Category Archives: Books

MichaelsMind Children’s Books: $15.95

January 17, 2008Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Books, Educational ToysAlicia

Sebastian and I read every night. Sometimes I like the book he chooses and sometimes I don’t. When he picks one of Steve Tiller’s books I am relieved because I know I am going enjoy our reading time just as much as he does that night.

The colorful, fairytale like illustrations and fun writing style keep Sebastian’s attention on the book. Steve’s books are written and illustrated superbly with each story delivering a message in such a way so that the child understands the message. Steve is a great children’s book author. He knows how to capture a child’s attention and keep it. Steve’s books cover topics including self confidence (Just Be Yourself), faith (Boat & Wind), childhood fantasy (Tangle Fairies), and individuality (Inside Outside Who We Are).

Michaelsmindbooks2 When we read one of Steve’s books Sebastian enjoys talking about it afterward. Sebastian usually doesn’t want to talk about the meaning of a book, the characters or illustrations but he gets so into the characters and the stories that he sometimes continues the story with his own ‘next chapter’.

Most of the books have a free curriculum that parents can download from the website. The curriculum includes group discussions, recipes, activities and drawing.

You will also find a beautiful selection of posters on the website such as the one to the left.

Visit the MichaelsMind Books website to learn more about Steve’s books and to place an order.

Book review: Crawling, A Father’s First Year

December 17, 2007BooksAlicia

Elisha, a children’s book author turned father.. a father who once didn’t like children or parents, presents his first year of fatherhood in this humorous, ‘real-life’, chronological book of essays.

Crawling was a fun and easy read. Usually I have a hard time reading more than seven or eight pages in one sitting, but I sat on the couch and read this book while I had five family members plus my own two children rattling on around me. I was so enthralled with this book that I was able to tune out the chaos around me.

Elisha starts the book in a way that I’m sure most new father’s would describe their delivery, he wanted to call 911 but they were already at the hospital.

I especially enjoyed the story about Elisha and Zoe’s walks around the Berkley campus. While Elisha wears Zoe in the carrier, Zoe ‘steers’ him around the Berkley campus by holding his pointer fingers like motorcycle handle bars.. you’ll have to buy the book to read about the really funny experience they had with a metal poll while walking one day!

A bunny orgy, The first time I drowned my daughter in milk, and The snot suction thing. These are the titles of a few Crawling essays. The humor and reality reach beyond the essay/chapter titles. Elisha draws readers in and keeps them in with his easy to relate to and tell-all writing style.

I recommend that all new and experienced parents add Crawling to their reading list.

Where to buy: Amazon.com

The Gifted Grasshopper – Bags bursting with books

April 17, 2007Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Books, Educational ToysAlicia

This is one of my all time favorite gift ideas for kids. I LOVE IT!
I truly hope that The Gifted Grasshopper wins one of the first The Mommy Insider awards being announced around December.

I don’t like shopping at the mall or at large stores where there are a lot of people… especially with the kids. I prefer to shop online whenever possible. The Gifted Grasshopper makes it easy for parents to give their kids a wonderful selection of books just for their age, all in a super cute Gifted Grasshopper tote, grasshopper glasses, and a stuffed animal.

When Sebastian’s Gifted Grasshopper tote arrived, he was so excited. The first thing he did was put on the glasses. He says they make him smarter. How cute. He loves the books that came in his tote. They are unique books that you and I probably wouldn’t find on our own, and the kids love.

Upon browsing the Gifted Grasshopper website I saw that they sell Party Bags! How cool is that? You can choose from three different ‘levels’ of party bags depending on your budget and what you think the kids would like.

The Gifted Grasshopper sells bag’s for baby’s and for kids all the way up to 3rd grade. You can select the size of the gift bag which determines how many books are included and you can also choose the theme. Kindergarten themes include Fairy Tales, Alphabet, and Numbers.

I think The Gifted Grasshopper "bag of books" is a great idea for birthday gifts. Kids have enough toys don’t they?

Where to buy: The Gifted Grassshopper

COUPON CODE: The Mommy Insider readers get 10% off with code SPRINGSALE10!

Baby Chronicles

March 27, 2007Books, Fun stuff for parents, Organization, PersonalizedAlicia

I am all about journaling, but I am not good at keeping all of my entries in one place. I am one of those that jots notes down on little pieces of paper and then I lose the note. I have at least a dozen pieces of paper around the house with things like "Madelyn took her first step today!" written on them but I couldn’t tell you where they are. It always seems like the right time to write a note, but I just can’t seem to keep up with them.

My project this week is to take all of my notes, which I AM going to find, and transfer them into the Baby Chronicles keepsake journal I received for review.

The format of Baby Chronicles is great.

When you open the book, the first page will feature your baby’s first photograph, name, and birth date. Next is the Table of Contents that breaks down the book by sections including "First things First" where you keep track of your baby’s first haircut, first words, etc. Another great section is the "Medical History & Development" section where parents can keep records of baby’s immunizations, growth, dental information, and more.

Mom can track her pregnancy weight gain, stomach measurement (yeah),
and baby’s heart rate through out the pregnancy. The next page is
where mom will show off a photograph of her pregnant belly as well as a
photograph of the family before baby arrived. There are pages to
feature ultrasound photographs, a copy of the birth certificate, a copy
of the birth announcment.. and one of my favorite pages is titled Sign
of the Times where mom tells the current price of a newspaper, what
cars they have, price of gasoline, and more. I think that is such a
cool idea.

"I’m a Big Kid Now" is my favorite section. I think this section will be a favorite of Madelyn’s for years to come. In this section you note what your baby’s nicknames for her favorite toys were, show her first scribbles, and talk about baby’s first vacation and travels.

Baby Chronicles is a great baby shower gift idea.

I’m in my thirties and I still like to read my baby book. I am so glad my mom kept a journal of my milestones and special moments and I can’t wait until Madelyn looks at her Baby Chronicles book and say’s "I did that?" or "where did you take me to get my hair cut mom?". Keeping notes about your child’s development is not only useful to you but nice for them to have when they grow up and have children of their own.

Where to buy: Baby Chronicles

The Adventure of Bento Babeys

March 16, 2007Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Books, Music & DVD, Store ReviewsAlicia

Do you know what your baby is doing in her spare time? Did you know there are babies with secret karate skills? I bet not! Mikey, Shonda, Pedro, and Sahi, are four very special babies with karate skills that keep the city safe while we sleep at night. Isn’t this every child’s dream? I think this is an awesome concept because this type of story that we read to our children usually focuses on adults being the "hero", not other children. The Bento Babeys book can be a great educational tool as well as a wonderful confidence booster.

The book comes with a colorful figure for each character so your child can play along with the story or make up her own stories using the characters in the Bento Babeys book. What a great idea!

A CD featuring songs with easy to understand lyrics and music that your child will love comes with the book.

Sebastian, my seven year old, loves anything to do with martial arts. When I got the Bento Babeys book to review on The Mommy Insider, he was so excited. He loves the figures and really enjoys the CD and best of all, he actually WANTS to read the Bento Babeys book and share it with his classmates at show and tell.

Sebastian really appreciates the section of the Bento Babeys website where the facts about each ‘babey’ are told. Apparently, his favorite character Sahi once ate a fuzzy caterpillar which made her throw up! It’s funny things like this that make Bento Babeys easy to related to and enjoyable for children.

Where to buy: Bento Babeys