Reviews by Katrena

Katrena says "The Hungry Hummingbird Gives Interesing Information About Hummer" about The Hungry Hummingbird

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:02:10 GMT

The Hungry Hummingbird [2001, Millbrook Press, ISBN: 0-7613-1951-4], by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Gay W. Holland, is a 32-page children's book about hummingbirds.

The Story:

A hummingbird decides to find some food on a bright and sunny August morning, but he's not having much luck at first. He tries several plants:

daisies (bees like this pollen)
butterfly (colorful but not food for hummingbird)
trumpet vine & red honeysuckle (likes this food)
red lights on back of car (no way)
red hat (nope)
red head on sapsucker (no, but the sap was good in the hole he left in the tree, but hummingbirds cannot drill holes)
yellow jewelweed (good even if it was not red)
insects (tasty--I didn't know that hummingbirds ate these!)
store-bought feeder (good also)

This book also has information about "The Truth Behind the Story" with interesting facts such as bats and bears visiting feeders and "Attracting Hummingbirds" with information about how to make food and care for feeders with several...

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Katrena says "Pirates Don't Change Diapers is Funny Look at Babysitting" about Pirates Don't Change Diapers

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:00:44 GMT

Pirates Don't Change Diapers [2007, Harcourt, Inc., ISBN: 978-0-15-205353-6], by Melinda Long and illustrated by David Shannon, is a 40-page children's book about babysitting.

The Story:

Mom has to go to the store to buy some milk and Jeremy Jacob has strict orders to try not to bother his napping father and to keep his little sister happy if she wakes up from her nap. Jeremy was trying to figure out what to buy for his Mom's birthday with his meager funds, but then needed to turn his attention to his little sister. Amazingly, the baby awakens immediately after Mom leaves, and that's just when the group of pirates arrive.

If the pirates are planning to stay to look for treasure in the backyard, they are going to have to help babysit. They agree, but only after they realize that they aren't expected to sit on the wee one. Speaking of wee, her diaper needs to be changed, and the pirates seem to have used up all the diapers in practice as everything from hands to pets to heads are sporting...

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Katrena says "Colorful Peacocks is Informative and Has Interesting Pictures" about Colorful Peacocks

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:57:48 GMT

Colorful Peacocks [2007, Lerner Publications Company, ISBN - 13: 978-0-8225-5930-6], by Deborah Underwood, is a 32-page children's book about peacocks. This book is quite small, about 6" X 6" with a hard cover and paper pages.

The Story:

Colorful Peacocks is actually about peafowl (peacocks--males, peahens--females, and peachicks--babies) and includes quite a few pictures of these beautiful birds. I would have never thought of a peacock blending in with a tree, but a picture shows how the tail feathers actually do blend in.

This book has quite a few interesting facts that I didn't know. I thought it was interesting that peafowl might eat a snake and that peacocks don't get their train (long tail) feathers until they are three years old.

The back of the book has a map of Asia and asks where peacocks live, but the book doesn't seem to answer that question. Hmmm.... It also identifies the various parts of a peacock's body and also includes a glossary and websites.

My girls and I particularly...

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Katrena says "Minty is an Engaging Story of Harriet Tubman as 8-year-old" about Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:52:35 GMT

Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman [1996, Dial Books for Young Readers, ISBN: 0-8037-1888-8], by Alan Schroeder and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, is a 40-page children's fictional account of Harriet Tubman when she was 8 years old that is based on some factual information.

The Story:

Harriet Tubman is particularly fond of being a slave on the Brodas plantation, and the owner of the plantation seems to sense that. After Minty (from her "cradle" name of Araminta) spills cider on the table, she is punished by having to watch her beloved doll burn to ashes. She is then sent to be a field slave, and her parents warn Minty that she needs to "pat the lion" a before she "gets her head bit off" and sent down South.

Minty seems to enjoy the outdoors more, but the work is hard in the fields. When she is sent to tend some muskrat traps, she decides to set them free, only to discover that she is being watched so she tries to run and eventually is beaten badly. Her determination to run away only...

