» Children/Parent Resource

FaithGirlz! Bible {#Book Review}

The Book Faery — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:24:30 +0000

Every girl wants to know she’s totally unique and special, and contributor Nancy Rue helps them do just that in the revised edition of the NIV Faithgirlz! Bible. As a leading tween expert, Rue teaches girls that the Bible is real and relevant and, best of all, that the story of God and His people is also their story. Girls can now grow closer to God as they discover the journey of a lifetime, in their language, for their world.

The new Faithgirlz! Bible was developed especially for girls ages 9 to 12. Everything in it is written with a tween girl’s experience in mind, and it features the most popular Bible translation in the world, the New International Version. The features explain hard-to-understand things in the Bible and guide girls to put the Scripture to work in their own lives. The Faithgirlz! Bible focuses on sharing faith with friends and gives real ways for girls to do that.

Each book of the Bible has activities that make God’s Word more relevant than ever. And, of course, because it was developed for Faithgirlz! readers, they can expect to find it jam-packed with customized content and artwork that really makes the Bible stand out. Girls will love the cool design, the interactive features and the feeling of knowing that God’s Word is there for them whenever they need it. Some of the features included are:

· Book Introductions—Girls will read the who, when, where and what of each book of the Bible.

· Dream Girl—Girls will use their imaginations to put themselves in the story.

· Is There a Little (Eve, Ruth, Isaiah) in You?—Girls will see for themselves what they have in common with women of the Bible.

· Words to Live By—Girls will discover great Bible verses for memorizing.

· Oh, I Get It!—Girls will find answers to Bible questions they’ve wondered about.
Nancy Rue says, “I hope the Faithgirlz! Bible will help girls grow a friendship with the Bible, their own relationship. It asks questions, asks them to think and challenges them to apply what they’re learning. That’s how they’ll find a deep, personal relationship with God, rather than just by following rules or saying what they’ve been told without really thinking about it. Rules are important, of course, but they only make sense when they really believe the message of the Scriptures. That’s what this Bible is about.” The Faithgirlz! Bible is the perfect Bible to support girls in their journey into the “beauty of believing.”

The main edition of the Faithgirlz! Bible is hardcover, but it is also available in two Italian Duo-Tone designs. For better portability, there is also an NIV Faithgirlz! Backpack Bible. This compact edition does not include the in-text features that the full-size edition has, but it does have twelve full-color pages of Faithgirlz! fun, the words of Christ in red and a ribbon marker. An ebook version is also planned for electronic use.

List Price: $27.99
Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Hardcover: 1504 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz; Rev Spl edition (March 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310722365
ISBN-13: 978-0310722366

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR…Nancy Rue has worked as a public school teacher, church youth director, theater workshop developer and camp director. She has written more than eighty books for young people, including the beloved Faithgirlz! Sophie series, The Skin You’re In and Everybody Tells Me to Be Myself but I Don’t Know Who I Am. Nancy lives with her husband and two dogs in Lebanon, TN.

ABOUT FAITHGIRLZ…Faithgirlz! is a collection of books, Bibles and resources designed to provide transformational Christian experiences for tween girls. Faithgirlz! encourages honest tween-girl empowerment by providing engaging, relevant, high-quality offerings, helping tween girls understand their world, learn biblical teachings, become closer to God and grow into godly teenagers. Faithgirlz! offers excellent content and contributions from leading Christian tween writers and spokespeople including Nancy Rue, Melody Carlson, Kristi Holl, Naomi Kinsman and more. Faithgirlz! is also supported with a website (www.Faithgirlz.com), Facebook page and mother and daughter live events across the country.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…My 12 year old daughter really enjoyed this version of a Bible. It was properly geared for her age group and it’s one she has been preferring over her collection of Bible’s. She loves discovering something new from the Bible and even about herself as she’s been using it. Glad to have made reading the Bible easier and more enjoyable for her.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

AND NOW…A SAMPLE. PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO VIEW THEM LARGER:

***Special thanks to Rick Roberson of The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

Six Ways to Keep The “Good” in Your Boy {#Book Spotlight}

The Book Faery — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:50:59 +0000

Bestselling author Dannah Gresh empowers moms of with six proactive ways to raise sons age 8-12 to be honest, confident, and respectful. This encouraging, practical resource shows how the formative years can shape a godly, healthy teen and adult. Includes engaging activity ideas, and Scriptures to pray over sons.

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736945792
ISBN-13: 978-0736945790

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Dannah Gresh is a bestselling author, a speaker, and the creator of the Secret Keeper Girl live events. Her books include Six Ways to Keep the “Little” in Your Girl, 8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters, And the Bride Wore White, and Lies Young Women Believe (coauthored with Nancy Leigh DeMoss). She and her husband have a son and two daughters and live in Pennsylvania.

Visit the author’s website.

Is There a Mouse in
That Cookie Box?

A box of cookies and a dead mouse.

The combination conjures up one of the proudest memories of mothering my wonderful son, Robby. (If you meet him, you can call him Rob. But I can’t. He’s still my Robby even if he’s the size of a linebacker.) He was a freshman at Grace Prep high school and was just returning from a school-assigned Random Act of Kindness when these two mismatched objects—mouse and cookies—mingled together to create an equally odd mixture of emotions.

Just hours earlier, armed with nothing more than a few boxes of cookies and several rakes, he and a few friends had set out to do some good. They’d come back a little flustered, but laughing their experience off like four cool 15-year-old boys should.

”We just got yelled at,” said Robby, wearing the words like a badge of courage.

“By whom?” I asked.

“Some crazy woman who thought there must be a mouse in the cookies we were trying to give her,” he answered defensively.

“What!” I was just a little aggravated, having been the one who had issued the assignment. How could anyone react with anger and suspicion (particularly in our small, friendly town) to a box of cookies and an offer to do yard work? Surely they must have misunderstood. “Tell me what happened. Play-by-play,” I said.

“Well, we knocked on the lady’s door to give her the cookies and ask permission to rake her leaves,” Robby answered. “When we tried to hand her the cookies she looked afraid and angrily said, ‘Is there a dead mouse in that box?’ ”

The other boys snickered. I could see that they thought it was funny, but that it also bothered them.

I was having a hard time believing it.

“We promised there wasn’t a mouse in there, but she just couldn’t believe we were there to do anything good. So one of the guys said, ‘Look, we just want to show you God’s love in a practical way.’ ”

This made me smile. It was what they’d been taught. “Transfer the credit of this good act to God,” I’d said in class.

“What’d she say when you said that?” I asked.

“She grabbed the cookies, said, ‘Rake if you want to,’ and slammed the door in our faces!” said Robby. “So, we raked.”

I could tell that the guys were still a bit shaken, and I was a bit angry that they hadn’t been met with the reward of a simple “thank you.”

A few weeks later, God brought the whole thing full circle with a letter that came in the mail. One of the members of Robby’s group got to read it out loud in chapel. I wish I still had it. It went something like this:

Dear Grace Prep:

Recently some boys from your school came here to deliver cookies to my daughter and me. They also raked our leaves. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t trust them. I am sorry. (For the record, they were really yummy cookies.)

I think God sent those boys here.

You see, my husband—my daughter’s father—died recently and it has been tough. Just that morning my daughter and I kind of put a test out there for God. We prayed, saying, “If you’re really there and you really see us, show up!”

When he did, we didn’t recognize him right away. But I have no doubt that God sent those high-school boys to remind us that he sees us.

Thank you.

You could have heard a pin drop in that room of high-school kids when the letter was read. We were all simply struck with the power of goodness.

But here’s why this wonderful memory not only floods my heart with pride, but also makes me sad: We’ve lost our faith in the goodness of boys and men. And not wholly without reason.

Where Have All the Good Men Gone?

