Review: God Gave Us Easter

What the book is about...

"God loved us so much he wanted us to always be with him too. That’s why God knew he’d need to give us Easter.”  

As Little Cub celebrates Easter with Papa, Mama, and her brother and sister, she begins to ask her papa questions about this very special day of the year.  Papa lovingly explains God’s plans for his children, while taking Little Cub on a memorable walk through her stunning Arctic world, and he shares how Easter came about in clear, simple terms that even the littlest cubs can understand.



 My Review

It's amazing how the author can take a complex thought, like the meaning of Easter because it is part of a much bigger story and break it down in a simple way so that children can understand why God gave us Easter. There's lots of symbolism woven throughout the storyline, from an eggshell that cracks open, along with Jesus not in the tomb, plus the falling down of a big tree that leads to fallen pine cones sprinkling seeds for baby trees to grow. Throughout the book, there's so many sensitive questions Little Cub and Papa need to talk about, like letting go and moving on and Lisa Tawn Bergren answers them tenderly, yet so skillfully. I especially like the part about Little Cub hearing the voice of Jesus. A beautiful book for children and adults; for home and church library.

5/5 stars. Highly recommend it! I love this one. I'm a huge fan.

I received this book for free from Early Reviewers Librarything.com in exchange for my honest review.

God Gave Us Easter






“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis

Pretty Dancing Girls

 Every year in our small town, the local dance studio performs an outdoor dance performance. These photos were taken last April and yes, every winter I long for those warm sunny days when I will see those pretty dancing girls again! Oh, how I love to watch their graceful steps in motion as they twirl and swirl so effortlessly in their gorgeous dresses and elegant fans. Photos for Blue Monday

Lola's Fandango is an Ezra Jack Keats honorable mention for best author and illustrator! I have this one in my library and it's great! The book cover reminded me of the dancing gals above!

For ages 4 to 10.
Written By: Anna Witte
Illustrated By: Micha Archer
Narrated By: The Amador Family

Lola is a young Spanish girl in awe of her glamorous older sister. However, she discovers her own talent and duende, or spirit, through secret fandango lessons from her father. The text is infused with the rhythms, movements and sounds of the dance and the humanity of Lola’s family is beautifully portrayed by Micha Archer’s collage-paintings.

Take a peek at some of Micha Archer's illustrations.

Another wonderful advantage to any outdoor festival or gathering is the food court! Being Greek, I am always on the outlook for a sign that happens to say...

GYROS

Photo for Mandarin Orange Monday

Isn't art wonderful? You can enjoy it live, like the girls performing in photo #1. I personally enjoy reading books with my grandchildren. I love word crafting. To us Greeks, food is a beautiful from of artwork. Then there's photography and I've learned so much from many professional photographers online. You'll find tons of artwork for purchase to adorn your beautiful home, as well. 

Carmen Buy From Art.com

Blessings,






 “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis

Related articles

• Flying Penguins
• Pelican Land
• One Word 2013: Joy

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines

Skywatch Friday

 James Taylor wrote a song, Fire and Rain and there's a piece to the lyrics that remind me of these wind machines or wind generators that my husband calls them. We saw these things on the road, I believe it was Highway #80 as we were heading south, leaving San Francisco, or I suppose you could say heading north, depending on the perspective.

"Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground."

Anyways, here's the famous easy-going James Taylor song that I love, just in case you're not familiar with it.

Wind power is looking more and more attractive, although I must say this photo I took looks pretty sci-fi to me! Wind power is beginning to look more feasible as a supplemental energy source but who can afford to have it completely?

 

Bomb is a 2012 National Book Awards finalist for Young People’s Literature.

                   Bomb is a 4th annual Phildecott and Steadbery award winner.

For ages 10 and up, hardcover book with around 272 pages. Kids and dads love this one.
Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

The Friday 56

 Recently I've been reading this book by Jim Callan that has to do with Decades of American History. Many of you remember or had read about a powerful earthquake that hit the San Francisco area of California on April 18, 1906. Here's a snippet from page 56...

