Author: kswemba

Friday Faves: Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin Illustrated by Ebony Glenn

kswemba

I have another wonderful book to share with you today! Not Quite Snow White is a delightful story perfect for ages 4-8. It’s the wonderful debut book for Ashley Franklin and has vibrant and adorable illustrations by Ebony Glenn.

Tameika loves to sing and dance, and is very excited for her school musical. But on audition day, Tameika over hears the other kids suggest that she isn’t quite right to play Snow White because of how she looks. A once confident young girl starts to second guess herself. She comes home to her loving parents who assure her that she is their princess and has just the right amount of everything. It’s a tender story that teaches kids about kindness, self love, and acceptance of others.

I read this to my 7 year old daughter who saw a girl with different color skin than hers experiencing problems and emotions just like she does. Tameika gets hurtful things said to her, and my daughter pointed out that that would make her feel sad too. Picture books are wonderful and powerful tools that can teach kids how to treat one another from an early age. I encourage you to read this lovely book!

Happy reading!

Too much tv…..how to stop the madness!

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It started off so innocently. Let the kids watch a show or two, it’s okay. I remember watching tv as a kid. But somehow, it went from one show in the morning, to one in the afternoon and at night. Then, they each wanted to pick their own show, and wouldn’t agree upon what to watch. I gave in, thinking it couldn’t hurt. Before I knew it, we were spending WAY to much time watching tv. They would wake up early to request a show, come home from school wanting shows, and then argue over who got to pick a show at night. Instead being a thing of an enjoyment and maybe giving me a minute, or 30, to myself, it turned into the enemy.

When my kids did get their choice of show, they would want another and then tantrum when I refused. This behavior was definitely not tolerated. It all came to a head when my youngest started screaming at the top of their lungs that they wanted another show, and wouldn’t accept “no” for an answer. Well, that was it! Goodbye tv!

That’s right, I took it away from my youngest for 3 days straight. My eldest only had one show a day, which my youngest wasn’t allowed to watch. Did it go well……no. There was a lot of screaming. I tried to reason with my youngest saying that tv is a treat, you need to earn it. Bad behavior will result in another day without tv. Can you guess what happened???? That’s right, they went wild, got very upset, and lost tv for more days, a week total. To my surprise, after about 5-6 days, my youngest stopped asking for a show. Instead, my kids played games, made crafts, built cardboard houses out of amazon or Walmart boxes. Yes, folks, I’m actually on the side of less tv is better! Somehow I have come out on the other side, with some bruises b/c it wasn’t easy, or pleasant, but it can be done.

I was letting tv be a babysitter, which in the end, wasn’t working for my family. Kids do need down time and brain breaks, but for us, I realized that tv wasn’t helping, only opening up the door for bad behavior.

I’m not here to judge or say how someone should run their family. I’m just sharing my trials, triumphs and failures in hopes that it can help someone else.

Best of luck to everyone out there. Feel free to share your stories with me! I’d love to hear them.

Friday Faves: Fairy Science by Ashley Spires

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Hello everyone! I’m excited today to bring you a new book by Ashley Spires, author of the Most Magnificent Thing. We love her previous book for its girl power, ingenuity and STEM, and this book keeps that theme alive but with a twist.

In Fairy Science, Esther is a fairy that does not believe in magic, ironic because magic is what fairies are all about. Instead, she believes in science and prefers facts and evidence over wishing on stars and casting spells with magic wands. She gets to use her knowledge of science when the fairies notice a tree is dying and they need to get to the root of the problem.

This book is wonderful for many reasons. The main character is a girl, going against the social norm, who loves science! A fairy after my own heart….I am a nurse by trade after all, and I love sparkles 🙂 There’s glitter and science sprinkled throughout the book with a dash of humor to bring it all together. I love Ashley Spires’ books and this one is my new favorite. It’s a delightful read with a great message of being yourself.

I do hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Happy reading!

Friday Faves: Milton & Odie and the Bigger-than-Bigmouth Bass by Mary Ann Fraser

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Fishing and friendship

Oh my goodness….this is a WINNER! This book came out in 2019 and is so delightful. I just picked it up from the library and couldn’t be more pleased with the theme, illustrations, and story line.

To start with, Mary Ann Fraser wrote and illustrated this book. The pictures are lively, bright, and so cute that kids will love the characters. As for the story, it’s a great way to teach children about looking at life’s glass like it’s half full instead of half empty.

Mitlon and Odie are two otters with very different perspectives on life. The each separately go ice fishing one sunny morning. Through a funny chance meeting, they decide to fish together and catch the bigger-than-bigmouth bass! In their teaming up, Milton, the usually “lake half empty” otter, starts to see life’s possibilities instead of its short comings.

I urge you to buy or borrow this book! It quickly became one of my new favorites this year.

Happy reading!

