LadyD Books: February 2015

The Tastes of the Planets: Review

Book Beginning

"If there was one thing that Balu Baldauf hated, that was dinner time. In how many words can you say yucky or yummy? He wondered."

The Friday #56

"Mars wanted to cook something that was brave like him. So he cooked BITTER tasting foods like dark leafy greens like kale and lettuce, coffee, dark chocolate, bitter melon, dandelion root, rhubarb, turmeric and neem leaves."

"And they all got together and had the best potluck picnic ever because delicious food comes in every taste."

Linking up with The Book Nook

Book Review

In this 4th book of the series, children will learn food types that are different on other planets, such as bitter, sweet and spicy tastes. The many colorful and cheery illustrations complement the simple text for older children to self-read and young ones to hear aloud. It's a cute story plot about the sun hosting a picnic and the gathering of the planets providing various food groups to enjoy. What a fun way for children to learn about food from all over the world, as bright and energetic Balu, embarks on this journey with a renewed perspective for cooking a unique flavor that he likes.

5/5/ stars!

Book Description

How many ways can BeBe say something was really tasty or yucky? Describing food is not as easy as it would seem. Read the book to learn six different tastes and flavors.

In this book Sun is having a picnic and invites his friends to cook and bring food of different tastes. BeBe tries to find ingredients for cooking and tries different tastes from chocolates to chili sauce.

This insightful beginner reader’s eBook will teach your child about different tastes and flavors, foods, fruits and vegetables for each type of taste. It will encourage your child to experiment new foods and tastes. This book is inspired by ancient Eastern astrology.

Your kids will enjoy cute full-color illustrations of BeBe and delicious foods. With simple text and 18 colorful illustrations, it is sure to captivate your kids' hearts.

The tastes of the planets! is a sweet children's book written especially for you and your kids ages 2- 8. The story is suitable as a read aloud book for preschoolers or a self-read book for beginner readers. Although this book may be ideal for young kids, it also enjoyable for the whole family as well! This is the fourth book in the Balu Baldauf series. Follow the entire series and look for new titles for your Kindle.

"Balu Baldauf is trying to cook up his own flavor, too."

Biography

Ruthz SB is a children's book author and illustrator, she lives with her husband and daughter in southern California. After a few years at work, she followed her passion - drawing and writing. Currently, she thrilled with her picture book series. Her favorite topics - cooking, astrology, music, nature, spirituality, friendship, vegan and life lessons.

You can get Ruthz SB's book by clicking on the following link:

Children's Picture Books

Happy reading!

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

How To Use Precise Words: Writer's Solution

I found this excellent resource book at my local book store, immediately purchased it and quickly devoured the pages from cover to cover... it's that good! I am taking a writer's class and have gathered a plethora of writing material. To give you a little glimpse, here's the entire snippet on page 56.

Using Precise Language

As you draft, use precise descriptive words - nouns, action verbs, vivid adjectives, and adverbs - to help your audience clearly picture what you're describing. For each detail you include, try to come up with words that convey precisely how you picture the detail in your mind. Notice how the following sentence can be improved through the use of preciser language.

Sentence With Vague Language

The dog moved across the parking lot and greeted its master.

Revised Sentence With Precise Language

The golden retriever darted across the empty parking lot and gleefully greeted its master. -- The Friday 56

Writer's Solution (Silver Sourcebook)

Book Beginning

I thought I'd share a few inspiring quotes with you from Gish Jen - Novelist

"Another wonderful thing about writing is that... you feel connected to everybody, and you understand that all of those millions of stories around you have a bearing on your story."

"One of the great challenges of every writer is to develop his or her own voice."

"In every good piece of writing, you should feel that the author is grabbing you by the lapels and saying, 'Listen to me! Listen to me!' "

My daughter is currently working on a Steve Jobs film and I wanted to share Gish Jen's thoughts on Steve Jobs called, My Muse Was An Apple Computer

You might want to add Writer's Solution (Silver Sourcebook) to your story writing library. If you teach a writing class, like my daughter does every summer in Maine, I think this would be a lovely addition to use in the classroom.

So, what are you reading this week?

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

Review: A Good Food Day

WHAT IS A GOOD FOOD DAY? A day when feeling good and eating well go hand in hand.

Imagine a whole day in which every meal was full of healthy and delicious ingredients. After years of thoughtless eating that led to weight gain and poor health, chef Marco Canora knew he had to make every day a good food day—but he wasn’t willing to give up flavor for health. Instead of dieting, he decided to make simple, natural recipes fit for a food lover’s palate.

Marco explains the secret powers of good-for-you ingredients (such as low-GI carbohydrates and alkaline-forming greens), and then builds them into recipes that are all about satisfaction, such as Amaranth Polenta with Tuscan Kale, Black Rice Seafood Risotto, Citrus-Spiked Hazelnut and Rosemary Granola, and Chickpea Crepe Sandwiches. He covers techniques to coax natural flavor out of dishes, including infusing seasoning into vegetable salads and pounding fresh herbs and spices into lean meats.

To make a lasting change in your diet, the food you eat has to be delicious. A Good Food Day is for people who love real food, and know that healthy and flavorful can go hand in hand.

A Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great

The Friday #56

"The beauty of the alkaline approach is that it's about balance, so eating a moderate amount of unrefined acidic foods is still okay."

The Book Nook

Having reviewed quite a few cookbooks and having them all in a cupboard, I guess it's obvious to say that I love cookbooks! I have a cool display, with yellow-painted chicken bookends, of my very finest ones. To continue with A Good Food Day...

Here's an example of Marco's writing.

"Take the word breakfast at face value: The meal is meant to "break the fast" you've been in while sleeping. It kicks your metabolism into gear, lessening your likelihood of turning into a ravenous pig later in the day."

