GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a copy of Kat Kronenberg’s Love Big, signed by Kat Kronenberg, and a school visit from the author valued at $550! Plus, everyone can be a winner by visiting Kat’s website and collecting all of the fun downloads.

This giveaway is part of The Children’s Book Review awareness book tour

One (1) winner receives

• A school visit from Kat Kronenberg*
• A copy of Love Big, signed by Kat Kronenberg
• Kat’s new Light-Up Heart of Stars plush toy
• All of the downloadable activities and extras from Kat Kronenberg’s website

Five (5) winners receive:

• A copy of Love Big, signed by Kat Kronenberg
• Kat’s new Light-Up Heart of Stars plush toy

Giveaway begins June 20, 2019, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends July 20, 2019, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

Giveaway open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 17 and older. Kat Kronenberg is responsible for prize fulfillment. *Date, time, and school for the visit is to be worked out between the winner and author Kat Kronenberg. The school must be within 2 hours driving distance of any major airport and on the mainline. Parent’s at the school must be offered a chance to buy Love Big so that their students have the opportunity to take home an autographed copy with their name in it – thrilling. Kat Kronenberg must be able to set up at least one more school visit in the area. Click here for the giveaway rules.

OFFICIAL LINKS
www.katkronenberg.com: http://www.katkronenberg.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatKronenberg/Twitter:https://twitter.com/KatKronenbergInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kat.kronenberg/
ABOUT THE BOOK
Love Big

Love Big

Written by Kat Kronenberg

Publisher’s Synopsis: The once-thriving, African savanna has turned dry and desolate. Baboon watches animals who are so hungry that they seek only their own interest. Rhinoceros destroys Termite’s castle in his race to find food. Hare chooses not to share food with her family, and Lion steals from his pride. But after Baboon sees Rhinoceros give Hare his snack-on-a-stick, everything changes! Baboon realizes that a transformative power exists between the animals and the stardust that surrounds them once they share smiles and truly believe in themselves and each other. Read on to see if Baboon can save the savanna with this new secret and a very stinky, unlike hero…

Ages 3-10 | Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press | January 8, 2019, | ISBN-13: 978-1626346000 PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon

Barnes and Noble

IndieBound

I recently had the opportunity to present Little Miss HISTORY  in animation. Thanks to Silas Merlin, who created the avatar, the character has come to life.

• Little Miss HISTORY insists, “If you don’t know your history, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” On the day of our birth, we become a character in history because each of us has an opportunity to create our story and place our mark on history.

• As we stand here in the twenty-first century, technology allows us to immerse ourselves in history. In 2003, Linden Lab launched a program called Second Life. Its users, who are called residents, use this technology to create virtual representations of themselves. These avatars can explore the virtual world, socialize and participate with other residents in a group or individual activities. Second Life has its own virtual currency that allows residents to create, shop, and trade virtual property with one another.

• In 2014, Linden Lab announced a plan to develop a new virtual world. Content creators began working on the program named Project Sansar. The platform was released in “creator beta” to the public in July 2017. Users create 3D spaces where people can create and share social experiences such as watching videos, playing games, and having conversations. Participants are represented by avatars they create. These avatars contain speech-driven facial animations and motion driven body animations.

• Sansar supports virtual reality headsets but can also be accessed with Windows computers. The program is free to use, but like Second Life Sansar has its own economy. Users can buy and sell their virtual creations with the Sansar dollar.

• HOW DID LITTLE MISS HISTORY GET INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL REALITY? A few months ago, I was approached by Bernhard Drax to appear on his Book Club Radio podcast. When I heard that Little Miss HISTORY would have an opportunity to appear in virtual reality, I jumped at the opportunity.

• Via “draxtor”..and media for all! Drax and his team now offer audio-visual storytelling for many media platforms. Bernhard Drax studied audio engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles and music at the Hochschule fur Musik and Theater Munchen. He is an expert in user-created content in Virtual Reality. His award-winning mixed reality documentary series “The Drax Files: World Makers” is just one of his many video series featured on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/user/draxtordespres

I invite you to join us in a discussion about books, education, and history, past, present, and future!

Check out Little Miss HISTORY’s journey into virtual reality!

If you would like to read the entire interview on the podcast, please go here:

https://wp.me/p485L9-1N9

Una Bo: The Magic Tree of Love

Written by Dr. Rebecca Verghese Paul

Illustrated by Ada Konewki

Podero is just a six-year-old boy when he meets Filgard, a wizard, who is passing through the town of Darae. Little Podero has been thinking about the way things were before the war. Podero wishes that he could have something sweet and that his parents would allow him to have a puppy. Filgard asks what he would do with the sweets and Podero says he would share them with his brothers. The wizard rewards Podero by causing a huge tree to grow in the center of town. This tree has the power to grant wishes, but only to those who are pure of heart and do not ask for more than they need.