"Gas lines crumbled, producing huge fires throughout the city. There was no water to try to put the fires out because the quake broke most of the water pipes. The quake only lasted for about 1 minute, but the fires spread and burned out of control for several days."

Wow... the chapter goes on to say that at its peak it covered 500 square blocks and witnesses claimed the flames stretched a mile into the sky. I guess the overall damage from the quake was staggering, to say the least. They say that 25,000 buildings collapsed or burned with a quarter of a million people homeless.

I read that President Roosevelt asked Congress for $2.5 million to help rebuild the area, but San Francisco authorities turned down offers of help from other countries. They said they wanted to show that Americans could take care of themselves.

Photos for Color Connection. Sweet dreams Riley! Someday YaYa and Grandpa will be reading books to you and maybe big brother will, too!

Yes, it's true. The fourth grandson arrived rather quickly on January 19th and now that makes 5 adorable grandchildren for us. Our family is truly blessed and our book library is growing rapidly.

If you have thought of receiving LadyD Books blog posts through your email box, why not sign up now? It's easy to do through feedburner and just takes a moment. As always, I look forward to reading your comments and will reciprocate the kindness in return, thanks!

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Have a great weekend!






“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis

Pelican Land

The lomo effect applied to photos produces high contrast, skewed colors, and vignetting.  It is based on the look of film photographs taken with the Russian plastic camera, the Lomo.  There is a world-wide society of enthusiasts.  Wikipedia tells about it.  They also say that one of the improved models of the Lomo camera is called the Diana camera. Photo for SkywatchFriday

While visiting Redondo Beach, California and taking a leisurely walk along the pier, I spotted this Pelican up on the roof posing in an unusual manner. No doubt, he was either yawning and stretching or waiting for his early morning bird-catch-of-the-day! Aren't they amazing and somewhat peculiar?

Wikipedia says...

Pelicans are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat pouch used in catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the Brown and Peruvian Pelicans. The bills, pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America as well as from polar regions and the open ocean. Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back at least 30 million years, to the remains of a beak very similar to that of modern species recovered from Oligocene strata in France.

Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, gannets and boobies, pelicans are now known instead to be most closely related to the Shoebill and Hammerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills and herons are more distant relatives, and have been classified in the same order. Pelicans frequent inland and coastal waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. Gregarious birds, they often hunt cooperatively and breed colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees.

The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishers. They have suffered from habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography."

5/5 stars for storyteller and anthologist Hugh Lupton. I recommend the stories and poems from many cultures found in this beautiful hardcover book with gorgeous illustrations. Here is a list of the contents:

The Golden-Eye Hatches the World
The Eagle Above Us
The Pigeon, the Sparrow-Hawk and the Theft of Fire
The Birds of Rhiannon
The Swallow and the Snake
Chicken
The Raven and the Whale
Song for the Vulture Dance
The King of the Birds
Bird Song
The Eagle and the Child
Blue Cuckoo, Red-Belted Coucal
The Songs of the Birds
Magpie Song
The Golden Bird
Swan-Call
The Hunter and the Sparrow
Crowned Crane

The Friday 56

"There was a divide now between the humans and the birds, a gap that could not be bridged. The boy looked down at his feathers and he knew that they did not belong on his body any longer. He pulled them out until the ground at his feet was bright with them. He put on his clothes. When he looked down, his talons had become toes again." From The Song of the Birds (Brazilian)

Do you have a favorite scene in a book involving birds that you can recall reading? Or perhaps you have a favorite memory of strolling along the beach and seeing brown pelicans in flight? When our children were little, we had many dogs and cats. I recall having parakeets, finches and pigeons, too.

Here is one grandson playing the toy piano, while Noah's pretend moose and family dog, "Abby" listen to the joyful sound! LadyD Books is linking with Color Connection

Brown Pelican Buy From Art.com

 “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis

Wordless Wednesday: Discovering Joy

 Photos for Wordless Wednesday: Playgrounds Providing Safety and Self Esteem


My One Word: JOY

 I've been so busy lately with lots of Dr. appointments for myself at the beginning of the new year. I was catching up on some reading while sitting in the waiting room and came across an excerpt from Marilyn Meberg that I thought went well with the above photos of our 2-year-old granddaughter (with her hair in her face) playing on the playground at the park.

