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Pensive Penelope Thinks About Words by Pat Blankenship (Book Review)

“Pensive Penelope woke up one day
Thinking about all the words she might say.
She thought she might mention the words in her head
When Mama and Papa got her out of bed.”

Filled with delightful rhyme and rhythm, this story follows Penny as she finds her voice in a matter of hours, moving quickly from easy basic words to complex concepts and ideas. And isn’t that exactly the way that works? Children go from making basic sounds to talking your ear off in what feels like no time at all!

Amazon Purchase Link

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Reedsy Discovery.  I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

 

When you’re a parent, there’re many milestones you can’t wait for your child to reach: the first laugh, rolling over, the first step, feeding oneself, and the first word, to name a few. Each moment is filled with laughter, clapping, and shouts of glee from parents (sometimes from the child, too). 

When my children were (about) nine months old, they spoke their first word (Ma). Every day, their vocabulary was building and being shared with us, their parents. We were excited to wake up and see what our babies would say next. The toddler stage was connecting words, and then things got more interesting. This is when real conversations start to happen with our children. I loved this time. 

When kids start verbalizing more, they mimic sounds and words they hear. If you ever wonder if your child understands what you’re saying, this is the time when they parrot back your words. 

Pensive Penelope Thinks About Words by Pat Blankenship showcases all the words and thoughts that zip around a child’s brain and the excitement it brings to them and those around them when they finally can speak. 

Pensive Penelope Thinks About Words captured the realism of how tiring talking can be for a child and those listening to their chatter. I vividly recall when my kids learned to say, “Why?” Man, did they use that word often! “No” was also a favorite of theirs. 

Amazon recommends Pensive Penelope Thinks About Words by Pat Blankenship for birth to eight-year-olds. I think babies and toddlers will like the illustrations by Linden Eller. They were super cute! 

Preschoolers should be able to understand the happenings in the story, and school-age kids should be able to read most, if not all, the words with little to no assistance. 

I highly recommend parents share this book with their youngsters. 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

Pat Blankenship: I am Leo, Gryffindor, first born, comfortable-casual clothes lover and a huge fan of kids. I am a yogi, a mother, a grandmother and a reader of newspapers and novels. I am an English major, a teacher, a retired lawyer and a writer.

Reedsy Author Link

 

 

 

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Marty and Lenny by Tania Woznicki (Book Review)


Marty and Lenny is an encouraging story about the power of kindness.

Marty is a sweet, helpful monkey with lovely manners. Lenny is the complete opposite! He is a mean and selfish lion with bad manners and disgusting habits. After a memorable encounter with Lenny, Marty decides that things need to change. Join Marty as he makes a brave choice that changes EVERYTHING!

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Reedsy Discovery. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

 

Marty, the monkey, was sweet and well-mannered. They always remembered to say “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” “excuse me,” and “pardon me.” Marty also did his chores and held doors open for others. What a gentleman! 

Lenny, the lion, was the polar opposite. He’s rude. Greedy. Selfish. Mean. He yelled and pushed people around (literally and figuratively). Oh, and he chews with his mouth open. GROSS! 

Marty made it his mission to change Lenny; become Lenny’s friend. During playtime, Lenny let one fart rip, and it stunk to high heaven! Instead of yelling, “Dude, your farts are toxic,” Marty spoke in a friendly, calm voice. “Gas is natural but it really does stink. So next time, Lenny, can you please stop and think?” Marty gave him sound advice. “Being polite and kind is what you should do. Please treat others how you would like them to treat you.”

By the expression on Lenny’s face, you could see he felt embarrassed and/or ashamed at this thoughtless behavior. He vowed from that moment on to be a better animal. Lenny did keep his promise. His parents were surprised at the turnabout. Teachers, too. 

Lenny looked and felt happier, and his joy was contagious. The image of Lenny and Marty looking joyful in their birthday hats made me smile.

Amazon’s recommended reading age is baby – 11 years. Of course, babies won’t be able to comprehend the moral of the story. But, it’s always lovely to read to your wee ones; your voice can soothe them. 

Kindness and manners should be taught at an early age. Children who grow up with a kind heart become adults with a kind heart. Those who use their manners teach their kids to have manners. Kindness always makes the day brighter!  