A title of a recent Wall Street Journal article inquired, “Where Have the Good Men Gone?” A current Amazon bestseller seeks to answer the question, Is There Anything Good About Men? Since the 2004 coining of the word “adultescent,”¹ we’ve had something to call the young adult male who is so busy playing Call of Duty on his PlayStation 4 that he has no real-life call of duty. No honor. No integrity. No goodness. Just a seventh-grade mind-set and responsibility level trapped in the flabby body of an adult who often still lives at home or in a tacky bachelor pad with other adultescents. The phenomenon is what caused Kay S. Hymowitz to pen the book Manning Up, in which she writes,

Not so long ago, average mid-twentysomethings, both male and female, had achieved most of the milestones of adulthood: high school diploma, financial independence, marriage, and children. These days [the males] hang out in a novel sort of limbo, a hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance.²

High-school English teacher Joe Carmichiel has written a book entitled Permanent Adolescence: Why Boys Don’t Grow Up, because “a large number of today’s teenagers, especially boys, see no reason to accept or pursue adulthood since it is of so little value to the larger culture.”³ So, with no motivation todo anything, many of these young men remain in a state of wimpy complacency well into their twenties, even thirties.

Along with this state of immaturity that many boys will embrace as they grow older is a culturally acceptable pressure for boys to be bad—both complacent and void of character. By the time a boy is finished with high school, he is likely to have three crucial areas of character ripped right out of him:

Over 50 percent of young men will have become sexually active in a casual-sex culture where they’re likely to have an average of 9.7 sexual partners before they graduate from college.⁴ (There goes his purity.)
Most of them will be exposed to porn as a tween or early teen, with the median age of first exposure being about 11. This catapults many of them into a world of double-mindedness where they are one boy at home and in public—and another entirely in their private world. (There goes his integrity.)
Many will have succumbed to an emasculated version of manhood that strips them of their drive to be leaders and protectors who do good. (There goes his honor.)

Our boys need to be taught to grow up.

And to be good.

While Six Ways to Keep the “Little” in Your Girl cried
out for us to band together against the culture’s pressure for our little girls to grow up too fast, this book pleads with you to join us in raising sons who are prepared to embrace the responsibility of growing up.

It’s been our goal to create a character base for our son to be a man of integrity, honor, and purity. Bob and I want him to be good. Fortunately, our life work led me into the depths of research, and I learned that we had to start building a foundation for our son to rise to the call of manhood…when he was still just our “good boy”! Raising a son to reflect your value system when he is a man is—in part—a matter of introducing those values to him in an age-appropriate manner when he is a tween. Social science offers us statistical lines of footprints showing how a boy will turn out based on what he is exposed to and when. Sadly, our boys have got a tough battle ahead. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen anything but “adultescent” or “bad” examples of manhood dominating our culture.

Why Are Boys “Bad”?

Robert Coles, a pioneer in the field of moral intelligence, brings clarity to the definition badness when he writes,

Bad boys display a “heightened destructive self-absorption, in all its melancholy stages.” In essence, we go bad when “we lose sight of our obligation to others.”⁵

Badness is not simply the loss of innocence, purity, integrity, and honor, but also the loss of vision to see the needs of others and to act on them. It’s a complacent, self-absorbed lifestyle that is void of character.

I think we have a bad-boy mentality in our culture for two primary reasons.

The first reason boys become bad is that the feminist movement has told us they are bad. Michael Gurian, author of The Wonder of Boys, though seeming to embrace the feminist movement as a whole, points out a few devastating myths it introduced to convince our boys that they are “bad.” Here are two that resonate with me:

Myth Number One: “that masculinity is responsible for the world’s ills and femininity is the world’s salvation.”⁶

Myth Number Two: “males destroy, females create; males stand in the way of positive spiritual/social values; males are inherently violent.”⁷

While a deeper study of the feminist movement would betray an agenda to introduce these fallacies, we don’t have to get that academic to see how much we are influenced to believe these myths in our politically correct culture.

Just consider how prevalently they are portrayed in the media. Television alone reinforces them. Two and a Half Men, “the biggest hit comedy of the past decade” according to the New York Times, features a hedonist formerly played by Charlie Sheen. After eight seasons, the show was stalled when Sheen went into rehab for drug use. He was then fired for making disparaging remarks about the show’s producers. On and off screen he was self-absorbed and void of character. Other shows display the contrast of the valuable female to the valueless male. Reruns of The Simpsons portray Lisa as bright and beautiful and Bart as out of shape and selfish. Co-ed television commercials often portray the guy as a doofus and the girl as smart. It’s funny. It really is. But how much of it can we expose ourselves to before we believe it? And that takes me to my next concern.

The second reason boys are “bad” is that they have become what has been expected of them, just like any individual tends to fulfill what has been prophesied about them. Of course, they’ve had help from their parents (or lack thereof), their culture (and its emasculation), their economy (and its consumeristic “me” mentality), and their churches (who haven’t done much to stand against the feminist untruths). But today’s men as a whole have pretty much rolled over and taken it.

It’s probably a good idea for me, Bob, to step in here. I’m a guy. If anyone’s going to throw us under the bus, it should be me. It has always befuddled me that the prettiest, nicest girls are always attracted to the bad boys. From the jock who bullies everyone at school to the kid in a leather jacket who doles out drugs after school, nice girls often go after the bad boys. In the Twilight series, bad boy Edward Cullen makes good girl Bella Swan swoon. In real life, the stars live out the scenario. Kevin Federline was the top bad boy of the tabloids when he nabbed the most famous girl on the planet at the height of her career, Britney Spears. Katy Perry, former Christian music artist gone sexual tease, pledged herself to bad boy Russell Brand.

I think that the constant drip of these scenarios into our spirits makes us want to be bad boys. Let’s be real: A guy desires a beautiful girl, and while the ones in the headlines might not be all that chaste, they’re often portrayed as the good girl taken by the bad boy. And guess what? Guys want nice girls. So, we begin to believe that maybe we’re supposed to be bad.

And if we’re not, we’re boring.

Come on. The media glorifies the bad boys—from Grease’s Danny Zuko to Pirates of the Caribbean’s Captain Jack Sparrow—not the plain-vanilla good guys. I didn’t watch this show, but Dannah says Gilmore Girls played to this big time when Rory fell for beautiful boy Dean until bad boy Jess came to town. The bad boy is so often the one the girl wants and celebrates.

Conversely, there aren’t a lot of movies being made about Billy Graham, the kid who called 9-1-1 and delivered his mom’s baby, or the apostle Paul. These are true heroes…but they’re good. And good is boring, according to movie producers. Since no one rises up to celebrate the good, most guys—though innately built to be conquerors—roll over and become boring.

In some twisted place in our minds, we’d much rather be bad than boring because that’s how you get the girl. But many of us are afraid of being the real bad boy. So we just get complacent. We roll over and stay in some limbo—a state of in-between. Not really bad. Not really good. Or so we think.

In reality, this complacency is the absolute root of badness.

The Tree

Complacency was at the root of the first bad move among men. (Yes—the bad move of all time.) Adam had the most complacent moment of all when he stood at the foot of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was Eve who wore the pants in the first family during this catastrophic moment. She took the lead and reached for the fruit of the Tree. Adam just got all quiet, passive and…well, boring. The Scriptures don’t note that he was deceived, tempted, or lied to like Eve. Just that he went along with it.

Some theologians believe that there was something in the way that Eve was crafted which made her more vulnerable to deception. (Just consider how often we women are prone to think things like “I’m fat!” Haven’t seen too many guys obsessing over that thought. Or maybe you’ve been prone to believe the lie “No one really likes me.” Men don’t struggle with that as often or as easily. Women are just prone to believing lies.) However, many believe that Satan approached Eve because he was attempting to throw over the created order by getting her to take leadership over her husband. And Adam seemed to passively accept this evil situation to gratify his flesh. Sounds a bit too much like many men of today.