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Katrena says "Journey to the Haunted Planet Has Really Cool Holograms" about Journey to the Haunted Planet

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:45:13 GMT

Journey to the Haunted Planet: An Interstellar Adventure with 12 Cosmic Holograms [1995, HarperFestival, ISBN: 0-694-00812-5], by A.J. Wood and illustrated by Wayne Anderson, is a 20-page children's book.

The Story:

Professor Sponge decides to try out his homemade rocket, but a dog named Soap tends to cause all sorts of problems when he sneaks on board before lifting off. Although the professor claims there is no sign of life, some can't help but feel as if someone or something is watching them, so they decide that this strange planet is haunted. When Soap falls into a cavernous pit to find his bone, what will happen as the group discovers that there really is life on this planet?

My Viewpoint:

The best part of Journey to the Haunted Planet for me was the holograms. My kids were absolutely fascinated with these strange creatures that kept changing colors or directions or actions throughout the book. The story was a bit mediocre for me, but I was really impressed with the holograms. The...

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Katrena says "Spiders Book Has Awesome Spider Pictures!" about Spiders

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:41:44 GMT

Spiders [2003, Harper-Collins, ISBN: 0-06-028391-2], by Seymour Simon, is a quite informative book about spiders. Teachers or people who are interested in learning about spiders will be interested in this children's book that is easy to read and gives readers a unique and up-close look at a wide variety of spiders.

Here are a few interesting facts from Spiders:

There are about 35,000 different types of spiders.
One type of spider resembles bird droppings.
Spiders are related to ticks and mites.
It tells how to tell the difference between a spider and an insect (spider--8 legs & 2 body parts, insect--6 legs, 3 body parts, antennae)
Pedipalps are beside spider's jaws and are used as feelers and can hold prey.
All spiders can produce silk, which can be "three times stronger than a steel wire of the same thickness."
Jumping spiders may jump as far as 40 times the length of its own body.
"A black widow's bite is about 15 times more poisonous than that of a rattlesnake."
Some spiders spend a...

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Katrena says "Best Halloween Book Was Just Average For Me & My Kids" about Best Halloween Book

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:41:07 GMT

Best Halloween Book [1985, Troll Associates, ISBN: 0-8167-0373-6], by Pat Whitehead and illustrated by Stephanie Britt, is a 32-page Halloween-themed children's book.

The Story:

Best Halloween Book is actually an ABC book that follows a little girl named Annie on her Halloween adventure as she decides what she wants to wear for Halloween and then procedes to the pumpkin patch where she meets several scary surprises.

I think it's pretty challenging to write a story that flows well if you are going to flow with the letters of the alphabet. This one did a pretty good job of that, but there seemed to be a lot of focus on being scared in the middle until nearly the end of the book. The pictures aren't all that scary, but the book mentions that some of the characters are not only scared and frightened but terrified.

This book does incorporate several words that children may not know, like ogre and quivers. I always think it's fun to see what authors are going to do with letters like X and Z in...

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Katrena says "The Witch Casts a Spell--Story to Tune of The Farmer in the Dell" about The Witch Casts a Spell

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:30:37 GMT

The Witch Casts a Spell [2002, Dial Books for Young Readers--Penguin Putnam, ISBN: 0-8037-2646-5], by Suzanne Williams and illustrated by Barbara Olsen, is a 32-page children's book with a Halloween-themed song. All of the lyrics and the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell" are on the last page.

The Story

The witch casts a spell and all the other characters begin to come alive and play their part in this children's book. Each phrase is repeated a total of three times with "such sights are seen on Halloween" repeated on each stanza between the second and third phrase. The various characters include:

scarecrow (looks a bit different with a blue face, but cute)
goblins (look like kids with missing teeth)
mummy (always easy to pick out a mummy in the crowd--my daughter kept wanting to call this one the mommy though!)
vampire (was he serving blood or cherry drinks?)
goblins (the ghost with the ballcap is too cute)
band (my daughter was fascinated by the piano player with no head)
spooks (try to...