I will be recommending Marty and Lenny by Tania Woznicki to others. 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

Meet the Author

Tania Woznicki has a passion for bringing stories to life. As a loving mum and experienced primary-school teacher who has also studied psychology, she has insights into child development, what children experience, how they interact and the powerful impact that small gestures of kindness can have.

Reedsy Link

 

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Shadows in the Aftermath by Marianne Scott (Book Spotlight)

SHADOWS IN THE AFTERMATH by Marianne Scott

 
Ruby Draker has found new strength and is ready to move on after Felix Szabo devastated the Draker estate in Nice, France. Three Drakers are dead leaving Ruby in grief and with thoughts of revenge. The Drakers are a family built of survivors; each rescued from Felix Szabo, a psychopath, who sought to murder his former agents at the CIA whom he believed betrayed him. The Drakers’ sole mission is to stop Szabo from adding more victims to his list, and although he also perished during the invasion, his legacy continues to haunt them. When the Drakers learn that Robert Draker, presumed dead since the shoot-out at Robert’s farmhouse, may be alive and at a rehab clinic in Portland, Maine, the Drakers know it could be a setup, but they have no choice but to try to nd him and bring Robert home.

​Shocked that Robert may be alive, the family head from France to America to find him. It’s only when they arrive in the west that they realize finding Robert won’t be as easy as they thought. Szabo has found a way to terrorize the Draker family, even after death. His outstanding debt with a Corsican crime family means the Drakers must now find and deliver a shipment of plutonium, which will likely be used by terrorists to create a nuclear bomb, to get Robert back. As Ruby struggles with the decision to save her brother or North America, she must also evade the CIA, who are trying to stop the Drakers from delivering the plutonium. 

 

BUY THE BOOK:
Friesen Press Bookstore
Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

 

 
 
 
Meet the Author:

Author Marianne Scott

Marianne Scott is the Canadian author of four mystery thrillers and is currently finishing an edit on her fourth novel, a murder mystery. She has a BA and a Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, CA. She studied creative writing through Conestoga College and Humber College. She enjoys writing workshops such as those offered by Brian Henry, publisher of the blog, Quick Brown Fox, and One Lit Place, a writers’ hub by creator/editor Jenna Kalinsky. She has an author’s website and blog is the president of The Cambridge Writers’ Collective and is a member of the Guelph Genre Writers. In September of 2018, she completed a fourth-year course in Writing Fiction at the University of Guelph under the expert teaching of Lawrence Hill. Her novels, Finding Ruby Draker and Shadows in the Aftermath are self-published. She is actively seeking representation to break into the traditional publishing world with her third and fourth novels.  
 
 
connect with the author: 
website twitter twitter facebook ~ instagram 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Finding Ruby Draker by Marianne Scott (Book Review)

Kathleen Jones has lived a protected and typical suburban life, nothing unexpected in her carefully controlled and planned existence. She’s about to complete her college degree and is ready to start a successful career but after completing her last exam she comes home to find her world has been turned upside down. Her home has been torched and her parents and little brother killed.

If that’s not bad enough, she is kidnapped and drugged unconscious by strangers posing as a police officers. When she awakes she discovers that everything has changed – her face, her name, and everything she believed to be true.

But things get worse. Hardly recovered from surgery, she is whisked away under the cover of darkness as more men storm the clinic with guns. It seems that the men who abducted her are not her greatest threat. Now on a private charter on its way to Nice, France, her abductors are calling her Ruby – Ruby Draker!

Finding Ruby Draker is a novel about knowing yourself, accepting change, embracing danger, and taking risks. You never know what life is going to throw at you.

 
 
 
 
 
 
I received a complimentary copy of this book from iRead Book Tours. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
 
 
Kathleen Jones lived a typical twenty-two-year-old’s life. Her major stressor was passing her college exams, which she did. She was on her way home from her final college exam before graduation when her life exploded. A house fire took everything from her – parents and sibling. Things went from bad to worse when she was kidnapped and woke up with a new face. 

You’d think the kidnappers would be the villains in this tale. They were not. People she was conspiring to run away from were, in time, the same people she found herself running towards. 


