REVIEW of Habatica.com and Chores

For years and years, I've hunted for ways to help my kids and myself keep track of CHORES .....

I would try all kinds of systems, to no avail ..

FIRST, my oldest child was easily bored.  Story is an ENFP with ADHD and she would get super excited, work the program like crazy for a few days, or a few weeks, and then realize that she was doing chores ... UGH ... and quit, leaving her chores to pile up undone or completed by mom or Song.  It did not help that people were constantly chiding me about grounding her because they felt that she had too much school and too many chores, obviously because she was smart and could be a hard worker when she chose to be.  Rewards and Punishment were equally ineffective.  

SECOND, the ref was seldom on board with anything that I did.  He worked 40+ hours a week and prefers to have his weekends or days off to rest and recuperate as much as possible.   The kids and school and the house were and still are my job.  Complicating matters is the problem that he is the ONLY driver in the house.

THIRD, to often the kids did not receive their rewards that they earned ... on the other hand, punishments were also often overlooked, dismissed, or downsized.   And that was often my fault for caving into empty promises or relatives being "do-gooders" or just being exhausted.    Story once worked super hard for a year to earn a trip to the North Pole.  Just as she earned it, the Ref lost his job, then got a job in another city, we packed, put the house up for sale, and moved ... and she never got her reward.  The North Pole was only 30 - 40 minutes away, we probably could have afforded it before we left that city, and the Ref could have taken her alone ... but he never "had time" from March to July ... .  Such was the fate of many rewards earned.  Substitutions were rare and a long time in coming.

But it was hard to set up a system, and see it crumble within a few weeks to the point that only Song and I were on board.  Especially when coming up with rewards costs real money.  I needed something that rewarded without my having to come up with money and time to buy it.

Then about 2 years ago, I tripped on Habitica.com ... at the time, we were using OUR HOME to track chores and rewards, but it was slow and hard to keep track of for me.  I dilly-dallied around with Habitica for a few months, signed up, dilly-dallied around some more.   Until Scholar saw the website and begged to try it for weeks.   Sure, why not.

Within 2 weeks, the whole family was signed up (except the Ref) and we joined a couple of other groups of kids/young adults to form a group that worked together.   And the kids thrived.   

I later discovered that kids are supposed to be 13 to join, or parents need to send in a written permission to use the site.  It was easy to do.

So what is so great?

First, you can work with others.  Groups of 8 - 16 work pretty good.

Second, you can add rewards of your own right along with what the "game" offers.  You earn gold and buy equipment and pets eggs to hatch.  You get to cast spells.  And there is frequently new content and contests.  This keeps it exciting (and cheap).   http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Pets

Third, It is pretty easy to set up, tweak, and check off.   And lends itself to a game like feel as you fight battles, change your equipment/ costumes, and raise your pets into mounts.  As a group, we have costume challenges, and it is a lot of fun to see what we all come up with as the game progresses.

Fourth, we have to work together to succeed.   If you do your tasks, you get rewarded.  But if you don't, you lose your health.  If you are on a quest with your group, this hurts everyone!

As you reach level 10, you are able to choose from one of four workers.  

http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Class_System

Everyone starts as a Warrior.  The warrior is the only type with 3 ways to help others.   There is also a Mage, a Healer, and a Rogue, who only helps others in 1 way.   There are 4 qualities to increase, and each type has 2 of them.

At level 10, you get to choose what type you want to play the game being.  You work your way up to level 100, which takes most people 6 months to a year, although, with enough chores set to high, you can reach that goal much faster.   Then at level 100, you earn the Orb of Rebirth and you can start all over at level 1 and choose a new path.

Each of the types has their own equipment to earn, and 4 times a year at the equinox and solstice, they run special equipment and pets that change every year.   http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Equipment

There are 3 ways to classify your chores and goals.

Habits can be checked off multiple times a day and set up to be positive or negative. 

http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Habits

Dailies are checked off once a day, and can be repeated at intervals, or on specific days.  Not completing them will hurt you.   http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Dailies

To-Dos are One Time.  You put it on and get lots of points when you check it off.  If you wait too long to check it off, it will cause your habits and dailies to worth less and less as time goes on.     http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/To-Dos

We ran the first year without a subscription.  Although 1 of our group did purchase a subscription, and a second joined the wiki editing and other challenges to earn gems.  But earlier this year, the Ref allowed me to get a year subscription so that I can give the kids gems for extra work in school and chores.  (Do NOT ask for gems online, it will get your chatting privileges revoked!)   So what I do ... I set up a contest, Math, and tell them that the one who makes the most progress in Kahns gets 2 gems.  That will buy them a magic potion for a special pet, and during the 4 galas, they can buy old specialty equipment.  Or they can save them up for backgrounds or special sets of hair or colored skin.   

Having gems is a whole lot more fun than playing without the gems.

Cautions:   the game is not really designed for younger kids.   So you have to keep them monitored to make sure they are not just checking things off.   They keep the game pretty clean, but many of the group are left-leaners and can be obvious about it.   We just don't use the guilds and have not run into problems.   

Ads are often for other games and websites, and some are not child-friendly, especially in the wiki areas.  I have only had problems with Scholar with the wiki.  But now that he is limited to 30 minutes a week on the wiki pages, he only looks at the information he wants to know.  

 Also, some will object to the magic feel of the game.

The Habitica Chore game can be found on several platforms, my kids use their tablets as well as the computer to keep up with their tasks.

Review for Garmin VivoActive HR

The Ref was intrigued by my desire for a fitness watch ... so much so, that he started looking at what they did.

After a few hours, he gave me a must have shopping list and told me to find one that he would like.   Things like, picks up his email and text messages, water proof, Heart monitor, accurate data ....

I went to work pulling up reviews and promises and ads and youtube videos ... most of the watches that fit the bill were over $300.  Then I tripped on ads for a brand new, it will be released in 5 days, watch ... the Garmin VivoActive HR.   The day it came out - a few days into May, the Ref went by Best Buy and came home with his new watch.



He even wrote his own review - http://zfwfe.blogspot.com/2016/05/garmin-vivoactive-hr-review.html


I think it was the golf part that put it over the top, any excuse to go play golf will work.

Of course, now he has owned the watch for over 7 months.  Overall, he's been rather pleased with it.   It has had several major updates, which have fixed many of the glitches and added several new abilities.

Overall, he really likes it.  Since he works Fast Food, it gives him a connection to home without having to slow down and look at his cell phone.  So if there is an emergency, I can text him with a quick message, and he knows it's an emergency even in the middle of a rush.  On the other hand, I can notice we are out of potatoes, and text him "Cozi" and he knows to check the shopping list before heading home and never misses a beat serving food.  He really likes that.

He loves having the data on his wrist instead of having to look at his cell phone.   Not all of it is on his wrist, but a significant amount more than the rest of us have.

He's not sure the steps are accurate.  It is not unusual for all of us to go for a walk, and his match us in distance, but significantly fewer steps.  Of course, he's got much longer of a stride than any of the rest of us, but even accounting for that, he always seems low.  At one point, he had a step pedometer, and the numbers on it were always higher.  He notices a higher number when driving on bumpy roads, and almost no steps counted when shopping (pushing the buggy) and carrying items such as from the storage room at work.   But it gives a pretty good ball park.

He seems to really get a boost from the group challenges, but gets frustrated when somebody doesn't sync for 4 - 5 days and then boom, pushes to the top minutes before Midnight giving nobody a chance to catch up.   He has commented that he likes the way Fitbit allows challenges among friends and family just a bit better, sometimes.

He loves competing with his kids.  Everyone in the house has a Garmin, except Mom.  And they are frequently comparing steps.  This has done wonders for getting interaction between Dad and kids - that common ground.   I have especially loved the outings for walks, as he's passing on the track skills his own father taught him.  We've done a few races, but with Reffing season and the job, we've been unable to make many races this fall and winter.

He does not like the move bar.  Sometimes he's stuck in a spot at work that does not allow a lot of foot movement, he can't just get out and go.  Other times he gets home late and sleeps until Noonish, and he's not able to clear that move bar for the rest of the day.   Sometimes he succeeds in turning off the move bar, but it doesn't seem to stay that way.
Part of the problem is that most of the fitness watches ask for a specific time that you have target sleep, but his target time is quite erratic, sometimes he sleeps 10pm - 4am, and sometimes 3am - Noon, and frequently he naps, but it doesn't catch the naps.  The fitbit sleep program is far better at catching naps and erratic sleeping schedule.  And my fitbit rarely mistakes charging before or after sleep as sleep time.  Where the Garmin program is better is that it shows better movement graphs during sleep time.

After 7 months, he has managed to not kill it or lose it.  Problems that seem to plague Fitness/ Activity Watch owners.  So that alone is a huge thumbs up.   He has lost the charging cord many times, but thankfully he's always found it again.



Garmin frequently upgrades the watches program, so ever so often there are new features, the features begin working better, and bugs disappear.  They seem to answer their users fairly quickly.  And the ref said that there is a program available to write your own mini routines, though I don't think he's had time to take advantage of it.

FitBit Charge HR - Product Review

After doing a lot of research into fitness watches, I happened upon the Fitbit Charge HR.  My younger sister purchased one in February 2016, and many of her friends had Fitbits as well.

It seemed to be a sturdy watch that was helping my sister move around more during the day.

So, for Mother's Day 2016, the Ref bought both of us Fitness Watches.  Totally different ones.

I got a size Large Plum Fitbit Charge HR for $129. 

You can now get them for much cheaper as they have recently introduced the next generation of watches.



I've used my Fitbit Charge HR for 7 months straight, as well as many of the Smart Phone app features.  I use an Android, and my sister an iPhone.  Recently, an upgrade has made both programs nearly identical.

The first thing I did after purchasing my Fitbit, was to purchase a silicone cover for it - which I do not consider to be a wise choice.   You can read the review here - https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2KTK89GM8FAQ9




While I do not like the watch cover I purchased, I do like the protection that is has given the overall mechanism, as I have now met several former Fitbit Charge owners who had their watches come apart or the buttons damaged.  The cover does over some protection from dirt and water and getting tugged and bumped.  ...  There are now many other choices, but they will not fit the Charge 2.



What do I like about my Fitbit?