Pretty soon the villagers gather round and try to rob the tree of its gifts, but they soon learn they will get nothing if they are greedy. Eventually, all learn to partake of the tree with good intentions and moderation. Podero and his best friend, Miyana develop a friendship and trusting relationship with the tree. They name it Una Bo, the tree of love. The tree helps the two friends to achieve their dreams of becoming a baker and a carpenter. Their life if happy until war threatens the town once more. Will the tree be able to save the villagers of Darae?

This chapter book tells a heartwarming story filled with lessons about bullying, generosity, greed, and coming of age. The characters are interesting and relatable. A few color illustrations enhance the tale. That adds to the appeal for beginning and reluctant readers. Highly recommended for middle-grade readers.

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Louis Joseph’s OOO-RAH

Written by Jennie E. Nicossio

Illustrated by Dorothy Ransil

Louis-Joseph is an adorable bear cub who has an insatiable curiosity and a desire to serve in the marines just like his dad. He has a best friend named Dusty who is a cat with a warble eye. Louis is kind and generous, he never bullies or makes fun of his friend. When Louis overhears one of his mother’s navy friends suggest that Louis practice for being a marine by digging a foxhole in the yard and living in it for a week., Louis and Dusty decide to take it one step farther and build a foxhole in the forest. Their parents are in a frenzy. All the military forces are called out to search for them. Dusty and Louis learn a valuable lesson to place their schooling first and always tell their parents where they are going to be.

This is a cute and easy to read beginning chapter book that is especially appropriate for ages six through eight, but younger children will also enjoy the story that contains a few beautiful illustrations accompanying the text.

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Written by Jenn Holt

Illustrated by Harry Aveira

Publisher’s Synopsis: Coach Jenn takes Alice and Izzy on the golf course to show them the value of positive self-talk,  a positive attitude, and to never give up, no matter how hard it gets. The story is told with some cute illustrations and is great for all sports kids.

Ages 0-7 | Publisher: Outskirts Press | October 29, 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1977201263

My Review:

The author is an LPGA golf instructor. She has written this book to help children understand the game of golf and to encourage them to have a positive attitude when playing sports.

Izzy and Alice are two friends who enjoy playing golf. On this beautiful day, they are with their coach, Jenn, at the golf course. Izzy is doing well, but Alice is having difficulty with her shots. Alice is embarrassed and disappointed with her game. Jenn encourages Alice to think positive thoughts. Izzy, on the other hand, takes her hits and misses in stride. I like the way Alice struggles to succeed and learns not to give up. Izzy is a good friend who tries to support her. Children learn about the game of golf and the value of persistence and practice. Many children give up too easily when they do not immediately succeed in a sport.

The illustrations remind me of bobblehead figures. There are lots of animals popping up all over the golf course. I would have liked to have seen a glossary with some golf vocabulary to help readers who have never played golf understand the game better.

Recommended particularly for readers ages six through ten.

I received a copy of this book and voluntarily agreed to read and review for the Children’s Book Review and author Jenn Holt with my honest opinions for this blog tour.

                                           GIVEAWAY

Enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Jenn Holt’s Two Little Golfers Being Positive and one dozen pink golf balls and pink tees!

One (1) winner receives:

• An autographed copy of Two  Little Golfers Being Positive

• A set of one dozen pink golf balls and pink tees

Two (2) winners will receive:

• An autographed copy of Two  Little Golfers Being Positive

Giveaway begins June 10, 2019, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends July 10, 2019, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

Giveaway open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 17 and older.

Hey Hilde

Written by Ross Hammond

Hilde is an adorable Capuchin monkey who leads a carefree life in the jungles of Bolivia until one day poachers come to capture her. Now Hilde is forced to do tricks while chained to a post by day and sleep in a cage every night. One day a volunteer from the rescue organization, CIWY arrives to rescue Hilde. After a long journey, she arrives at Machia Wildlife Sanctuary where she is free to roam with fellow wildlife creatures once more.

This real-life story teaches children empathy toward creatures who should live in the wild and affords them the opportunity to join the volunteer rescue organization. They raise money by creating awareness through products like this book. The illustrations and photographs are vivid and appealing in this richly illustrated picture book. Bonus activities include a coloring page and related activities. Highly recommended for all ages.

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THE PARROT: Short lessons and fables for children: Fable Collection Volume #2

Written and Illustrated by Christy Astremsky

This book contains a collection of five animal fables that teach children lessons about themselves and others. In the first story, the parrot mouths words he has been taught over and over, but the words have little worth. When the parrot escapes from his owners, he can do nothing more than repeat those inane words, he finds that others think little of him. The second story features a zebra who gets lost and finds himself among others unlike himself. He discovers that it is okay to be different. The sparrow and the pigeon teach children what true friendship entails, while the tiger and jackal story teaches to beware of letting one’s guard down. The last story features a butterfly who has a habit of taking from others without ever giving something in return.

The rhyming stories are short and have a few illustrations so the collection might appeal to a beginning reader. Parents and teachers could use the fables on issues that they would like to open with children or students for discussion or intervention. I would especially recommend the book for ages seven through ten though older children who enjoy animal stories will find them appealing.

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