Sugar Plum Fairies is a book the will resonate with little kids of all ages. It is about a little girl named Alexandrea Petrakova Johnson. She does not want to be a beautiful ballerina, and she does not want to leave her friends in Apple Creek. However, her mother feels differently and moves them to Harlem and enrolls her at the Nutcracker School of Ballet. Once at the school, she gets picked as the the Sugar Plum Fairy in the school recital! She’s a terrible dancer and has stage frights, so you will have to read the book to see how it ends!  Having moved 8 times before I was in second grade, I call tell you that this story is believable.  The illustrations are great too.  They truly add to the story.  This is the first book out of a series, and the author, Whoopi Goldberg, did a great job, because I want to read more!  This book is great for anyone who has moved around a lot (or is going to) and really any kids that are just trying to fit in.

Do you kids write and draw lots of stories? Would you love to make them into keepsake? If so, Tikatok.com is a website you will want to try out. With Tikatok, you are able to take your kids stories and drawings and make them into either hard cover or soft cover books! They even have title pages and dedication pages! You can keep them yourself or give them away as gifts! Registration on the site is free, and you don’t get charged until you order your book. You can even buy gift certificates for the author or artist in your life.

It is pretty easy to set up your book too.  Kids can definitely do it themselves.  As for the illustrations, you can either scan them and upload them yourself, or mail them in for them to to do.  If they don’t know what to make their book about, there are suggestions they can use.  You just put in what you like, and it will give you several different ways you can talk about that topic.  Your kids truly do have control of every aspect of their book.

If you’d like a unique original gift for someone, this is definitely it! Kids like nothing more than to express their creative side, and this allows them to do so and show everyone.

How many times have people told you to chill out (and if they didn’t use those exact words, that’s what they meant)?  I know I get told that more than I’d like to admit.  I allow things to get under my skin and ferment for days and sometimes weeks.  In times like these, I even think I need to chill out.  However, my problem always has been that I didn’t know how until The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide came along into my life.  This is a great book for several reasons.  First, there are 77 strategies in here.  If one doesn’t work for you, try the next.  There is truly something that can you in here.  I also love that it is an easy read.  I don’t need detailed directions stressing me when I am trying to chill out, and the author actually made it a really fun read.  There are statements in the book like “Here are some simple ways to keep your cool that you can do in a crowd without looking like a weirdo”.  Anytime you use weirdo, you score some bonus points.  I love that the book reinforces trusting your body, yet allows you to make changes in what you do for certain situations that raise your blood pressure.  Some of the situations I have been using the techniques for are road rage (I live in Chicago.  How can you not have road rage here.)  There is also some suggestions for motion sickness that I plan on trying out on our way to Green Bay tomorrow.

This is a book I highly recommend to anyone you know that needs to “chill” out.  This book is even great for those who seem to have it all under control.  It is funny, informative, and an easy read.  There is a lot of great advice for different situations that you may encounter.  This book helps you to simply feel better.

Over the past week or so, I have been reading an awesome book called The Secret of Wellington’s Map.  Granted, this isn’t my normal reading genre (usually if I can get a few minutes away I pick up Stephen King or Dean R Koontz book), but you know what?  I enjoyed this book just as much as I do books by those authors (though I think this book would be considered in either the sci-fi or mystery genre).  I would say that The Secret of Wellington’s Map is probably geared towards the ten and up crowd.  However, as an adult, I truly enjoyed the book too.  I found the author’s style a joy to read, and she really caught the essence of teenage girls in this book.  I also enjoyed finding a book that girls are the heroines.  The other thing I liked is that even though the main characters are teenage girls, they weren’t boy crazy.  Granted, there were a few boy mentions, but their lives didn’t revolve around boys.  The author had the girls talking, acting, and dressing like teenage girls, so I found them very believable.  There is also a bit of real life history intertwined into the story.

The story centers around two girls, Jaime and Nicole, that had expected a carefree summer.  However, after they come across a magic map, they go on an adventure of a lifetime.  I hate to go into more of a synopsis of the book, because I don’t want to spoil any part of it for you.  I will tell you that the map is somewhat of a time space portal, and they do go through it and end up in 1885.  However, if you want to find out why and if they make it back, you have to go read the book!