First, it showed me just how sedentary I actually was during my day.  I expected it to show that I was moving around more, but I was struggling to reach 4000 steps, and rarely got more than a few of the movement dots.  Also, a short 150 yards walk uphill on our driveway left me breathless and my heart racing well over 140 bpm.  

I used the Smartphone app to GPS track my walks and discovered that I was quitting after a mere 1/8th of a mile, and that was taking 15 minutes.   Not real good stats.  

I quickly tired of the Calorie and Meals part of the app, since many of my meals are from scratch and it was quite difficult to match what I was eating to what was available.  

By the end of the week, I was seriously discouraged with my progress, and by the end of two weeks, I was ready to quit.  But one night I was playing with the app and began to notice some interesting things.  My heart rate while I slept had dropped by 8 bpm during the 2 weeks.  My heart rate while walking rarely went over 130 bpm now.  And I was now up to 1/4 of a mile in 14 minutes.  I had doubled my walking speed while my heart rate had decreased.  Shocked, it gave me a reason to keep going.

The second thing I loved was the GPS pairing with my cell phone.  I did have to turn on the Location services, but it was really fun to look at the data online after I had been walking and see that I was walking farther and faster.  It was even more fun to go someplace new and track my walks.   Looking at the data on my cell phone though, usually causes it to crash, however, I can easily go online and view my stats at fitbit.com.

Third, I love being able to look back over the 7 months and see that I really have made some serious progress.  I'm now keeping up with 8,000 - 10,000 steps each day, usually without thinking about it much.  With the colder, wetter weather, it has been difficult getting outside to walk, and I don't have room in our trailer for exercise equipment.  So, I scoot back chairs and march in place - trying to get my bpm over 130.  My kids frequently march around the school room while I teach at least one lesson.  So far, my high for a day has been 17,000 steps - and I felt like pudding for several days afterward.

I love how easy it is to use.  Sometimes the lights do not come up when I tap it, but eventually, they do.  Resetting the watch is easy, just hold down the main button on the side for 15 seconds while it is on the charging cord.  I reset it whenever it starts acting "funny".

I can charge it while I'm in the shower and getting dressed.  I lose the steps, but it should not get wet, so I figure if I'm going to have it off, I should charge it.  So far, I've only rarely had to charge more often than shower times - usually on days that I forget and leave the bluetooth paired after I sync it.

And I really love the awards that I get and their fun names, like the Sarengeti Award.  I love to share them on FB with my friends.  Because my friends know I'm trying to get in shape and lose weight, they are more likely to comment that they are noticing I look better.  Maybe I do ... but it is really encouraging to have them say it.  I also love the little display lights that show when you reach your self-assigned step goal for the day.  It's fun to see what will happen each day.  My Garmin family wishes theirs had the variety that mine does.

I absolutely love the amount of control I have, I get to set all of my own goals and decide when to push myself to a new level.  Just about everything is adjustable - including how much I have to move before it counts as actual exercise - right now I have it set at 10 minutes.  This is another plus for my Fitbit over the families Garmins.

It took a while to get used to the silent buzzing - but it is nice having an alarm clock to help keep me aware of time - right on my wrist.

I like the way it tracks my walking and keeps stats during the walk.  It is pretty good at recognizing exercise.  One day, I was helping my youngest, Sunshine, get her next season clothing out, and was pleased to see that I qualified for a workout during the time.

There are also several things that I do not like.

The first thing I found to dislike is that there were no reminders to move ... I could zone out and not move for hours.  So, I didn't get my dots.  The Charge 2 is supposed to remind you - but I do not know how the feature works.   This model has no way to remind you other than the alarm clocks.

While I loved the way it tracks my sleep - and it seems to be quite accurate at picking up on when I am asleep - even involuntary naps (this is one area that it really outshines the Garmins in our house),  one thing I seriously dislike is the flashing green light that occasionally will wake me or the Ref up in the middle of the night.  The light is the heart rate monitor - but the green light is bright enough to be very noticeable and wake a light sleeper.

I do worry about having the watch on 24/7 ... sometimes if I forget to turn off the Bluetooth, my wrist aches.  And I frequently sleep with my arm/wrist near my head.  But I've not seen anything negative about this on any of the health blogs that I follow.

I do not like the watch band is stretching as I wear it.  Nor do I like the way it fits.  I latch the large on the 3rd to last notch.  And wear it over my inside wrist, as this makes it easy to check during the day.  During the night I roll it over to the outside wrist as it is more comfortable to sleep that way, but it is a lot harder to read it.  it does not fit my wrist well.  If I tighten it up, it pinches and itches, although more recently I've been able to use the 4th notch.  It may fit better as I lose weight.  The actual hard gadget part is the full width of my wrist.

Overall - I would give it 4 stars.  And I would highly recommend it for people overweight like me, just starting out.  The Challenges with friends can be a lot of fun.  You have the option of being more public and competing with a larger group as well.

I love how easy it was to get use to using, and how intuitive the phone app was to learn to use.  I love that they are constantly improving the program.  So far, I've met with nothing less than kindness and encouragement in my journey to regain my health.

Reasons to avoid this watch?

If you work with water a lot - it is not waterproof, but it is splash proof and sweat proof.

If you are more active already - you might find the programming less supportive than you want it to be.

If you run regularly - and want to train more - this watch is limited in the amount of help it will be.

I can get a full charge to last up to 3 days before it emails me to charge it again, but only if I rarely sync it and don't pair it with my phone calls.  Phone calls was a feature I used for less than 48 hours before turning it off, as my phone was usually within reach anyway.

If you want the new features, you should probably go for them rather than pinching pennies to buy the last season watches.




And as cheap as the chargers are ... I would recommend picking up an extra.  These are really short and easy to misplace.



You will get a "dongal" with the watch to pair with your PC or laptop via the USB port.  It works well, but will cause the batteries to drain faster, so I rarely plug it into my computer.


The rest of the family all bought Garmin's.  I will be reviewing those watches as well.


NOTE :  May 5, 2017

Shortly after Christmas, the watch cover began to tear and so I removed it.  The crisscross design of the watch band had little pockets of dirty salt ... so would hesitate to say using a cover is any better than not using the cover.

In late February, the watch band began to develop a small bubble above the watch face, on the right side, and one morning it had popped loose. I put some pony tail rubber bands around it. After several other spots did this, I contacted the companies warranty section and emailed them these pictures with notes added.

In less than 24 hours, they had contacted me with a few more questions, and then offered a full replacement of the same watch ... or the option to upgrade at a 30% discount.   We chose the discount.  (We had been discussing upgrading anyway as soon as the price came down to a certain point.)

When I did not immediately purchase the watch, they contacted again to see if I needed help - I explained we were waiting for the next paycheck.  And as soon as I used the coupon, they contacted me again to let me know that the transaction had gone through, and if I had any problems to let them know.

The only BAD thing was that I purchased it on Easter Weekend, so it took a LONG time to arrive - though a full day before they had predicted it would arrive.

It has a completely different charger.

They did not ask me to return the watch, but instead to take it to be recycled.   I could not find the email a second time, so I disconnected it from my account and gave it to my young niece.  Barely a week later, the watchband came off totally.  So she carries it around in her pocket and uses it to check her pulse when she's been working. She does not use any of the internet app features, she's basically limited to steps and heart rate.  But she's happy as a lark, and she has already started talking about saving up her money to get one of her own.  I didn't think the company would mind me creating a new customer for them. 

Review: Smarty Pants Series - for Babies and Toddlers

Smarty Pants Series Books


There are 19 Smarty Pants Books.  So far...

They are aimed at the Under 3 aged crowd -
teaching vocabulary to babies and toddlers.


These books are normally listed at 99cents each.
They are frequently listed as free - usually for several days each time.


      

      

      

      

    


These books are not getting many reviews - and not many good reviews ...

but what are the negative points?

....  too babyish for my 3 year old.
....  uses the wrong words for objects (apparently British English)
....  pictures are generic
....  only one word per picture
.... some of the pictures are very small


Considering that these books are designed to teach babies new words for objects that are probably not in their every day routine,  most of these negative comments are not too condemning.

Using generic pictures is common practice as well, and generic doesn't always mean poor quality as it means limited selection.

Using the wrong words could be a problem.  In the tools book, a screw was labeled as a nail.  On the other hand, babies don't usually read the books to themselves, so it would be easy enough for the parent or whoever is reading the book to the baby, to say the correct word for your area and even discuss the pictures in more detail.


There actually were a few very positive reviews as well, although they didn't say much more than "this is a really nice book".



I've looked at several of the books ... Numbers, Tools, African Animals, Colors, and a few others.

The negative comments are accurate ... children over 3 and even older 2 year olds will probably be bored with the books very quickly.  The pictures are not the most amazing thing you've ever seen.  Pictures sometimes don't match the word - such as giraffe in the African Book ... the screw in the tools book ... the rhombus in the shape book  ...  the peach in the fruit book, but in the books that I saw, usually only one or two pictures were "mislabeled" or "strangely labeled".

While the pictures are probably free generic issued pictures, most of them are fairly nice pictures.  Although again, at least one or two pictures in almost every book I looked at was either somewhat distorted (such as a tilted rectangle) or just didn't seem to belong with the rest of the words (such as the bag of gardening tools in the Tools book)  and the orange notebook was more red than orange - at least on my computer.  A few pictures were smaller and harder to see than most of the others.

Overall - I would consider what I saw B or C grade work - they are not the worst thing ever, and if you need a vocabulary book to assist with a toddler or special needs child, these would mostly work just fine.  But for a reader or a serious study of the topic, they will be a huge disappointment.

Personally, I feel the errors and small "picture problems" are enough to make them not worth investing 99 cents, nor is it worth your time to actively pursue getting the whole collection.

But it is probably worth the FREE offers, so you can decide for yourself whether or not they are usable to you.

If you DO want to try them for the 99cents, be sure to check them out immediately - because if you do not like them at all, you can go directly to the "Manage Your Kindle" link found at the bottom of every Amazon page, find the book that you do not like, click the Actions button ... there you will see "Return for Refund" if you purchased the book or "Delete From Library" if it was Free or can longer be refunded.  Usually the refund button is available for at least 2 weeks.

Personally ....

I will probably sit down with Sunshine (my almost 3 year old) in the next few weeks, and actually look through our entire collection of Smarty Pants books.  Then I will go ahead and delete the ones that do not hold her attention.  She loves picture books like this though, so I expect to keep quite a few of them for a few months.