"I love playful people! People who aren't too sophisticated or too proper to engage in zany antics draw me like a two-year-old to mud.

Sometimes I think we responsible adults assume that being playful might be interpreted as being childish, maybe even silly. Admittedly, nothing is more tragic than an adult who fails to gain the maturity and wisdom necessary to live a productive life. But equally tragic are adults who forget how to vent their play instincts.

The mature person is able to recognize the distinction between the two worlds and choose which world is appropriate for the moment.

Jesus said it's impossible to enter the Kingdom unless we become as little children (Mark 10:15). He seemed to place a high premium on that childlike quality. He reminds us of how preferable it is at times to be childlike."

Recommended for ages for and up. Here's a helpful review:

"As a Kindergarten teacher I make a point to read this book every year to my students, to show them that a scary or seemingly hopeless situation can result in a good friendship with a little perseverance and creativity. I like the fact that the Dad was a good source of support for the child, and that the Dad is shown working outside and inside the house in some non-traditional roles. Buoyed by his father's support, Kevin returns to the playground, always trying new ways to secure a spot on the playground. Children need more tools like this for resolving conflict in a non-violent manner."

King of the Playground

As a grandparent, I am so fortunate to see the children play so well with one another and at their daycare and preschool. Also, they go to story time at the library and have gymnastics, too. Kids just seem to have a natural joy, a happy heart, when it comes to playing with one another... but then there's our selfish nature that we have and the need to learn to share with others and to get along. For now, we are slowly beginning to prepare our grand littles to talk with us about anything, especially the bully on the playground. Life can be a bit hard sometimes and not always fair but hopefully, they will not be bullied but have joy on the playground!


I look forward to hearing about your new one word...

LadyD Books is linking with http://www.acts17verse28.blogspot.com and:

Only A Breath

Create With Joy

Blessings,




















“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis

Meet Paco the Pup

The So Cal snow melted off the mountain tops and the temps climbed back up the other day. The sunset was golden in color. I just love how the sky can begin looking so pretty in lavender and then show us an amazing grand finale in fiery orange! For more sky connections, visit Skywatch Friday

Today we are bundling up because of a cold front moving in, experiencing frost. Looks like the avocado grove and plants will be hit hard today but I thought the morning sunrise seemed hopeful.

So, my friend Rose at Color Connection was having a giveaway awhile back and I won Paco the Pup! Thanks so much Rose! This adorable soft, cuddly puppy was the perfect gift to share with our grandson on his first day of preschool. This was huge for him and Ryan was so pleased with the gift and excited to meet his teacher and make new friends at school. For now, his favorite color is green.

Do you have memories of putting your children on the school bus or walking them to school on the first day... how about drying a tear or two? They grow so quickly.

On Friday mornings I head over to +Freda Mans and participate in her weekly book meme:
The Friday 56 

This paperback book was at our local book store; looked interesting. Chapter 5 talks of digestive fire.

"Imagine that you are building a fire and that you've already put into it the quantity of wood that the fire can consume within a reasonable period of time. Then, suddenly, someone dumps a truckload of heavy lumber on top of the fire. The fire will most likely be smothered as a result. This dumping of a truckload of wood at the end is analogous to taking a heavy dessert at the end of the meal." --Deepak Chopra, M.D.

I'm thinking that maybe we should eat dessert at the beginning of our meal because it's a new year and the best comes first! Oh, how sweet it is! It's a funny thing how 'ice cream' and animals can bring my grandchildren such joy!

Dog and Cat Car Buy From Art.com

So, when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, one of my favorite songs as a kiddo, was hearing Miss Patty Page sing, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window. Remember that one? Sweet memories!

 We used to breed Australian Shepherds when the children were little ones and have owned many Aussies. Now that we're older and have lots of grandchildren crawling around the place, we just have the one cat, our Siamese, Jazz. How about you... do you have a pup?

 “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis