Book Review – Princess Pigs & Leadfoot Hampsters (giveaway)

Editor’s Note: If you missed Karen Pantuso Swanson’s piece on buyer’s remorse and Barbie, check it out HERE. Now we have to fun pre-K reads and a double giveaway. Enjoy!
We do a whole lot of reading around here – nature stories, science stories, stories about different cultures, checking out stories about baby animals (that’s our [...]

Book Review – The Love List of Kids Valentines Faves (giveaway)

Editor’s Note: If you missed out on the morning post introducing February’s author of the month, Wayson Choy, you can read it HERE. Now here’s Robin with a list of kid-approved Valentine’s Day books:
Love is in the air, and there’s nothing like a silly, fun, sweet children’s story to make Valentine’s Day great fun for everybody.
Sifting [...]

Environmental Ed Books for Children (giveaway)

Editor’s Note: If you didn’t catch Karen Pantuso-Swanson’s sweet story this morning, you can read it HERE. This afternoon we have Gayle Bates sharing some of her favorite eco-focused children’s books. Here’s she is:
What a way to start 2010 – getting to talk about two of my most favourite things: the environment and books!
Recent years have [...]

Book Review – Red is Best & Bella’s Tree

I cannot tell you how many times we have woken up in the last few weeks, our daughter launching herself onto the couch to check for snow outside, only to be bummed out at the perma-gray with no white stuff in sight.
“We live in a rainforest kiddo”, I gently remind her each time she asks [...]

Year In Review – The Best Children’s Books of 2009

One thing that never seems to give in our house is the love of a great story. We pound through tons of books and if anyone knows what she likes best, it’s the 4-year-old.
We’ve had such a great time discovering some seriously great new reads this year to spend afternoons curled up on the couch [...]

Book Review – Favorite Stories to Celebrate the Solistice

Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed out on the morning post, you can check out Rebecca’s post on Waldorf Kindergarten classrooms HERE. Now, we’ve got four of my favorite books to celebrate the solstice with your kids through stories.
Although we are just short of a week away from celebrating Christmas, one of my [...]

Kids Book Review – Winter Gems for a Roaring Fire

Editor’s Note: If you missed our morning post, Gayle Bates gives us a peek into holiday traditions around the world and how to take part in some global giving HERE. Now, we’re checking out two Winter children’s book faves that are a part of OBE’s holiday events at the Filberg Lodge.

Chestnuts roasting on the fire [...]

Book Review – The Dino Adventures of Cats & Dogs

Editor’s Notes: Good afternoon. If you missed out on the morning post from Rebecca on the tradition of advent, you can catch it over HERE. Now it’s time for a review of two very fun children’s books and a giveaway…

We have moved into the comedy portion of our daily story routine these days. There’s still [...]

Book Review – Sometimes You’ve Gotta Go Kid

Editor’s Note: If you missed the morning post on the amazing things kids say that make us rethink our perspective from Karen Pantuso-Swanson, you can read it HERE. This afternoon we have a book review and a giveaway. Have a great afternoon.

There are some books that you and your kids are just generally going to [...]

Book Review – Stories To Make Dark Days Fun

Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed out on this morning’s post, you can catch Dr. Elaine Kerr’s educational piece on childrens eye health HERE. Now, we have two children’s book reviews about stories that make the lack of light during Winter a bit more magical and a giveaway to go with it. Have a great [...]

Learning Books About Salmon

I know I’m a bit salmon crazed this time of year. Heck, even the Fall NeighbourWood Walks are all about checking out animal migration and hot salmon spawn spots. (Come on out and join us on Thursdays. Get the details HERE)
But, these upstream-swimming dudes are the cornerstone of the ecosystem and getting kids excited about [...]

A Salmon’s Sky View

When I start pulling out the turtlenecks and cozy socks, it’s a sure sign that Fall is setting in around the Comox Valley.
The trees are still mostly green and kids aren’t even back in school. But, both the tiny person and I are counting the days until our very favorite nature spectacle of the year [...]

Rhyme Time with Julia Donaldson

There’s a theme in our house right now. We have the time to rhyme about slime on a dime. It’s not a crime, a bit sublime without an ounce of grime.
So, when we look for a book that has a lyrical hook, it’s no surprise that children’s author Julia Donaldson is exactly what we took.

Her [...]

Books for Hands-On Nature Learning

Our month-long adventure in local food may have come to an end. But that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped thinking local. On our adventure out to Miracle Beach Nature House the other day, I made a very lengthy pit stop at the Nature House’s book store and picked up two fantastic nature learning books for kids [...]

Books Review – Fairy Folk & Spring Day Dreams

Long hot days this time of year make me want to find a big, giant maple tree to spread a blanket out under, unpack a lunch full of cool veggies and fruit and lay back to begin a few hours of uninterrupted day dreaming.
Since the likelihood of that happening is less than the odds of [...]

Blog Book Tour – Crocodaddy

Once in a while we jump in on the KidBookBuzz.com Blog Book Tour and today we are checking out the very sweet, dad-focused tale of fun Summer imagination Crocodaddy by Kim Norman, illustrated by David Walker.
Early readers and picture books are the hot thing at our house right now – right next to crazy creatures [...]

Great Canadian Kids Nature Books

Spring brings out the scientist in me (ha, you all laugh. When am I not in science girl mode?)
I am a botanist/ecologist/microbiologist/nature loving curious type from the word go. But, this time of year I get serious about our nature learning and head out into the deep forest of the local bookstore for some non-library [...]

Book Review – Earth Day Stories

Good Morning! It’s time!
Today is HUGE in the OBE universe as we kick off a week’s worth of fantastic Earth Day good times with the opening of our new Family Community Gardens in partnership with the Comox Valley Regional District.
The ribbon cutting is the culmination of a day’s worth of family-friendly events including those fun [...]

Books for Tom Boys & Spring

Good morning. It’s super late for me to be getting going this morning (8 a.m., yikes!). I am totally dragging my butt today in the work universe, mostly because I have plans to ditch the office long enough to spend the ENTIRE DAY outside combing beaches, roaming trails and wrapping it all up with a [...]

An Interview with BC Kids Book Author Scott Higgs

Good morning. Today we’re checking out the charming tales of Haley & Bix, two best friends who are sweet, caring and totally cool.
Our daughter and I picked up the first in the series: Haley & Bix, Best Friends No Matter What, a while back and totally loved this easy reader.
So, we jumped at the chance [...]

Magic Tales of Unicorns, Dwarves & Discovery

Our house seems to draw a huge crowd of the mystical and magical lately. Every since we discovered Forest Fairies with the help of our friend Maureen (of Strong Start fame) and The Last Unicorn showed up in the DVD player, our house transformed into a fairytale land that pretty much skips the prince and [...]

Book Review – Jan Brett’s Winter Fun

There are a few truly great children’s book authors – storytellers who can take a piece of imagination and bring it alive with the touch of a pen.
They’ve got that magical touch, mesmerizing children (and parents too) for generations. Jan Brett is one of those greats.
Maureen over at Brooklyn Elementary Strong Start first introduced us [...]

Best Children’s Books of 2008

Being there to watch stories spark a remarkable imaginary universe for our daughter has been, by far, one of THE BEST and most amazing things that has come from the last year.
I am a story junkie, always have been, loved ‘em so much I made a career out of telling them.
So, discovering amazing books has [...]

Book Review – Winter Tales of Survival & Hope

Ken was horrified that I’d brought a book like this home from the library. While I went for what was shaping up to be a long visit to the midwife on Tuesday, he and the tiny person broke into the latest stack of books and CDs that had come home with us from the library [...]

Holiday Gems for the Heart (& The Kitchen)

I like to think of our family as a crew of non-traditional traditionalists.
We love Christmas and birthdays, presents and sweets. But, in ways that present the age-old traditions of those times with a classic sense of heart, not necessarily a classic point of view.
After falling hard for Eve Bunting’s holiday gem The Night Tree this [...]

Nature Journal – Trumpeter Swans

When I was a kiddo, nature and I had an odd relationship. Growing up at the base of the mountains, the grandeur of nature’s “big-ness” struck me every time I walked outside. I wanted to explore, just to be left alone to check out the world.
On the other end of the deal, a mild [...]

Chinese Lanterns & Other Traditions

All he did was turn his lantern on.
I had no idea why it could possibly be so cool, but the Chinese lettering and lovely art that glowed red through the paper hanging from the ceiling sucked me in and my pal Cliff, with his parents smiling modestly in the background, began to tell us all [...]