I do not mind the errors in the books so much, because they can be turned into a lesson on observation and thinking ... as well as pointing out that you should be careful not to believe and accept everything that you see.  I may even have Scholar (7 year old) look up many of the questionable animals to see if the book is correct and if not, why and what the picture really is instead.

Review: Gabriella Books by Jerry Di Leo, Patsy Di Leo and Silvina Maldonado

There are currently 6 Gabriella Books - I own 5 of them.

These books are aimed at the 3 - 6 year old, and early learning skills, for children.
They are frequently free - I usually see at least one or two every month.


These books may work well as a preschool lapbook project springboard in a school setting.


I read these books on my Kindle for PC app or the Kindle Cloud.



This one is the ONLY book in the series that I do not own, though I don't know whether it is because it hasn't been free yet, or whether I overlooked it when it was free ... so I cannot review it.   However, at only 99cents, if you like the other books in the series, you may enjoy this one as well.
   Gabriella and Her Bouquet of Friends (Gabriella Books)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 21, 2011

Gabriella learns about flowers from her friends, Daisy, Tulip, Rose, Daffodil, Petunia, and Pansy. They all learn something unique about each flower as they plant a flower garden together. Winner of a 2010 Premier Book Award, a Fall 2010 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, and Finalist in USA Best Books 2011 Awards.

ALL of the books are only 99c on Kindle at their regular price.







     Gabriella and Her Berry Good Friends (Gabriella Books)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2012

Gabriella enjoys desserts made by her berry friends, Sally Strawberry, Roz Raspberry, Chris Cranberry, and Bella Blueberry.

You can see from the book cover, that Gabriella is a "real" little girl and her fruit friends are "real" fruit with arms and legs and faces.   Right off the bat, I was confused, because the first sentence of the book was on the author and copyright page ... so make sure you catch and read that first sentence.

This sentence structure confusion continued as the book progressed, as a comment was on one page, and the "said whoever" part was on the next.  It made the book feel choppy.

The basic story goes along ... Gabriella comes to visit her berry friends.  They have each made a desert made from the berry that they represent.  (I don't know, this always feels a tad cannibalistic to me - but I am frequently told that I have a strange way of looking at things.)   Sally Strawberry has fixed Strawberry Shortcake - which everyone has a piece and enjoys.  Each of the berries has a desert and gives a brief explanation of that desert.  Everyone compliments the desert maker and exclaims how good the desert is, until finally they have eaten all 4 of the deserts.  As the book ends, they decide that they should have a desert party again.

This is a VERY simple book.  It would be a good early reader for a child starting to expand reading material, although I'm afraid the book would quickly become boring for most older readers and listeners.  It may be more palatable if the parents bake samples of each of the deserts ahead of time, and use it as a teaching tool to get their children to try new foods.  This will also allow the child to experience the story in a new way.

The pictures were fairly cute.  They looked fine on my PC Kindle app.

Overall, I can see this as a springboard for teaching children about fruit, table manners, and polite conversation.


   Pirate Gabriella Sails the Five Oceans (Gabriella Books)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2011

Children's picture book from award-winning authors Jerry and Patsy Di Leo has Gabriella as a pirate sailing the five oceans of the world, teaching us facts about the oceans while using pirate lingo. 2011 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Winner!

This is also a simple and short book of few words ... Gabriella is a pirate.  She is sailing on the 5 Oceans .. starting with the Atlantic.  The story describes that it is the 2nd largest ocean made up of the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic.  The North Atlantic is between North America and Europe.  The South Atlantic is between South America and Africa .... and so goes the story describing the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific, the Indian, and the Southern Ocean.

This is a fairly good introduction to geography of oceans and continents ... but there is only one very crude map of the Indian Ocean.

However, it could be used to "sail" a ship around a large world map as the story is read to give it much more depth, or a starting point to explore early geography.









   Gabriella Counts to Ten in Eight Languages (Gabriella Books)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2012

Children's picture book from award-winning authors has Gabriella counting to ten in eight different languages - English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, and Korean. Finalist in the USA Best Books 2011 Awards.

This book is another one that you'll miss the first sentence if you are not looking for it "Hi, I'm Gabriella.  Let's count to ten in different languages".  Basically it repeats the same thing 8 times ... Let's count to ten in __________ (insert language).  Then is has the number and the word and the pronunciation of the number (except in English).  Then it says "Very good" in that language.  Then on the same page, it says, "Let's count in ___________ (next language).

What I liked ... each page where you start to count has a nice mural of the country flag, and some of the common things that you would see in the country, such as the Eiffel Tower.  Most of the murals also have a rough outline map.

What I didn't like ... the counting starts under the mural, and then falls over into a blank page.  I would have rather seen the "Let's count in ______ (language)" under the mural, and all 10 of the numbers together on the same page.

Other than that, the murals and the pronunciation key will lend itself to a learning experience.  It could be fun to look up the different land marks on the internet after you have read it a couple of times, and work on learning to count to 10 in each of the languages.





   Gabriella's Salad Bowl of Friends (Gabriella Books)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2012

Gabriella and her friends, Tammy Tomato, Lucy Lettuce  Susie Cucumber, and Carrie Carrot, get together to make a salad for lunch.

This story is the same type as the berry one above.  There are 4 vegetables, and they look like the vegetable with arms, legs, and faces.  They invite Gabriella over for a salad.  When she arrives, Lucy Lettuce takes her out to the garden and Gabriella picks, washes, and puts the lettuce in the bowl.

Next, Tammy tomato takes her out to her potted tomato and Gabriella picks some tomatoes, and washes and cuts them up.  Then Susie takes her outside to get cucumbers, and Gabriella fixes those.  Finally, the carrot takes her to the carrot patch ... so Gabriella dons her "oven mitt" gardening gloves 3 times (she didn't have them to get cucumbers, or to listen to the tomato talk about tomato flowers) and goes outside to the garden 4 times.

I found it odd that Gabriella did all of the picking, washing, chopping, and putting into the bowl.  Then, three of the veggies poured in salt, oil, and vinegar (one each), and the 4th veggie did the tossing.

As far as learning ... you could make a salad with the instructions, and there are a few "facts" about the veggies - cucumbers grow on a fence, tomatoes have flowers, carrots grow in the ground, and lettuce has Vitamin A.






    Astronaut Gabriella Explores the Solar System (Gabriella Books)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2012

Gabriella is an astronaut who travels to outer space and tells us about all the planets in our solar system.

In my opinion, this is the best of the 5 books that I have looked at tonight.

First, it is loaded with facts about the solar system's planets.  Not distances and weights, just fun stuff like the sun is really hot, and Mercury is sometimes called the "Morning Star."  There are only a few simple facts about each planet, but there is also a nice picture of Gabriella in her rocket ship zooming past each of the planets.  It also includes comets, asteroids, and the Moon.

At the very end, you see the planets lined up behind her ... but as the Magic School Bus says ... it just made it easier to do it that way.

Overall, I consider this one a keeper, and I can see it used as part of my son's planet exploration this year.








I'm going to try to review a children's book or set of books each week.
If you have a request, please let me know by leaving a comment.
If you are an author and want a special review or to be featured on this blog, you can leave a comment and how to contact you for further arrangements or contact me via my Facebook Page, you can find a link in the sidebar.

I have a soft spot for young indi authors, as my daughter is one!

Books should be "safe" for children under the age of 12.  Otherwise, I will review it on my cousin's O'Scarlett blog.  Thanks!

Knox's Irregulars: J. Wesley Bush: Christian Science-Fiction

Knox's Irregulars: J. Wesley Bush: Amazon.com: Kindle Store:

 

Publication Date: October 19, 2011

“These fanatics aren’t fighting for our land, but for our destruction. They think in slogans and talk in bullets. Such men can’t be reasoned with, only fought . . ."

Randal Knox never wanted to be a leader. But as the firstborn son of the Prime Minister, he seemed fated to a life in politics. Fleeing his family's plans, Randal enlists with the armored infantry, thinking he'll be safe on the snowy border with neighboring Abkhenazia.

When followers of the Prophet take control of Abkhenazia, his haven turns to hell. A vast army of zealots invades New Geneva, routing its tiny defense force and sending the remnants fleeing for their lives. Randal is forced to take charge of a small band of survivors, sheltering them in the mountain city of Providence.

With Providence under the iron rule of Colonel Gregor Tsepashin, Randal faces a choice. Will he hide safely in catacombs beneath the city, or embrace his calling? The militia cells are scattered. His only allies are a turncoat Abkhenazi, a mad Belorussian immigrant, a beautiful but green medic, and a handful of armored infantry.

It will take everything he has to lead his people to freedom. 

Article about this book
http://www.raisingrealmen.com/2012/11/christian-science-fiction-really/

Book Review: Joy Findlay - Rocket Boy Books for Toddlers

This was originally posted on my Kiddos With Kindle's blog, which I will be discontinuing.  Due to changes in Amazon's policies, I will no longer be able to have a blog dedicated to Free Kindle Books.   Therefore, I plan to bring relevant posts to this blog over the next few days, and eventually deleting the other blog.

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Joy Findlay has written many books for her two children, a girl and a boy, ages 3 and 4.

Over several posts, I will feature many of her books - starting with the 4 Rocket Boy sets.  These are aimed at boys (or girls) who already have some interest in space.  Ages 2 - 6 would enjoy them the most, and some are more educational than others.

What I like?  The pictures in the books are REAL looking ... not cartoonish.  There are enough facts about each planet and the sun for a young child to learn and usually at a level that most 4 or 5 year olds would easily understand.

Each book starts pretty much the same way, with the little boy (her own son I would guess) wondering about something, climbing into his rocket, and going into space.  A few books begin with the boy already out in space.

Each story is very simple without much fluff either in the story or the pictures.

Any child who already enjoys space would probably enjoy these.

What I don't like?  The stories are often on the choppy side - using facts to push the story rather than action.   Also, there is not a lot of variety in the pictures or format from book to book.


The 5 books set sells for $4.99.  Each of the individual books sell for 99c.  So it is cheaper to buy each book individually, and you're child may like one or two books and not care for the others.  BUT with only 13 pages per book, buying the bundle will save you from constantly opening a new document.

The books are occasionally free, usually on a weekend.  As she has many books for sale, a few are free nearly every week.

