Book Review: The Battle of Junk Mountain by Lauren Abbey Greenberg + ARC #Giveaway

 

When I was contacted by the publisher with the offer to read & review The Battle of Junk Mountain, I decided to overlook the fact that I am not technically open for review requests and accepted the offer… What can I say?  I was in the mood for a middle grade read, and there was something about the cover that spoke to me. 

I am happy to report that I was rewarded with a wonderful little gem of a book.  The Battle of Junk Mountain is a heartwarming book about new & changing friendships, family drama, and a summer full of changes... 

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Kids’ Corner: STEM Picture Books Featuring Female Main Characters

Last week I read my 4-year-old her favorite book (at the moment) for the 100th time, Violet the Pilot.

*Side note: this was our most recent book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  If you do not know about this program, you can read all about it here → Kids’ Corner: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Anyways!  I actually don’t mind reading this book to her so many times because I loved how the book features a GIRL engineer/pilot.  This jogged a memory from last year when I read Ada Twist, Scientist and had similar feelings.  It is so wonderful to read STEM books featuring girl main characters.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  When browsing the picture books at the library, I notice that my daughter is drawn to books with anything princess, fairy, unicorn, ballerina, etc.  They are often very PINK and very sparkly.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with these books, actually they often hold important themes & lessons, HOWEVER it is also nice to see books that center around girls in traditionally male-dominated fields like science & math.

Long story short, I started researching to find more STEM picture books that featured girl main characters.  Sadly, I was disappointed with my findings.  There are very few of these books.

Here are the books I did find…

Kids’ Corner: Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman

When I was contacted with the opportunity to read & review Pink is for Boys, I jumped at the opportunity.  For one, I’m always on the lookout for books that challenge the traditional gender norms to share with my children, and secondly I could tell it was going to be wonderfully illustrated.  That’s a win-win in my book!

Kids’ Corner: Story Writing Activity for Kids Via Education.Com @Education_Com

With school just around the corner, school lists are posted and back to school shopping is in full swing!  Are your children ready for the start of the school year?  Did you do anything to combat the dreaded “summer learning loss” with your kids this summer?

Today I have something a little different to share with all my fellow parents or educators of elementary school aged kids.   I am teaming up Education.com  to feature one of their learning activities to try out with the little people in your life…

Kids’ Corner: Diverse Middle Grade Books in Review (July 2017) #DiverseKidLit

Hello bookworms!

Today I’m back with another set of reviews for my Kids’ Corner feature of my blog.  I’m excited to share a few thoughts about 3 AMAZING diverse middle grade books.

*Books included in this post: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, & The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim