Category: Books-DVDs

Personalized books are a great way to encourage young children to read. Lost My Name makes unique personalized books for boys and girls that tell the story of a child who wakes up to realize that his or her name has gone missing.

The child goes on an adventure to gather the letters of the name. Different characters are assigned to each letter, creating a unique story for every child.

For example, a child with the name Amber would visit an aardvark, mermaid, bear, elephant, and a robot before regaining the letters that are needed to spell her name. A boy with the name Logan would visit a lion, ostrich, giant, aardvark, and nabarlek before his journey was complete.

If you go to the Lost My Name website, you can get a full preview of what your child’s book would look like by typing in your child’s name and selecting a boy or girl’s book. I tried a few different name combinations as a test and I thought every name ended up with a memorable story for the child.

Lost My Name personalized books are $27.99 with free shipping. You can add gift wrapping and a personal dedication for $4. If you want to order more than one book, there is a 5% discount for multiple purchases.

Lost My Name books are listed as being suitable for children ages two to six, although the site says they are most likely to appeal to a child who is just learning how to spell his or her name.

What do you think of this idea? Would your child enjoy a personalized Lost My Name book?

Photo credit: Lost My Name

Sleep’n Sync is a revolutionary, patent-pending audio program that helps children acquire the skills they need to live optimistic, successful lives.

Using engineered background soundtracks with binaural beats, Sleep’n Sync synchronizes a child’s brain waves, creating greater receptiveness to targeted messages while the child is asleep.

There are Sleep’n Sync programs targeted to bullying, dealing with anger, reading comprehension, flexibility, and test taking skills. You are supposed to use just one program at a time, so you should pick the issue of most concern if your child is struggling with more than one problem.

Each program includes an audio track that is designed to be played for the child on a daily basis for six weeks as well as evaluation forms to track and measure progress, caregiver instructions, and a bonus binaural beats musical track.

The programs should only be played while your child is sleeping and you should discuss the purpose of the program with your child before you begin the six week regimen.

Sleep’n Sync was founded by Deborah Hamui in February of 2010. Sleep’n Sync programs are currently available on the company website, as well as through iTunes and Amazon. At a price point of $20 for a download and CD/book for $36, they are designed to be effective and affordable.

I have not personally tried Sleep’n Sync because the issues they cover are not things that my son struggles with. However, I would consider a program like this if my child was struggling since it is non-invasive with no potential for harmful side effects.

Photo credit: Sleep’n Sync

If you often go out to eat with friends and are terrible at math, figuring out an appropriate tip for your server can be a challenge. Gratuity aims to make this task a bit easier by letting you figure out the correct tip amount based on the size of your bill and the quality of service you received.

Recommended gratuities for each service were put together using online/offline census data, but the default settings can be customized if you wish. In addition to offering suggested tips for restaurant meals, Gratuity also has recommend tip amounts for salons, taxis, and other common everyday services.

As their slogan says, “Gratuity does the math so you don’t have to.”

Gratuity is designed to be fast and easy to use, with an intuitive interface that lets you calculate the appropriate tip and move on with the rest of your day.

Gratuity was created by Carl Banks Jr, the son of two time Superbowl NFL champion Carl Banks, to make everyday activities effortless. The app is available free of charge in the iTunes App Store. It requires iOS 7.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Although my father would argue that a competent adult should be able to figure out these calculations in his or her head, doing math in a crowded restaurant with a fidgety child at my side is not my strong suit. I’m firmly in support of any free technology that makes the modern mom’s life a little bit easier!

Photo credit: Gratuity

Encouraging children to write their own stories is an excellent way to develop important literacy skills.

To make story writing fun for aspiring authors, eeBoo has created a series of Write Me a Story books that contain 50 pages of wide ruled writing paper and 96 thematic stickers to illustrate your child’s story. The books have a cloth spine and perforated pages, so they make cute keepsakes of your child’s creativity when they are finished.

