First Books For Babies: Exploring Language

I will be the first to admit that lugging everything in the car and getting the baby to the library isn't easy. I hate to say it but I avoided going to the library simply because the idea of going by myself intimidated me. Monkey is one wiggly kid. The first time I went to the library I didn't take my stroller. It's a great stroller, and I love it. But, I hate that the thing is so big and heavy. Usually John picks it up and loads it into the trunk. That first trip I just decided to get along without it.

Big mistake! The second time I went to the library I took the stroller. With Monkey strapped in I had a much easier time looking around at the books and loading up our book bag. That's how we learn folks. Even if my stroller is tough for me to load and unload into the car I'm taking it.

The really nice thing about the public library is that it has plenty of board books in both English and Spanish. Usually when I'm looking for books for my baby I look for a variety of books in both languages. If I can manage it I look for books that are bilingual. Meaning they have the words in both English and Spanish on the page. Although I understand Spanish a lot better then I can speak it I'm still learning. I usually have to ask John to read the book to me first so I can hear the words before I can read the books more fluently. I like to think of this time as learning time for both Monkey and myself.

Okay enough chatter, here are a few books we picked up this week that have both English and Spanish and one book that has Yiddish!

1. Ten Little Fingers/Tengo Diez Deditos: This book explores what a baby can do with their ten little fingers. The book reads almost like a little song or dance. If your baby is a little bit older you can act out the different parts of the book along with the illustrations. This has the potential to be a very active book.

2. Fiesta!: We already own a few books that deal with counting, colors, and basic words like that. Fiesta is a book that explores counting in the context of a party. The illustrations allow you to reinforce the context of counting what the numbers mean with your little one. 

3. My Senses: Mis Sentidos: Again I have books on the basics. This book allows you to explore what each of your five senses does, and give pictorial examples. I really enjoyed it. I also think it's helpful for older children to learn more about their five senses and understand how it is that they learn and explore the world. 

4. Nosh, Schlep, Schluff. Babyiddish: Now this book I picked up based on the title alone. How stinkin' cute is a book that incorporates Yiddish? Very. Very cute. The illustrations allow even the non-Yiddish speaking parents to guide their baby to understanding what each word means. It's a very sweet book. I feel like it's a perfect book for anyone with a love of language.

Review: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Title: This Is Not A Test

Author: Courtney Summers (Author Website)

Series: Sequel to be Published in 2015

Published: June 2012

Edition Read: Purchased E-Book

Level Recommended: Young Adult 

Overall: I read this book when I should have been sleeping. I had to force myself to put it down and get some sleep. It was one of the best zombie apocalypse novels that I've read in quite some time.

Summary: It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up.

As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, everyone’s motivations to survive begin to change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life–and death–inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Review: 

I picked up this book based on Kelly Jensen's (of Stacked Books) recommendation on Twitter. Kelly hooked me with the fact that it was on sale in e-book format, and, oh, it's about zombies. (Let's face it, reading dead tree versions of my books now-a-days? Not very feasible when you have a cute little guy who explores the world with his hands and mouth.) It's not hard to get me interested in a zombie novel. I love books about zombies. I've reviewed quite a few of them on this blog. It is hard to impress me with a zombie novel. Summers was able to truly impress me with her take on the end of the world as we know it.

Like most zombie stories This is Not a Test starts at the beginning of the end of the world. No one knows why, but suddenly the dead are getting back up, chasing the living, and eating them. What makes this story different from most other zombie stories is that Sloane doesn't want to survive the end of the world. She'd be very happy to simply stop existing. Sloane has already lost everything she loved or cared for six months before the rest of the world ever ended. She was already quite content with the idea of ending her life when the world as she knows it turns upside down.

Sloane is the victim of physical abuse from her father. She is quite adapt at making herself as small as possible to escape his kind of discipline. Six months before the end of the world her sister Lily ran away from their childhood home without so much as a goodbye to Sloane. Sloane's life has been reeling from the loss of her sister ever since. Sloane is getting ready to end her life and has already written out her goodbye letter to her sister. Then the entire world falls apart.