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Katrena says "Grandma and Me Has Pictures that My 2-year-old Loves" about Grandma and Me

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:27:17 GMT

Grandma and Me [1988, Little Simon, ISBN: 0-689-81270-1], by Neil Ricklen, is a 22-page children's board book with pictures of grandmothers and their grandchildren that look to be about 18 months to 2 years old. Each page or set of pages has a single word on it:

cooking (with a toy stove)
crying (but Grandma is comforting)
counting (Grandma is holding up 2 fingers and they have a ball and a cute crocheted turtle with them)
tying (shoes, of course!)
hugging (Grandma is hugging her grandchild but the little girl is hugging her baby doll too)
brushing (pearly whites)
rocking (in a bentwood rocker)
dancing (with a tape player in the background)
listening (they both have on headphones and funny expressions)
coloring (it looks like they are coloring on the floor, but I think they have paper on the floor--might want to mention that before the little one decides to try that out)
playing (with a toy)
reaching (towards each other)
clapping (both are)
tumbling (the little one looks like he's in the...

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Katrena says "High School Musical Twister Moves is Very Challenging" about Milton Bradley Disney High School Musical Twister Moves

Katrena — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:15:58 GMT

Milton Bradley Disney High School Musical Twister Moves is not your Twister game from years ago. My daughter received this as a birthday gift when she turned 8 and I was thinking spinner and big mat with colors. Wow--Twister has changed a lot.

How to play:

This game has two small mats, so it is designed for no more than two players at a time. A CD comes with it and a man and a woman call out various colors. It's important to notice who is calling what because you are supposed to step with one foot when the guy speaks and the other foot when the lady speaks. They also add a few other movements with hands and hops.

The CD has a short practice session at the beginning and then it moves quickly through lots of combination moves. It has four songs from the movie on it as well.

My Viewpoint:

Milton Bradley Disney High School Musical Twister Moves was VERY challenging for my 8-year-old and 5-year-old. They would have done much better with a spinner and a slower speed. If the CD had been a DVD...

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Katrena says "The Soup Bone Is a Bit Strange and Unusual but Fun for Halloween" about The Soup Bone

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:25:50 GMT

The Soup Bone [1990, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, ISBN: 0-15-277255-3], by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Margot Tomes, is a 32-page children's book with a Halloween theme.

The Story

The Soup Bone begins with a little old lady who lives alone in a house that is too far away for trick-or-treaters to venture out to, so the lady decides to make herself some soup because she is lonely and hungry. She has all the good fixings for soup except for a bone, but she cannot seem to find a soup bone anywhere in the house. She begins to look outside for a bone and finally finds one partially buried only to discover that it is part of a scary skeleton, who promptly chases her up a tree and then decides to go into her house!

The little old lady seems pretty savvy as she decides to give the skeleton a bit of a scare as she dresses up in a dog costume. The skeleton searches for a suitable hiding place and ends up under the bed. The woman finally agrees not to scare the skeleton if he won't scare her, and...

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Katrena says "Frankie Stein is Cute Halloween Book about Frank N. Stein's Son" about Lola M. Schaefer - Frankie Stein

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:58:43 GMT

Frankie Stein [2007, Marshall Cavendish Children, ISBN: 987-0-7614-5358-1], by Lola M. Schaefer and illustrated by Kevan Atteberry, is a 32-page children's book with a Halloween theme.

The Story

A little boy named Frankie Stein is born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank N. Stein, but they are a bit surprised that he looks so unusual. He looks like a kid rather than his "scary" relatives, so they decide to fix his blond hair, white teeth, smooth skin, and other "flaws." Although they had him looking more like a Stein, Frankie still didn't quite have the actions down, so his parents decided to give him a few lessons in how to act and to give him more inspiration by showing him his family tree.

