Friday 22 December 2017

Let's eat

Let's Eat
Author: Nadia Lim
ISBN: 978-0-47340-018-7


Hi Everyone

Here is my latest recipe book investment and it hasn't taken me long to fall in love with it.  

Why? 

This books ticks the boxes in many ways in our house...
  • It's full of healthy recipes.  Okay there are a few that aren't 100% good for you but we all need a little of these treats especially with Christmas about here. But over all there are 100+ recipes and most are on the healthy side.
  • Allergy awareness.  Most recipes have DF (Dairy free)/GF (gluten free) stated on each page.  But to add to my happiness they have substitutes for each where possible.
  • The pictures!  I am a picture girl.  My recipe collection must all contain pictures and if possible a picture for every recipes.  Box ticked 😀
  • Hard cover - perfect. 
  • No dust cover - these just annoy me they end up tattered
  • Ribbon - some one should create their recipe book with more than one ribbon because we all need to highlight several recipes sometimes 😏
Oh yes...  the recipes I have tried so far, especially the bountiful bars, are delicious!

So, do you still have a present to get someone?  You don't have much time left 😶 I recommend this one for anyone who can never have too many recipe books.


Description:

Here are over 100 favourite recipes that I cook over and over again for friends and family, including everyday healthy meals and more indulgent 'special occasion' dishes.  You're guaranteed plenty of happy cooking and eating with the likes of pumpkin pie pancakes, my Malaysian chicken rendang, comforting meatball and chicken bakes, jelly-tipped ice creams, plum and white chocolate short cake, delicious, colourful salads and healthier baking.  There are no fancy, hard-to-find ingredients or tricky techniques, just recipes that will make you proud as punch when you bring them to the table.  All the recipes have nutritional analyses and there are lots of gluten-free and dairy-free options.  Enough said, now lets eat!


This was available from:  Whitcoulls, Paperplus, Fishpond and Book depository


Happy reading



Wednesday 20 December 2017

Today's quote


This quote is special in many ways because I believe every child blooms in their own time, when given someone who encourages them and believes they can along side them.

Happy reading

Sunday 17 December 2017

Twenty-five December Lane

Twenty-five December Lane
Author: Helen ward
Illustrated by: Wayne Anderson
Narrated by Imelda Stauton
ISBN: 978-1-84011-684-7

Twenty-Five December Lane

Hi Everyone

Here is a precious little Christmas book for you to read to any little person.  Actually you can put on the audio CD and listen along with them.  

I've read this book with my students and we have all enjoyed it.  Now I have just listened to the Audio CD, so I could give an honest opinion, and I am impressed!  It is so well read and the music is just perfect, I was transformed into the story.  I think I have just been shopping at 25 December Lane.

What I like the most about this book is the words.  I love good words!  I love poetry especially when the words entice me.  This book isn't a piece of poetic rhyme but it is a piece of play with words that I find genius.  Often children's books come with basic vocabulary and it can make them a little dull to read; easy but dull.  The language in Twenty-five December Lane is descriptive and tantalising to the tongue and ear. I was able to see, hear, and feel every page in the book by the vocab.  

Here is a page from the story:

The toys continued to roll and
scuttle into the enormous sack.  
They rattled and pinged
and squeaked and whistled
until the floor, and ceiling,
the long, long counter and every self
was cleared into the bulging sack
as if by magic.
The girl looked on in dismay.
"Oh please," she said,
"Not that one..."

Overall, I have enjoyed every bit of this book.... The story, illustrations, language and the CD narration.  It is a complete package of joy.

Description:

It was the strangest shop she had ever seen, and she couldn't recall having seen it before.  As she pushed open the narrow door, a bell on a spring rang. A little breath of Christmas slipped past her, and into December Lane and up to the dark grey clouds...

This was available from: Book depositoryAmazon, and Fishpond


Happy reading


Wednesday 13 December 2017

Priscilla and the great Santa Search

Priscilla and the Great Santa Search
Author: Nathaniel Hobbie
Illustrated by Jocelyn Hobbie
ISBN: 978-0-316-08347-8

Priscilla and the Great Santa Search
Hi Everyone

I went to library to see what I could pick up for reading with my students and I came home with a couple of great little books.  I have to comment that there were not a lot of books at the library which had story that didn't revolve around shopping, presents, and Santa.... Interesting. 

One that I did bring home had the most fantastic illustrations. We spent more time picking things out of the pictures than reading the book 😀.  But the story was also very well done.  The most distinguishable aspect I liked about the writing of this story, was the rhyme.  Four lines to each and a rhyme pattern that stood out and made it a great teaching point.  The first two lines rhymed, then the last two lines rhymed.  Above all though, the story remained interesting; a very clever piece of literature.

Although this will appeal to girls and boys, it is very girly and of course me being a girl I loved it.  I laughed at the pictures and enjoyed the plot right to the final page. 

So, I think you really should look at some of the pictures to see what I am talking about:



And...


See, aren't they just brilliant!
I smiled the whole way through.

There we go the start of my Christmas reading and I know they are children's books, but that is what Christmas is for! Reading to children!  Enjoying a good book, especially one you can smile through, and just spending time together.


