Book Review - Lily: A Basset Hound’s Tail of Love by Cathy M. Rudert

Title: Lily: A Basset Hound’s Tail of Love
Author: Cathy M. Rudert
Genre: Children’s

Challenges: PB & J Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, Read Your Own Books 2010, TBR Challenge 2010, Reading From My Shelves Project 2010, Young Readers Reading Challenge 2010, 100 + Reading Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, What An Animal III Challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 32
Published: 2006


Inside Cover: Lily…(The loosely part) – Join a homeless basset hound on her last lonely, but somewhat fun day searching for someone to love her. She travels with her guardian blue bird, who leaves his new family for one day to show her the way.

She encounters many folks on her journey who seem nice, but go on their way. Her luck changes at the end of the day, just in time for dinner, a tour of her new back yard, a bubble bath, and YES, a nice warm bed! Lily meets many people, but the ending is clear! Her new best friends are saved for last, and are very dear.

Lily…(the true part) – I found Lily wandering the streets newar my hometown. She had been abandoned for a long time, according to a lady who noticed her roaming in her neighborhood. Lily has no tags. I stumbled upon the situation and brought her home to live with Chloe and myself at Pine Meer. This all happened on St. Francis’ Day. I did no know what that meant at first, but I figured it out later. St. Francis is the patron Saint of animals, so maybe,just maybe, dogs are an additional or subsidiary deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world’s worship!

Mine: What a wonderful quirky book. Illustrated with collage – drawing and pictures makes this story pop. The most wonderful part is Lily is learning about her environment around her, so that she can survive when given the wonderful care that she deserves. She meets some funny people along the way, but none seem to notice her.

Lily is a wonderful dog that must have learned to spread love all around. Cathy has made rescuing basset hounds a calling: Please check out Cathy’s website that helps rescue Basset Hounds – Basset Hound Town

What Are you Reading Monday? #15

Books I completed this week are:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
Remembering When I Was Young by Carole Carson
Lily: A Basset Hound’s Tail of Love by Cathy L. Rudert
Disney After Dark (Kingdom Keepers #1) by Ridley Pearsons
Masks From Around The World by Garth Dahl
70 Meals, One Trip To The Store by Kelly Donlea
Eddie Robinson by Denny Dressman


Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella (On Hold)
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt (On Hold)
Indiana Caper by Dallas Relaford
Hannah’s List by Debbie Macomber (audio)
Disney At Dawn (Kingdom Keepers #2) by Ridley Pearson

Up Next:
The Absent Author by Rob Roy


Reviews posted this week:
Remembering When I Was Young by Carole Carson
Lily: A Basset Hound’s Tail of Love by Cathy L. Rudert


Author Guest Posts/Interviews this week:
Guest Author Blog -Margo Candela - Goodbye to All That (September 3)

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):
Masks From Around The World by Garth Dahl
70 Meals, One Trip To The Store by Kelly Donlea
Eddie Robinson by Denny Dressman
Disney After Dark (Kingdom Keepers #1) by Ridley Pearson my nephew likes me to read his books sometimes and then we discuss)
*The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
*Are You My Mother? By P. D. Eastman
*Corduroy by Dan Freeman
A Fatal Slip (Crime & Clay #3) by Melissa Glazer
Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (Audio)
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
*Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1001 Children’s Books)
Hero At Large by Janet Evanovich
Home: Memoir of my Early Years by Julie Andrews (Audio)
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd(Audio)
The Year Mom Won the Pennant by Matt Christopher (my nephew likes me to read his books sometimes and then we discuss)
Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don’t) by Barbara Bottner
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham (audio)
Remembering When I was Young by Carole Carson
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts


Giveaways on the blog this week:

Guest Author Blog – Diana M. Raab – Healing With Words
Winner is……… Kika Latu

Book Review - Remembering When I was Young by Carole Carson

Title: Remembering When I was Young
Author: Carole Carson – Illustrated by Peggy Kenfield
Genre: Children’s

Challenges: PB & J Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, Read Your Own Books 2010, TBR Challenge 2010, Reading From My Shelves Project 2010, Young Readers Reading Challenge 2010, 100 + Reading Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 64
Published: 2006


Inside Cover: What if….

