All About Kimberly

Sailing Along the Life of Single Parenthood

Category Archives: Reading

If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny

I was recently given the chance to read a very unique and entertaining book, If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny.  This is a book collection of tales from a Southern Mom, Lucy Adams, about life as a mom, wife, and overall community member that will make you laugh so hard, you’ll have tears in your eyes. I’m not sure I’ve ever laughed so hard while reading a book.

Want to read more about my feelings about If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny and enter for a  chance to win a hat from Lucy Adams?  Check out my Grand Opening post at A Novel Mind.

Inkheart

Have you read this book? I’ve read it myself several times as I’ve read it with groups of students. I’m so excited to know that a movie is now coming out about this book. This is as exciting to me as many were about the Twilight movie.  And I’m even more excited to learn that Brenden Fraser will be the star of Inkheart.  I have loved his performance for many years. I love each of the Mummy movies, but I think I first became a Fraser fan in 1993 when he played in Son In Law. We actually have that movie on DVD and I stil pull it out and watch it from time to time. Cameron loves to watch him as George of the Jungle. :)

If you do not know anything about the story of Inkheart, it is the first book in the Inkworld trilogy. The story is about a 12 year old girl, Meggie, who flees her home with her father and a family friend. Her father ends up being kidnapped.  Through searching for him, Meggie learns that her father actually read her mother INTO the book Inkheart and that is why she has never been a part of Meggie’s life. I don’t want to ruin the entire plot, but I will conclude by saying that Meggie’s father atempts to read the people who are pursuing them into a book, and this book is the story of that attempt.

This movie will be in theaters January 23rd. Watch the trailer below for a sneak preview.

Screen Shots

 

 

Cameron & The Unicorn

One of the best gifts (and one of the cheapest) that I gave Cameron this year was one of Frecklebox’s personalized books for children. And I feel so excited that I did so.  It was an awesome gift that Cameron truly enjoyed.  She has carried it around and shown everyone. She is so proud of it.  The book is called, “Cameron and the Unicorn,” and it is the story of Cameron meeting a unicorn and spending the day with her.  I think this has made such a great gift that I plan to return to Frecklebox and buy future personalized gifts such as personalized coloring books or growth charts for other children in our family and friends.  

Not only is Cameron a part of the story (you can see the first page in the slideshow below), but FreckleBox also used her name in so many creative ways throughout the story – in clouds and a rainbow, on a berry bush. I mean really, they chose so many neat ways to include her in the story. The first time she read it, it was so fun to watch her eyes light up and she’d exclaim about seeing her name.  Then she’d just rub her finger over each time her name was used in the graphics. It’s amazing.  The only thing I was disappointed about (now not when I actually received it) is that it’s soft back, and she loves it so much that it’s looking worn out already.  It would be nice to have the same book but in hard back.

Check out the slideshow below to see just a few of the awesome pages in Cameron and the Unicorn.


Our 2nd Book Tour: Queen of the Road (CONTESTS INCLUDED)

 

“A Charles Kuralt-Albert Brooks-style romp where they meet up with nudists, robbers and more. Required Reading.” -The New York Post

“Eat, Pray, Love – without the depression – meets Confessions of a Shopaholic – without the ditz.” – Denver Magazine.

You may remember we had a great book tour with Trockle back in October.  We started putting out decorations early that morning, but then the Gremlins arrived and almost ruined Cameron’s interview with Mama Trockle, but of course good prevaled and great prizes were given away.  Now it’s time to do it again – this time the book is Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion, and the prizes are going to be great for this book tour too so be sure to read all the way to the end for an overall prize and a prize that is ONLY for my readers!!!

Queen of the Road is the true story of Doreen and her husband, Tim, who are both psychiatrists, and embark on a year long road trip across the United States following Tim’s dreams and to Doreen’s despair. Tim has dreamed of this trip for years while Doreen has cringed at even the idea. However, somehow Tim convinces her to abandon her “princess” life of working from home in her pjs and load up in a 340 square foot bus turned RV for a year. On top of her hermit like qualities, Doreen also loves to shop – proud of the large number of shoes she owns, but these shoes can not make the trip with her. How will she ever survive?