EeBoo’s Write Me a Story books are recommended for children ages five and up. However, if you wanted to do this activity with a younger child, you could simply write down the story your child tells you and let your child select the stickers or draw pictures to illustrate the tale.

Telling me stories based on the characters in his sticker book was one of my son’s favorite activities as a toddler. He’s nine now, but he still enjoys looking at some of his earlier literary masterpieces and commenting on what he would do differently if he was writing the same story now.

The Write Me a Story books are available on the eeBoo website for $7.99. In addition to the Circus Animals title featured in this post, they also have Mystery in the Forest, Fairytale Mix-up, and Little Robot’s Mission stories.

What do you think of this idea? Does this look like a product your child would enjoy?

Photo credit: eeBoo

The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism is Kristine Barnett’s memoir detailing her experience as the mother of Jacob, a 15-year-old autistic savant who has received widespread media attention as a mathematician and astrophysicist on track to receive his PhD by the end of the year.

Jacob was diagnosed with autism at age 2. Kristine pulled him out of a formal preschool program when the instructor told her not to bring the alphabet flash cards he loved because it was unlikely Jacob would ever be able to read. Kristine began educating Jacob at home, with the goal of getting him ready to join a mainstream kindergarten.

Along the way, Kristine became an inspiration for other parents of children with autism. Her belief that every child has special talents made it possible for her to help the kids achieve more than anyone had thought possible.

She encouraged kids to explore interests in baking, architecture, storytelling, or whatever else happened to catch their eye-believing that finding a true passion would inspire them to master more concrete skills like naming colors or making eye contact while having a conversation with someone.

She states that her philosophy was inspired by her own childhood, pointing to the example of her sister who was always encouraged to excel in art even though she wasn’t what one would traditionally call a good student.

Thanks to Kristine’s hard work, Jacob was able to join a mainstream kindergarten and did quite well in public school for a few years. However, Kristine and her husband soon discovered that a public school couldn’t keep up with their son’s quest for knowledge.

Jacob ended up enrolling into college at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, skipping 7 grades and taking freshman level classes at just 12 years old. Kristine and her husband were understandably worried about how Jacob would adjust to the change, but soon found out many people he encountered didn’t even realize he had autism because their unorthodox therapies had been so successful at helping Jacob develop his social skills.

I found the number of obstacles the family encountered along their journey almost unbelievable.

After Jacob was diagnosed with autism, they had another son with a condition that caused serious physical delays. Kristine was diagnosed with lupus, Jacob’s first real friend passed away in a tragic accident, her husband lost his job, and they went through a period of time where they were eating ramen on a pretty regular basis.

It seemed like the family caught one bad break after another, yet they somehow made it through together. If nothing else, Kristine’s story shows that anything is possible with a positive attitude.

Photo credit: Amazon

Gillian Flynn may be best known as the author of Gone Girl, but her novel Dark Places is just as compelling.

Dark Places is set in a tiny Kansas farming town. Libby Day is the only surviving witness of a massacre that claimed the lives of her mother and her two sisters. Her brother Ben was convicted based on her testimony, but many people think that seven-year-old Libby was coached into saying what the prosecutors wanted to hear.

Libby has mostly kept to herself since the killings, but is coaxed into meeting with members of the Kill Club when she finds herself in desperate need of cash. The Kill Club considers themselves to be amateur detectives and they offer to pay Libby for information regarding the case.

The more Libby works with the group, the more she starts to doubt her memories of that dreadful night. In her quest for answers, she visits Ben in prison for the first time and seeks out the alcoholic father who abandoned the family shortly before the killings occurred.

For me, Gone Girl started off slow and picked up as it went along. Dark Places kept my attention all the way through. The ending is a little hard to believe, but it certainly qualifies as an interesting plot twist.

