I love this book for SO many reasons!! The simple acts of kindness demonstrated by Ed and those around him speaks volumes to his character, and teaches children that you can never be too busy to help another living being. 

With Easter occurring this weekend, it really makes you wonder… how many of us would stop and rescue two stray dogs, or help another human being for that matter, on a day when we typically have nonstop plans with friends and family?
This TRUE story represents selflessness, humanity coming together for a cause, and really represents the change that we all hope to see in the world. A portion of the proceeds from this book also goes towards the Lost Cat & Dog Foundation, which is a wonderful cause. 

About the Author
Originally from New York, Ed Ehlers has made his home in Northern Virginia since 2000. He lives there with Lisa and their three children. He enjoys the woods and rivers with Max & Tucker, Australian Shepherd brothers. In addition to writing, Ed enjoys making jewelry from local rock and river glass. You can find his work at CliftonStone on Etsy. Lily & Lucy is his first children’s book. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation.

About the Illustrator
Emely Pascual is a Communication Arts student at VCU that keeps busy by drawing and
painting. Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Emely loves to spend time with her family
and friends while exploring her creative abilities. From an early age, Emely has enjoyed
creating narratives with illustrations inspired by the world around her. In addition, Emely
designs jewelry which can be found at Aquiboni on Etsy.

This interactive children's poetry book is AWESOME! There are all kinds of wonderful things going on with this book. The book teaches the child about nouns and verbs, while also allowing them to fill in the blanks and create their own stories! I loved how the story becomes the child's unique book, and they can color it too! 
Other things I really enjoyed about this book was that it encouraged sharing, acceptance of others, positive thinking, and was layered with messages to encourage the child uplift the world around them. 

Two HUGE thumbs up to yet another wonderful Portland writer! 

About the Author: 
Andrea Hope holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and has received international praise as a performance poet. She has been featured by Bahá’í Blog, The American Bahá’í (USA), and the Catholic Association for Racial Justice’s Young People’s Congress for World Citizenship (UK). As a counselor and teaching assistant, Andrea has worked with child and youth organizations including Positive Nature Inc. (USA), Metropolitan Family Services (USA), and Full Circle Learning (Lesotho). She loves the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Suess, dancing, and riding her bicycle in dresses.

About the Illustrator: 
R. Nelli Newport holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and has contributed to local and international projects. One such project, a therapeutic garden for handicapped children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was featured in the April 2010 edition of Landscape Architecture Magazine (USA). She loves The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, Garfield by Jim Davis, learning new stories and laughing hysterically.

This book is fantastic!! The story of Herb the Wild Turkey takes you on a wild Turkey chase through his fun adventures. In this tale Herb experiences the beach for the first time and meets some unexpected friends! Even though he thinks that the small hermit crab he finds on the beach is weird he soon finds out that no matter the size, shape or color, all living things make a difference. This book is fun to read, well illustrated, and serves as a friendly reminder to be kind to all. Two shells up for Kristy!

About the Author: Kristy Cameron was born in Portland, Oregon, and has been a Northwest girl her whole life. Her first book 'Mitchell's Gift' is a guide to help parents cope with a premature baby in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit. The book has been purchased by hospitals across the United States to help parents learn about the upcoming journey with their preemie. It has also been a useful tool in nursing schools to help students understand what a parent is experiencing while in the NICU.

Kristy's other books are fun children's books that are brimming with personality and vivid images that fire the imagination of children who are on the cusp of discovering the joy of reading. The stories help reveal life lessons to a young mind and help give shape to concepts like the harmful aspects of bullying, right and wrong, the value of patience, and learning from past experience. And they do so through empathy, humor and a sense of wonder.

This book rocks!!! I would recommend this to any young reader that is into adventure stories and history! This book takes you on a fun filled journey through time to uncover secrets of the Taj Mahal and a secret rescue mission!

I loved it! It is about 200 pages and I could barely put it down. Well done Brynn!

About The Author: Brynn Olenberg Sugarman graduated from SUNY Binghamton with a BA in Creative Writing and from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with an MA in English Literature. She is the author of Rebecca’s Journey Home, an award-winning picture book. 
 
Midnight at the Taj Mahal is her first novel and reflects her lifelong love of travel and fascination with time travel. It is the first book in the planned Out-of-School Adventures series. Brynn loves writing children’s books because she remembers how much she loved being swept away in a world of imagination when she herself was a kid.
 Brynn lives with her husband and three children in Ra’anana, Israel, close to the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.

Emily and the Spider by John Dony was a delight to read and is definitely a book to check out! I loved the story line and lessons of the book which encourages comradery, teamwork, openness to those that are different, and love. Both books, Emily and the Spider and Leah's Lions, tell a story about overcoming obstacles and getting through tough times with unlikely friends. I really liked both of these books and would highly recommend John Dony's work!

