A Different Kind of Princess -- National Princess Week Resources and Giveaway!!

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

A princess needs to be strong and brave among many other traits. Even the storybook princesses, however today I am going to share some atypical princesses that emphasize being strong, brave, intelligent and more. The kind of princess that makes a good role model for our children. The first princess is the Hamster Princess or Princess Harriet. I have shared with you the first three (book 1, 2, and 3) books of this series and the first book is one of our prizes to get you started on this amazing series by Ursula Vernon. This series plays off the classic fairy tales with its main character being a hamster who is a princess who likes to fight evil. The first book is a play on Sleeping Beauty; the second Twelve Dancing Princesses; and the third Rapunzel. 

There is More to Princesses than Sparkle and Ball Gowns - National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Do you know that the last full week of April is National Princess Week? In 2012 Target, Julie Andrews and Disney started National Princess Week. Now Hazel and I are both girly-girls and we love the sparkle and glamour of Disney princess, however I want Hazel to know there is more to princesses than sparkle and ball gowns. I want her to have strong women role models and have worked hard to share stories throughout her life thus far with strong female role models. To help you teach your children about princesses that are not all sparkly and wearing ball gowns I have gathered together some of our favorite princess books and with donations from the publishers I am providing you a chance to win most of our resources!! Some of these books we have reviewed previously and others are new ones and we will be reviewing them this month. Another great resource is our Fairy Tales in Different Cultures Series. Many of these versions of traditional fairy tales do not have all the sparkle and glamour of the Disney versions.

Personalized Princess Books -- National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review by I See Me! Inc. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Happy National Princess Week!! It began yesterday. Now as I have stated I am sharing some of my resources for teaching Hazel about princesses that are not all frilly and fancy. However there is a time for that. Today's post is sharing my favorite frilly princess books. They are personalized and have a child's name in it and some even have a photo of the child. The first book I am My Royal Birthday Adventure for girls or Hazel's Royal Birthday Adventure by Jennifer Dewing and illustrated by Valerie Sokolowz.

Princess Legends, Folktales and Fairy Tales -- National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Did you have a good Easter? We enjoyed a five day celebration starting last Wednesday with my parents visiting through Sunday with my mother-in-law. It was fun but time consuming. And now in Massachusetts it is Patriot's Day and school vacation week. We have lots of fun things planned this week, but I promise to do some posts since there is so much going on!! Last week's Crafty Weekends is continuing on so come share all things crafty!

Today we are continuing our preparation for National Princess Week with our resources and GIVEAWAY!! I thought today I would share some resources that are legends, folktales and fairy tales including three of the books which are prizes in our giveaway (scroll down). Our first book for today is Princess Sophie and the Six Swans: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm retold and illustrated by Kim Jacobs. 

A Look at Real Life Princesses -- National Princess Week Resources & Giveaway

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Last week I introduced our big giveaway for National Princess Week (April 23-29). Today I am going to share our first post about the amazing resources we are giving away. The prizes in this giveaway are the resources I like to use with Hazel to see princesses as strong, brave and wonderful role models and not just weak girls waiting to be saved or who just go to tea parties and balls. To begin with resources my favorite place to start is a look at real life princesses. One of my favorite places to start especially with younger girls is Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. 

Hamster Princess: Ratpunzel -- Book Review & Craft

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

I am so excited to share with you the third book in the Hamster Princess series!! Hazel and I fell in love with these books and shared the first two with you previously. These are books Hazel could read by herself but I read them to her the first time so I can enjoy them as well. Each one is themed around a classic fairy tale. The third book is Hamster Princess: Ratpunzel by Ursula Vernon and is based around the story of Rapunzel.  

Hamster Princess Series -- Book Reviews

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

I am always looking for princess books with not your pink frilly princesses. I want Hazel to have strong role models and see that girls do not have wait around for a man to save them. Well the Hamster Princess is one of those princesses. I will admit that I was not sure I would like them and for that matter that Hazel would (and she was worried she wouldn't). However we loved them. She begged me to read more than one chapter each night and often chose to just read these books and not the usual various picture books with a chapter or two of the chapter book. The first book Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon is based on the story of Sleeping Beauty. 

Princess Pulverizer #1: Grilled Cheese and Dragons

Disclosure: Penguin Random House sent me this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am always looking for princess books that star a brave and strong princess. Princess Pulverizer is one such princess. She is not your typical princess. In fact she doesn't want to be a princess at all. She wants to be a knight. In the first book in this series, Grilled Cheese and Dragons by Nancy Krulik with art by Ben Balistreri, we meet Princess Serena, but don't call her that, she goes by Princess Pulverizer. 

New chapter books for grades 1-3

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am sharing some books for our beginning chapter book readers. The suggested ages for these books are grades 1 through 3. I will introduce the books in order of easiest to read to hardest. The first book is Joe and Sparky, Party Animals! by Jamie Michalak and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. 

Randy Rainbow and the Marvelously Magical Pink Glasses

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The start of school is fast approaching and that means time to think about back-to-school. For some kids this is very stressful. School can be very tough for the kids who are different. They may be quiet and shy or outspoken and dress uniquely. At some point someone may bully them, and the truth is there is only so much the adults in kids' lives can do to help end bullying. Schools have rules and states have laws but the enforcing of either can be difficult. It is important for kids to be able to be themselves at school and be comfortable. If they are not comfortable, they are not going to really learn at school. Today we are sharing a fun picture book about a young boy finding the courage to be comfortable with himself and have the bullying end. The book is Randy Rainbow and the Marvelously Magical Pink Glasses by Randy Rainbow and illustrated by Jaimie MacGibbon. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Sharing Saturday 16-43

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. 

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: Fall and Other Great Ideas!

Summer Reading -- Chapter Book Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Last week I shared the start of my summer reading reviews with picture books and I promised to do some chapter books this week. Earlier this week I did language fun that also included some picture books. Since my chapter book reviews did not get written yet I am sharing them with you today. (Do the summer days seem to fly by for anyone else?) One book is perfect for the younger chapter book readers--grades 2-5 and the other two are for middle school grades 5-8. The first book is Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans by Gary Northfield. 

 

Sharing Saturday 16-15

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts,crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts and a new one starts Sunday morning!! Be sure to join us at it!!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week our features are Parenting & Books Features, Crafty Lesson Features and My Other Features.

Chapter Books for Middle Grades (3-7)

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I am going to share with you a bunch of relatively new chapter books for the middle grades. There is something for everyone in this bunch!! We will start with Brave Red, Smart Frog: A New Book of Old Tales by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Rohan Daniel Eason.