Current Giveaways

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Aeicha @ Word Spelunking

Friday, September 16, 2016

Review: Interactive Science Kits from Silver Dolphin Books

The wonderful folks at Silver Dolphin Books were kind enough to send me some fun interactive science kits, featuring dinosaurs and sharks, for review...


Examine the fascinating body of a Triceratops, one layer at a time, with See Inside the Dinosaur ($21.95; ISBN: 978-1-62686-566-2; Ages 8 and up). The innovative and interactive 3-D format allows kids to discover the inner workings of a dinosaur’s body with a transparent model that includes removable bones and organs. The detailed text and full-color illustrations in the 48-page book provide readers with an up-close look at how different types of dinosaurs survived in the prehistoric world. Also included is a stand-up cardboard model that provides the reader with a complete overview of a dinosaur’s body. Includes a 48-page book, a Triceratops model with 33 removable body parts, and a 7-piece cardstock T. rex model.

Turn each page and reveal the insides of the most fearsome dinosaur that ever prowled the earth! Explore a T. Rex ($21.95; ISBN: 978-1-62686-395-8: Ages 8 and up) features fascinating three-dimensional layers that illustrate each part of T.rex’s body. Fixed in the center of the book, this unique model can be deconstructed and rebuilt layer by layer, system by system. Through informative text and pictures, kids can see how each part of T. rex’s body is connected to the others. Whether it’s T. rex’s skeletal system or nervous system, curious kids will discover the king of dinosaurs from the inside out!

Get an up-close look at sharks’ body systems in Make and Move: Shark ($19.95; ISBN: 978-1-62686-490-0; Ages 5 and up). This colorfully illustrated learning guide presents everything kids need to know about the most ferocious predator in the oceans. Shark anatomy is presented in an accessible format with engaging diagrams and informative text. After becoming experts on sharks, kids can assemble a large 20-piece floor puzzle with hinged joints that demonstrate how sharks move. The puzzle is put together layer by layer, providing a complete overview on shark bodies. Kids will learn about various types of sharks and how their bodies enable them to survive in the depths of the ocean. Includes a 28-page book and 20 pieces to build a 37-inch shark floor puzzle.

Animal Adventures: Sharks ($21.95; ISBN: 978-1-62686-487-0; Ages 5 and up) will take you beneath the ocean’s surface to meet the many sharks that lurk in the depths. Have fun while learning, encounter sharks— large and small, gentle and fierce— with colorful illustrations and fascinating facts, and then build a diorama. Everything you need to explore the ocean is right here. This unique set includes a book full of colorful illustrations and intriguing facts about sharks, plus 3-D animal models and a diorama with reusable stickers. Journey to all the world’s oceans to learn everything you need to know about these mysterious creatures. ?Includes a 40-page guidebook, 7-piece diorama, 6 plastic animals, 54 reusable stickers, 4 3-D models, and 20 fact cards.

Adventure Pack: Under the Sea ($21.95; ISBN: 978-1-62686-266-1; Ages 4 and up) takes readers on an exploration of the world’s oceans to meet the fascinating creatures found beneath the waves. On each page of the fact book, kids will encounter incredible marine animals, and the included picture viewer with eight dazzling slide images gives learning an authentic feel. Set sail and start exploring! Includes a 32-page fact book, 24-page activity book, 24 fact cards, 30 reusable stickers, picture viewer with 8 images, and 2 press-out pieces to make an 18 x 12-inch 3-D poster.



My niece is crazy about dinosaurs, sea life, and science, so we were both very excited when the items above arrived! These five interactive science kits are just awesome and have provided us hours of educational fun.

Lately, my niece has become fascinated with the body and anatomy (she even exclaimed "I LOVE bones!" lol), so See Inside the Dinosaur, Explore a T. Rex, and Make and Move: Shark have been a big hit with her. Each of these three kits provide young readers with an enthralling and detailed look inside dinosaurs and sharks. The triceratops model and shark puzzle are super fun to put together, while the T. Rex model totally captivated my niece. Each kit comes with factual and informative, yet easily comprehended, information. Animal Adventures: Sharks and the Adventure Pack: Under the Sea are both superb, with their colorful and exciting exploration of sea life and their fun accessories. They both come with lots of cool goodies...my mom even used all the fun parts to create a sea life learning center for my niece!

Each of these kits are perfect for back-to-school learning that is also a ton of fun, as they provide a refreshing and engaging way to learn and create. These are tools and kits that my niece will be enjoying and learning from for many years. I can't recommend them enough for the young scientists and curious minds in your life!

5/5 Cupcakes for each kit

Silver Dolphin Books

For nearly 20 years, Silver Dolphin Books has published award-winning activity, novelty, and educational nonfiction books for preschoolers to 12-year-olds. Our focus is to create books that engage and inspire children to learn more about the world around them while fostering a love of reading, exploration, and creative expression. From adorably-illustrated board books for toddlers, to interactive play and building sets, to sound books made for story time, we develop innovative books that both enlighten and entertain.



Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Review: Home Sweet Motel (Welcome to Wonderland #1) by Chris Grabenstein



Home Sweet Motel
(Welcome to Wonderland #1)
By Chris Grabenstein
October 4, 2016
Random House BFYR
Source: from pub for review
Eleven-year-old P.T. Wilkie may be the greatest storyteller alive. But he knows one thing for a fact: the Wonderland Motel is the best place a kid could ever live! All-you-can-eat poolside ice cream! A snack machine in the living room! A frog slide! A giant rampaging alligator! (Okay, that last one may or may not be made up.) There’s only one thing the Wonderland doesn’t have, though—customers. And if the Wonderland doesn’t get them soon, P.T. and his friend Gloria may have to say goodbye to their beloved motel forever.
They need to think BIG. They need to think BOLD. They need an OUTRAGEOUS plan. Luckily for them, Gloria is a business GENIUS, and OUTRAGEOUS is practically P.T.’s middle name. With Gloria’s smarts and P.T.’s world-famous stories and schemes, there’s got to be a way to save the Wonderland!
BONUS: Includes fun extras like P. T. Wilkie’s outrageous (and sometimes useful) things you learn living in a motel. Installment 1: How to say “Help! The toilet is clogged!” in over twenty languages!



