Tag: Mom Blog

Books, Children's books

Jasmine Green Rescues Series

“Jasmine Green Rescues is a new chapter-book series that will capture the animal lover’s hearts and just anyone who loves great stories.” – Momma Braga

Jasmine Green Rescues Series Synopsis

Meet Jasmine Green, an aspiring veterinarian who adores animals, in a heartwarming new chapter-book series.

Jasmine Green loves animals. Her mother is a veterinarian. Her father is a farmer. And her brother and sister are…well, they’re mostly annoying. But being in the Green family means seeing and taking care of animals all the time. In the first two books of the series, author Helen Peters and illustrator Ellie Snowdon introduce clever, caring Jasmine and some lovabale animals while capturing the beauty and bustle of a family farm. Reminiscent of James Herriot’s and Dick King-Smith’s classic stories, yet thoroughly modern, the Jasmine Green series is perfect for animal-loving readers.

“A Piglet Called Truffle” Synopsis

While helping her mom on a house call, Jasmine visits a new litter of piglets and discovers a forgotten runt hidden underneath its brothers and sisters. Poor little piglet. It’s so tiny that it can’t even drink! Its owner refuses to rescue it. So it’s up to Jasmine to save the pig…secretly. What will happen if someone finds out?

“A Duckling Called Button” Synopsis

While walking in the woods, Jasmine and her best friend, Tom, find a nest of orphaned duck eggs. The eggs need lots of care. Hatching them is hard work. Can Jasmine keep the eggs warm and safe? With a little love and luck, the Green family farm will have a fluffy duckling friend for life.

#MelAndNikkiReview

Jasmine Green Rescues has found a soft spot in my heart! These first two books in this new series, Jasmin Green Rescues, is absolutely wonderful. Both books had a great storyline and full of love for animals. Such sweet stories and I really love Jasmine Green which you can’t help but love. By the end of both books, I wanted a Duck named Button and a Pig named Truffle! 😉

To me personally the book gave us the message on the importance of rescuing animals especially those in trouble and adopting animals from the shelter. That message is so important as adopting should always be the first place to find your furever friend. Reading the books reminded me of the love we had for our late cat, Lily who we adopted and loved so much. I know when we are ready for a new one, we will be taking the adoption route.

If you are looking for a sweet series for your young readers to be immersed with, then I would recommend this one. I loved the extra touches added to the books such as the Q&A on the back with the main character Jasmine and it also gives you a sneak peak at the next upcoming books in the series. It makes me excited to see the next books in the series and I know they will be just as great especially since I loved the first two.

Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview, we give this series 5 stars out of 5! A must read for all young readers aged seven to nine.

To purchase a copy of A Piglet Called Truffle, click here.

To purchase a copy of A Duckling Called Button, click here.

About the Author

Helen Peters is the author of numerous books for young readers that feature heroic girls on farms saving the day. She grew up on an old-fashioned farm in England, surrounded by family, animals, and mud. Helen Peters lives in London.

About the Illustrator

Ellie Snowdon is a children’s author-illustrator from a tiny village in South Wales. She has a master’s in children’s book illustration from Cambridge School of Art. Ellie Snowdon lives in Cambridge, England.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

– Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

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Books

Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time

“Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time is another amazing Emily Windsnap adventure awaits for young readers in this latest Liz Kessler book!” – Momma Braga

Synopsis

When Emily makes a wish on a magic stone, she gets a glimpse of what the future holds – and it’s a disaster! She tries to make things right, but each trip through time takes Emily to a future where things turn out badly for either the humans of Brightport or the merpeople of Shiprock. Plastic pollutes the ocean, garbage overflows the landfills, and the two towns are no longer getting along.

Emily realizes she can’t save her hometown and the ocean alone, but with help from her best friends, Shona and Mandy, she’ll have to find a way to get humans and merpeople to work together. Will Emily be able to create a better future for everyone, including herself? This new adventure gives readers a glimpse at what Emily and her friends could be like as grown-ups, with a fresh stort that explores how uniting communities can make a future that’s bright for everyone.

#MelAndNikkiReview

Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time has everything you can expect from the author, Liz Kessler.