Complacency led to the first sin. (Perhaps, had Adam chosen to speak truth to Eve, he could have led her away from that horrible original sin.) His failure to lead changed the course of history. We believe that the same kind of complacency that showed itself at the foot of the Tree still leads men to badness.

Goodness vs. Badness

While a bad boy’s greatest desire is to live according to his desires, a good boy, according to Robert Coles, has an outward focus:

Good…boys…have learned to take seriously the very notion, the desirability of goodness—living up to the Golden Rule.⁸

The Greek word for goodness (used in our take-to-heart verse, Romans 12:21) appears in the New Testament in three forms, all of which are rooted in the Hebrew word tod, which means “usefulness” or “beneficialness.” Are we bringing up boys who understand their call of duty to be useful contributors to society, to be beneficial to others?

Goodness is the quality that makes us put others ahead of ourselves. It’s the moral compass that keeps the world safe, happy, and working. It’s the drive that makes us want to function in families rather than isolation. It’s the internal road sign that takes us away from our own desires and toward the destiny of meeting the needs of others. Without it, we are “bad.” That’s probably why all of us—male and female—are called to goodness.

Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

God is good

The ultimate reason we must raise our boys to be good is that it reflects the character of God. His goodness is a bedrock truth of Scripture and is inseparable from his nature. If we are to be a picture of him, we must possess goodness. He is good not only in a general sense, but he is good to us and forus. This element of his character expresses his selflessness and desire to exist on behalf of others. When people are good, they act toward and for others, as opposed to losing sight of others as their own needs and desires consume them.

***Special thanks to Karri James, Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

Mailbox Monday…01.30.12

The Book Faery — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:47:22 +0000

Mailbox Monday is where other bloggers write about the books they received the previous week. The Mailbox Monday is now going on a blog tour with the host for the month of January being at At Home With Books. Visit the blog to see what books made it’s way and check out the others who are participating like me in the Monday Mailbox Meme.

Keiko the Koala by Jill Ann Storti – Everyone shares one thing in common. We are all different from each other and it is our diversity, which makes each person unique. “Keiko the Koala” is so much more than a book. It’s a powerful tool for parents to teach their children how to build strong relationships and self esteem. Young children will cherish Keiko in their formative years because he is comforting and entertaining. This exciting story is immediately rewarding to children, as they hear about the adventure of a koala bear, who finds himself lost in the forest. As he meets other animals, he quickly learns that he is different from other bears. You feel the anticipation as Keiko searches for a way out of the forest. While on his journey, he meets a young boy named Cody and they become friends. Cody is sad because he is different from other kids. Keiko teaches him that being different is what makes us special.

Six Ways To Keep The “Good” In Your Boy by Dannah Gresh - When bestselling author Dannah Gresh was body-slammed by her 12-year-old son, she was hit with reality: raising a boy is a whole new ballgame!

A boy’s relationship with his mom during the formative age between 8 and 12 is vital to his future well-being. So how can moms teach sons to be honest, confident, and respectful when the world and situations encourage them to make bad decisions and grow up too fast?

Dannah’s practical experience and research, along with advice from her husband, Bob Gresh, provide a mom with six proactive ways to help her son:

honor his body in a healthy way
get outside to play unplugged
live out his faith

All summaries come from Barnes & Noble book overviews.

Truth & Dare Devotional {#Book Review}

The Book Faery — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:02:07 +0000

Is your pre-teen daughter ready for more—more excitement, more adventure, more joy? Then dare her to discover the secret to a life that sparkles for God. Show her she’s got what it takes to make an impact on the world. Ann Margret Hovsepian’s newest book, Truth and Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Girls, is designed for girls 9 to 12 and filled with powerful wisdom on everything from godly friendships to worshipping God.

It can be easy for young girls to neglect their Bible reading. Perhaps they feel Scripture doesn’t directly relate to them. Maybe they may lack encouragement or accountability, or they may just have too many distractions in their everyday lives. This lack of spiritual food can stunt girls’ spiritual growth and make them vulnerable to the temptations and ungodly influences around them. It can also prevent them from developing a love for Scripture early in life, making it even harder to get into God’s Word when they get older.

Truth and Dare encourages tween girls to discover how exciting God’s Word can be. They will see it make a difference in their daily lives and experience the blessings that come from doing it and not just hearing it. Daily challenges (dares) based on Scripture (truth) will provide opportunities for them to make their faith come alive as they learn to serve others, build character and make a difference.

Scripture will be transformed from something learned to something lived. Girls will delight in discovering how God’s Word can become real in whole new ways as they learn to apply it with each day’s dare. It ideally suits anyone looking to inspire a young girl to boldly live out her faith. So encourage the tween girl in your life to take the dare and discover the truth! It’s her time to shine as a girl who knows what it means to live a fierce and fearless life of faith.

List Price: $14.99
Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434702081
ISBN-13: 978-1434702081

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Ann Margret Hovsepian is a published author, freelance writer and editor and amateur artist. She has published more than 210 articles for dozens of Canadian and U.S. print periodicals and has become a sought-after author of pre-teen girls’ devotional books. She has published Blossom: The Complete New Testament for Girls (Thomas Nelson, 2006) and The One Year Designer Genes Devo (Tyndale, 2007). She speaks at conferences and events and is actively involved on the board of Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. Hovsepian resides in Montreal, Canada.

Visit the author’s website.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…An EXCELLENT devotional for pre-teen girls. My 12 year old who is very involved with her church and enjoys reading the Bible and learning new things absolutely loved this devotional. While she has not yet completed going through the devotional, the days she has gone through she’s enjoyed. Each day she’s given a Bible verse, a Truth relating to life, the Triple Dog Dare to do something, and a journaling space to write about the outcome. The weekend’s have a little more activities to do. It’s a really good devotional to go through with your daughter each day to discuss what she’s learned from the passage and the activities. I highly recommend this devotional. The book back says for ages 9-12 but I think it would be good for any girl up to 13/14.

Our Book Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER (To enlarge, click on the images):

***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

Triple Dog Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Boys {#Book Review}

The Book Faery — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:14:38 +0000

Boys want action. They don’t want to sit around and talk—that’s for grown-ups and girls. They engage life and relationships by doing something: skateboarding, playing games or re-creating favorite movie scenes. So why should faith be any different? That’s why Jeremy V. Jones created Triple Dog Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Boys—to provide the action boys need in order to grow their faith.

The Bible is full of action. Remember how David slew Goliath, Daniel faced those lions, Paul survived a shipwreck and Jesus stood up for a woman about to be killed? God made boys to take His truth and do something with it, to man up and change the world. These action-packed devotions for boys ages 9 to 12 are filled with godly truth and bold spiritual challenges that transform time with God into the adventure of the day.

Triple Dog Dare connects God’s Word to boys’ hearts and hands with real-life scenarios and activities. Each day is filled with short Scriptures, concise biblical truth and a daily dare, all challenging them to put their faith into practice. Scripture readings from every book of the Bible open up the action-packed Word of God. Whether it’s drawing comic strips of biblical battles, dreaming up a life list of goals, making snack packs for the homeless or producing Bible-based movies, boys will go on daily dynamic experiences with God, taking faith off the page and setting it into motion. Themes cover the daily realities of pre-teen males, including bullying, peer pressure, girls, sibling rivalry, honesty and more.

These exciting devotions will inspire boys’ hearts toward godly characteristics such as integrity, generosity and kindness. Parents will appreciate watching Christ-like traits emerge as each dare is undertaken. It is a manual that will deepen boys’ friendships with Jesus as they look forward to spending time with Him every day. So if you know a boy who is up for the challenge, triple dog dare him!

List Price: $14.99
Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0781404576
ISBN-13: 978-0781404570

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Jeremy V. Jones is an award-winning journalist who has served as senior associate editor of Breakaway magazine. He has authored several books, including Toward the Goal: The Kaka Story andThe Keeper: The Tim Hoard Story. He also writes for magazines such as Clubhouse and Christianity Today. He resides with his wife and two children in Colorado.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Triple Dog Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Boys is an excellent devotional that my son enjoyed reviewing with me. The devotional is broken out into daily devotions with the “Truth” from the Bible, the “Triple Dare” that relates to that day’s message, along with activities and a reflection of the dare one worked on for the time. I highly recommend this book for those boys 10-15 years of age.

Our Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER (Click on images to enlarge):

***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

The Amazing Fitness Adventure for Your Kids: 90 Days to Raising Healthy Children {#Book Review}

The Book Faery — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:50:22 +0000

The Amazing Fitness Adventure for Your Kids equips parents with the tools they need to help their children become healthier and happier. It’s also an inspirational guide to the ultimate rewards that come from sharing a healthy lifestyle together—stronger and healthier kids and more closely knit families.

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; 1 edition (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736939210
ISBN-13: 978-0736939218

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Phil and Amy Parham, authors of The 90-Day Fitness Challenge and The 90-Day Fitness Challenge DVD, were contestants on Season 6 of NBC’s The Biggest Loser. Over a seven-month period, they recorded the highest percentage of weight loss of any couple in the program’s history. Married for more than 20 years, Phil and Amy live in South Carolina with their three boys, Austin, Pearson, and Rhett.

Visit the author’s website.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…EXCELLENT book for families in need of a healthier lifestyle change. They say that it takes 90 days for something to become a habit so this is the perfect book to go through each of those 90 days with the kids. LOTS of tips on food, exercise, and even talking points about life and our health. Each chapter is a day and each day is broken out into sections: “Something to Think About”, “Something to Talk About”, and “Tip of the Day”. I highly recommend families pick up this book to read and act through together. Now that I’ve gone through it initially, you better believe I’ll be doing it with the kids very soon.

***Special thanks to FIRST Wild Card Tour and Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.
All opinions stated above are my own and no compensation was received for this review.***

52 Things Kids Need From Mom {#Book Review}

The Book Faery — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:04:32 +0000

Today’s Wild Card author is:

Angela Thomas

and the book:

52 Things Kids Need from a Mom

Harvest House Publishers (September 1, 2011)

Bestselling author and mother of four Angela Thomas delivers a helpful, encouraging gathering of 52 inspiring ideas for moms who, in the whir of busyness, long to connect with their kids. Moms will learn to lead with God’s love in the small moments that make up an abundant, intentional life.

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736943919
ISBN-13: 978-0736943918

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Angela Thomas is a sought-after speaker, teacher, and bestselling author of Do You Think I’m Beautiful, My Single Mom Life, Prayers for My Baby Boy, and Prayers for My Baby Girl. She inspires thousands at national conferences, workshops, and through video studies that she filmed and wrote including When Wallflowers Dance.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…If you’re a mom ever wondering what your kid might need in life other than a roof over their head, food in their belly’s, and clean clothes on their backs, then you should pick up a copy of 52 Things Kids Need From a Mom. The book is broken out into 52 chapters of the author’s own life experiences with her family or another mom she knew and ends each chapter with the overall thing that the kid needs that summed up the experience. For example, chapter 22 is titled To Indulge Their Silly. It’s about a mom who has a serious side but also doesn’t take herself too serious. She gives to her children the gift of laughter and teaches them not to take life so seriously all the time. Overall I found the book to be filled with new and tried ideas and one I’d recommend to another mom.

***Special thanks to Karri James | Marketing Assistant | Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

Life Is Not A Candy Store {#Book Spotlight + #Giveaway}

The Book Faery — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:13:49 +0000

The book LIFE IS NOT a CANDY STORE; IT’S THE WAY TO THE CANDY STORE is a short, 34 pages spiritual guide for teenagers and young adults. It highlights the problem of people who look for instant gratification and the lack of awareness of the pain they cause to others. The book reminds the reader that life has a higher purpose, and together, the author and the reader, travel on the road of life, exploring different situations, and the lessons which come with them.

Each chapter in the book is a road sign which calls the reader to be aware of elements we face in life, and ways to deal with them. The book also provides the reader with useful tools to overcome daily problems, and live a better, more spiritual life. From dealing with the problem of lying, in the chapter Dead End Roads, to providing useful tools in the chapter Roadside Assistance, the reader explores life’s journey from a new prospective, knowing he or she is not the only one struggling, and trying to find a higher purpose in life.

The unique format of this book cannot be found in other spiritual books. Also, given the fact that teenagers and young adults are constantly in a stage of doubts and confusion, I was surprised to see how little spiritual guidance is available to them. The book’s format makes it easy to follow, and gives the reader useful tools for spiritual growth. This book was written from personal experiences, and it is my hope that it will serve as a lighthouse for many souls. – FROM B&N

Pub. Date: June 2011
Publisher: Bat-El Publishing
Format: Hardcover , 72pp
Age Range: Young Adult
ISBN-13: 9780983202509
ISBN: 0983202508

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Tal Yanai was not happy with his reality. What he was creating in his life was not in alignment with what he wanted in his heart or what he knew and deeply felt was possible.

Bringing two wonderful children into the world gave him a new sense of urgency to share and teach everything he’s learned about God and spirituality. Today, Tal teaches Hebrew and Judaic Studies in Temple Beth Hillel in the San Fernando Valley as he continues his quest to explore the meaning of soul and achieve his full potential as a spiritual teacher.

Author Website: www.talyanai.com

Author Blog: http://www.talroadsigns.com/

THE GIVEAWAY…The Book Faery Reviews children are giving away a copy of Life Is Not A Candy Store over at their book blog BookSnatchers. All you have to do is read their review and leave them a comment over THERE!

FOLLOW THE WORLD OF INK TOUR WITH TAL YANAI

August 1^st:The World of Ink Network – Author Spotlight

August 2^nd:Families Matter Blog Book – Interview

August 3^rd:American Chronicle – Author Spotlight

August 4^th:MomnBaby Network – Book Spotlight

August 5^th:The Writing Mama – Interview

August 6^th:Mom Perfers on BlogCritics – Author Spotlight

August 7^th:The Writing Mama – Book Review

August 8^th:The Maggie Project – Guest Post: Helpful Tips on Writing & Back story

August 9^th:Roth’s Inspiring Books & Products – Interview

August 10^th:The Crypto-Capers Review – Book Review

August 11^th:Writers On The Move – Guest Post: Relating to YA Readers

August 12^th:Stories for Children Magazine FG Interview

August 13^th:Writing to the Hearts of Children- Book Review & Giveaway

August 14^th:Utah Children’s Writer Blog – Guest Post: Tips to Writing Engaging Nonfiction

August 15^th:BTR’s World of Ink Network: Stories for Children show.

Live Radio Interview at 2pm EST at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork or call in to listen or ask questions (714) 242-5259.

You can also listen on demand after the show airs!