My Review

I love the introduction about the author's warm testimony of moving towards better health and empowering readers to do so with creating food that tastes good and makes us feel good, too. First off, the road map for a good food day is laid out in 10 principles, along with an outline for necessary pantry supplies. I spent lots of time going over the salad, vegetable, beans and grain section and found it top notch. I came away with new delicious recipes in the snack and sweets section. The Lamb Stew and Mexican Chicken Soup are great choices. In addition, the Mushroom Barley Kale Soup is full flavored and leaves you wanting more. I especially like the Cream-Free Creamed Corn and learned how to remove corn kernels without them flying all around. Overall, you'll find delicious, simple, healthy meals inside. The author's writing style is down-to-earth, too.

5/5 stars! Highly recommend.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

About The Author

Marco Canora's Italian-inflected cooking at Hearth and his former restaurant Insieme has earned him critical acclaim. His first cookbook, Salt to Taste, was nominated for a James Beard Award. He has been profiled in the New York Times, Food and Wine, and The Huffington Post. He was a finalist on The Next Iron Chef and a judge on Chopped and Top Chef; and has appeared on Today, Martha Stewart, and Nightline. He lives in New York with his family.
www.agoodfoodday.com

Apple Walnut Spice Muffins (Makes 12 Muffins)

Unsalted butter, for greasing the muffin tin

1 cup rye flour

1 cup oat flour

2/3 cup ground flaxseed

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of fine sea salt

3 medium Gala apples

1 extra-large egg, beaten

1/2 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts plus 12 walnut halves

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon unsulfured blackstrap molasses

1/2 cup honey

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flours, flaxseed, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt until they're well combined.

3. Chop one of the apples into a small dice. Grate the remaining 2 apples on a box grater into a bowl. Add the diced apples, egg, yogurt, chopped walnuts, olive oil, molasses and honey and whisk together.

4. Add the wet ingredients tot he flour mixture and stir until they're just combined. divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups; the filling should be almost level with the top of the tin. Lightly press a walnut half into the middle of each muffin.

5. Bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the walnut comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then take them out to finish cooling on a wire rack.

A Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great.

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

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest, too!

Review: My Crazy Pet Frog

Book Description

Find out why My Crazy Pet Frog was the #1 Free Children's Book on Amazon! (4/12/12)

MY CRAZY PET FROG doesn't know what he is! Perhaps he's a secret agent or a world champion golfer. Who knows? One day to the next, he runs in circles, trying to be everything for everyone. It's not until he comes across one of his loved ones that he realizes the most important thing of all…

From Scott Gordon, author of My Little Pet Dragon, A Little Book About You and Taming Your Pet Monster: An Operational Guide.

My Crazy Pet Frog (The perfect bedtime story!)

The Friday #56

"I found him in the bathtub one morning, playing with my rubber ducky."

My Review

It is the perfect bedtime story! My grandsons love looking at all the zaney costume illustrations, while frog seems to be a top-notch actor trying to figure out who he is. It's a simple story line with the plot unfolding at a nice pace for young children. With vivid, eye-popping illustrations and simple text for 3-6 year old kids, this one keeps their attention and is very engaging. The frog is funny and so charming. After a zillion wardrobe changes, the lesson learned at the end is heart-felt and rewarding!

5/5 stars!

About The Author

Scott Gordon is the author of over 100 children's books, including My Little Pet Dragon, My Crazy Pet Frog, Pigtastic, A Little Book About You, A Pocketful of Dinosaurs, Ninja Robot Repairmen and If I Were A Robot. Currently he is hard at work on multiple projects: Secret Agent Disco Dancer, Braedyn Bunny and the Missing Eggs, Baby Bee, Aveline & the Great Pumpkin Patch and more!

My Crazy Pet Frog (The perfect bedtime story!)

Having 4 grandsons I think this one is a winner with them. What are you reading today?
Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend with more time to read your favorite book!

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest, too!

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

Book Review: Psalm 23

Book Description

With illustrations that bring to life Psalm 23, the popular picture book is now available in board book format.
As a follow-up to his bestselling children’s book, The Lord’s Prayer, Richard Jesse Watson created Psalm 23. The soothing and familiar words of the iconic scripture are paired with the vibrant and child-friendly illustrations of Richard Jesse Watson, resulting in a board book edition of the acclaimed picture book that is pleasing to the eyes and soul. Using KJV text, this book helps familiarize children with real biblical text while also incorporating beautiful illustrations that help make the words of David come alive for even the youngest reader.

Psalm 23

My Review

What a lovely book with many rich breath-taking illustrations. The children are so dear and precious with their glowing smiles. They're images are placed perfectly on the pages, surrounded with the most well known scripture passage in the Bible. The words of David are most comforting to the reader of any age. The nature scenes with sheep, birds and butterflies are surrounded by warm color hues. It's wonderful to see the beautiful style of the illustrator and how he depicts the Lord's loving ways in gentleness and strength. I especially like the pretty detailed angel watching over the children. So peaceful while reading this sweet bedtime scripture book to all of my grandchildren. We love it!

5/5 stars. I received a free copy of the book from BookLook Bloggers

About the Author

Richard Jesse Watson has been making books for children since 1984. He collaborated with Ruth Bell Graham on One Wintry Night, and his version of The Night Before Christmas was a New York Times bestseller. Watson won the Golden Kite Award for his picture book, Tom Thumb, and his illustrations have also been selected for the Society of Illustrator’s Annual Exhibits. Richard and his wife, Susi, live in Port Townsend, Washington. Their children are following in his footsteps as writers and illustrators of children’s books.

Psalm 23

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!

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