Adventure awaits as Emily wishes and travels to the future to save the day. Loved how the story flows and the vivid descriptions of the futures are amazing.

My favorite takeaway from this book is the importance of recycling and keeping our oceans clean. Great message to pass onto tweens in this latest Emily Windsnap story.

Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview we give it 5 wishes out of 5! It brings all our favorites together: adventure, love, magic, heroine and a great message. A must read for sure!

This novel is great for young readers from 8 to 12. If you would like to purchase a copy, click here.

About the Author

Liz Kessler is the author of the best-selling Emily Windsnap series, the Philippa Fisher series, the novels North of Nowhere and A Year Without Autumn, and a series of early readers about Poppy the Pirate Dog. She lives in Cornwall, England.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

-Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Books, Children's books

Morning Sunshine!

“Morning, Sunshine! A beautiful story using haiku’s to describe nature that surrounds us as the sun rises to start a new day. A must read story with your little ones.” – Momma Braga

Synopsis

As we all wake up, the outside world bustles with life! Discover new facts about familiar creatures – from fluttering moths and scurrying beetles to shy foxes and humming bees – as they go about their morning activities. In the city, the countryside, and the suburbs. Nature can be found everywhere!

A series of haiku takes readers on a close-up, observational look at the amazing abundance of nature right outside our homes. Each stanza focuses on an aspect of the natural world or a creature going about their daily activities as the sun begins to rise. Alongside the haiku, informative text goes into depth about each subject – from how much honey a bee can make to the size of a hummingbird’s egg. Instructions to help kids create their own haiku poems, a unique form of poetry from Japan, as well as a glossary add value for a STEM and Core Curriculum book that can be enjoyed both in the classroom and at home.

#MelAndNikkiReview

Morning, Sunshine! made our reading time so much brighter. We truly enjoyed reading and learning as we went through the book. The book is fun to read especially with the Haiku format.

What is Haiku?

“Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry with seventeen syllables or beats, usually in three lines. The first line has five syllables, the second seven, and the third five. One way to find how many syllables a word has is to clap them out.”

We felt that the haikus used made the book that more special and we love how the author included instructions in the back on how to create your own. So I took it to the test and created my own Haiku and since I work in the construction industry, I thought I should create one of the field.

That was my fun attempt and now we will take what we have learned and apply it to our daily adventures to see what else we can come up with. Once you get the hang of it, it truly is simple to do. All you need to do is watch the world around and be inspired to write what you see following the pattern above with the syllables.

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On one side of the page there is the Haiku and then on the other side you have an amazing description of the creature. I think the most interesting piece for me was learning about moths, it was absolutely fascinating to learn that they have markings that warn potential predators to stay away. Nikki’s favorite was learning about snails and how their mucus helps protect them from sharp objects they might slide over. It was just an amazing story to read and the book also provides a glossary in the back – very helpful!

Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview we give it 10 sunshines out of 5! This book offers so much learning for children and parents. We loved reading it so much and the illustrations are absolutely perfect. If you would like to purchase a copy of Morning, Sunshine! Click here. Great children’s book for children ages four to eight as it offers so much learning opportunities.

About the Author

Keely Parrack came from the United Kingdom to the United States for fun twenty years ago, and liked it so much she’s still here doing what she loves best: writing poetry, picture books, and young adult novels and motivating kids to love reading and to be confident creative writers. Her work has been published in The Christian Science Monitor, The Contra Costa Times, Patch, Spider magazine, and Mothering.com, and her short story (written under the pen name Keely James) “Listening to the Leaves” appears in the anthology Simple Pleasures of Friendship: Celebrating the Ones We Love. She has been a science and language arts specialist and teacher at an elementary school in inner-city Nottingham, UK, a children’s center director in San Francisco, and the coregional advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, San Francisco North and East Bay. Parrack now fills her time working for her local indie bookstore, tutoring kids in creative writing, and designing haiku cards for her friends and family. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, son, and a very demanding cat.

