I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour

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.

Today we continue the Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. The Ordinary People Change the World Series is by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulous. There is a giveaway from Penguin Kids below for the whole series as well!! Today's book is I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. I had the pleasure of reviewing this book at its release in January. 

I Am Helen Keller -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour and 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.

Today we are sharing I Am Helen Keller by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. It is part of the Ordinary People Change the World Series. We have been having fun with the Blog Tour for this book series this month and have already shared the ones on Abraham Lincoln, Lucille Ball, and Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I am Jackie Robinson -- Ordinary People Change the World Series Blog Tour & Giveaway

Disclosure:  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.

Today we are sharing I Am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos as part of the Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. It seems very appropriate to share this fun book about this great man during Black History Month (be sure to enter the MKB Black History Month Giveaway). Penguin Kids is giving away an entire set of the Ordinary People Change the World Series (to enter scroll down). So far there are eight books in the series. We have already shared I Am Abraham Lincoln, I Am Lucille Ball, I Am Martin Luther King, Jr., I Am Helen Keller, I Am Rosa Parks, and I Am Amelia Earhart. Tomorrow we will share the eighth book, and I am very excited to tell you it will be a Multicultural Math post! But today we are focusing on Jackie Robinson!

I Am Abraham Lincoln -- Ordinary People Change the World Series Review

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.

February is always an exciting month. There is always so much going on. It is Black History Month and Valentine's Day and in our house a couple of birthdays. Plus Hazel always has a week off in February and this year and last my nephew is coming to visit for the week. Just a lot of exciting things going on. I was asked by Penguin Kids to participate in their Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. I jumped at the chance since Hazel LOVES this series. Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos do an amazing job in these books. They are biographies for kids about famous people who made a difference in the world. The books are part picture book and part graphic novel. And there is often a little joke or theme going on through the book. We are starting the tour with I Am Abraham Lincoln. Seeing how President's Day and Lincoln's birthday are coming up it seems like a good one to kick off the month!

I Am Rosa Parks -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour & Giveaway!

Disclosure:  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.

Today we continue the Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. The Ordinary People Change the World Series is by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulous. There is a giveaway from Penguin Kids below for the whole series as well!! Today's book is I Am Rosa Parks. 

I Am Gandhi and I Am Sacagawea Blog Tour

Disclosure: Penguin Kids sent me these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I get to share with you the latest two books in the Ordinary People Change the World series by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. I am sharing these books as part of the blog tour!

I Am Jim Hensen -- Book Review & Muppet Crafts & Activities

Disclosure: Penguin Kids  gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest 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.

As a child of the 1970s and 1980s I grew up with Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and loved them. Of course back then Sesame Street was very different. There was no Elmo or Abby. Everyone in our family had a favorite character. My oldest sister loved Kermit, my middle sister loved Oscar the Grouch and I loved Cookie Monster. I remember at one point saving my money to buy a new album. I was going to get the newest Shaun Cassidy (it was the 70s after all) and instead bought C Is for Cookie from Cookie Monster. I sang those songs all the time except I did sometimes change the title to C is for Carrie. My sister who also loved Shaun Cassidy thought I made a bad choice, but I loved my album. 

I Am Albert Einstein -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour & Giveaway -- Multicultural Mathematics

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.

Today we are sharing the final book in the Ordinary People Change the World Series. We saved I Am Albert Einstein for last. Hazel absolutely loves this series and we have had a lot of fun sharing all eight books. At the end of this post there is a chance to win the entire series from Penguin Kids! We have shared I Am Abraham Lincoln, I Am Lucille Ball, I Am Martin Luther King, Jr., I Am Helen Keller, I Am Rosa Parks, I Am Amelia Earhart, and I Am Jackie Robinson.Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos do an amazing job of making these eight people interesting and fun to children and show that each of us can change the world. 

I Am Lucille Ball -- Oridnary People Change the World Blog Tour

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of these books & promotional items 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.

On Monday I told you about the Ordinary People Changed the World Blog Tour this month. We shared I Am Abraham Lincoln on Monday. Today we get to share with you the first book in the series that we read, I Am Lucille Ball. We had the pleasure of reviewing this book back over the summer. It is the book that made Hazel fall in love with the series although now that she has read all of the books in the series thus far I do not think it is her favorite. Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos are doing an amazing job of bringing real life heroes to kids. And we are talking about people who deserve to be role models for our kids. 