Frankie begins to try to live up to his family's name. He really does. Then he decides to show them his own kind of scariness with a grand entrance. How will his parents react?

Most pages have several sentences with light font on dark backgrounds and dark font on light backgrounds. The pictures are fun and colorful...

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Katrena says "Brooms are for Flying! is Simple, Short, Fun Halloween Book" about Brooms are for Flying!

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:39:18 GMT

Brooms are for Flying! [2000, Henry Holt and Company, ISBN: 0-8050-6410-9], by Michael Rex, is a 32-page children's picture book with a Halloween theme.

The Story

A little girl dressed in a witch costume encourages everyone to follow her throughout the book. Each pair of pages talks about a different body part or items and what it can do related to Halloween, including:

legs
feet
eyes
arms
wings
tails
bones
capes
mouths
tummies
masks

The end features a surprise as the kids take off their masks!

Reading the Story

I have a 5-year-old that is learning to read and she was thrilled to read this entire book. Each page only has about four words, so it is a quick read. Kids who are just beginning to read will need some help with some of the words, but there are some patterns, such as words ending in -ing that my child began to pick up on as she read.

This can encourage kids to be active as they can act out the various activities with the story. The illustrations mainly show kids dressed for Halloween...

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Katrena says "Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything--Fun Sequencing!" about The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:22:34 GMT

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything [1986, HarperCollins, ISBN: 0-690-04584-0], by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd is a 32-page children's picture book with a scarecrow theme that is particularly well-suited for Halloween.

The Story

An old lady is taking a walk through the woods and meets up with various items:

two shoes
a pair of pants
a shirt
two gloves
a hat
a scary pumpkin head

Each item does something or makes a noise (clomp, clap, wiggle, etc.) and the lady tells it to get out of the way and informs the item that she's not scared (but she picks up her walking pace as she continues through the dark woods). Each item begins to follow her home so that at the end, she has quite a parade behind her. She finally reaches her house and catches her breath in her rocking chair in her quiet house.

But wait...there's a knock at the door and guess what's on the other side. The old woman feels a bit sorry for the items whose main goal was to scare her and she decides...

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Katrena says "Dollar General Wooden Varied Animal Puzzle Has Lasted Over Years" about Dollar General Wooden Varied Animal Puzzle

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:12:11 GMT

The Dollar General Wooden Varied Animal Puzzle has nine puzzle pieces with a varied animal theme. The animals featured have at least one adult and at least one baby animal on each piece, including:

penguins
koala bears
dolphins
cate
ducks
elephants
dogs
zebras
panda bears

My 2-year-old has recently become very interested in working puzzles, and this thick puzzle with knobs on top of the pieces is great for her because she can pick up and place these pieces much easier. The puzzle has an interesting mix of animals--many of them are zoo animals, but several are domesticated. It might have been more helpful to have made one with only zoo animals or one of only domesticated animals.

When you lift each piece, it has a matching picture underneath with the name of the animal printed on the base. My 5-year-old is starting to read, so she really likes to try to read the different animals names.

We have had this puzzle for several years, and it has survived intact and looking like new. All of the...

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Katrena says "Dollar General Wooden Farm Animal Puzzle--Great for 2-year-old" about Dollar General Wooden Farm Animal Puzzle

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:57:32 GMT

The Dollar General Wooden Farm Animal Puzzle is a thick wooden puzzle with a knob on each piece. It has eight puzzle pieces in it, including:

a black and white cow
a brown horse
a pink pig
a multi-colored duck (one of my daughter's favorites at the moment)
a white sheep
a multi-colored rooster
a beige dog with a bone
a farmer on a tractor pulling two kids in a wagon behind it

This puzzle was only about $2.00 at Dollar General, and it is sturdy and has survived my house for a few years now. The knobs are all intact, and the pictures are still on the puzzle. The pieces fit nicely into the puzzle and sit flush with the base piece.