About the Illustrator

John Bajet is currently a designer on the Cartoon Network Show Tom & Jerry; art director at Renegade Animation; and the illustrator for Baby Shark, Planting Seeds of Kindness, If We Can Do What Animals Do, and Bigger than Baseball.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

–Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange of an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Parenting, Parents, Tips

How to be Social While Social Distancing

“Social distancing or physical distancing is a set of infection control actions intended to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease. The objective of social distancing is to reduce the probability of contact between persons carrying an infection and others who are not infected, so as to minimize disease transmission, morbidity and ultimately, mortality.” – Wikipedia

With the current pandemic that the world is currently facing, we have been instructed to practice social distancing and with great reason. As we see numbers rise in positive cases all over the world, we can’t help but fear for the safety of our loved ones and of ourselves. We have been doing social distancing for over a week now and we will continue to do so until we are told it is safe to interact once again.

Social Distancing

Social distancing isn’t too hard for me to do personally as I don’t mind being in the comfort of my own home but as a parent of a social five-year-old, I know the difficult time will arrive depending on how long we need to stay indoors. This got me thinking on how people interact socially. Prior to this pandemic, I would notice people constantly using their technology devices and not interact with people right in front of them. Now here we are in a state of emergency and people are craving the need to interact in person. Irony at its finest if you ask me.

It also got me thinking why not use this technology that we seem to not be able to live without while we are with people and use it to interact while keeping our distances. Seems simple, doesn’t it?! We implemented a few things in our home to keep social in hopes it will inspire others to do the same while we all observe “social distancing.”

Social Media

The good old social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on. These mediums are working well so far and it’s a great way to stay connected with all your family and friends. We have been sharing light stories and posts as a way to bring a smile to people’s faces during these difficult and uncertain times.

Another way to use social media is to use private messaging on Facebook to create group chats. I am part of one right now where we share pictures within our group of our kids, food or just anything positive. It is a great way to remember that there is a world of people out there loving you even if they are not in the same room as you. I have also been private messaging some close friends who are really down with everything going around as I want to make sure they know they are not alone and that they are very loved. You would be surprised on the positive impact that this can have on someone with anxiety and depression. Every little bit of compassion we can reflect onto others does help as I know it has helped one of my good friends.

Phone Calls/Text Messaging

We have been finding ourselves calling and text messaging more to check in with our loved ones. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t call my parents to see how they are doing. When I first got married my husband would ask, “Why do you call your parents every day?” My answer was always the same and it still applies to this day more than ever. “My parents are aging with each passing day and their health status can change from one moment to the next. I always want to make sure that I make that phone call so I can rest easy knowing that they are ok.”

I think it is important to check-in at least once a week or every few days just to make sure that the most vulnerable are doing well. It doesn’t cost us to check-in and it’s the kindness that we all need to be surrounded with. If you don’t like calling people then you can always send a text message especially if the recipient knows how to use text messaging. 😉

Video Talk

There are many apps that allow you to talk over video which is our favorite thing to do. Nikki loves to see people over video as it gives her that social interaction that she has been missing. We are not with them physically but we can see them which is so comforting for everyone. I have encouraged these videos with our close family members who have been calling us. When I see Nikki talking to her cousins or a friend through Facebook Messenger, her face lights up with so much happiness and I am truly thankful for all this technology that is at our fingertips.

We are able to interact with all our loved ones in ways that couldn’t be done many years ago and we should be thankful that we can. My sister even mentioned that we could have a girls night at home by video calling each other in a quiet room in the house. I thought this was a great idea and now it is just a matter of time of actually doing it. This is a great alternative from going out.

That is what we are doing to stay social in a social distancing time. You can stay social and connected by using technology. We don’t need to physically be together to know that we care about one another. Remember that we are doing this to protect ourselves from this pandemic. It may seem like an inconvenience and yes this will impact the economy but it will save lives. So let us stay calm, show compassion, be kind and we will get through this together.

To protect yourself from the Corvid-19 virus, there are steps that you can do and if we all do them we will be on the right path.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

-Momma Braga

Food, Recipe

Momma Braga’s Roll-Up Lasagna Recipe

Pinterest is such a wonderful medium that offers such great ideas and it seems that I found some extra time on my hands so I ended up looking at some recipes. I came across one that took the lasagna and literally rolled it up!

