Since I have a toddler, I thought the Toddler Tools book line would be perfect for my house.

Listening Time is a great book for teaching your kids about how to be good listeners.  Both my eighteen month old and four year old like to read it.  It is a board book, so it can’t be destroyed either.  I love that it also helps to work on body parts too.  The illustrations in this book are great, and really get across what we want our children to do.  There is also humor intertwined into the story.  It is short enough that it definitely keeps even the shortest attention spans entertained.

Bye Bye Time is another board book that is good for those really hard times when we have to say bye to our kids.  It teaches our children how to comfort themselves when they are sad that we are leaving.  There is also advice at the end of the book parents and caregivers to make this transition easier like prepping your child and to be ready for tears.  The illustrations in this book are great too.  Madison can tell me the story without being able to read it (which is a huge plus).

Naptime is another great book in this series. Like the other books, this is board book. It also has the tips in the back of the book to help parents and caregivers with naptime.  I personally learned that Will should be getting one nap daily lasting 1 – 2 hours, and he should be getting 10 – 12 hours of sleep a night.  This book is all about a naptime routine and getting your little one down for some much needed rest.  Now, if this would only work on a 4 year old.    She likes the book; it just has not motivated her to take a nap (she quit naps at 18 months).

The last book in this series is Clean Up Time. That is something we all need at our houses.  This book rhymes, so it makes it all the more fun to clean up.  This too is a board book and also has the tips at the end to help parents and caregivers.  I personally agree with the “break it down” tip.  Will doesn’t often get overwhelmed at cleaning up; he just thinks it is a game.  However, Madison gets extremely overwhelmed if someone does not help her.  By breaking down what you are going to do (pick up the blocks first), it takes away from how huge of project it is going to be.

This Toddler Tools series is a great bunch of books.  They are books that are hard to destroy and have great lessons in them.  I highly recommend them in anyone who has a toddler in their house.

The Runaway Dolls is the third book in the The Doll People series.  Passed down from generation to generation, the Doll family has lived in the same dollhouse for 100 years. While the world outside has changed, their own lives have not except for a few things.  These “things” are what the stories are about. This book is about Annabelle Doll, and she thinks she found her long lost sister.  Instead of taking the risk of getting sent in package back to England, they run away.  This story is about their pitfalls while they are on the run.  I love that the illustrations look like somebody grabbed a pencil and drew on the pages. For me, it just sucks you into the story even more.  This book is for 9 – 12 year olds and is definitely a hit in my book.

Im Not Santa! is a cute book about a case of mistaken identity.  It takes a visit from the Jolly Old Man himself to sort this out.  This book is perfect for any little kids that have short attention spans.  It is simple and to the point.  The illustrations are great too.   I would actually say that this is more of a picture book than a story book.  This is under a series of books by the author.  Some other great choices would be Im Not Cute! and Im Not Scared!

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.

I remember K’NEX from when I was a child. I am so glad to see that my kids will actually be able to enjoy their toys too! They have expanded the ages that their toys are for, so I am excited to be able to show you (and review) some of their new product lines.

The Abby Cadabby Building Set is designed for kids two to five years old. It is a 30 piece building set. It also comes with a play and learn activity sheet.  This set has everything a little girl needs for for Abby. There is a tulle skirt and pink fairy wings. There is also a flowery wand and a pigtails.  I love the size of the pieces in here; I don’t have to worry about Madison’s little brother getting into this and trying to eat it.  Madison could easily put the set together.  This is very reasonably priced too — only $14.99.  This building set also teaches hand eye coordination, role playing, and cognitive skills.

This Elmo Building Set is super cute too. It’s for ages two to five. This is a 14-15 piece set that also comes with a sticker and activity sheet.  Though I have to admit,  my favorite piece of this kit is the fishtank.  I can’t get over how cute it is!  This is available in four fun sets:  Elmo with Dorothy, Ernie with his rubber duckie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar with Slimey the Worm.   What I love the best about this is that the packaging looks like Elmo too, and the pieces all fit back into it.  You don’t have to worry about losing pieces.  Pricewise, this building set is $10.99.

You now can also build a fleet of trucks or even an amusement park too! The Road Rig series has four separate models that you can get:  Semi Truck, Pick-Up Truck, Dump Truck, and Tow Trick.  You even get a guy to drive the truck too!  Now, you can combines sets to create new and bigger trucks.  If you combine all four, you can make a ten wheeled hauler!  The semi truck building set has a motor, so it does require 2 AA batteries.  This is for kids five and up.  I love that it comes with instructions and shows you how to build all these cool things.  This set will run your about $19.99.

This DoubleDare Dueling Coaster, I swear, was making my husband salivate. It is for 9 year olds and up, and I will even admit it is really cool. The set is over 950 pieces and even has a motorized chain lift! Two chrome cars and 32 feet of track are included too.  You basically build two seperate tracks with this kit and then you can race them.  This does take a bit of time to get set up.  However, when you do, it is worth every minutes.  This should be about $39.99 which is an excellent price for this.

K’NEX is one of those brands that we know and that we love.  I am so glad to see that they are still around for my children to enjoy them.  They truly have something for every age group now, and it really doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl.  You just need to have an imagination and be willing to have fun.