A soldier, a hero, my Grandpa

kswemba

On this Veterans’ Day, I feel so thankful to everyone who has served and is serving our country. I cannot even fathom the sacrifice, or the loss of time with family and friends. It’s such a SELFLESS act, to protect one’s country and to give up as much as they do.

My Grandpa served in the Army and was in the second fleet that stormed Normandy. He was 21 years old. I can’t imagine what that would have been like. To have been young, scared, not knowing if you would live, and then see Normandy and its horrific scene.

As a child, I didn’t know what his sacrifice meant. He never talked about his time in the Army. Instead, he worked at GM on their line and never complained. He was a hard worker, a provider, and so so funny. He was the best joke teller ever, with a wit and humor that was unmatched.

In addition to his humor, he was charming and a good dancer. He always had a kind word or nice thing to say to the person he was talking with. At family weddings, or whenever the mood struck him, he’d break out his signature dance move that can only be described as a little bit Grandpa Ray and a little bit Elvis.

When we’d go to visit my grandparents, his face would light up and he’d say “Hi ya sweetheart!” His was forever my cheerleader and supporter. As I got older and went to college, the visits became less frequent. Then one day, I met the man I was going to marry. I introduced my now husband to my Grandpa. I’m so thankful that my husband got to know my Grandpa. We got engaged and told our family…it was around Thanksgiving. A month later, my Grandpa was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He was given 3 months. By February, he was gone. I never got to dance with him at my wedding, and my children never got to meet this man, who was larger than life. I still can’t believe how quickly he was taken from me.

So on this Veterans’ Day, my heart aches for my Grandpa….a soldier, a husband, a father, a Grandpa, and my hero.

Friday Faves: The Mouse and the Moon by Gabriel Alborozo

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Hi and happy Friday! Anyone else feel they’re in a whirlwind these past two weeks?! I haven’t posted much lately, but I did want to share this cute gentle story today. The Mouse and the Moon is a story about, you guessed it, a mouse and the moon. Mouse lives by himself, and his only friend is the moon. He wishes he could be close to the moon; one night, he sets off through the woods trying to get closer to moon. His journey takes him to a pond where moon is shimmering in the water. A small voice comes out into the darkness and Mouse thinks it’s moon! He begins to have a conversation with “moon” that last til morning. It is then, when the light shines bright, that he discovers the voice belonged to a small fish in the pond. I just loved this sweet story!

Themes: friendship, finding your voice, having courage, and stepping out of your comfort zone

Happy reading!

Friday Faves: Monty’s Magnificent Mane by Gemma O’Neill

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Friday! It’s been such a great week of celebrating Halloween with my lil ones. I don’t know about you, but I’m done having candy around the house! I can only resist the treats for so long! Speaking of treats…..I have a treat for you today. (See what I did there!)

Monty’s Magnificent Mane is both written and beautifully illustrated by Gemma O’Neil. Monty is a lion with a stunning mane, and he isn’t shy about how he feels about it. The meerkats like to play in Monty’s mane; but one day, their playing knocks Monty off balance and he falls into the mud. Needing to get clean, he heads to the water against the warning of his meerkat friends. He meets someone new at the water and finds himself in danger of being eaten; worse yet, his meerkat friends are now in danger. Can Monty save his friends?

Theme: In this story, Monty is a proud lion, but soon discovers that friendship is the most important thing of all.

Have a great weekend, and happy reading!

How to take bad news

kswemba

Sometimes we’re told something that’s bad and unexpected. I realize that I go into “containment” nurse mode, which basically means I instantly figure out how bad the “bad” is and see the upside. I dive into research and figure out the cause if it’s medical, what’s being done, what can be done, and focus on that instead of the feeling. Why? Because the feeling is hard to deal with.

Reality doesn’t set in til later, and that’s when the tearful emotion of sadness begins. No longer thinking, but feeling the emotions that I initially didn’t give a chance to surface. Letting ourselves feel is hard! But it’s also part of being human. Sometimes having a good cry can get us more in touch with our feelings. The positive side is now that the floodgate of emotion is open, maybe we can tap into the loving, caring side more. We can offer support to others, or extend an offer to help out whatever way we can.

Have you ever been told bad news about someone? How did you take it?

I wish everyone well!

Friday Faves: Dandy by Ame Dyckman illustrated by Charles Santoso

kswemba

Hi everyone! This week’s pick is Dandy by Ame Dyckman illustrated by Charles Santoso. It’s a cute story of a father and daughter lion who find a weed in their manicured lawn. The daughter sees it as beautiful, but the Dad lion and the other Dad neighbors want it gone! Everytime the Dad lion tries to get rid of the weed, the daughter’s there…except for one day where an opportunity arises. This book is about the special relationship between father and child and is filled with hilarious illustrations of the Dad lion’s attempts to get rid of the weed. It includes a surprise twist at the end where everyone wins. I highly recommend this cute book. Happy reading!