So I decided why not take my lasagna recipe and try their idea out! The end result was absolutely delicious!

Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

  • Ground Chicken (or Ground Turkey or Ground Beef)
  • 1 Onion
  • Olive Oil
  • Lasagna Pasta
  • Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • Tomato Sauce
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Paprika
  • 4 Tablespoons of red wine
  • Parsley Flakes

DIRECTIONS

  • Marinate your meat (which ever one you prefer to do. We used ground turkey this time.) prior to cooking.
    • Wash meat well.
    • Place meat in a bowl and add the following ingredients; salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, 4 teaspoons of red wine (the wine added is what sets this recipe apart from many). Measurements for the ingredients are based on what you normally use in your meat marinating.
  • Cut the onions up into small pieces.
  • Once the onions are cut, place them in a pan with some olive oil. On low heat cook the onion and tomato until the onions are a golden color. Then add your meat.
  • With ground meat you will need to keep breaking it apart and stirring it to ensure it gets cooked. Once the meat is cooked remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon to ensure that the olive oil is drained.
  • Place the ground meat in a bowl and mix some tomato sauce.
  • In another pot, fill it with water and add a drizzle of olive oil with a dash of salt and the add your lasagna pasta. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and fill it with cold water to cool down the pasta.
  • Then the roll-up begins! Start with some tomato sauce and spread to cover the bottom of the lasagna tray.
  • Take one of the lasagna noodles (make sure it is dry) and place it in the tray. Add some tomato sauce, then add your ground meat and then some cheese.

  • Then carefully roll it up slowly and place it at the far end of the tray in order to do more lasagna roll-ups. Continue until you have made enough roll-ups that you need.

  • Once it is all rolled up, use some tomato sauce to cover the top of the noodles and then add some cheese (yes please!)

  • Bake in preheated oven for approx. 45 minutes (or until the cheese is melted to your liking). Remove from oven, and let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving and you can add some parsley flakes.

And there you have it, Momma Braga’s roll-up lasagna! Give it a try and let me know what you think of it!

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

– Momma Braga

 

Books

Folktales for Fearless Girls

“Heroiness save the day in this empowering collection of folktales from around the world, perfect for fans of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.”

Synopsis

Curses to be broken. Riddles to be solved. Kings’ favor to be won. These are the standard stories we’ve heard in folktales and fables for as long as we can remember — challenges faced and overcome by princes and knights in shining armor. In Folktales for Fearless Girls, though, we see a different set of heroes charge across the page. In fact, we see heroines.

Wily women and clever girls, valiant queens and brave villagers — these are the people to save the day in this collection of folktales from around the world and across the ages. Long before J.K. Rowling brought us Hermione Granger, well before Katniss Everdeen entered the arena, these fierce protagonists were the role models for strong girls through the ages. Here we read the story of Jimena, who dresses like a man to go fight in a war; of Min, whose cleverness leads her family to riches; and of Nabiha, who outsmarts thieves and wins the respect of the king. With stories from China, Russia, Persia, India, Armenia, the UK, Spain, France, Southern Africa, Egypt, and Germany, this is a collection of tales that showcases the original literary feminists.

With beautiful full-color art throughout to accompany these empowering tales, this an essential book for all girls!

#MelAndNikkiReview

Folktales for Fearless Girls: The Stories We Were Never Told is absolutely amazing for all young girls! This book contains 14 simply wonderful stories of heroines at it’s finest and I loved it from beginning to end. Nikki is a little young to enjoy these stories but I am delighted that I have them at my fingertips for her as she gets a bit older to enjoy them too.

Each tale is enriched with history of culture as each story is from a different country which I thought was such a unique piece. If I had to pick my favorite tale, it would be Katherine Nutcracker which is from Scotland. The woman saved the prince in this story and even though she wasn’t the most beautiful of them all, she stole the hearts of everyone including mine as a reader. I truly loved this story the best but that does not mean I didn’t love all the other tales. They are all beautifully told with breathtaking illustrations that look like art. A truly inspiring book for all  the wonderful young ladies growing up. I know that if I had this book in my life growing up, I would have loved it.

Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview I give it 10 stars out of 5! A must read for sure! This book is great for children ages 8 to 12. A great gift idea to inspire our young ladies. If you would like to purchase a copy, click here.

About The Author

Myriam Sayalero is a journalist and the director of the multiplatform content site Adosaguas. She has had several books published in Spain and Mexico. The most recent are Los regalos de la vida (Aguilar, 2016), Diario irreverente del desamor (Planeta México, 2017), and Poderosas (Larousse México, 2017). Her latest children’s publications are ¡Vaya con el día especial! (Alfaguara, 2017) and Diario de emociones (Larousse, 2017).

About The Illustrator

Dani Torrent has a degree in art history from the University of Barcelona and studied fine arts and illustration at the Llotja Advanced School of Art and Design. He has exhibited his award-winning artwork around the world, and has been published in many countries. In addition to his work as an illustrator, he has also written several of his own books in Spanish. He has won the Young Creators prize of the Fita Foundation of Girona (Spain), the second-place prize of the international drawing festival of Zabrze (Poland) and the second-place prize of the BIISA Festival of Amarante (Portugal). Dani lives in Barcelona.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

-Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Books, Children's books

Home Base: A Mother – Daughter Story

“Home Base is the perfect mother daughter story that will leave you with all the empowering feels!” – Momma Braga

Synopsis

A young pitcher steps up to the plate. A hardworking mom interviews for her biggest job yet.

Girls and women aren’t always welcome in the worlds of baseball and bricklaying. But with practice, the right gear, and a whole lot of determination, this intrepid mom and daughter thrive under pressure. Readers get to see their parallel narratives unfold in tandem, coming together at the end for a sweet reward: ice cream!

This heartwarming story was inspired by Barbara Moore, who retired in 2014 after more than 40 years of bricklaying. When she started in 1973, she was Baltimore’s only female bricklayer. She, along with Mo’ne Davis, the first girl to pitch a shutout in the Little League World Series, were among the incredible women in history that author Nikki Tate researched for this book.

#MelAndNikkiReview

Home Base: A Mother-Daughter Story is a heartwarming, empowering and inspiring for all children.

We just love when publishers know us so well and send us the perfect book that offers so much inspiration! We love seeing women in roles that normally they do not fulfill and the little girls who break gender boundaries. To us this is a home run!

This book is fun to read with radiant illustrations. We love how the narrative is the comparison of the mom and daughter’s day which are very similar, even though the tasks are different. In the end, they accomplish their goals and get a much deserved ice cream. Who doesn’t like ice cream after a hard day’s work?!

After reading the story to Nikki, she turned to me and said that this book reminds her of me and her. I turned to Nikki and asked what she meant.

“Mom you work in construction and I love wrestling. Not many girls do but we do and we are good at it.” – Nikki, Age 5

Loved how Nikki compared this story with ours as it meant she felt it relatable. Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview we give it 10 stars out of 5! Bravo for an amazing story to inspire current and future generations of women.

This book is great for children ages four to eight. If you would like to purchase a copy, click here.

About the Author

Nikki Tate was born in Birmingham, England, and spent her childhood roaming the globe. She is the author of more than three dozen books for children. Over the years, she’s worked as a book reviewer, a bookseller, a professional storyteller, and a farmer. Nikki’s home base is in the Rocky Mountains, but she loves to travel, particularly if she can find a rock to climb or an ocean to sail.

“I raised my daughter on my own and learned firsthand what a challenge it can be to pursue an unorthodox career,” said Tate. “As a result, I’ve always been inspired by the stories of other single women raising strong daughters. When I first learned about Barbara Moore, the first woman bricklayer in Baltimore, I knew I wanted to write about this still-less-than-common profession.”