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Eleven year old, P.T. Wilkie, loves living in his family run Wonderland Motel. With its wacky attractions, colorful decor, and unique amenities, the Wonderland Motel has everything...except enough customers. When the Wonderland Motel finds itself in a great deal of debt and the bank threatens to take back the motel, P.T. knows it’s up to him to think of some BIG idea. Thankfully, young business genius, Gloria, just checked in with her dad. Together, P.T. and Gloria, along with P.T.’s grandfather, come up with some crazy, fun schemes to make money. But, P.T. and Gloria quickly find themselves caught up in something even bigger, crazier, and scheme-ier!

Home Sweet Motel, the first book in Chris Grabenstein’s middle-grade Welcome to Wonderland series, is a highly amusing adventure, full of laughs, fun characters, and exciting plot twists! Grabenstein brings his signature humor, clever storytelling, and unforgettable character creations to Home Sweet Motel. The wonderfully wacky and colorful Wonderland Motel makes for a delightful and captivating setting! Young readers will love all the outrageous attractions and decor, and will be dying to jump into the pages and join P.T. for a swim in the pool and a cone of green ice cream! And readers will love all the funny and fun illustrations.

Home Sweet Motel is home to some fun, engaging characters! From creative, storytelling P.T. to smart, innovative Gloria, whimsical and fun loving grandpa, two bumbling criminals, and all the motel’s guests, this book is bursting with lively and entertaining people.

Both readers and P.T. find themselves on a surprising and enthralling adventure, full of twists, turns, and humorous outcomes!

My final thoughts: With its outrageously cool setting, fun characters, and laugh-out-loud humor, Home Sweet Motel is a real treat!
4/5 Cupcakes

CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ESCAPE FROM MR. LEMONCELLO’S LIBRARY, MR. LEMONCELLO’S LIBRARY OLYMPICS, THE ISLAND OF DR. LIBRIS, WELCOME TO WONDERLAND: HOME SWEET MOTEL and many other books, as well as the coauthor of numerous fun and funny page-turners with James Patterson, including I FUNNY, HOUSE OF ROBOTS, TREASURE HUNTERS, and JACKY HA-HA. Chris lives in New York City with his wife, J.J., two cats, and a dog named Fred. You can visit Chris at ChrisGrabenstein.com.



Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Teacher and Librarian Appreciation Giveaway from middle-grade author, Tara Crowl!


To show her appreciation for all you awesome teachers and librarians, middle-grade author Tara Crowl is hosting a giveaway just for you!!

The Teacher & Librarian Appreciation Giveaway
  • two runner ups will each get a signed set of Eden's Wish and Eden's Escape for their classroom or library
  • one grand prize winner will get a Skype visit with Tara Crowl, for their classroom or library
Giveaway details
*open to teachers and librarians in the US/CA only
*ends 10/11/16
*winners will be chosen randomly
*winners will be emailed and must claim prizes within 48 hours
*any questions can be sent to tcauthorassistant@gmail.com

Fill out Rafflecopter form to enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Tara Crowl's Middle-Grade Series

Eden’s Escape
(Eden of the Lamp #2)
By M. Tara Crowl
From Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: September 6, 2016
Ages 9-12

Eden's new life on earth begins in New York City under the guidance of her new guardian: Pepper, a petite, bubbly genie alum who's also a Broadway actress. Before she has a chance to settle in, though, Eden is whisked away for a granting--only to find herself trapped in a laboratory. David Brightly, owner of the world's leading tech company, cares more about tapping into the lamp's power than making a wish and starts performing tests on Eden. With Brightly's plasma shield around the lamp, Eden has no way home. Left without a choice, she escapes the lab and goes on the run. After her daring exit, Eden finds herself on the streets of Paris--home to Electra's headquarters. Left in a strange city with a price on her head (courtesy of scheming Brightly), Eden has to keep her wits about her. She dons a chic disguise and flits around Paris incognito, investigating Brightly Tech. Assisted by Pepper and her old adversary Bola, as well as some new friends, Eden embarks on a quest to retrieve the lamp and protect the secrets of the genie legacy.



Eden’s Wish
(Eden of the Lamp #1)
By M. Tara Crowl
From Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Ages 9-12
All twelve years of Eden's life have been spent in an antique oil lamp. She lives like a princess inside her tiny, luxurious home; but to Eden, the lamp is nothing but a prison. She hates being a genie. All she wants, more than anything, is freedom.
When Eden finds a gateway to Earth within the lamp, she takes her chance and enters the world she loves. And this time, she won't be sent back after three wishes.
Posing as the new kid at a California middle school, Eden revels in all of Earth's pleasures--but quickly learns that this world isn't as perfect as she always thought it was. Eden soon finds herself in the middle of a centuries-old conflict between powerful immortals. A ruthless organization run by a former genie will stop at nothing to acquire the lamp and its power--even hurt Tyler and Sasha, the new mortal friends who have given Eden a home. To save her friends and protect the lamp's magic, Eden must decide once and for all where she belongs.



M. Tara Crowl grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She studied Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, then received an MA in Creative Writing at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She lives in New York City. facebook/twitter/instagram/website