I was immediately caught up in Doreen,Tim, the cats, and the poodle’s life. It was amazing how quickly I was dying to know what adventure would be next. Their journey’s were told with such great language that I felt like I was there. My only regret was that my book was a paperback because as I carried it around everywhere trying to get to the next story, it became pretty rugged. :)

I have to admit that when I began this book, I missed one very important detail – that it was true. Yes, as an avid reader, as an English teacher, I am mortified that I actually didn’t read (and register) that this was a true story.  After all, it was in perfectly clear English that is said ON THE COVER, “The True Tale of 47 States.”  Yes. So as I read of each of their stops along the way, I was increasingly amazed at how thorough Doreen has researched each of those locations. She knew so much about them. It was unbelievable.  Imagine my amazement at the end when I realized it was in fact true.  That explained so much.

My favorite stops along the way? I loved her trip to Disney World.  I actually read parts of this to my two daughters (they are 8 and 17) as we are the BIGGEST Disney fans and wishing hard that we could make it back to Disney.  My 17 year old is now dying to read the book herself, and my 8 year old told me I had to save it until she could read books “that big.”  Next I really enjoyed the Texas stops. Since I’m from Texas I have been to these areas also and so I could relate. It was actually during the Disney and Texas stops that I realized how much of this book was true – how much “research” Doreen had done to write this book.

When the end came and I realized it was true, well I am actually ready to read it again.  I don’t reread many books, but I do think this is one that I’ll focus on different parts the next time around and knowing it’s true, I think will put an entirely different outlook.

About The Author:

DOREEN ORION is a triple-boarded psychiatrist on the faculty of The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Her first book, I Know You Really Love Me, established her as a national expert on stalking with related appearances on Larry King Live, 48 Hours, and Good Morning America, to name a few. In spite of all this, Doreen considers her greatest accomplishment to be that her bus was featured as the centerfold for Bus Conversions magazine (where she is currently the travel writer), thus fulfilling her life-long ambition of becoming a Miss September.

In honor of Queen of the Road, we are actually doing our own little cross country trip – a trip across the Internet to discuss and share with you our opinions of this book. Please check out other stops on the Queen of the Road tour.

all names are links — go check out these great sites

NOV 28: Dorothy, Robyn, Louise

NOV 29: Christine, Beckie

NOV 30: Michelle

DEC 1: Tara, Stacie, Ginny, Kat

DEC 2: Julie, Angela, Wendy, Elizabeth

DEC 3: Renee , Christine, Dennise,

DEC 4: Kimberly

DEC 5: Alisa, Aimee, Toni

DEC 6: Connie, Jackie

DEC 7: Cathi,  Sheena, Laura 

DEC 8: Maria 

DEC 9: Jane, Lisa,  Yvonne,

DEC 10: Kailani, Tara  

And now for the part you’ve been waiting for – THE CONTEST!!  I know…everyone likes to win!  :)

Everyone who comments on a tour post will be entered to win a grand prize of:

  • Mom Logic Tote bag, eye brightener and mouse pad. www.momlogic.com
  • Wrist water bottle from www.swiggies.com $13 value
  • Gift certificate for free flashcards from www.goosiecards.com $29 value
  • Rose Pin ($10 value)
  • Natural, dye-free dog tug from Purrfect Play www.purrfectplay.com $18 value
  • Book, “Uncovered” by Mark Goldwich $13 value
  • “Attitude of Gratitude” Tank Top Med from www.empoweringthings.com $19.39 value
  • “Be Natural” tee shirt from http://www.jb-justbe.com/ $15 value
  • Cats on Cards Pet Rescue Stickers from www.purrfectplay.com $7.95 value
  • 2009 Park-It Guide for NYC from http://www.parkitguides.com/ $13 value

Total Value of Prize: $130.00+

See – told you to go check out all the tour posts….not only check them out, but be sure to comment!!  Good luck on the prize and if you just can’t wait to read this awesome book, click here to go to Amazon and purchase your own copy of Queen of the Road for just $11.16.

