Tag Archives: books

Juvenile Chapter Books – Ivy & Bean and The Adventures of Sophie Mouse

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Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

I’m continuing with my book finds because it’s very dear to me. My girls and I love juvenile chapter book series and when we sit down to read a book with chapters before bedtime we usually read one or a couple of chapters every night until we’re done with the book.  This allows us time to read several other easy to read or picture books before lights out.  I strive to read up to three books per night depending on how long each book is.

The first book series that we fell in love with was on a summer reading list and we quickly found it at the library.

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Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows + Sophie Blackall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_and_Bean

As soon as we finished the first book of these two fun-loving and mischievous friends, we couldn’t wait to check out book #2.  The series, so far, goes up to book #10, which left my daughters baffled and in despair for book #11.

“But why isn’t there a book 11?” they asked me and I said, “Because the author probably hasn’t finished writing it. We have to be patient and find another series to read in the meantime.”

And that’s exactly what we did.

Sophie Mouse to the rescue!

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The Adventures of Sophie Mouse

by Poppy Green, Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell

We stumbled upon this wonderful book series at the library when my youngest daughter spotted a nickname version of her own name on the front cover of the book.  They absolutely go bonkers whenever they see their names on the front cover of books.

This series is a great introduction to chapter books.  It’s completely adorable and there are beautiful black and white illustrations within the book.  The stories are endearing and the main character, Sophie Mouse, is an artist who simply loves adventures and sharing them with her dear friends, Hattie Frog and Owen Snake.  So far the series is up to book 6, but book 7 has a release date for this year so I’ll be requesting a hold on a copy at my library so my girls and I can get a chance to read it as soon as possible.  We can’t wait!

I highly recommend these books.  You should check them out at your local library and if they don’t have it, request it!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Winnie the Pooh Quotes

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Every time I come across a Winnie the Pooh quote I simply fall in love with it.  They’re simple words that can emit so much emotion.  Here are three quotes that I absolutely want to display in my house soon.

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The third one is my favorite.  Whenever I read it, it makes me want to cry at first because it’s so heartbreaking, but then it makes me smile because it’s so sentimental.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Toy hangover

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Christmas has come and gone and now we’re dealing with a massive toy hangover.  My daughters got so many presents toys that they’re walking around the house now dazed and confused.  It’s so overwhelming, even for me.  They’re jumping from one toy to the other while I’m running after them to clean up after each toy they dumped on the carpet before they move on to the next.  It’s crazy over here and I’m not even innocent to the crime of toy overload.  I’m guilty as heck.  I wanted to firmly stay at a two present limit per child, but I went completely over that limit.  I went totally mad, with happiness of course, when I saw this at www.walmart.com:

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Set of 5 plush dolls of Mario and company

My oldest daughter just got introduced to Mario, so when I saw this I knew she would love these little plush guys and boy did she ever.  I almost bought them individually until I spotted the set, which saved me a lot of money.  I simply couldn’t resist myself and when I told my husband, he certainly didn’t put a stop to my craziness.  In fact, he said, “I’m not going to deny them anything,” so we’re both guilty.

I’m seeking a new plan and some major will power for next year.  Also, I need to include books in their wish list, which I did this year, but nobody gifted.  I’m going to have to emphasize this to family members that books are great gifts as well.  Yes, most kids don’t want to unwrap clothes and other stuff that’s not toys, but we have to try to change that.  I’m trying to teach my girls to appreciate any gift that’s given and not to compare how many each one gets or if one is better than the other.  It really bothers me when I see kids not being appreciative or whining that they want more gifts.  I also understand that I do create this sort of attitude by supplying all of these gifts so I’m definitely going to scale back for next year.

So no more crazy, toy madness.  I’m going to take some inventory and try to place my children in an environment that’s not over stimulating, even though I created it.  Ouch, that reality does hurt me.  My solution for now is going to be to put away some old toys while they’re playing with the new ones, give away toys they’ve out grown, for example the baby puzzles with the pegs on them (I have a stack of those that need to be given to new babies) and read, read, read a lot of books.

Take good care all.

Until next time…