A Fish Named Glub by Dan Bar-el, A Review

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I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Here is my honest review.

This is a really sweet book for children that talks about some pretty big concepts. The sweet illustrations and charming text made this a delightful read.
This is a great book for a classroom read aloud. There are several characters giving lots of opportunities for specific voices which children really love. 
There are also several conversations that can take place over themes such as loneliness, friendship, acceptance, dreams/goals. Glub considers several times throughout the text; as a preschool educator, I firmly believe that we must model thinking to our young children today. We all think, but as teachers, we can help our students learn to think at a much higher level. 

This book is going on my wish list. I read this with my 7 year old and he said "it was good".

I gave this book: ★★★★

★ = I did not like it     ★★ = It was okay     ★★★ = I liked it    

★★★★ = I really liked it     ★★★★★ = I loved it

Shapes in Math, Science and Nature: Squares, Triangles and Circles by Catherine Sheldrick Ross, A Review

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I received an eARC copy of this book via NetGalley to review. Here are my honest thoughts.

As a preschool director, teaching shapes is one of the core components of our curriculum. This text is too advanced for a young child. It is however, a wonderful book! Despite the book not being for young children, I do think a preschool teacher would find this a valuable resource tool as they teach about shapes. My favorite thing about the book are the experiments that it includes. I can see many of them working very well in a preschool setting (square bubbles would fascinate young children.

My first grader would love this book and I am putting it on our book wish list. As the other reviewer stated, this book is great for elementary students as they learn more about shapes and how they work. As a teacher and parent, I appreciate that the 3 volumes have been combined into one.

I also recommend this book to parents and grandparents of children who like math.

I gave this book: ★★★★★

★ = I did not like it     ★★ = It was okay     ★★★ = I liked it    

★★★★ = I really liked it     ★★★★★ = I loved it

Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore, A Review

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I was provided an eARC copy by the publisher. Here is my honest review.

When I first started reading this book, it struck me as being very "Downton Abbey"; so much so that it lacked the magic of the series.  I wasn't even sure that I would finish it.  Then came Chapter 3 and I was compelled to keep reading.  Bits of the story seemed very rushed which lead me to wonder if this is a self-contained story or if it is intended to be part of a serial.

I gave this book: ★★

★ = I did not like it     ★★ = It was okay     ★★★ = I liked it     ★★★★ = I really liked it     ★★★★★ = I loved it