Six days later Sloane finds herself hiding out in her high school with several other teenagers trying to survive the zombie apocalypse that has occurred. Sloane fights with the idea of continuing to survive and with the desperate want to end her life. Although she has accomplished the very difficult task of surviving the end of the world and finding a relatively safe place to hide Sloane is still unsure as to why she continues to do so.

What I Didn't Like: I wish we had seen and not been told about the six days after the end of the world. I felt like the jump in time could have been elaborated on better, and could have done a lot to expand on Sloane's state of mind. If all she wanted to do was die then what was she thinking the whole time she was following the others to the high school? It was really the only thing that bugged me.

What I Liked:  Throughout the novel Summers delves into the human aspects of survival. Some of the moral questions Summers brings up in the novel aren't answered, and that's ok. I liked being the dark just like Sloane was. Some of the moral survival questions are answered, and they only serve to highlight the real struggle some of these teens are dealing with to keep some sense of humanity. Time and time again the teenagers are faced with the reality that their continued survival may hinge on the death of another.

This is what I loved about This is Not a Test. The simple truth of the matter is that most people who tend to survive a zombie apocalypse aren't good people. Some people survived because they knew how to step over other people to do it. The teenagers, although faced with the same struggle, still seem to hold onto their humanity. They try to remain moral in their actions, and sometimes the reality of the consequences of their decisions becomes a heavy weight. Despite what their intentions may be the consequences lay heavily on them, and that is what sets them apart--most of the time--from the evil in the world.

The humanity of this novel is what makes this story a great one. No one in this world is all good or all evil. They are all simply trying to survive and trying to continue to find reasons to survive. When the whole world falls apart what would you do? This question makes this book one of the best zombie apocalypse novels that I've read in quite some time.

I can't wait for the next installment Please Remain Calm, an e-novella, set to be released in 2015. 

Review: Crown of Midnight by S. J. Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass Series 

Past Reviews: (Book 1 Review) (Novellas Review)

Published: August 2013

Edition Read: Purchased Hardcopy

Level Recommended: Young Adult 

Overall: I enjoyed book two of this series more than the first, and I'm very intrigued to see where Maas goes with the final two books in the series. 

Summary: After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she willing to fight for?

Review: I know I wasn't too thrilled with the first book of the series (Throne of Glass), but strangely enjoyed the four e-book novellas more than the first book. I attribute this to slow pacing and the book being marketed as high fantasy, but with very little fantasy actually occurring until nearly the end of the novel.

Book two follows Celaena after becoming the kings champion. She is tasked by the king to dispatch his rivals, conspirators, and anyone else that he believes is opposing him. The opening scene of book two is, rightly, Celaena completing one of her assigned tasks to kill a conspirator. However, she is actually deceiving the king by giving her targets a choice. She can either kill them or they can disappear and never be seen again. 

Along with her ruse Celaena cannot tell anyone what she is  doing. Either to protect herself or to protect  those that she loves. When the king decides that Celaena is trustworthy he tasks her to infiltrate a group of conspirators where she is confronted by more of her past.

Maas did a good job bringing more fantasy into this series. This second installment broached many subjects in the world that Maas has created. Where did the magic in the land go? How did the king somehow stop magic from existing? How does the king continue to keep magic from reinstating itself into the world all over again. Why where Celaena's parents killed?

I truly enjoyed learning more about Maas's world and the players that built it. Throw in a blossoming love between Celaena and her captian of the guard and you have sold me on the story! Crown of Midnight continued with its slow pacing, and that did still make me wish that events moved along faster. Or, in some cases, wish it had been removed over all. 

However, I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this second installment. I can't wait for book three, Heir of Fire, to be released later on this year. While this series isn't blowing me away it is continuing to be apart of my To Be Read list. I hope to continue to see more of this world that Maas has created.  Slowly, Celaena's world and what was lost when the king destroyed magic is becoming more and more formed. I'm intrigued to know what comes next in Celaena's journey towards freedom and her seeking to find answers about her past.

First Books For Babies: Say and Play Bilingual Series

First Books For Babies is a series that will feature books I'm currently reading to my baby. The reviews won't be long, but I'm hoping that chronicling them will help other mothers when it comes to finding good reading material for their little ones. 

One of the things that I looked forward to as a new mom and book lover was the ability to expose my baby to new worlds and people through books. Little Monkey is now six months old (I know I can't believe it either!), and he loves to be read to. 