August 16^th:Rambling of a Coffee Addicted Writer – Book Review

August 17^th:BlogCritics – Book Review

August 18^th:Roth’s Inspiring Books & Products – Book Review

August 19^th:Literal Exposure – Book Review & Giveaway

August 20^th:Health, Beauty, Children and Family – Book Review & Giveaway

August 21^st:Bless Their Hearts Mom – Book Review

August 22^nd:Strands of Thought – Interview

August 23^rd:Rambling of a Coffee Addicted Writer- Guest Post: How to Talk to Teens http://ramblingsofacoffeeaddictedwrter.blogspot.com/

August 23^rd:Interview on From My Mama’s Kitchen Radio Show at 11am EST

From My Mama’s Kitchen® - “Personal Success Begins at Home” Host: Johnny Tan

www.blogtalkradio.com/fmmk-talk-radio

August 24^th:The Writing Mama Show on BTR’s World of Ink Network

On demand interview: Families Matter Blog – Book Review

August 25^th:Home School Blogger – Book Review

August 26^th:Mymcbooks Blog – Spotlight & Giveaway

August 27^th:Children’s and Teen Book Connection – Interview

August 29^th:BiblioReads.com – Book Review & Giveaway

Mailbox Monday…08.22.11

The Book Faery — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:07:44 +0000

Mailbox Monday is where other bloggers write about the books they received the previous week. The Mailbox Monday is now going on a blog tour with the host for the month of July being Life In The Thumb. Visit her blog to see what books made it her way and check out the others who are participating like me in the Monday Mailbox Meme.

Salary Tutor by Jim Hopkinson (Non-Fiction – Career) - Jim Hopkinson details a novel way to get the the raise you deserve. Using these ten steps, you will be able to confidently and effectively negotiate your salary. With helpful tips and questions throughout, this book gives readers the tools to conquer “the evil HR lady.”

While other books or websites might list a few standard bullet points on the subject from an expert in the HR field, Jim takes a “novel approach,” weaving interesting stories, case studies, graphs, humor, and personal experience to make the topic come alive. The book also educates the reader on:

Discovering the two simple – but vital – questions you need to answer for success
Harnessing your social media network to gather valuable information
Mastering successful FBI negotiation techniques to your advantage
Creating a one-of-a-kind document to secure the highest salary range
Using Jim’s “Right back at Ya” Method to regain control of an interview

52 Things Kids Need from a Mom by Angela Thomas (Family / Women’s Non-Fiction) - Bestselling author and mother of four children Angela Thomas brings her trademark storytelling and biblical teaching to this book of encouragement for moms who, in the daily whir of busyness, long to connect with their kids in new ways.

With compassion and creativity, Angela presents 52 inspirations to help moms experience intentional mothering, intentional living, and intentional joy as they:

talk to their child as though he is fascinating
learn to play one video game
plan activities that set a child up for success
be the groovy mom once in a while
make memories and savor them

Moms at all phases of parenting can adopt one idea a week or try several at once. This is a fun, guilt-free resource to help every mom lead with God’s love and delight in the small moments that make up an abundant life.

A Christmas Secret by Candace Hall (Children’s Fiction) - When Santa’s reindeer discover a lost kitten named O’Malley, they have no choice but to rescue him and bring him back to the North Pole. Soon all the residents of the North Pole are doing their part to save O’Malley, including Broome, the head elf, and Wilma the mouse. Because only those who were born in the North Pole can live there, everyone decides to keep O’Malley a secret—until O’Malley goes missing. Will O’Malley be able to stay in the North Pole? What will Santa think about A Christmas Secret?

Hot Chocolate With God by Camryn Kelly w/Jill & Erin Kelly (Juvenile Non-Fiction, Christian Resource) - Written for young girls 8-12, this brand-new series combines the writings of the Kelly girls with journal/activity elements in an engaging, exciting companion book to every girl’s walk with God. Each book in the series includes scriptures, fun facts, journal writings, and fun personal quizzes. Girls will be able to express their deepest thoughts and feelings, as well as share everything from their favorite ice cream to the things that make them cry.

In this first book, it’s all about the reader. Finding out who you are can be a fun process that will take you a lifetime-and this book gets girls started out in style! A self-guided tour through every area of a girl’s inner life, this book encourages girls to find the answers to small questions (What’s your favorite color? Your favorite ice cream flavor?, etc.) as well as large ones (What makes you sad? What makes you angry?)

A section on dreams and special gifts will also be included. All little girls have dreams of what they want to be when they grow up, and this book will help them discover which of the special gifts talked about in the Bible they have been given.

With activities ranging from word searches, create-your-own story fill-in-the-blanks, true/false questions, journaling space, a companion web site, fun facts, and scriptures, this first volume in the HOT CHOCOLATE WITH GOD series promises hours of fun and self-discovery!

Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish by Grace Burrowes (Historical Romance Fiction) - All she wants is peace and anonymity…

Lady Sophie Windham has maneuvered a few days to herself at the ducal mansion in London before she must join her family for Christmas in Kent. Suddenly trapped by a London snowstorm, she finds herself with an abandoned baby and only the assistance of a kind, handsome stranger standing between her and complete disaster.

But Sophie’s holiday is about to heat up…
With his estate in ruins, Vim Charpentier sees little to feel festive about this Christmas. His growing attraction for Sophie Windham is the only thing that warms his spirits-but when Sophie’s brothers whisk her away, Vim’s most painful holiday memories are reawakened.

It seems Sophie’s been keeping secrets, and now it will take much more than a mistletoe kiss to make her deepest wishes come true…

The Virtuoso by Grace Burrowes (Historical Romance Fiction) - The highly praised trilogy of Regency romances by award-winning author Grace Burrowes concludes with gifted pianist Valentine Windham, youngest son of the Duke of Moreland. Val retreats to the country after an injury robs him of his musical ability, only to learn from impoverished widow Ellen Markham that he can be loved even when his music falls silent.

The Highlanders Heart by Amanda Forrester (Historical Romance Fiction) - Fleeing into the wilderness to escape an abusive marriage, Lady Isabelle Tynsdale would sooner face down a wild boar than spend another night with her wretched husband. Battered by the elements, desperate to elude a band of attackers, and defending herself against, as fate would have it, a wild boar she is rescued by the handsome Laird David Campbell.

Campbell knows holding Isabelle captive for ransom is his best chance to temper the storm threatening to destroy his clan. The ransom of an English countess should be more than enough to pay off his debts to England and save him from an unwanted marriage. But Isabelle didn’t escape her husband just to become another man’s captive and Laird Campbell is seriously misguided if he thinks she’s going to go quietly.

The Storm That Is Sterling by Lisa Renee Jones (Paranormal Romance Fiction) - Sterling Jeter, Renegade Super Soldier, is fearless, powerful, and wildly unpredictable. His life-threatening mission is to save the beautiful, brilliant astrobiologist Rebecca Burns from ruthless villain Adam Rain. But their immutable mutual attraction threatens to put them in the path of death… or worse…

All book summaries come from Barnes & Noble.

The Back Story of Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures {Guest #Author: Clayton Thomas + #Book #Giveaway}

The Book Faery — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:13:12 +0000

The back story of Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures is actually quite simple. My wonderful wife had watched how I interacted with children for years as a house parent at St. Joseph Children’s Home, and then as a teacher, and finally as the father of our two boys. Over the years, she’s even thrown parenting scenarios my way just to see how I would react. I used to think she did this to amuse herself. Well, as it turned out, she was impressed with the answers I would give and why I felt the way I did.

It was also my wife who convinced me to write a book in order to share with others what I’d learned through working with children over the years- specifically what has worked for me and what hasn’t. I also remember telling her about how I wanted to frame the chapters (Inspiring quote- Body of the chapter- and short assignments to reinforce what I was teaching) and she really liked the idea.

Brainstorming the book turned out to be a lot of fun. Stories of working with children came rushing back. The stories are entertaining; but each of them contain a teaching point.

One of the things about this book is that it can be read like a reference book. For example, if a parent is having trouble with children who are argumentative, they can jump immediately to Chapter 16. The subject of bullying is clearly laid out in Chapter 19 for those who want to know how I’ve handled it.

As is the case with many authors, writing the book was mostly allowing the book to write itself. My base of experiences is the strongest attribute. Many of the topics were chosen based on questions parents have asked me over the years and based on tremendous people I have worked with- and learned from over the years as I watched how they’ve handled difficult situations.

My hope is that anyone who reads the book is entertained but also develops some additional solid ideas they can use with their child. If anyone has questions after reading the book, I can be reached at tantrumstroublesandtreasures@yahoo.com.

Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures is a book meant to help great parents become even better. The book covers a variety of topic such as presence with children, handling arguments in the home, bullying, and reflection. Each chapter starts with a quote that sets the tone and end with a small assignment to reinforce the point of the chapter. By the time the book is finished, the reader will have a lot more tools to use at their discretion in their parenting tool belt.

Publisher: LuLu.com – self published

ISBN Number(s): 978-1-257-05609-5

Publication Date(s): April 2011

BUY THE BOOK… LuLu

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Clayton Paul Thomas has worked with kids for about 16 years from three different settings. The first was at St. Joseph Children’s Home. This was a place abused kids went after being permanently separated from their parents. Most of his parenting skills were developed here. The kids Clayton worked with ranged from ages 3 to 15.

Afterwards, Clayton became an elementary public school teacher. He taught for 7 1/2 years from 1st through 4th grade. Finally, Clayton has two boys (Cameron age 7 and Luke age 3). He has been married for 9 years to his beautiful wife Lauren. Though his parenting skills were learned at St. Joseph, his wife’s has been the inspiration to writing the book and sharing insights with all of you. To her, Clayton is eternally thankful.

Author Website | Twitter | Facebook | Facebook WOI Tour Event Page

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…We’re giving away a copy of Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures: A Parent Guide to Parenting in the 21st Century now through the month of August and selecting a random reader of The Book Faery Reviews September 1st. This giveaway is open to US/Canadian Non-PO Box mailing addresses.

ANSWER THIS QUESTION for an entry:
What’s a trick you learned raising kids (babysitting or your own) that gets them to stop the tantrums.

EXTRA ENTRIES…

Follow @farrah1230 on Twitter and tweet this giveaway (click the button on the top of this post or down below on the “Share This Post!”.
“Like” us on Facebook (see sidebar)
Subscribe to our RSS feed & monthly newsletter (see sidebar)

GOOD LUCK!

Stories for Children Publishing will be touring Author Clayton Paul Thomas and his book, “Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures: A Parent Guide to Parenting in the 21st Century” all month long in July 2011.

You can find out more about Clayton Paul Thomas’ World of Ink Author/Book Tour schedule at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/ClaytonPThomas.aspx. There will be giveaways, reviews, interviews, guest posts and more. Make sure to stop by and interact with Clayton Paul Thomas and the hosts at the different stops by leaving comments and/or questions. Clayton Paul Thomas will be checking in throughout the tour and is offering an additional giveaway for those who leave comments throughout the tour.

In addition, come listen to Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network show: Stories for Children at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork. The hosts VS Grenier, Kris Quinn Chirstopherson and Irene Roth will be chatting with Clayton about his book, parenting tips, writing, the publishing industry and experiences with virtual tours. Clayton will also be sharing writing tips and trials, and tribulations of the writer’s life.

The show will be live July 4, 2011 at 2pm EST (1pm Central, 12pm MST, and 11am PST). You can tune in at the World of Ink Network site at http://www.blogtalkradion.com/worldofinknetwork. You can listen/call in at (714) 242-5259. (Note: if you can’t make the show, you can listen on demand at the same link.)

To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit Stories for Children Publishing at: http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com

I received a copy of this book for review as part of the WOI Virtual Tour.
No money was received for compensation.

Communicating With Your Teen {Guest #Author: Dr. Frederick Lukash}

The Book Faery — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:33:47 +0000

Dialogue is the most important part of any decision to have plastic surgery. It can be a life changing benefit but can have serious physical and mental consequences if done for the wrong reasons or by inexperienced surgeons.

Parents, coaches, teachers, counselors – any one dealing with teens and adolescents need to be mindful of behavioral changes; and the possibility that their could be physical reasons behind them.

For example – maybe a boy has developed breasts and will not take his shirt off – won’t go to the beach with his friends; declines summer camp and warm weather vacations. Maybe he argues with his coach or gym teacher when asked to take a shower after practice. Maybe the pediatrician noticed the development but said nothing because the teen was indifferent about it because of embarrassment. All this slipping between the cracks can lead to behavioral issues unless someone is on the alert and can open up a dialogue maybe a girl with overly large breasts is embarrassed about behind her back sexual innuendos or about fitting into clothes or playing sports – so she retreats into a diminished social life maybe a child with “stick out ears” is called dumbo and is tormented daily by so called friends.

All these issues would benefit from open communication regarding the possibility of corrective surgery. Just offering the openness of communication and understanding and the opportunity for consultation with a pediatric plastic surgeon can go a long way to making a teen feel listened to as opposed to dismissed Once a decision is made to go forward the real homework begins so as not to compound problem by a poor solution. Careful research is needed to choose the right surgeon and the right setting at the right time for optimal results. My book The Safe and Sane Guide to Teenage Plastic Surgery goes into detail on the communication and selection process in getting to “yes” for plastic surgery. No patient or family should go unprepared into such a serious decision.

- Dr. Frederick Lukash

His latest book is The Safe and Sane Guide to Teenage Plastic Surgery. You can visit his websites at www.drlukash.com and www.teenageplasticsurgery.com.
The Safe and Sane Guide to Teenage Plastic Surgery, by Dr. Frederick N. Lukash, is the only complete guide to this ever-expanding phenomenon. Written by the American Society of Plastic Surgery’s acknowledged expert and official media spokesperson on pediatric and adolescent plastic surgery, this book answers those tough questions parents of potential teenage plastic surgery candidates have: Will surgery increase their child’s self-esteem and help them fit in better? Or is it a dangerously easy solution to deeper issues? When is surgery right, and when is it not?Interviewed in The New York Times and featured on Discovery Health among many other media outlets, Lukash guides families through every step of the process, from finding the perfect-fit doctor and applying for medical insurance to surgery and finally to recovery and a changed life. A virtual, free consultation with a renowned expert in the field, the book doesn’t just offer easy solutions to teen’s body-image problems but helps parents understand the emotional, psychological and social dilemmas involved. Complete with action plans, real-life stories and pictures, The Safe and Sane Guide to Teenage Plastic Surgery offers advice on what can, can’t and shouldn’t be done—and on how to spot the doctors who will exploit a teen’s fragile sense of self-esteem as well as his or her parent’s pocketbook. Most important, Lukash provides a useful red light/yellow light/green light guide for considering teen plastic surgery. - From Barnes & Noble

Paperback: 246 pages
Publisher: BenBella Books (November 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935618091

BUY THE BOOK FROM… Amazon | Barnes & Noble (I am a B&N affiliate.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Dr. Frederick N. Lukash, M.D.,FACS, FAAP, has consistently been voted one of “America’s Top Doctors,” by the Castle Connolly guide, and by the Consumer Research Council of America (www.bestdoctors.com). A board-certified cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon in practice in Manhattan and Long Island since 1981, he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Dr. Lukash received his college and medical degrees from Tulane University. His post graduate training in surgery and plastic surgery includes Emory University, State University of New York, and Harvard University, where he held the position of Instructorin surgery.

The high standards that Dr. Lukash lives and works by have gained him admittance to all the major plastic surgical societies, including:

American Society for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
American Association of Plastic Surgeons
Plastic Surgery Research Council
International Society of Microsurgeons
American Society of Maxillofacial Surgery
American Society of Head and Neck Surgery
Northeast Regional Plastic Surgical Society
American Cleft Palate Association
American Association Hand Surgery
American Association of Pediatric Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Lukash achieved board certification by both the American Board of Surgery and theAmerican Board of Plastic Surgery. He is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeonsand the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Lukash’s landmark article “Children’s Art as a Helpful Index of Anxiety and Self Esteem with Plastic Surgery” (Journal of Plastic Surgery: 109: 6, May 2002) is still regarded as path-breaking in the field, and remains widely cited in the literature. His authorship of the paper led him to write the position paper on teenage plastic surgery for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons; he is currently the spokesperson on the subject for that organization.

In addition to serving on many of the societies’ committees, Dr. Lukash has authored questions for the Plastic Surgery In-Service Examination and has recently completed his term as president of the New York Regional Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He founded that organization’s magazine and served for many years as the editor-in-chief.
A strong sense of service to the community here and worldwide has motivated Dr.Lukash to volunteer his expertise to organizations such as Surgical Aid to Children ofthe World and Operation Smile. He has been honored by the Chief Executive of Nassau County for his service in reconstructing children from war torn Afghanistan. His giving also includes surgical service to local adoption agencies where correction of physical deformities has enabled unplaceable children to find homes. The United States Olympic Committee has recognized Dr. Lukash for his volunteer service at the summer Olympic Games.

In addition to writing and speaking, Dr. Lukash has an exhibit called “Operation Art” that has been featured at many Children’s Museums around the country. This exhibit depicts emotions through non verbal medium of art in children before and after undergoing plastic surgery.

Dr. Lukash holds staff appointments at Long Island Jewish Medical Center / Schneider Children’s Hospital, North Shore University Hospital, Winthrop University Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Lenox Hill Hospital. He has also served as a plastic surgical consultant to the New York Islanders hockey team and the New York Jets football team.

A Little About Autism {Guest #Author: Nzingha West + #Review}

The Book Faery — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:30:42 +0000

When we talk about Autism, there are tons of questions.

Is Autism really that bad?

What are the symptoms?

How are people diagnosed with Autism?

Is Autism a life changing diagnosis?

No matter what the question, there are some definite facts; almost 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with Autism. Some cases of Autism are severe, whereas others are less severe.

There are some good qualities that autistic individuals have, they are many times very artistic and intelligent and many have a knack of mathematics. Being diagnosed with Autism for many parents may seem like a God send, it means that there is finally a name for what’s been going on with their child or children.

I myself work with Autistic children on a daily basis in my office in New York City, and I know from experience that individuals with autism can be a tremendous people. Don’t get me wrong, autism can manifest itself in many ways, and although I have a fairly positive outlook not everyone feels the same way that I do.

Ultimately, we should understand that autism can be treated, but not cured. Some popular forms of treatment are ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis), Floortime and Verbal Therapy. Many of these therapies are geared towards helping develop social and emotional skills for these children and can be tremendously helpful. One thing I want to stress as heavily as possible is that autism treatment and diagnosis will change the lives of everyone in the family. In order to see real improvement you should not limit that child’s/person therapies to only the therapists office, you should implement the therapies and suggestions given by the therapist to the best of your abilities in the home so that they aren’t forgotten. The goal is to turn the therapy(ies) into routine activities.

One website that I personally use is the www.autismspeaks.org website. They have tons of information about different therapies, autism insurance acceptance and more. Autism Speaks stands alone in terms of online resources, but when looking for an offline resource like a therapist, or advocate to work with you to help your child receive the services he/she needs, you should consider several thinks like how much you like the person, their credentials and licensing and how helpful you feel they would be to your family. If you are considering working with your child yourself, you may want to look into becoming certified or licensed in one of the therapies that are geared towards assisting autistic children (some of the therapies allow parents to become licensed or certified).

Other resources that you may find helpful are books. When I wrote my book “Is My Kid Stupid? Avoiding an Educational Disaster”, I was sure to list many tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your child’s education including free resources, information for free private school tuition paid for by the state and information of how to advocate for your child. Many other authors and practitioners will offer up advice and explain what autism is and give their own theories on what causes autism (I say theories because no one really knows for sure).

Nevertheless, you should arm yourself with as much information as possible, and seek the assistance of a qualified professional if you are unsure about something.

Happy National Autism Month!

Nzingha West

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Nzingha West, the author of Is My Kid Stupid Avoiding an Educational Disaster has worked in education for 10 years. Nzingha owns and operates Urbane Academics where she provides special education advocacy services, educational evaluations and private and small group instruction. Nzingha has worked with the American Museum of Natural History, Harlem Children‘s Zone, University Settlement and the City College of New York among others. Nzingha firmly believes in the fair education of all children, and continues to work with children all over the United States. Nzingha currently lives and works in New York City.

Follow her and Urbane Academics on Twitter and on Facebook.

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Is My Kid Stupid? was written to fill a need for all parents of children who are struggling in school, or who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities. Is My Kid Stupid? Addresses concerns like: • How to get a free private school education for your child • How to choose a practitioner for your child • How to choose the best advocate for your child, or how to advocate for your child yourself • Special education laws and how you can make the most of them • How to significantly lower the cost of college for your child Is My Kid Stupid? also offers letter templates, and additional websites that may be helpful during your search.

Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: Amazon.com (March 7, 2011)
Language: English

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…As a parent of a child with a learning disability, this was a book I was looking forward to reading and hopefully utilize to help my son as he learns. Though he’s improving everyday in his skills thanks to the special program he’s in at school, our vision doctor (We tossed our old pediatric neurologist to the side who said he had torretz and put him on LOTS of meds. We ditched the drugs and replaced him with a chiropractor and he’s MUCH better with the body ticks, in fact they’re near non-existent), and the work we do at home, there’s always this need as a parent to keep looking for better ways to make learning easier and more fun for them.

Is My Kid Stupid is broken out into 16 VERY SHORT chapters with questions for the reader at the end of each. At the end of the book West also includes a resource section with links to multiple sites that readers might find useful. The author prefaces the book with a statement that she wanted “to get right down to business and give you the tools to get what your child needs”. That she did. The book is not meant to diagnose but to help you understand what you should be doing and how to get the best education for a child with learning disabilities. She offers tips throughout the book of what to do and what not to do.

As a parent and not an educator, I personally found Is My Kid Stupid to be resourceful and as I switch my son from his current school to his new one in the fall, I will be better informed on how to go about getting him new assistance within and out of the school system. There were many things I hadn’t realized I was doing that could essentially hurt his learning process and those are now on my radar. Though my son’s disability are not included in this book (he has a reading disability due to no eye focus in one of his eyes thus making reading very difficult and words to be jumbled or blurred even with the highest prescription strength), the tips and suggestions were still very helpful. For my friends who have children or know a child with a learning disability, I will be recommending it.

My Book Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Mailbox Monday…02.22.11

The Book Faery — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:38:20 +0000

Mailbox Monday is where other bloggers write about the books they received the previous week. The Mailbox Monday is now going on a blog tour with the host for the month of February being Library of Clean Reads. Visit her blog to see what books made it her way and check out the others who are participating like me in the Monday Mailbox Meme.

The Queen of New Beginnings by Erica James (Contemporary Women’s Fiction) - Alice knows something about the freedom of reinvention-it makes those tough years in the past a little easier to bear. So when she meets Clayton, she understands why he wants to shrug off his old life. Their unlikely friendship seems stable-until Alice discovers Clayton has betrayed her in the worst possible way. With a gift for believable characters, Erica James deftly tackles infidelity, bereavement, and family breakdown, and her blend of sparkling wit and real emotional power has her poised to take over the States.

The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark by Sera Beak (Self-Resource) - The Red Book is nothing less than a spiritual fire starter—a combustible cocktail of Hindu Tantra and Zen Buddhism, Rumi and Carl Jung, Kali and Mary Magdalene, goddesses and psychics, shaken with cosmic nudges, meaningful subway rides, haircuts, relationships, sex, dreams, and intuition. It’s a book that encourages women to live more consciously so they can start making clearer choices across the board, from careers to relationships, politics to pop culture and everything in between. For smart, gutsy, spiritually curious women whose colorful and complicated lives aren’t reflected in most spirituality books, The Red Book is an open invitation for women to find their true selves and start sharing that delicious truth with the world.

“Every so often there comes our way a glorious chunk of life so utterly unique that even the jaded blink twice. The Red Book is just such a chunk, gloriously dropped out of the mind of Sera Beak as a special message for today’s contemporary woman in the language of just such a woman, placing before us the wisdom of the ages. From gentle meditation to bouncing sexuality and much in between, the path to personal rejuvenation through the enlivening of the heart, mind and spirit is laid out in such refreshing, sparkling, effervescent words that what results is a psychic shower for the soul. Get naked, get in, get wet. You’ll never feel as cleaned.” – Neale Donald Walsch, best-selling author, Conversations With God

Get ready for my forthcoming book Redvolution: Unleashing the Red Hot and Holy Feminine, which will be published by HarperOne in 2011.

Redvolution: Unleashing the Red Hot and Holy Feminine is a crazy cosmic celebration of feminine spiritual superpowers. It’s chock-full of authentic guidance and grounded inspiration to help all types of women discover an unstoppable source of energy within themselves, no matter what life throws their way. Relatable (and often downright hilarious) personal examples, heretical academic anchors, time-tested tools, metaphysical make-up tips, and simple, yet effective exercises give this passionate and redvolutionary book more than enough mojo to transform women’s often hectic lives into daring spectacles of true beauty, power and might.

WARNING: Reading this book might make your “good girl” complexes spontaneously combust, evoke ecstatic gasps of “Hell Yeah!” from your deepest being, and set your heart, soul, and life on fire. To be clear: Being a Redvolutionary will not make you cool… but it will make you hot.

The Portable Pediatrician by Sears Parenting Library (Parenting/Medical Resource) – Imagine you are up at three o’clock in the morning with a sick child. Wouldn’t it be nice to have expert advice readily at hand to help get you through the night? Encyclopedic in scope, THE PORTABLE PEDIATRICIAN features timely and practical information on every childhood illness and emergency, including when to call the doctor, what reassuring signs can help you know your child is okay, how to treat your child at home, and much more-all in a convenient A-to-Z format. Among the scores of topics covered:

teething; sprains and broken bones; nosebleeds; measles; ear infections; choking; rashes; colic; headaches; eating disorders; fever; hip pain; warts; allergies; obesity; seizures; Asperger’s Syndrome; bronchitis; masturbation; sunburns; pneumonia; speech delay; lice; vomiting; asthma; heart defects; blisters; sleep problems; and more.

The Searses guide parents and caregivers from a child’s infancy through the teen years, teaching them what to expect at regular checkups as well as how to boost a child’s well-being, devise a family health plan, work effectively with their pediatrician, and more. Distinguished by the Searses’ trademark comprehensiveness, reliability, and accessible, comforting one, this book is a must-have for all families who want to keep their children healthy and happy.

The Christmas Clock, Kat Martin – Book Spotlight

The Book Faery — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:00:15 +0000

Sylvia Winters returns to her hometown where eight years ago she broke her engagement to Joe Dixon. Stricken with cervical cancer, Syl moved away for treatment but never told Joe the truth. To heal the pain of his fiance’s imagined betrayal, Joe turned to drinking and accidentally killed a man. Now Joe is out of prison and Syl is back in town but it will take a miracle to restore their lost love.

Lottie Sparks and her grandson, Teddy, are also in town. Eight-year old Teddy lives with Lottie, his only living relative. Teddy loves his grandmother and for Christmas, he desperately wants to buy her the old Victorian clock she adores in the window of Tremont’s Antiques—a clock that vividly reminds her of her childhood. But the memory is soon to fade along with all the rest as her Alzheimer’s advances.

Summer turns to fall and Lottie worsens. With winter approaching, will a Christmas miracle be enough to bring the people of Dreyerville hope, love, and redemption?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Currently living in Missoula, Montana, Kat is the bestselling author of over forty Historical and Contemporary Romance novels. Before she started writing in 1985, Kat was a real estate broker. During that time, she met her husband, Larry Jay Martin, also an author. Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in Anthropology and History.

“I’ve always loved books. I was an avid reader, with any number of my own stories rolling around in my head. Writing them down seemed a logical step.”

“I love anything old,” Kat says. “I love to travel and especially like to visit the places where my books are set. My husband and I often stay in out-of-the-way inns and houses built in times past. It’s fun and it gives a wonderful sense of a by-gone era.”

Kat began with historical romance then started writing romantic suspense.

Stephanie Vlahov, The Active Creative Child – Author Guest Post

The Book Faery — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:50:28 +0000

The active creative child is a prime candidate for an alternative school experience. When this book was published five years ago, we as a nation were in an educational fiscal crisis… Fast forward to 2010, and it is much worse. The financial pressures on our public schools (and political /union expenditure-but that is the topic for another book) is greatly impacting how our kids are taught. “Teaching to the test” is rampant in the rat-race for great scores and the accompanying funding. Compliance and conformity add to an atmosphere where rote memorization is praised. The squirmy kid in the corner who wants to act out his book report instead of efficiently spitting out a report is oftentimes a nuisance. Teachers love him-but “Gee, there is no time..”

The active creative child receives a lot of negative comments merely because he is well…active. He is alternately praised and punished for his precocious ways. It is imperative that he be able to wrap his creativity into an academic environ. A teacher who embraces innovation and enthusiasm is essential. If home-schooled, there needs to be an element of cooperative work between this child and others. Because the active creative child is additionally praised by many for his innovative and creative output, he can become narcissistic in possession of a gargantuan ego. Stressing to him that we all need to cooperate and conform to rules in most settings is important-because oftentimes he is wrapped up in his personal flights of fancy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Stephanie Vlahov is a native Californian, married and the mother of two sons. She is a watercolorist, writer and tender of the hearth. She also runs a recruiting business from home (her “real job”.) Having an M.S. in Psychology/Theatre Arts, she was intent on making a career in Creative Arts therapy. After doing extensive internship time in the mental health arena, she decided to put her counseling skills to use in the area of executive recruitment. During the time of business building, she married a wonderful man from Croatia, John, and had two sons, Alexander and Nicholas. They are two years apart.

During what she calls the “manic years” (toddlerhood) she never lost her interest in psychology and observation. Alexander was principally the impetus for The Active Creative Child. A manuscript on “quirk and job search/headhunting” is soon to be published. She has been involved in regional theatre and arts groups over the years as she met other parents of active creative kids. Through this process, she observed many points in common between the kids and their parents. Through her travels with her family to the Mediterranean and “anywhere tropical”, she sees that the element of active/creativity cuts across all cultures. As an astute student of human nature and people, she continues to write and paint.

ABOUT THE BOOK…With an active,creative child, parents and teachers need to be flexible, energetic and smart! Here is a practical handbook for coping, establishing realistic boundaries and avoiding labels when you have a really inquisitive child. Active/creative children are often misunderstood by the medical community, by schools, and by their own parents. Their energy can be astounding; their curiosity is boundless — and channeling that energy is necessary. This is encouragement and genuine help to support a child’s natural curiosity and energy: * work with your child’s energy, don’t squelch it * keep your own ego from interfering with your child’s passion * how to avoid over-stimulation * how to choose the best artistic outlets * how to choose the best teachers.

Paperback: 105 pages
Publisher: Hohm Press; illustrated edition edition (April 10, 2005)