It is particularly well-suited for small children because it has a matching picture of each piece under the puzzle piece. My 5-year-old is learning to read and enjoys reading the name of each animal that is also printed on the base under each puzzle piece. The matching pictures really help the very young ones when they are first learning to work a puzzle.

The knobs...

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Katrena says "Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Game is a Favorite at Our House" about Pressman Toys The Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Game

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:50:47 GMT

Pressman Toys The Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Game has been a wonderful addition to our family's game collection. This is a board game designed for up to four players and is recommended for people over the age of three, but my 5-year-old struggled a bit in playing this game when she was a 4-year-old.

Set Up

This game has a board that unfolds, a spinner, and cards that need to be placed in a stack facing down. There are 16 cards of which 4 make a circle, including:

ruby slippers
diploma
heart
badge of courage

Players can choose one of four characters, which are placed on small stands:

Dorothy (definitely my girls' top pick)
Scarecrow
Tin Man
Cowardly Lion (my personal favorite because I get to say "I'm Scaaarrrred" throughout the game!)

How to play

Players take turns drawing a motion card that will direct the player to move forward 1-4 spaces. A few cards have a picture of Glinda (the good witch), and the player doesn't move but gets the chance to spin the spinner for a chance to get...

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Katrena says "Connect 4 is Fun and Educational" about Milton Bradley Connect 4

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:59:26 GMT

Milton Bradley's Connect 4 game was a toy that was around when I was little. Let's just say it has been around for a while. My sister, CyndiA bought this for one of my daughters as a gift--she's great at picking out awesome gifts for the kids and me.

Assembly

Connect 4 doesn't have numerous pieces to assemble. It has a grid with two end supports with a piece that slides onto the bottom of the grid. The grid has grooves that make assembly pretty simple. The game also comes with instructions with decent pictures for those who are assembly challenged.

How to Play Connect 4

This game is designed for two players-one with red checkers and one with black checkers. (The box says it is for people 7 and older, but my 5-year-old plays this game more than anyone--she'll just play it by herself and make patterns or try to "beat" herself.)

The first player places a checker in one of the seven slots. Then the next player chooses a slot in which to place his/her checker. The first player to get four checkers...

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Katrena says "Dollar Tree Zippered Cloth Bag Holds My Camera & a Baby Diaper!" about Dollar Tree Zippered Cloth Bag

Katrena — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:29:14 GMT

This Dollar Tree zippered cloth bag is about the size of my hand and is lined with water resistant material on the inside. It has a strap for my wrist, and it has a cute, fun, and colorful design on the outside.

I believe this zippered bag is probably marketed toward carrying cosmetics, but I've used mine for a couple of years as a great bag for my digital camera. My camera did not come with a bag, and I've read that some people have problems with their cameras because their camera bag was too tight or that it didn't keep sand or water out. This bag has plenty of room for storing my Casio digital camera and a clean diaper. Always on the go, I've found this small bag to be a lifesaver.

The only negative thing I would say about the bag is that the wrist strap began to unravel just a bit, but I just cut off the loose strings and am hoping that there won't be more to follow. Otherwise, I would have given this bag 5 stars.

My Viewpoint:

I think this Dollar Tree zippered cloth bag has been a...

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Katrena says "Get2Human Helps People Avoid Phone Trees & Speak with Person" about Get2Human Web Site

Katrena — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:16:22 GMT

Get2Human Web Site provides some great information for people who do not like to be bothered with a phone tree. I don't mind automated phone services that allow me to pay bills or give me directions to their store, etc., but there are times when I need to speak to a real person on the phone and the automated systems are just irritating instead of helpful. Some phone trees are set up well in which they have an early option to speak with a customer representative, but some seem to never have that option.

Get2Human Web Site is nicely organized and easy to read because the businesses are listed alphabetically. Here's what else it lists on the chart:

customer star rating (this is related to how user friendly their phone tree is)
what buttons to push in order to get to a real person when calling that business
customer service phone number
a newly added communications column where users can rate how easy the live people are to actually understand

I decided to send Walt Tetschner, the project...

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