Description:

When Priscilla and her best friend Bettina eagerly join the other holiday shoppers to see Santa at the mall, they realize they are looking at not one, but several fake Santas! The girls are inspired to head to the North Pole in search of the real Santa Claus.

Will the Fifty-Year-Storm keep this curious duo's biggest holiday wish from coming true? Priscilla and the Great Santa Search captures all the magic of Christmastime and the spirit of a child's fascination with the almighty Santa Claus.     
Taken from: Amazon


This was available from: AmazonBook depository and Fishpond


Happy reading

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Today's quote


Hi Everyone

It is getting closer and closer to Christmas, and at times we can get busy running around the circle instead of looking to the middle of it and knowing where to sit in a hard to find quiet space.  I have found through the past few years of the 'ultra busy' time in my life, that without finding that quiet space things fell apart - and that's not always pretty 😁.  So, as we approach this Christmas, I recommend you stop in the middle and ask the why's of what you are doing.  A simple question to ask, but without knowing your 'why' it is much harder to reach your ultimate goals.

There you go my little thought for the day to go with my favourite poet's quote.  I think Robert Frost will remain my favourite poet for a long time yet, as his poems and quotes always make me think beyond his written words.

Happy reading

Thursday 7 December 2017

Higher ground

Higher Ground
ISBN: 1-84458-581-6

Stories inspired by the courage and hope of children who survived the 2004 tsunami disaster,
written by best selling authors

Hi Everyone,

Here is yet another book that has been sitting too long on my bookcase.  'Higher Ground' will rock the very seat you sit upon as you read the stories of children who survived this disaster.  I remember clearly this event as I sat with my toddler and baby over Christmas 2004 watching the total loss of life going quickly up and up beyond belief.  These stories are those of children who didn't watch the events via television, but rather watched the event unravel before their eyes.  They searched for parents only to never find them.  They searched for reality in a live nightmare.  They had a story to tell and this book does it for them.

I read story after story to become teary eyed time and again as I do when I hear the sadness and fear behind the words.  This book is amazing.  There are illustrations that only children can create, they also tell what the words cant.  

I know this event was a long time ago but to these kids it will still be like yesterday.  These stories should be heard, read and never lost. I still sit mind drained as I ponder over what I have just read.  If you get the chance pick up a copy of this book and read.  Never let this event be forgotten, too many people died and those who survived had their lives changed. 


Description:

Incredibly powerful stories about children's experiences of the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami. Features stories by many of today's best-known authors. Donations from book sales will go to charities active in child welfare. Massive marketing and publicity campaign. A powerful anthology of 18 stories focusing on the experiences of children from all regions affected by the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. Each child's story, retold by a different well-known children's author, is followed by a short update of the child's progress by the aid-worker who gathered details of story. The book is positive, inspirational, and forward-looking. It tells incredible stories of bravery and survival and looks at how the global aid effort has affected the children involved. An introduction explains what happened in in December 2004 and a map shows the areas affected. The global aid effort is also described, explaining to readers how their charity donations have helped. The charity organizations involved (Unicef, Save the Children and others) have provided the photographs that illustrate book. - Taken from Book depository

This was available from: Book depository and Amazon


Happy reading



Sunday 3 December 2017

Bridge to a distant star

Bridge to a Distant Star
Author: Carolyn Williford
ISBN: 978-1-4347-6703-5


Hi Everyone

I have had this book sitting on my bookcase for far too long.  I kept looking at it thinking, 'I must read that sometime'. But, I always managed to be given another book and I have no self control when I am given a book... I just have to open that book and take a peek, then you know what happens, the book is finished.  

This time I walked past my book case and the book practically yelled at me "Hay, about time you picked me up.  So, feeling sorry for all the neglect I had shown this little gem, I picked it up and settled down for a good read.  And, a good read it was!  

It is based on the tragic collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on May 9, 1980, but the characters, time and incidents are purely fictional.  The first and last chapters are about the bridge, but the rest of the book revolves around several characters/families.  I found the way the characters stories were presented an interesting concept of writing.  Normally when I have read a book like this the chapters have jumped from one setting to another and back again.  This book was different as it told one characters/families story and left them heading for the bridge, then told the next complete story and left them heading for the bridge, and so on.  I almost found myself feeling like I was reading different books, or short stories, but they all connected in the final chapters.  It was very cleverly thought out, and I enjoyed the journey.  

I'm please I finally picked this book off my shelf.  It didn't deserve to spend so long ignored, poor little thing.  But now I have found a place in my heart for this book and will hand it on to others to enjoy also.


Description:

As a storm rages in the night, unwary drivers venture into Tampa Bay's most renowned bridge.  No one sees the danger ahead.  No one notices the jagged gap hidden by the darkness and rain.  When the bridge collapses, vehicles careen into the churning waters below.

In that one catastrophic moment, three powerful stories converge: a family ravaged by their child's heartbreaking news, a marriage threatened by its own facade, and a college student burdened by self-doubt.  As each story unfolds, the characters move steadily closer to that fateful moment on the bridge.  Searching for grace they face the storms of their lives that loom as large as the one waiting above the bay.

When these characters come together in Carolyn Williford's gripping story, they collide with the transforming call of Christ: deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

This was available from: Book depository and Amazon


Happy reading