Finding Ruby Draker by Marianne Scott had had numerous people dying—on both sides of the battle. I was saddened to see some of the heroes fall. I wish I could name names, but I don’t want to ruin it for other readers. 


Finding Ruby Draker took a weird love triangle towards the end, which I still can’t wrap my head around. I don’t want to say who was involved, but I didn’t see the point in the weird shift in the two characters’ dynamic. It read strange, and even the other characters in the story were shaking their heads at the behavior of that certain female. Yes, I am being vague on purpose to avoid spoilers. 


I know no book is perfect, and editing mistakes will slip by, but I wanted to mention two that stood out regarding names. Cold Force was spelled one time with uppercase “C” and lowercase “f” but with uppercase every other time. Also, “Ruby” was referred to as “Rudy” on page 82 (print copy). I’m not sure if this will be corrected by the time my review goes up, but I wanted to note it in case it isn’t.


Those two mistakes DO NOT minimize the level of skill it took to construct the plot, characters, and surprise revelations. It kept me on the edge of my seat. 
 

 
Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: 
 

Friesen Press Bookstore
Amazon.ca 
 Amazon.com

 

 
 
 
 
Meet the Author
Author Marianne Scott
 
 
Marianne Scott is the Canadian author of four mystery thrillers and is currently finishing an edit on her fourth novel, a murder mystery. She has a BA and a Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, CA. She studied creative writing through Conestoga College and Humber College. She enjoys writing workshops such as those offered by Brian Henry, publisher of the blog, Quick Brown Fox, and One Lit Place, a writers’ hub by creator/editor Jenna Kalinsky. She has an author’s website and blog is the president of The Cambridge Writers’ Collective and is a member of the Guelph Genre Writers. In September of 2018, she completed a fourth-year course in Writing Fiction at the University of Guelph under the expert teaching of Lawrence Hill. Her novels, Finding Ruby Draker and Shadows in the Aftermath are self-published. She is actively seeking representation to break into the traditional publishing world with her third and fourth novels.  
 
 
connect with the author: 
website twitter twitter facebook ~ instagram 
 
 
 

 

 

 

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Come and Play! Exploring Animal Friends by Heidi Dehncke (Book Review)

Kids love animals — and they love picture books about animals, too. Come and Play! Exploring Animal Friends takes children on a tour of fifteen types of animal friends. Discover what makes pandas, raccoons, spiders, cats, and frogs unique (just to name a few). Whether or how they play, and what makes them special. While this children’s animal book gives interesting and surprising facts, it is the original illustrations which makes this book a treasure. The animal illustrations magnify the beauty and distinctive qualities of each creature. Ultimately, kids learn they share many similarities with animals (both feelings and behavior), and they learn about the world around them.

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Reedsy Discovery.
I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

 

I had mixed feelings regarding Come and Play! Exploring Animal Friends by Heidi Dehncke. I loved the facts about various animals and insects. There was a lot of information that might be NEW to most children. 

Examples: “Raccoon” is an adopted Powhatan word meaning “animals that scratches with its hands.” While spiders don’t like to play, some play dead. I knew that raccoon tidbit, but I did not know the spider information. That just proves even adults can learn something new with Come and Play! Exploring Animal Friends, and that’s a beautiful thing.

While I adored all the facts presented in the book, I wasn’t a huge fan of all the images. Some drawings were lovely, such as the bald eagle bust, elephants, penguins, and butterflies. On the other hand, there were some that I didn’t particularly care for, and neither did my daughter: the peek-a-boo frog and the first primate page, for instance. 

Amazon’s recommended reading age is 3 – 9 years (Grade level: Preschool – 4). I think everyone in that bracket can benefit from the content. Three-year-olds might not fully grasp (retain) the information as quickly as a nine-year-old, but that’s okay. If you read Come and Play! Exploring Animal Friends time and again, one day, they’ll tell you the facts before you have a chance to read them. 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

I originally attended Pratt Institute for illustration. Then I became a self taught editor and multimedia producer. I received my MS in journalism from Columbia University in 2000 and made the film Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11, (Sundance Channel, 2006). I also pursue fine art painting. 

Reedsy Link

 

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