Most babies love to be spoken to, but the ability to introduce new vocabulary to them through sight and sound is a life-long gift you can give your baby. Just 15 minutes a day can make a world of difference in advancing your baby in school and life. Little Monkey is at the age in his reading milestones where he wants to hold and look at the book. (He also wants to shove the pages into his mouth, but what baby doesn't?) He shows interest in the photos and what is on the pages. When I tell him the word in both English and Spanish he listens and absorbs the words. He may not be able to tell me the words back, but you can tell that he's listening and that is all that matters at this age. 

As a mom who lives in a part of Texas where knowing another language is essential and not really optional I loved stumbling across this lovely series of books published by Say and Play. I purchased mine from Target, but you can also find them on Amazon or Overstock. 

Each book uses brightly colored photographed images on white backgrounds to highlight a specific word. Each page is very well represented on the cover. One item is on a page with both the english and spanish word in a bright corresponding color. The exception to this is the Numbers/Numeros book which teaches babies the name and concept of numbers from one to ten. 

I love that these books are bright and colorful without over stimulating Little Monkey. When you're looking for ideal books for babies  you don't want to bombard them with too many things on one page. The illustrations should be fairly simple and easily describable, but they should also take advantage of contrasting and bright colors that will capture a babies eyes and attention. I really love this series of books and the fact that both Little Monkey and I are learning and we read. If you are not like me and want an English only version of these books Say and Play sells them in English only formats as well. 

Review: Hidden by Loic Dauvillier

Title: Hidden

Author: Loic Dauvillier

Series: No

To Be Published: April 2014

Edition Read: Netgalley Electronic Copy

Level Recommended: Elementary to Middle School

Overall: I found hidden to be a really sweet and lovely read.

Summary: (Netgalley) In this gentle, poetic young graphic novel, Dounia, a grandmother, tells her granddaughter the story even her son has never heard: how, as a young Jewish girl in Paris, she was hidden away from the Nazis by a series of neighbors and friends who risked their lives to keep her alive when her parents had been taken to concentration camps. 

Hidden ends on a tender note, with Dounia and her mother rediscovering each other as World War II  ends . . . and a young girl in present-day France becoming closer to her grandmother, who can finally, after all those years, tell her story. With words by Loïc Dauvillier and art by Marc Lizano and Greg Salsedo, this picture book-style comic for young readers is a touching read.

Review: Hidden was a very sweet graphic novel, and I believe that is hard to do with such a heavy subject as the Holocaust. Dounia tells her granddaughter what life was like in France when the Nazi's began to enforce their rule on the Jewish people. Dounia tells her story in a very personable and kind way. When Dounia explains what it was like to go from being a happy student in her class to a student that is pushed to the back of the class and entirely ignored her granddaughter asks why anyone would be so cruel. Dounia kindly explains that the non-Jewish people in France where scared, and that this possibly fueled their anger. 

When Dounia tells her granddaughter how her parents were eventually pushed into reclusiveness, and eventually that her parents are taken away to a concentration camp by the police. Dounia becomes a hidden child during the Holocaust, and a kind neighbor and her husband take her in as their own. Dounia tells about all these events in her life without loosing the child-like point-of-view that she had. The author does an amazing job of continuing to gently tell the story without losing the child-like point-of-view. This method of story telling makes Hidden an engaging and relatable read for young children. 

The artwork appropriately lends a itself to visually telling about the horrible treatment of the Jewish people without the dialogue having to do all the heavy lifting. While Dounia talks about how graffiti begins to take over the once beautiful walls of the city readers can see the police bullying and hitting store shop owners. The artwork is simple with clean lines and gorgeous colors that capture the eye, but doesn't overcrowd the page. I believe young readers will be attracted to the simplicity of the artwork without being overwhelmed by words or pictures. Both the text and the artwork compliment each other beautifully.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, and felt it really hit it's mark. I found the novel to be completely appropriate for younger readers, but also relatable to all age groups. I feel that it's an excellent accompaniment to any lesson dealing with learning about the Holocaust. The novel really helps the reader understand what it could have been like to live during the Holocaust. 

I encourage all readers with an interest in historical fiction to pick this up once it goes on sale.