A movie adaptation of Dark Places starring Charlize Theron as Libby Day will be released in theaters on September 5, followed by a film adaptation of Gone Girl on October 3. Both films are predicted to be hits, so you’ll want to start reading ASAP so you don’t miss out on any of the action.

Photo credit: Amazon

The Kid Who Went to the Moon tells the story of James Gibson, a 12-year-old boy who is trying to raise $2 million to get NASA to send him to the moon. James has been obsessed with space travel for as long as he can remember and it is his biggest dream to be able to visit the moon.

Since the average 12-year-old does not have a well paid job on Wall Street, James earns the money by creating viral videos, asking for donations on TV, and competing in a poetry and baseball contest with a massive cash prize. Despite the doubts of his classmates, he manages to accomplish his goal of becoming the youngest kid in space.

Although the story is certainly cute on its own, the remarkable part of this book is that it was written by a young author. Walter Levin is 11 years old. In addition to being a published author, Walter is also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a unicyclist, and a rock drummer.

My nine-year-old son enjoyed The Kid Who Went to the Moon because both the plot of the story and the author’s background served as proof that hard work and persistence can help you achieve your dreams, even when others think they are impossible.

There is no recommended reading level for this book, but I think it should be appropriate for most second to fourth graders. The story moves along at a fast pace, so it’s a good choice for kids who are somewhat reluctant readers.

Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Photo credit: Amazon

Preventing summer learning loss can be challenging, but Brain Quest workbooks can help your child’s mind stay sharp during the summer months.

As far as workbooks go, this is one of the best series I’ve seen. I like how it covers a bunch of different subject areas in one convenient book. The Brain Quest fourth grade workbook I purchased for my son includes:

• Spelling and Vocabulary
• Language Arts
• Reading and Writing
• Math Skills and Word Problems
• Addition and Subtraction
• Multiplication and Division
• Fractions and Decimals
• Geometry and Measurement
• Probability and Data
• Social Studies
• Science

The worksheets themselves are colorful and designed to be engaging for your child. My son is not a big fan of worksheets, but he enjoys this workbook.

I thought the writing activities were excellent. There is a page that asks your child to write a newspaper article based on a set of facts about Valdez the Vampire and a section that guides your child through the process of researching and writing a factual report about the topic of his or her choice.

In the Social Studies section, there are activities that involve researching states online or in an encyclopedia and writing about key historical events.

The back of the book includes a section with cards you can cut out to make a Brain Quest Mini Deck that your child can use to practice key skills on the go. There are also reward stickers, a certificate you can use to mark your child’s progress through the book, and a pull out world map to help with geography.

Photo credit: Amazon

I firmly believe that crafting can be a great way to reduce stress, which is why I was immediately attracted to the idea of Crafting Calm. Written by Maggie Oman Shannon, this DIY guide showcases projects designed to help you achieve serenity and satisfaction.

Even if you can barely draw a smiley face, this book will convince you to find joy from living the handmade life.

There are no photos of the finished projects, so this is not the craft book for you if you’re looking for visual inspiration or something easily recreated using a specific list of supplies. The suggestions are very general, such as a quick rundown of the various properties of essential oils and a short description of how to make bath salts for relaxing using the oils of your choice.

The focus of Crafting Calm is more on crafting as a therapeutic pursuit. The author is more concerned with reducing your stress level, helping you seek comfort, and encouraging you to connect with others than providing the sort of detailed “how to” guide that most other craft books provide.

If writing is your thing, there are inspirational quotes and journaling prompts scattered throughout the book to encourage you to reflect on your challenges, goals, and dreams.

Crafting Calm’s project suggestions are designed to be completed at a low or intermediate skill level, so you don’t need to be an expert crafter to create something you’d be happy to share.

In fact, I think many of these projects would work well for making with your children if you need a way to encourage them to slow down and improve their focus. I know making a tabletop Zen garden or painted prayer stones would be appealing activities for my 9-year-old son.

Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Photo credit: Barnes & Noble