Bea Reviews The Grown-Up's Guide to Making Art with Kids by Lee Foster-Wilson

Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 21st, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository*  |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Make art and memories with the special kids in your life! Packed with how-to drawing and painting projects, creative prompts, and original crafting activities, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids will inspire you and your little ones to spend hours of creative fun together.

This book includes drawing and painting projects featuring popular, kid-friendly, and on-trend subjects—like dinosaurs, pets, flowers, and robots—that adults and kids can create together. Guided practice pages invite interactivity and allow children and adults to draw and paint the same subjects, side by side, for a fun-filled joint activity. The book’s artwork is colorful, approachable, and done using ordinary, easily available art tools, including markers, crayons, colored pencils, and acrylic paint.

In addition to drawing lessons, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids also includes projects and ideas for using artwork created from the prompts in the book to make crafts, including a map, pop-up art, and paper dolls.

The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids teaches valuable drawing, painting, and crafting skills to both kids and adults; inspires creativity; and encourages family togetherness. What better way to avoid screen time than by drawing, painting, and creating together with your kids? Follow-up books in the series include The Grown-Up's Guide to Paint Pouring with Kids and The Grown-Up's Guide to Crafting with Kids, both publishing in June 2020.

Friday Book Memes: Tightrope by Amanda Quick

I'm participating in two Friday book memes, Book Beginnings On Fridays, hosted by Rose City Reader, and The Friday 56, hosted by Freda's Voice.

This week's book is Tightrope by Amanda Quick, a romantic mystery set in 1920s California. I'll be reading it over this long holiday weekend.

Book Beginnings Rules:

Every Friday, share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Bea Reviews The Dictionary of Difficult Words by Jane Solomon, Illustrated by Louise Lockhart

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: April 30th, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository*  | Google | Kobo
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

What is a bumbershoot? Or a moonbow? And what does it mean when someone absquatulates...? Find out all this and more in the Dictionary of Difficult Words. Test your knowledge with more than 400 words to amaze, confuse, and inspire budding wordsmiths (and adults). All of the words featured in this book are difficult to spell, hard to say, and their meanings are obscure to most children (and most adults)! Written with simple, easy-to-understand definitions by lexicographer Jane Solomon, this dictionary celebrates the beauty of the English language for family trivia time spent around the printed page. (less)

Bea & Jax Review Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson #11
Publisher: Ace
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 7th, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository*  | iBooks* | * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In this new installment in the No. 1 New York Times bestselling series, Mercy Thompson must face a deadly enemy to defend all she loves . . .


My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic.

And a coyote shapeshifter . . . And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.

Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn't stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.

The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.

But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it.

Bea Reviews The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver

Series: Colter Shaw #1
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 14, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository  | iBooks* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

From the bestselling and award-winning master of suspense, the first novel in a thrilling new series, introducing Colter Shaw.

"You have been abandoned."

A young woman has gone missing in Silicon Valley and her father has hired Colter Shaw to find her. The son of a survivalist family, Shaw is an expert tracker. Now he makes a living as a "reward seeker," traveling the country to help police solve crimes and private citizens locate missing persons. But what seems a simple investigation quickly thrusts him into the dark heart of America's tech hub and the cutthroat billion-dollar video-gaming industry.

"Escape if you can."

When another victim is kidnapped, the clues point to one video game with a troubled past--The Whispering Man. In that game, the player has to survive after being abandoned in an inhospitable setting with five random objects. Is a madman bringing the game to life?

"Or die with dignity."

Shaw finds himself caught in a cat-and-mouse game, risking his own life to save the victims even as he pursues the kidnapper across both Silicon Valley and the dark 'net. Encountering eccentric game designers, trigger-happy gamers and ruthless tech titans, he soon learns that he isn't the only one on the hunt: someone is on his trail and closing fast.

The Never Game proves once more why "Deaver is a genius when it comes to manipulation and deception" (Associated Press).

April Balancing the Books

Inspired by the now defunct Fantasy Is More Fun and by The Geeky Blogger's Book Blog, I decided a few years ago to track my book expenses. I'll do a wrap up post at the end of each month.

I've given myself $40 real money each month to spend on books for myself and my classroom, $30 a month for books that are gifts, and $10 a month for blog giveaways. "Real money" being cash from my bank account as opposed to gift cards and store credits. Books that I borrowed from the library or a friend, and books received for review do not count against my purchases though I'll track them here as books acquired. Personal funds not spent will be added to the next month and any overages will be deducted from the next month; gift and blog cash however will reset each month.

Bea Reviews Up, Up, Up, Down! by Kimberly Gee

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 7th, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon*  | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository  | Google Play | Kobo | * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Follow an energetic toddler's day with Dad that's full of opposites - up and down, make and break, yum and yuck, and more.


From his first demand to be picked up and then immediately put down, opposites pop up all day long for this energetic boy. Breakfast is no, no, no, yes! At the sandbox, it's make, make, make, break! And jumping into the pool goes from can't, can't, can't, to can!

Kimberly Gee's expressive illustrations emphasize the loving connection between a boy and his father in this clever concept book about everyday highs and lows that is sure to entertain little (and big!) members of the family.

The Friday 56: The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join in the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
*Find a snippet, short and sweet.
*Post it, and add the url to your post at the Link here.here.

I'm reading a suspense mystery novel, "The Never Game", by Jeffery Deaver. The quote is from 56% in the e-galley. I'm loving it so far.