Carole Believes that stretching a child’s imagination is as important as learning to read and write.

Remembering When I was Young opens young minds to wonderful world of unlimited possibilities, while also providing a loving way for grownups to connect with the heart and soul of a child.

What will your child remember about you when all the toys have been put away?

Mine: What a wonderfully illustrated book to spark the imagination. Although the book is making a child think about things differently. “The Sun was bright purple, The Moon hot pink, Flowers grew up colored black.”

There is a companion coloring book that goes with the book for children to cover, but the best part is that the grownup can tell the child about themselves at their age and older. You can tell you grandchild, nieces or nephews about your family, friends, growing up, playing, and milestones.

“Did you ever have a pet? What was your pet’s name? Did you ever cook? What did you like to make? What games did you play with your friends? When did you first have a car of your own? Did you ever splash through puddles? What did you do over summer vacation? What did you want to be when you grew up?

This is a great way to start a conversation and get a child to find out things were not that much different when the grownup was young.

What Are You Reading Monday? #14

Books I completed this week are:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
*The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois


Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella (On Hold)
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt (On Hold)
Indiana Caper by Dallas Relaford
Disney After Dark (Kingdom Keepers #1) by Ridley Pearson

Up Next:
Disney At Dawn (Kingdom Keepers #2) by Ridley Pearson
The Absent Author by Rob Roy


Reviews posted this week:
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Superfudge by Judy Blume

Author Guest Posts/Interviews this week:
Guest Author Blog – Diana M. Raab – Healing With Words

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):
*The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
*Are You My Mother? By P. D. Eastman
*Corduroy by Dan Freeman
A Fatal Slip (Crime & Clay #3) by Melissa Glazer
Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (Audio)
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1001 Children’s Books)
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Hero At Large by Janet Evanovich
Home: Memoir of my Early Years by Julie Andrews (Audio)
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd(Audio)
The Year Mom Won the Pennant by Matt Christopher (my nephew likes me to read his books sometimes and then we discuss)
Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don’t) by Barbara Bottner
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham (audio)
Remembering When I was Young by Carole Carson
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts


Giveaways on the blog this week:

Guest Author Blog – Diana M. Raab – Healing With Words

Guest Author Blog - Diana M. Raab - Healing with Words

At the age of ten I would sit in my walk-in closet, writing in my journal. My grandmother committed in my childhood home and the only way my mother knew how to help me cope was to buy me a journal. I poured my grief onto its pages. Journaling was the only way I was able to come to grips with one of the biggest tragedies of my life. That journal, and the many which followed over the following forty-five years, have saved my life during difficult times.

Over the years, I’ve learned that when life takes an unexpected turn, writing can become your best friend. Whether you choose journaling, poetry, fiction or nonfiction, you can reap the benefits of your predicament. Many published authors have used writing as a catalyst for survival during difficult times. Some of them include: Anaïs Nin, Joan Didion, Reeve Lindbergh, Tobias Wolff, D.H. Lawrence, Isabel Allende, Vivian Gornick, Kathryn Harrison, Sue William Silverman, and May Sarton. For these writers and many others, writing has given purpose and meaning to their lives. It has given them a reason to wake up in the morning and continue on with their day.

D.H. Lawrence sat at his mother’s bedside and while she was dying, he wrote poems about her. He also began writing an early draft of Sons and Lovers, his novel which explored their complicated, loving, painful and close relationship. Marcel Proust wrote Remembrance of Things Past while sick in bed with asthma. Flannery O’Connor wrote some of her best stories while dying from lupus.