BUT WAIT!  THAT’S NOT ALL!!  WE’VE GOT A CONTEST HERE TOO!!

Thanks to the lovely promotion team of Queen of the Road, I have one awesome Coheto calorie counter valued at $79 for one lucky reader!!  This is an awesome deal too (if you are interested in counting your calories, but sure to watch for the Think Thin post for today).

So how do you win?

  • Stop by Queen of the Road website before midnight, December 11, 2008.
  • Come back here and mention in comments something on the website that caught your attention that is NOT MENTIONED IN THIS REVIEW.
  • A random winner will be selected and notified on December 12, 2008.
  • The winner will then have 4 days to claim their prize.

Want some extra entries? I’d love for you to have them too.  Remember they are EXTRA so you have to complete the first entry before doing any of these. Here’s some ways to earn extra entries:

  • Follow me on twitter. Tell me your Twitter name so I can verify. (1 entry)
  • Subscribe to my feed. (1 entry)
  • Blog about this contest with links to this post and CartStopper. (5 entries)
  • Add my blog to your favorites on Technorati (link at bottom of page). Leave your username in the entry.  (1 entry)
  • Digg this post. Leave your username in the entry.  (1 entry)
  • Stumble this post. Leave your username in the entry.  (1 entry)
Yes. That’s the possibility of TEN extra entries in this contest. This should give you great odds.

Secret Keeper Girl

I was so proud to be contacted for the opportunity to read and review The Secret Keeper Girl Series. I had never heard of this series, and in case you haven’t let me first give you a general summary of what is a “Secret Keeper Girl.” According to the Secret Keeper girl website,

A Secret Keeper Girl values modesty, she surrounds herself with wise friends and she embraces Godly beauty. But, the most important thing for you to know is that a Secret Keeper Girl is a masterpiece created by God.

Best-selling author, Dannah Gresh, has developed this series for mom’s and tween daughters to encourage bonding and also give young girls confidence in themselves at a time in their life when they seem to be the most insecure. The goal of this program is for mom’s and daughter’s to talk about the issues (particularly issues surrounding sexual activity) that these girls will face before their friends and the media get to them.

“8 Great Dates for You and Your Daughter” is a book that has a collection of activities for moms and daughters to do to form connections. This is a time when girls are developing their own lives and becoming more independent. If we aren’t careful, we lose that close bond and they begin to turn to others for advice. By scheduling special “dates” for just the two of you, you help to not only sustain but to develop that relationship between mother and daughter so that in times of indecisiveness, your daughter will turn to you for your words of wisdom.

To supplement “8 Great Dates,” Gresh has published four fiction books that feature a group of middle school friends going through problems that our daughters are (or soon will be)facing. The books are meant to be read by both mother and daughter and then discussed so that communication lines are open and subjects that are sometimes hard to broach are now easier. These are the four books that Cameron and I were given to read and review.

Cameron is on the lower end of the recommended ages for the Secret Keeper Girl book series, but she was excited about reading them from the beginning because the covers were bright and cheerful. I laid out the 4 book series and let her pick the order that she wanted to read the books. We started with, Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss. I had glanced at the books and thought they looked on a level that she could follow, but to be sure, we started Danika’s book together. For the most part she read each book to me. We stopped at the end of each chapter, and it was soon obvious to me that while the content was not necessarily what she was going through, she was following the story with ease. After that, we read the books together at times, but if she wanted to read on her own while I was busy, I let her. Our rule was just that she couldn’t read more than a chapter without coming and talking to me about what happened. (I made sure to actually preread the books so that I would know what was going on and could explain anything she wasn’t sure about and ask the “right” questions.)