I plan to use the books to help teach the solar system later this Spring.


   Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set One

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2012

Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set One, is a compilation of five of the Rocket Boy Adventure Series books. Presented with some of the most amazing astro photography, this Set is a must for every budding astro-geek, and non astro-geek alike. Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set One includes: Rocket Boy Zooming in Space, Rocket Boy and the Sun, Rocket Boy Zooms to Mercury, Rocket Boy Visits Venus, and Rocket Boy Explores the Nebulae.
Ages 2-6

   Rocket Boy Zooming in Space (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)

This is a simple story - the boy thinks about space, gets in his rocket, looks at several interesting things, and returns home.

I find the Z in font chosen for the book annoying - as it looks more like a 2 than a Z.  This is the same font used for all of this set.


   Rocket Boy and the Sun (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


In this book, Rocket Boy goes to investigate the sun.  It is a very simple story, built mostly of facts about the sun.

Sometimes he was close to the sun, and sometimes he was far distant.  An older child and parents may find this as reason to dislike the book.


    Rocket Boy Zooms to Mercury (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


This book is very much like the Sun book.

On the page about "Mercury gets twice as hot as an oven".  There is a label for both the Sun and Mercury - but there is not a "Mercury" unless it is the tiny black dot in front of the sun.


     Rocket Boy Visits Venus (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


Venus is almost the same as Mercury and the Sun - but with Venus pictures and facts.

    Rocket Boy Explores the Nebulae (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


This book was the most confusing of the 5.  RB is already out in space and traveling home, when he encounters a nebula and wants to investigate.

I don't know which one he sees, as what follows is a "list" of the types of nebula and a few nebula facts.

It closes with the comment that the nebula is RB's favorite.

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Joy Findlay Page

Biography

"As a fulltime mother of two gorgeous pre-schoolers, a career in Television and Video Production was no longer an option. Having taught the basics of the Moving Image, it was just a matter of transitioning those same skills over to a static medium that was creative and flexible enough to work from home.
Kiki (3) and Zoozoo (4) provide the inspiration and direction for most of the children's eBooks created under Findlay Books. Their thirst for learning and adventure never ceases to amaze me.
So now, I write and illustrate a line of children's eBooks especially for my two squidlettes. In the hopes that others actually like them too and would like to let me know, we have set up a website www.findlaybooks.com and a facebook page www.facebook.com/findlaybooks for you to peruse. "

This series of 21 books is most likely to appeal to 2 - 6 year old boys who already enjoy space and stars.   The pictures are NASA pictures that have been "doctored" with the little space rocket.  The stories are very simple, and usually consist more of facts than plots.   Some pictures are much more appealing than others.

The book sets retail for $4.99 each, and the singles for $.99 each.

The books are frequently offered for free, at least a few of her books are available nearly every weekend - though not always.


   Rocket Boy My First Reader Collection - 6 books in one.

Publication Date: May 9, 2012

Review: "Joy Findlay has written and self-published a series of 6 eBooks, all dealing with the things that little astronomers need to learn, shapes, colours, numbers and letters and things of that ilk.  The "Rocket Boy, my First Reader" series are wonderfully presented books, utilising some of the most awesome astro-stock images to teach these beginning concepts to the smallest star gazers of them all.  The colours are bright and cheerful, the pictures are fascinating and eye catching, if you're looking for something to get your daughters and sons into space, this is an awesome start!" ~  By ValHallen 1200mm Astronomy Blog 

Discription:
Rocket Boy My First Reader Collection is a compilation of all six of the Rocket Boy My First Reader books. With over 80 pages of fantastic astro-pictures, its a great volume for teaching little ones all the basics of colours, shapes, numbers, alphabet, and the night sky. Beautiful photography of real images in space, this collection is a must for every budding astro-geek, and non astro-geek alike. Ages 2-6.

    Rocket Boy Shapes (Rocket Boy My First Reader)

Each of the shapes is imposed upon an astral body - it is labeled along with the name of each shape.  Some, like the square, have little to do with the shape, and others, like the circle for Mars, are more obvious.   Ten basic shapes are presented.  There is no story line - each page consists of the word for the shape, the name of the astral body, the picture of that body, and a drawn in shape that is being featured.  There are 10 pages.


    Rocket Boy Numbers (Rocket Boy My First Reader)

This book is much like the shapes book.   It begins with a picture of the sun,  the number 1, the word ONE, and labeled  Sol.   Two nebulae, crab and butterfly, Three comets, Four Moons (of Jupiter?), and so on until  ten.  At ten, there is a blue rocket with the numbers from 10 - 1, and the next page is the blue Rocket  with Blast Off.  The book is 11 pages long.


    Rocket Boy Colours (Rocket Boy My First Reader)


Similar to the first two books of this series.  Each page features a color, the little rocket in that color, the word of the color "brown, red, orange...", and the astral body that is closest to the color - red is Mars, orange is the sun.   There are 10 colors for a total of 10 pages.   I actually like this one quite a lot.


    Rocket Boy Twinkle Star (Rocket Boy My First Reader)


This is the poem "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" with pictures of various nebula and star bodies and other "shiny spots in the sky".  There is a second verse to the poem here - so it tops out at 12 pages long.