About the Illustrator

Katie Kath graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) with an MFA in illustration. Some of the books she’s illustrated for children have been recognized by folks like the Bank Street College of Education, the New York Public Library, the Children’s Book Council, and the Junior Library Guild. Katie’s home base is North Carolina, where she plays with her dog and cat, draws cartoons, and counts the days until Christmas.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

-Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Books, Children's books

My Best Friend | Book Review

“My Best Friend has tickled our hearts pink with love! A beautiful story of early friendship that we felt we could relate perfectly to. A must read!” – Momma Braga

Synopsis

MY BEST FRIEND, is a delightful story about first friendships by Caldecott Honoree Jillian Tamaki and New York Times bestselling author Julie Fogliano!

My Best Friend is truly a classic in the making. Julie has captured the spirit of young friendship with an incredible sensitivity to how children feel and play and speak. Jillian has brought this pitch-perfect story to life with lush, hand drawn illustrations, and a limited palette of soft warm colors bursting with energy and emotion. Together, they have created a sweetly earnest, visually stunning celebration of the magic of friendship.

#MelAndNikkiReview

Friendships are so important to build especially at a young age. We have always encouraged Nikki to build great friendships which have taught her to share, to be kind and to love others. The power of friendship is amazing.

This is why we felt that we could relate to this story as it tells the story of friendship. We thought it was so neat to be told from the child’s perspective and I felt like I was watching my own daughter making friends. I giggled at the end when the little girl says I don’t know her name. That is exactly how my daughter made friends when she was younger. Everyone was her best friend but she didn’t know any of their names.

We just loved this book from beginning to end. When I asked Nikki for her deep five-year-old thoughts, this is what she said. “This book is just like me. This is how I make friends all the time. And you know your best friends because you like playing together and you draw each other.”

In honour of her friendship with her best friend, Nikki thought it was best to give this book to her. I thought it was so sweet and we gave our book so that they can look back and say this is a book about their friendship. There is nothing more special then to have your first best friend at school. We can all use a best friend no matter what stage of our lives. This book reminded me of the amazing friendships that I cherish to this day.

Nikki’s best friend, Julia

Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview we give it 10 stars out of 5. We highly recommend this children’s book as the story is written perfectly from the child’s perspective and the illustrations are images of art.

If you would like to purchase this book, click here. We think this would make a perfect gift to give to a best friend. We sure did! 🙂

About the Author

Julie Fogliano is the New York Times bestselling author of and then it’s spring and if you want to see a whale, as well as the poetry collection when green becomes tomatoes and the picture books if i was the sunshine and when’s my birthday? She is the recipient of the 2013 ezra jack keats book award, and her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Julie lives with her husband and three children in the hudson valley. When she is not folding laundry or wondering what to make for dinner, she is staring out the window, waiting for a book idea to fly by.

About the Illustrator

Jillian Tamaki is an illustrator, comics artist, and teacher living in Toronto, Ontario. She is the co-creator, with her cousin Mariko Tamaki, of the young adult graphic novel this one summer, which received a caldecott honor and a printz honor. She makes books and comics for people of all ages, including they say blue, a picture book about looking and thinking.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

–Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Books, Children's books

Friday Night Wrestle Fest

“Are you ready to wrestle?! Friday Night Wrestle Fest sure brings out our inner wrestlers to centre stage as we read this adorable story. Full of love, fun and a whole lot of family time. Truly a beautiful piece in celebrating family and their particular interest in wrestling!” – Momma Braga

Synopsis

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s Friday night, and these kids are ready to wrestle! Join Dangerous Daddoo as he dishes out some serious moves to get the kids ready for bed. But what happens when Flying Mom Bomb gets home from work? Are the kids toast?

A bedtime book inspired by WWE professional wrestling that will definitely wear kids out before they go to bed. This brightly colored picture book follows a family as they get their kids ready for bed with their signature moves — the Flying Mom Bomb, the Jumpin’ Jellyflop, and the Clear-the-room Diaper of Doom!

#MelAndNikkiReview

Friday Night Wrestle Fest is the perfect bedtime story, especially for our family. As many of our loyal readers may already know how much we love watching wrestling. Therefore, when we got this book we screamed for joy (literally!). Now since we do know wrestling, this book was put to the ultimate test to see if it will pass our expertise review. Did they make it?