About the Author: John lives in North Devon, England, near the coast with his Wife Jill and 5 daughters, he writes his stories to allow children to escape to a world of adventure, peril and friendship. “I think it’s important to keep reading, I try to make my stories as enjoyable to read as possible. Finishing a book gives you a sense of achievement”. Johns stories have been featured in newspapers and used in Schools and Libraries as curriculum projects. John has been writing for over 20 years and finds his inspiration from everything. He describes himself as a dreamer, with a nagging collection of stories waiting and pestering him to be finished!

WOW!!! This book is fantastic, action packed, and really cool! I would highly recommend this to any middle grade reader that likes adventure books. This reminded me of a combination of the Da Vinci Code mixed with National Treasure. The story has great quotes at the beginnings of each chapter and new exciting twists and turns from start to finish! Well written, and an all around great story. 

This series of books is great for several reasons!! First, I love how there are history lessons embedded in each book. The little wanderers are such a cute little group of kids and it is very clever that the writer made the grandfather in this series have a special train that can take the kids back in time. That made it a fun read while at the same time teaching lessons about history. In many of the books I even learned things that I was unaware of which was pretty cool. The other great thing about these books is the reminder at the end to ask the elder people in our lives about their history, and learn something new about their lives and what happened before us. 
I would recommend any of the books in this series to young adult readers! What a great author!!


About the Author: Lehman Riley was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During his childhood he was always fascinated with his grandfather, Papa Lemon. Unfortunately, Papa Lemon passed away in 1973, but continued to remain in Lehman's thoughts everyday. As an adult he was inspired to write a book series featuring Papa Lemon s the main character. He formed a publishing company, Matter of Africa America Time Corp. with his cousin and business partner Paul Dixon in July of 2004. There are currently 6 books in the Papa Lemon series.


He has spoken to 15,000+ students, and exhibited Papa Lemon Books in 23 US cities and 100+ events. He currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife Tracy, and four children DuVale, Nareece, Andrea, and Tianna. 

What an AMAZING book!! The King's Dream is a beautifully magical fairy tale that I would recommend to anyone parent or child. I give it 5 stars for both illustrations and story. The moral lesson that this book teaches is wonderful, and reminds us all that dreams can't be bought, only lived. I loved reading this, and am blown away by the fantastic illustrations. What a great book!!


About this author:
Harris Tobias lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is the author of several novels and dozens of short stories. His fiction has appeared in Ray Gun Revival, Dunesteef Audio Magazine, The Way of the Buffalo Podcast, Quantum Muse and many other on-line publications. His poetry has appeared in Vox Poetica, The poem Factory and The Poetry Super Highway. You can find links to his novels at: http://harristobias-fiction.blogspot....



About the illustrator:
Cathy-Reene (AKA Catherine Bassova) – a freelance traditional and digital illustrator living in Seattle, USA. My focus is: children’s book illustrations, character design, advertising, and decorative/surface design. To see her work, or contact her for freelance opportunities visit her website: http://cathy-reene.com/

I give both of these books two HUGE thumbs up!! I LOVE the message that these books bring which is the power of love, laughter, and positive thinking. Not only are the books well written and illustrated, but they also come with bookmarks and necklaces!! I am really excited to read the third book by Louise, and highly encourage any parent to buy these books for their children! 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Tony Evangelista. The story itself was great, and tells the tale of a Dad that suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and his son Joey that wishes for them both to become cartoons for a day to escape the pain and suffering of the real world. I really like that this book talks about a real disease that people suffer from every day, and brings it into a fun story that allows the reader to go into cartoon land and escape with them. This book has short chapters and fun cartoons throughout. I would recommend this book to a boy or girl that likes adventure stories with a touch of education. 

About the Author
"I grew up as a shy, somewhat geeky boy from da' Bronx, NY. I was an average student with average grades attending high school and college. In 1984 I got married and had 2 great boys (Dominic and Joey). I was always a fast-paced, A+ type personality and could not sit still. Fast-forward to 1997. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS); this was devastating to me and my family. I'm a very hands-on person that needs to keep busy and active. I started walking with an unbalanced gait. then progressed to walking with a cane and eventually succumbing to being wheelchair bound. I endure daily challenges to overcome. Back in 2000, I started writing this little story, Cartoon Boy©. The story is sensitive to and somewhat synonymous in its poignancy and passion. I wanted to give relevance, strength and attention to those families with a disabled parent. Reality mixed with fantasy equals coping. I'm the type of person who doesn't like the words "I can't". True, I can't walk, but I can and will do as much as "I can". Persistence pays."