    Rocket Boy Alphabet (Rocket Boy My First Reader)


Similar to the shapes, colors, and numbers books, each page features TWO letters of the alphabet - so the book is only 13 pages long.  The pictures are all labeled.   I would have liked this much better as a 26 page book, as many of the pictures feel quite cramped.


    Rocket Boy The Night Sky (Rocket Boy My First Reader)


This one didn't impress me much - it is a "list" of 10 things in the night sky.  It starts out with "The Earth" ... which is not in our night sky at all.   After "The Moon", there is "The Sun" ... again, not in the night sky.   Most of the items are in the sky - but not usually visible.   It was annoying that each item  was labeled with "The" as well.







     Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set Two

Publication Date: July 27, 2012

Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set One, is a compilation of five of the Rocket Boy Adventure Series books. Presented with some of the most amazing astro photography, this Set is a must for every budding astro-geek, and non astro-geek alike.
Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set Two includes: Rocket Boy and the Solar System, Rocket Boy On the Earth, Rocket Boy Goes to the Moon, Rocket Boy and the Red Planet, and Rocket Boy Reaches the Stars.
Ages 2-6

Rocket Boy and the Solar System is not currently available separately.  But may become available again in the future.


This is a simple story - Rocket Boy wants to go out into the Solar System.  He learns what makes up the solar system - and it briefly makes 4 or 5 observations.



   Rocket Boy On the Earth (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


Simple "story" that is mostly observations about earth.   Very simple things like the fact that it takes 365 days for the earth to go around the sun.   Nice pictures of earth, like a desert and an island.


     Rocket Boy Goes to the Moon (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


While exploring the earth, in his rocket, Rocket Boy noticed the Moon.   There are several pictures with facts about the moon, including a footprint on the moon.   The facts are simple and easy for a young child to understand.


     Rocket Boy and the Red Planet (Mars) (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


Rocket boy sees Mars in the night sky, and decides to visit.   Once Rocket Boy is in space, as with the other books featuring planets, the first fact is that Mars is planet number 4 from the sun.  Next, it shows a comparison of size with the earth, noting that Mars is half the size of Earth.  There are a couple of pictures that look more like speculation shots than actual pictures of Mars.


    Rocket Boy Reaches the Stars (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


While this story states that Rocket Boy is going to visit the stars, it is more a series of comments of various sun and star facts.   There are some really nice star pictures.




     Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set Three

Publication Date: July 27, 2012

Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set Three is a compilation of five of the Rocket Boy Adventure Series books. Presented with some of the most amazing astro-photography, this set is a must for every budding astro-geek, and non-astro-geek alike. Rocket Boy Adventure Series Book Set Three includes: Rocket Boy and the Gas Giant, Rocket Boy and the Ringed Planet, Rocket Boy Rockets to Uranus, Rocket Boy and the Blue Planet, and Rocket Boy Finds other Astro Objects.
Ages 2-6.

     Rocket Boy and the Gas Giant (Jupiter) (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


As with nearly all of the Rocket Boy planet books, Rocket Boy decides to go into space.  Jupiter is planet number 5 from the sun.  It talks about how HUGE Jupiter is, and how many moons it has.  Of course it mentions the Red Spot.   You also see the 4 largest Moons that were mentioned in the Numbers book.


     Rocket Boy and the Ringed Planet (Saturn) (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


In this book, Rocket Boy is zooming around and decides to visit Saturn.  We learn that it takes 30 years for it to go around the sun, but that it spins so fast, that it's days are quite short.   If you read the number book - you know that Saturn has 7 rings.   On the last page, you learn that with a telescope, you can see Saturn's rings from earth.



     Rocket Boy Rockets to Uranus (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


This book begins with the observation that Rocket Boy still has two planets to visit.  Planet number 7 is Uranus.  This book is a bit more detailed about the actual planet as it shows cut aways of the core of rock, ice, and then gas.   After discussing the basic facts about Uranus, including a nice picture of it's rings and it's sideways rotation, Rocket Boy returns to Earth.


     Rocket Boy and the Blue Planet (Neptune) (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


From earth, Rocket Boy remembers that he still has one more planet to visit.   This book is much like the Uranus book, and is filled with short facts about Neptune - all simple and to the point.   The book is 13 pages long.



     Rocket Boy Finds other Astro Objects (Rocket Boy Adventure Series)


This book shows the asteroid belt, and talks about the 5 Dwarf planets that circle our sun.  It includes mention of Pluto.  Rocket Boy also encounters a comet.




These books are all very simple and quite short, with the longest one topping out around 15 pages.   Most of them would make good starting points for a longer lesson on the Solar System for an elementary aged child.

Reviews on Amazon are decidedly in favor or against - earning several one stars from those who expected much more for their dollar - bigger pictures, more facts, and a grand story.   One star reviews also included those whose children found the books boring.   On the other hand, many of the books have 4 and 5 stars as well, from parents whose children already showed an interest in astronomy or parents who understood that these books were for a basic introduction into the world of astronomy.

Personally, I would give most of the books 4 stars, and an occasional 3 stars - but overall, the pictures are nice - repetition between books is good for the toddler/ preschool age groups - and the facts are simple and to the point.  Each item is carefully labeled, but small enough that it doesn't have to be a part of the discussion unless the parents want to include it.