We sat down together as a family to read this book together before bedtime. Usually it is only once of us taking the reading routine before bed but this time we thought it would be best if we all took part in it. As we read the story, we couldn’t help put feel the excitement that we feel when we watch WWE wrestling. It was full of action, laughs, and loads of family fun. I think that is what we loved best about the story; it brought family together. I have to admit that their bedtime routine had me very tired from just reading it and I don’t think I can pull wrestling moves before bed. But it did inspire Nikki to tackle her dad and put him in a headlock (yeah that is normal in my home). They both giggled together as my husband “pretends” he can’t get out of it and Nikki feels empowered. It was very sweet to say the least!

We absolutely loved it and it is engaging for all families; not just those who love wrestling. It is truly an entertaining book to read! The illustrations are also so creative and it does beautifully in capturing the action-filled moves of this very energetic family.

Therefore, for this #MelAndNikkiReview, our family gives it 10 cod fish kisses out of 5! Entertaining book to surely help tucker out the most energetic little ones. We just can’t get enough of it. The story is told as the announcer and I love trying to change my voice to make it even more exciting like they do on TV. Just great family fun in book form!

As a special treat, we thought we should share little Nikki when she was 1.5 years old watching WWE wrestling. In the video she clearly gets upset when her favorite wrestler, Roman Reigns is doing so well in his match. It is truly one of our favorite family videos and the start of her obsession with wrestling. Enjoy! Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more of our videos.

This book is perfect for children ages three to six. If you would like to purchase this book for your little one, click here.

About the Author

J.F. (Jenny) Fox has worked as a children’s book editor and freelance writer for two decades and has adapted and ghostwritten more than seventy books for children. Jenny lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two sons.

About the Illustrator

Micah Player is the picture book author-illustrator of Chloe, Instead and the Lately Lily series. He is also the creator of the bestselling Around the World Puzzle and its follow-up, the Around the World Matching Game. Born in Alaska, Micah now lives in Utah with his wife, Stephanie, and their two kids.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

–Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Books, Children's books

Facts VS Opinions VS Robots

“Facts VS Opinions VS Robots…oh my! This delightful and fun book really puts things in perspective. A creative way to have children understand the difference between a fact and an opinion. Bravo!” – Momma Braga

Synopsis

Do you know the difference between fact and an opinion? It can be a hard thing to understand. Some things are facts — like the number of robots in this book. Other things are opinions — like which robot would make the best friend, or which robot dances best. And sometimes to tell the difference between a fact and an opinion, you need to wait to get more information — that’s because facts can be proven true or false, and opinions are things you feel and believe — but that you can’t prove.

Mike Rex introduces young readers to the very important distinction between facts and opinions, and he reminds us that it is nice to listen to one another’s opinions, and to stand up for the facts!

#MelAndNikkiReview

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots is robotastic! Who doesn’t love a book with robots giving us some life lessons?!

I know we love it! A superb way to explain the difference between fact and opinions. Such an important topic to discuss and one that we were so glad to have read with our five-year-old. We love the questions within the book that allows us as parents to ask our child the question and discuss it fully. It was an amazing exercise to do. We even used some of our own examples to see if we could tell the difference.

Momma Braga: “Purple is the best color in the world. Is that a Fact or Opinion Nikki?”

Nikki: “That is your opinion Mom! Not everyone likes purple and that is ok.”

Far to say that Nikki got the concept of facts vs. opinions and to respect others opinions. I think that is our favorite message in the book! As it is written: “You see, when we respect the opinions of others, we can all get along.” Yes we can and we just love it!

This book is great for children ages five to eight. If you would like to purchase a copy for your reading lineup, click here.

About the Author

Michael Rex has written and/or illustrated over forty’s children’s books, including Eat Pete, With Any Luck, I’ll Drive a Truck (by David Friend), the New York Times #1 bestseller Goodnight Goon, The Runaway Mummy, Truck Duck, and the Fangbone series (which has also been turned into an animated TV series). He has a master’s degree in visual arts education (K-12) and worked as a New York City art teacher for four years. He lives in Leonia, New Jersey, with his wife and their two sons.

Until next time…Happy Parenting!

-Momma Braga

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own.