I was impressed at the topics covered in each book, but also with the care that was put into them. As I mentioned previously, while the characters are in junior high/middle school and Cameron is only in third grade, parts of the stories were situations that really didn’t apply to her life yet, but because the reading level was age appropriate, she was able to follow the stories with ease. I also think that the bright and cheerful colors are great as they are successful in getting young girls’ attention and that is necessary or they aren’t excited from the beginning. Care was also put into the layout of the book pages. Every page has a border, the pages are not black and white but instead the borders and words are colors like blue, green, and pinkish/purple. In addition, there are a few pictures mixed in here and there which I think really help with the younger girls (like Cameron) that are reading the books. Finally I like that the girls (characters) are “different.”

They are not one race or have one color hair. We have different races, an athlete and a studious girl. Some of the girls wear skirts, some wear jeans. Some are in tennis shoes, some in sandals, and some in a dressier shoe. Why does this matter? Our girls try so hard to fit in with their peers that I really thought the choice to make each girl her own individual self is a great message to send to our daughters.

And finally are the issues of the books. Each issue was very relevant to the tween’s life and started some great conversations between myself and Cameron.

  • Toni is the athlete, and her story is told in “T” is for Antonia. She’s one of those girls who has grown quickly so she is actually more of an athlete than most of the boys in her class. Toni loves football and wants to play on the school’s team, but she’s not allowed according to school rules. She faces the dilemma of what to do with her ability – does she become “girly,” or does she pretend to be a boy and join the football team? Both of these would require her to change who she is. Ultimately (after detention time with 3 other girls) Toni (thanks to the Secret Keeper Girl Club) embraces who she is and learns that she’s just the way God wanted her to be.
  • In “Just Call Me Kate”, we learn about Kate who has found the world of girl/boy relationships and has a crush on Zachary, her older brother’s best friend. Being new at such feelings, she’s not really quite sure how to handle them and makes the mistake of placing graffiti on the bathroom wall proclaiming her adoration. Unfortunately for her, the principal recognizes her handwriting and sends Kate to detention. Lucky for her Toni, Yuzi, and Danika are there and with their help, she figures out that she needs to control her feelings (and The Secret Keeper Girl Club is formed).
  • “Yuzi’s False Alarm” tells the story of Yuzi. She is the new student. (This hit close to home as Cameron was the new student last year). Yuzi has a hard time as she’s not only the new student – she’s always the new student. Being new combined with her having an “odd” last name makes her move to Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School. In fact, she quickly ends up in trouble and is sent to detention. There she meets Toni, Danika, and Kate and with the help of her three new friends, she begins to be herself and be accepted at her school.
  • Danika was the first girl we met in the Secret Keeper Girl Club when we read “Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss.” She is the “popular girl.” She seems to have everything – the money to buy things and all the friends she wants. But then she has a bad day and everything that can go wrong does. In fact, things go from bad to worse and then she ends up in trouble. Then she has the chance to bond with Toni, Kate, and Yuzi and she learns that there just might be more than life than material things. Through this knowledge, Danika actually learns who she is and who she wants to be.

I think that I’ll be sure to keep these books and read them again as Cameron goes into 5th grade (that’s when our students move to “middle school”).

So what did Cameron think? First, I think I should point out that the first thing she wanted to know was when the “next” book would be out. She wanted to read more about these four girls. Second, she commented that she wanted the books to be numbered because she didn’t know which one to read first. Now I recognize that this didn’t really matter, but in her mind, books that go together are numbered. Finally, I asked her which book was her favorite, and she replied that she liked “T” is for Antonia the best. Cameron also enjoys sports so I think that is why this one really appealed to her.

If you have young girls in their tweens or girls quickly approaching those tween years, I think you’ll find the concepts behind Dannah Greshs’s Secret Keeper Girl Series amazing and your daughter will enjoy reading them.

There’s more to the Secret Keeper Girls than books too. There’s a great interactive website that has information for moms and daughters at www.secretkeepergirl.com as well as something I’m really looking forward to – the Secret Keeper Girl Tour. The tour will premier in Nashville and then travel to 60 cities nationwide (you can find locations and more details at the website). While it doesn’t look like they will be really close to me, there are a few within 2 to 3 hours of us and I’m hoping we’ll be able to attend.