I Am Amelia Earhart -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour & Giveaway

Disclosure:  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.

We had so much fun with I Am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. This was the second book that we read from the Ordinary People Change the World Series. Hazel fell in love with Amelia Earhart.

US History & State Information -- Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these products 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.

Ever since Hazel tied for third in the school Geography Bee last year, she has been even more interested in learning about the world and especially the other states. I also want her to know about her own country just like we look at different countries and cultures. Luckily her class is studying the states this year, but I also found some great resources to supplement her class lessons. I also have to include a bit of history and other fun.

I am Lucille Ball Book Review

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of these books & promotional items 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.

Today I get to share with you a book that brings back many childhood memories for me and Steve. We grew up watching the I Love Lucy Show. Did you? Penguin Kids sent us the book, I am Lucille Ball, by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. It is the newest addition of the Ordinary People Change the World series. It was released July 14, 2015.

Fun new novels for your 10+ year-olds

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.

Are you looking for something new for your middle grades? Today I am sharing three new novels about ordinary kids and their lives. They each have joys and lots of struggles. The first book is Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar. 

Sharing Saturday 17-42

It is time again 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. So glad you joined us!!

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.

New Picture Books

 

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

Continuing on our theme from yesterday with the four gift rule and one of them being something to read, I am sharing a round-up of new picture books that are perfect to make your younger readers happy!! The books range from alphabet books to biographies and more! The first one is The ABCs of Christmas by Jo Parker and illustrated by Flora Waycott. 

Protest! --Book Review and sharing about some of the Native American protests in the book

 

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

Protest! What comes to mind when you hear the word? There have been so many protests throughout history and many in recent times even during the world pandemic. Some protests are peaceful and some are not, but today's book will focus on peaceful ones. The book is Protest! How People Have Come Together to Change the World by Alice and Emily Haworth-Booth. This book is recommended for ages 8 to 12.

Religious Chapter Books

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

Hazel loves to read!! At times I cannot get her nose out of a book. She is into mysteries right now, but we have been really enjoying some Christian themed chapter books. Today we are going to share some of them with you. We shared the first book in the Chime Travelers Series with you previously. It is written by Lisa M. Hendey and illustrated by Jenn Bower. Today we will share the other four books in the series. This fun series is about twins who somehow are able to travel through time to meet and learn from various saints. They know it has something to do with the bells at their church, but cannot figure out how to make it happen or how to travel together. 

I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Book Review and Martin Luther King Day for Kids Series

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.

Today I am writing about a new book in the Ordinary People Who Changed the World Series by Brad Meltzer. It goes on sale today!! And in perfect timing it is also my post for the Multicultural Kid Blogs Martin Luther King Day for Kids Series. I am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos brings the life, teachings, and beliefs of Martin Luther King, Jr. to kids in a fun way. 

Sharing Saturday 16-6

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, 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!! Thank you to everyone who shared at last week's party!! There were many amazing ideas shared. I had so much fun checking them all out. Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! The features this week are Valentine's Day, Winter, Colors and Learning Letters. 

Two Great Chapter Book Series for Younger Kids

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to 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.

 We all want to do what is best for our children and want to bring them up to love learning and reading. It is hard to know what is best to do. I have seen articles about reading chapter books to preschoolers both pros and cons. I feel it is important to do a variety of reading. Chapter books can help kids begin to picture the stories in their own heads, but you need to be careful the story is appropriate for your child. We started reading chapter books by reading Charlotte's Web. I chose to read it to Hazel because we were going to a live production of it and I wanted Hazel to know the story ahead of time so we could discuss the sad part of Charlotte dying before seeing it. Reading this book opened the door to chapter books for Hazel. She loves them!! She also loves picture books and really loves any book. Then we discovered The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. Hazel LOVES the Princess in Black and even dressed as her for Halloween. She was so excited when Candlewick sent us second book in the series: The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party. And now the third book is being released on Tuesday, February 9th and we get to review it early!! Yes, Hazel was ecstatic about getting The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde.