An African Version of the Good Samaritan Story

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You should all know by now the love my girls have for reading and books. We also love to give them a variety of different cultures and things when introducing them to things, so when I had the opportunity to review an African story called Sikulu & Harambe: By the Zambezi River we were thrilled.

The book is the first in a series of adventures which follow a spider named Sikulu and a hippo named Harambe. The story is about kindness and the ability to help one another when in need. Sikulu & Harambe help an old woman who loses her clothing in the river, and while the other animals in the village have too many excuses as to why they can’t help her, Sikulu & Harambe find a way to do it on their own.

We did find the story a little difficult to read as the names and some terms are African, but the book gives you a great glossary of the terms and even how to pronounce some of the words as well.

The girls and I really enjoyed the illustrations as they were bright and colorful; they also loved the animals in the book as well. I can see this being a favorite series of books in our household in no time. If you check out the website at sikulu.com you can learn more about the books as well as play some fun games, watch some videos and try out some trivia. You can also purchase Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi River: An African version of the Good Samaritan Story on Amazon.com

Thanks to: Parent Reviewers

Curse of the Bone Pirates

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The girls love to read, so anytime I get a chance to review a book I think they might like, I jump on it. Even if it's a little above their age level, we still have fun reading chapters each night before bed, and I think they like the longer story time as well.

A while back I did a review for Nui Kid Water, I remember how much the girls just loved it and it's nice to see that Nui is actually all about children and enlightening them even beyond their drinking water. Their newest addition a book called Curse of the Bone Pirates was written to help encourage kids to improve the environment in a way that they can understand.

A bit about the book from the site:

An evil force is destroying the natural wonders of Nui Island, and it’s up to three new friends to solve the mystery. When Big B is dragged from his comfortable life and close friends in Chicago by his grandfather’s mysterious affliction, he’s sure he’s going to have the worst summer ever. But soon after arriving in the tropical paradise of Nui Island, he is caught in a web of danger and intrigue. The Maemae reef is dying, his grandfather’s brilliant mind has been infected and creepy Island legends are coming to life. Big B and his new friends, Sam and Nalu, rely on wit, courage and strength to unravel Nui’s ancient mysteries. What they uncover will help them save the Island, restore his grandfather’s soul, and break the curse of the Bone Pirates. With a captivating plot, fascinating characters and an important ecological message, Curse of the Bone Pirates: Nui Island Eco-Logical Adventures will haunt and delight young readers.

The book is really fun and interesting. The lessons it teaches about threats to the environment and how kids can take part in helping is great. The girls really enjoyed the book, it was a little out of their age range but Lyric seemed to enjoy it most, she loved hearing about the discovery's the characters made and the great adventures they went on. The story is told through the eyes of a 6th grader and is really a great read, something I'm sure any kid who loves to read, who loves adventure and who cares about the environment would love. You'd be surprised at how much our kids actually care and know.

Check out the Nui store website for more information and to purchase the book for your little reader.

Reading with music

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My girls love to read, give them any book and they can sit there and make up their own stories just by looking at the pictures. One thing we strive to do with the girls is read to them each and every night before bed, it's something we all look forward to. Sometimes though with a late bedtime or busy lives, we have to overlook one or two nights where a story just won't be read, the girls still bring books to bed with them, but now we've got an even better idea thanks to Team Mom and The Secret Mountain.

The Secret Mountain provides not only great stories with beautiful illillustration but each story book includes a CD to go a long with it. When you open the book be sure to pop in the accompanied CD and you have beautiful and fun music that goes right along with the story to make it even more interesting.

There are so many different stories to choose from I'm sure no matter what your child likes or is interested in, looking at one of the books and listening to the CD's from The Secret Mountain you're sure to get your child's attention and encouragement to read.

From their website:

The Secret Mountain is dedicated to the creation of children’s books, videos and audio recordings of the highest quality. Their main focus is to produce and publish stories and music that encompass the talents of songwriters, storytellers, singers, illustrators and animation artists alike.

The Secret Mountain books/CD's would be a perfect gift this holiday season, why not get them something different and check out The Secret Mountain website.

My Mom Hugs Trees

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Sometimes as mom’s we tend to do some weird things, well according to our kids anyways. I mean really, we might think we’re ‘cool’, but in reality, we’re just doing one thing or another that embarrasses our children. Thankfully mine haven’t hit the stage yet, where I’m an embarrassment to them.

One book that show’s some of the weird things mom’s can do is called My Mom Hugs Trees, written by Robyn Ringgold and illustrated by Vidya Vasudevan. This story book is about a mother who not only hugs trees, but she also talks to plants, rescues bugs, plants seeds from already eaten fruit and ask the flowers permission to pick them. Yup, it’s a ‘tree hugger’ mom! This book is so cute, and it’s a rhyming book as well. My girls just adore it, and although I’m not a ‘tree hugging mom’ myself, it’s a great book to engage the children in a better way to treat the earth and enjoy life.

My Mom Hugs Trees is published by Solar Publishing who themselves promote cultural awareness, planetary responsibility and holistic living. They combine energy and passion, creativity and genuine interest in enhancing life on this planet. While educating and uplifting our youth so that they may live responsibly and be equipped to make conscious choices as they grow up, Solar Publishing also focuses to nourish their minds and help them feel connected to the nature and diverse peoples in hopes that they understand themselves and their role on the planet.

Solar Publishing also prints their books on wood-free recycled paper through their partnership with Trees For The Future, for every book that is sold, a tree is planted in its place.
I highly recommend the book My Mom Hugs Trees; it’s a fun and interesting book with some great illustrations. At least you can say you’re not the only weird mom once your kids read this!