I wrote my first book, recently updated under the title, Your High Risk Pregnancy: A Practical and Supportive Guide, back in 1983 while on bed rest with my first child. I began the book as a journal typed on my Smith Corona mounted upon a specially-designed bed table my husband built for me. After my daughter was born, I condensed the journal into the book’s introduction and then the book evolved into a self-help reference book for other women having similar experiences.

Journals are a good way to vent both small and large issues, whether they are difficulties with you boss, the loss of a loved one or a change in life. The load will lighten if we express our fears and concerns on the page.

Journaling is a cathartic way to spill your feelings. If you are angry, for example, it is much easier and probably healthier to direct your anger to the page rather than to the person. My attitude is: “Direct the rage to the page.” I have a writing colleague who says, “If it hurts, write harder,” and for years those words were posted above my computer, until they simply became a part of me.
Whether you’re affected by change, loss or pain, finding the time to write is critical to your healing process. Some people prefer to journal about their experience, while others may prefer writing fiction or poetry to help them escape their own realities. Whatever your preference, once you try it, you’ll see that writing, in any form, can be empowering!

So pull out your journals and start writing. Below are some tips on how to begin, taken from my latest self-help memoir, Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey.


Ten Tips on Writing For Healing



Find a quiet uninterrupted time and place to write

Choose an inspiring notebook and pen

Create a centering ritual (light a candle, meditate, play music, stretch)

Breath deeply

Put aside your inner critic

Date your entry

Begin by writing your feelings and sensations

Write nonstop for 15-20 minutes

Save what you have written

Write regularly

Book Review - Half Magic by Edward Eager

Title: Half Magic
Author: Edward Eager
Genre: Yough Adult
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, The Naming Convention Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge, YA Through the Decades, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, 1001 Childrens book Before I Grow Up

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (208)
Published: 1954


Back Cover: Beloved by children (and the parents lucky enough to share it with them) since it was first published in 1954, Half Magic is the uproarious tale of four siblings who discover a charm that grants exactly half of whatever they wish for – with results that are twice as unpredictable (and hilarious) as you might expect.

Jane, Mark, Katherine, and Martha manage to cope with an unexpected trip to the Sahara and a nearly disastrous trip to the time of King Arthur. But can these plucky and resourceful children deal with the changes magic is bringing to their tight-knit family?

Set in Ohio in the late 1920s, yet fresh and funny now as the day it was written, Half Magic weaves its spell anew in this full-cast recording that will entrance newcomers as well as fans who have loved this wonderful book for decades.

Mine: What a wonderful story – I’d never heard of this book until looking in the 1001Childen’s Books to Read Before I Grow Up. A thoughly enjoyable book for all young adults or chapter book readers. The magic charm only allows for ½ the wish, the children soon realize that they need to wish for 2x more if it is to really work. The wishes are simple and elaborate (Going to King Arthur’s time). Since the children are big readers every summer they know all about it and Lancelot needs to be saved by the children, but does take offense.

The magic coin also brings new people into their lives also. Mr. Smith comes into the picture several times during precarious times for both the kids and their mother. He seems to be in on the magic of the coin.

Book Review: Superfudge by Judy Blume

Title: Superfudge
Author: Judy Blume
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, The Naming Convention Challenge, Monthly Mixer Mele, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge, YA Through the Decades, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, 1001 Childrens book Before I Grow Up

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio
Published: 1992


Back Cover: He knows a lot of big words, but he doesn’t know where babies come frm. He’s never heard of a stork, but he plans to be a bird when he grows up. He’s Superfudge, otherwise known as Farley Drexel Hatcher. And, according to his older brother, Peter, the biggest pain ever invented. Among other things.

As fans of Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing already know, nothing is simple for Peter Hatcher. He is far from overjoyed at the turn the family fortunes are taking. It looks as if Peter wil be spending sixth grade far from Central Park, Sheila Tubman, Jimmy Fargo, and Henry the doorman. (He won’t miss Sheila) And it also looks as if Fudge will no longer be the baby of the family. How will Peter ever survive if his new sibling is a carbon copy of Fudge?

Mine: This is much better as an audio book (actually read by the author). I had tried reading this when I was younger, but never read the first book, so the story was hard to follow. How Fudge can bring on such troubles is humorous.

Moving from New York City to a small town where he must meet new friends and start at a new school along with this brother Fudge. He does such innocent things, but they turn in to unmanageable problems for Peter his favorite brother.

What Are You Reading Monday? #13

Books I completed this week are:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
*Flotsam by David Wiesner
*Are You My Mother? By P. D. Eastman
*Half Magic by Edward Eager
A Fatal Slip (Crime & Clay #3) by Melissa Glazer

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt
Indiana Caper by Dallas Relaford


Reviews posted this week:
Flotsam by David Wiesner

Author Guest Posts/Interviews this week:
Always looking for some


Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):
*Are You My Mother? By P. D. Eastman
*Corduroy by Dan Freeman
A Fatal Slip (Crime & Clay #3) by Melissa Glazer
Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (Audio)
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1001 Children’s Books)
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Hero At Large by Janet Evanovich
Home: Memoir of my Early Years by Julie Andrews (Audio)
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd(Audio)
The Year Mom Won the Pennant by Matt Christopher (my nephew likes me to read his books sometimes and then we discuss)
Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don’t) by Barbara Bottner
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham (audio)
Remembering When I was Young by Carole Carson
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts


Giveaways on the blog this week:

Book Review - Flotsam by David Wiesner

Title: Flotsam
Author: David Wiesner
Genre: Children’s (Caldecott Medal Winner 2007, British Fantasy Award 2006)

Challenges: PB & J Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, Young Readers Reading Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, What An Animal III Challenge, 1001 Childrens book Before I Grow Up

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 32
Published: 2006


Inside Front Cover: Flotsam: Something that floats.

If it floats in the ocean, it may wash up on the beach,

Where someone may find it and be astonished, and share the discovery with someone else --

Mine: What a wonderful book – a true picture book that is wonderfully illustrated. The books states the pictures were executed as watercolors.

Haven’t you always wondered about setting off a message in a bottle? well this is a camera and the wonderful stories it can tell. The blue hermit crab is the start and it ends with the waves hitting another beach.

What are You Reading? #12

Books I completed this week are:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:
*Reading a lot of children’s book – I’m going to make a challenge of the titles found in 1001 Childen’s Books to Read before I Grow Up (just need help with a button)
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt
Indiana Caper by Dallas Relaford
Doctor De Soto by William Steig
Flotsam by David Wiesner
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Madlenka by Peter Sis
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (audio)

Reviews posted this week:
Because by Mikhail Baryshnikov
Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan and Janet Ahlberg

Author Guest Posts/Interviews this week:
Always looking for some

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (Audio)
Hero At Large by Janet Evanovich
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd(Audio)
The Year Mom Won the Pennant by Matt Christopher (my nephew likes me to read his books sometimes and then we discuss)
Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don’t) by Barbara Bottner
Remembering When I was Young by Carole Carson
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham (audio)
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1001 Children’s Books)
Home: Memoir of my Early Years by Julie Andrews (Audio)
*Corduroy by Dan Freeman (1001 Children's Books)

Giveaways on the blog this week:

July 2010 Wrap-up 50 down and 50+ to Go

Books Read and Reviewed(*):

Read:
Home A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews Edwards (audio)
Frog, Where are You? by Mercer Mayer
Frog On His Own by Mercer Mayer
Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer
Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg
Because by Mikhail Barishnakof
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Superfudge by Judy Blume (Audio)
Corduroy by Dan Freeman



Reviewed

Frog, Where are You? by Mercer Mayer
Frog On His Own by Mercer Mayer
Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer
Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg
Because by Mikhail Barishnakof