as they appeal to a wide range of ages.


Merlin Tuttle's 'American Neighborhood Bats' surprised me. I had borrowed it for the Photographs but I ended up enjoyed reading the sections on how important they are and the many myths and fears that surround them. It is written more for adults but in a few years I think Miss K will enjoy it too.

Our Online Bat Resources:

Are Bats Blind? from Discovery Kids

Incredible Bats.com is a great site where you can 'X-ray a bat',  watch Bat Videos,  take a Bat Quiz and more.

Creature features -Vampire-bat @ Nat geo Kids

Bat rescue.org

Hans Christian Anderson Unit Study & Lapbook (Free download)

Source for book title Image

The theme for the Second month of the Poppin's Book Nook is Wizards!  Our "Magical' book this month was 'The Perfect Wizard' by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Dennis Nolan. 

This whimsical picture book is a biography of story telling Wizard, Hans Christian Andersen. It introduces us to a young, awkward and eccentric Hans and describes how he overcomes the odds to become one of the best known children's fairy tale authors. Small excepts from his stories throughout the book cleverly highlights how much of his inspiration was drawn from his own experiences. Dennis Nolan's beautiful illustrations are whimsical and dream like. To see them for your selves you can click on the book cover to see inside the book on Amazon (affiliate link).

Miss K and I read the book together because it does contain some themes that she would have questions about. (eg.Losing loved ones, Mental health and Poverty). This book is full of life lessons like not giving up and believing in your dreams. I am still surprised the library wasn't keeping it for their collection!

I had planned a craft to go with this book. However, after reading the book, Miss K  read some of the other fairy tales quoted in the book. Our project become a Lap book and Unit study. The Mini books I made for the Lap book focused on five topics. I have included the links do you can download them too.

1. Timeline: We used the picture book to create a Time line for many of the Major events in Hans Christian Andersen's life. Download time line 

2. Paper Art: To amuse his audience Han Christian Anderson made his 'Paper cuts'. We read about this on several websites (see below for links) and Miss K is practicing so she can add one to this mini book. Download Mini Book.

3. Reading Log: In side this flap Miss K listed the stories she read and the year they were first published. Download Mini Book

4. HCA's Legacy: Andersen's stories have been adapted into new versions and inspired Stage, Ballet and Movies productions. Miss K investigated this further and found examples. Download Tri fold book

5. Fairy tales: Miss K chose her six favorite HCA Fairy tales. For each of these I made a Mini Book which used to summarize the story or write about the Main Character (s). Download Mini books
  

To make our lap book we used some of beautiful vintage images from The Graphics Fairy.

All our online resources can be found on our Hans Christian Andersen Pinterest board

The Poppins Book Nook is hosted by The Enchanted Homeschooling Mom. 

Here are the participating bloggers: 

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - Royal Baloo - 3 Dinosaurs - Monsters Ed - Chestnut Grove Academy - Growing in God's Grace - Royal Little Lambs - Life with Moore Babies - Teach Beside Me - The Usual Mayhem - Mum Central - Fantastic Fun and Learning - Kathys Cluttered Mind - Play Create Explore - Toddler Approved - Growing Book by Book - Adventures in Mommydom - B-Inspired Mama - The Fairy and The Frog - Edventures with Kids - Learning & Growing the Piwi way - A Gluten Free Journey - Rainy Day Mum - Mom to Crazy Monkeys - No Doubt Learning

Geometry unit for Preschool and Elementary age

Add caption

We use Math in Focus as our main curriculum. This does include some hands on activites and extensions but I am always open to adding more! I have been waiting for Miss K's geometry unit so we could do this Shape lap book from Hands of a child.
 

To align it with the Math in Focus lessons we added some extra mini books into it for:
Properties of Trapazoids & Hexagons
Line segments and curves
Area & Perimeter
I printed extra so Mini Piwi could make her own shape poster. Unfortunately i dont have a photo of this because she later took to it with her safety scissor.
She also enjoyed a lot of the Shape printables from 3 Dinosaurs.com

Online resources we used for practice:

Sorting Plane shapes and Solid Shapes
Identify the 3D shape game
Shape Inlay -Tetris crossed with a Tangram type of game
Triangle sort
Shape Lab
Polygon Playground

We also made shape biscuits. I got distracted with spelling and overcooked them a bit but they were still popular.

Including Mini Piwi in the Shape activities:

I had printed extra copies of some of basic shape mini books so Mini Piwi could make her own shape poster. Unfortunately i dont have a photo of this because she later took to it with her safety scissor.

She also enjoyed a lot of the Shape printables from 3 Dinosaurs.com

Online Pre School resources we used:

Umi Zoomi Shape building game @Nick Jr
Shape puzzle
Purpy's shape search
ABC Mouse

She spent a little bit of time making pictures with the plastic shape but wasn't as enthusastic about it as I thought she might be.

Our Fun Math books

This week we read Which is round, Which is bigger by Mineko Mamada.
It was a great way to prompt Mini Piwi to make comparisons between shapes and objects. The cute and funny title is an English translation from the original Japanese book.  Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy answering questions about objects, the answers at first seem obvious until the next page reveals a twist.

Another point and giggle book with a Math theme we read was 100 Animals on Parade by Masayuki Sebe. We all spent a long time with this book counting animals and spotting all the  objects the author asks you to find. The kids loved the busy illustrations and the I spy concept.

*Disclosure:  I received a free digital copy of these books through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.