Education | Page 18 of 40

Kid Beowulf, The Song of Roland makes you want to read epic poetry, really

I never read Beowulf. The only thing I know about that book is that it’s a long poem that does not involve a wolf. With that in mind it’s all the more ironic that I really enjoyed Kid Beowulf, The Song of Roland by Alexis E. Fajardo. Much like its namesake there is not a wolf in the graphic novel and there is no theme song for Roland. Perhaps it’s because of-or in spite of these things that the book managed to do a difficult thing; it made me care about and want to read more about European history around the time of the crusades.

It even feels weird typing that. Kid Beowulf, The Song of Roland is a graphic novel that is based on the French poem of the same name. It centers on a battle that took place in 778 with King Charlemagne’s best warrior, Roland, plus some Christian armies, Saracens (Muslims), family and betrayal. This is potentially complex subject matter with a cast of dozens that are spread out over an entire country. It’s a big scale story with equal parts legend, lore and adventure where it’s just as likely that you’ll encounter a giant as you will a traitorous family member.

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Stinky Spike, early chapter books that boys will sniff out from the pack

We recently reviewed Agnes and Clarabelle, the first books in the Read & Bloom book series from Bloomsbury. They’re early chapter books with basic vocabulary and big illustrations to bring in young readers so that they want to read the books by themselves. That particular series will be more attractive to young girls. Stinky Spike is the next series of books in the Read & Bloom lineup and will be of interest to boys more than girls.

Stinky Spike is not exclusively for boys. I’ll approximate it as an 80/20 boy to girl preference. The first book is Stinky Spike, The Pirate Dog. In this one Spike is a dog that lives by the sea in a busy port with all manner of boats. Spike is known for his nose and his ability to correctly identify (usually horrible) smells. One day while sniffing around the docks he slips and is swept out to sea where he meets up with a band of pirates.

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Toilet paper rolls fly high at Launch Party for National Geographic Kids

One thing that most kids do well is collect things. Even our 5 year old has little stacks of ‘prizes’ that pop up around his room like lemmings. Kids are also great at wanting to be the greatest at things. National Geographic Kids and Toyota Highlander are teaming up to set a Guinness World Record that you-and your kids can be a part of.

To make things even cooler this Guinness World Record attempt allows kids to collect something that you’re already using in your house, toilet paper rolls! National Geographic Kids wants to make the world’s largest toilet-paper-roll sculpture and they need your help to make it happen. To make things more symmetrical to the shape of a toilet-paper-roll, the sculpture will be in the shape of a rocket.

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BIG National Geographic Kids book #giveaway #NatGeoKids

National Geographic Kids is one of the largest publishers of kid books on the market. Not only that, but their style, size, reputation and quality are the sort that families immediately recognize and go to as a fun source for kids of all ages. This is a BIG giveaway for Ultimate Ocean-Pedia and How Things Work from National Geographic Kids, as well as, Tales From The Arabian Nights, a National Geographic book of fables.

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The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring, a true Hollywood Slinky story

Our 5YO loves Slinky. Every time he gets the chance to enter a ‘prize bag’ where he gets to choose something he’ll always go for the Slinky. Of course, this isn’t the real metal Slinky that works, these are the cheap plastic versions that don’t really work but allow him to lasso other toys. The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring is the true story of how inventor Richard James’ accidental idea sprang into a toy that would last for generations.

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Big Bear, Small Mouse-a great pair make opposites fun

Chocolate and peanut butter. Starsky and Hutch. Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. There are some things that work together, teams whose end results are so effective, charming or tasty that you look forward to enjoying them. Big Bear, Small Mouse is like that. This is from the Bear series of books by Wilson and Chapman.

We’ve been fans of this series for years and Bear Snores On is one of the classic board books that your toddler needs to own. There are more from the Bear series of books in the house too. Fans of the series will find themselves flip flopping as to what they like most about them. Is it the carefree happiness of the artwork by Jane Chapman? It could be the timing and caliber of the words by Karma Wilson.

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National Geographic Kids book bundle giveaway

We’re a National Geographic Kids Insider and received a copy of these for our use. All thoughts are our own. Our kids love some Nat Geo Kids. Even if we weren’t a National Geographic Kids Insider they’d still love these books, pester us to get them and spend hours looking through the images and graphics in each book. There are 4 new National Geographic Kids books out that will entertain ages 9 and up for hours. National Geographic Kids Almanac 2017, National Parks Guide U.S.A., famous FAILS!, and Weird but True! 8 are all different, yet retain the thread that makes them distinctively National Geographic.

“Some dog’s paws smell like corn chips. The South Pole is the sunniest place on Earth”, our son said from the back seat. During the trip to the grocery store he was that blond kid in Jerry McGuire. The only thing he didn’t tell me was how much a human brain weighed. Weird but True! 8 is one of those essential bathroom reads with large font factoids on each page. It also has vocabulary that an elementary school student can read by themselves.

National Geographic Kids book bundle giveaway

Open up National Parks Guide U.S.A.at your discretion because you will immediately discover a severe case of wander lust. This is a detailed look at the National Parks all over the U.S.A., complete with hundreds of photos, maps, insider tips and more. This is the kid’s version so it looks at things from their perspective, what areas are fun to explore, what sorts of adventures there are to do, games, history and more.

The world’s tallest empty building is in North Korea. The flying car, movie goofs and bungled buildings are things that were mistakes, but might have led people to greater success. Famous FAILS! is a book of failure. Some failure added up to better things, while others were just wrong from the get go. Either way, kids 9 and up will love reading about these inventions, their original intention and what else they accomplished. As with all National Geographic books the photographs in here are top notch.

Page for page the National Geographic Kids Almanac 2017 has the most information, images and fun content of any book we’ve received this year. Hundreds upon hundreds of images, quizzes, maps and more make up this book that has information on everything about everything. From animals, ecology, science, geography and more there is something in the book for any kid. At the price of $14.99 it’s a virtual steal too.

DC Super Heroes Little Library is new-parent geek mandatory

My wife and I are done having babies. One thing that I still read-and review on the site are some good board books. The DC Superheroes Little Library is a collection of 10 board books from the DC Universe all about things that pre-k kids through 2^nd grade need to learn. It fills a huge void in board books and is almost enough to make me want to have another baby.

I don’t regret the board books that our kids read. Brown Bear and Boynton Books are fabulous and we’re saving those for the grandkids. And to be clear, Downtown Bookworks has been producing these DC board books for a while. The DC Super Heroes Little Library simply collects all ten previously released books at a substantial discount. The individual board books cost anywhere between $7-$10. The DC Super Heroes Little Library costs $30 online, more in some other place, but why pay more?

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