Showing posts with label sharing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharing. Show all posts

Friday, March 10, 2017

Anne Toole Presents The Crow and the Big Oak Tree


There once lived a big black crow. He thought he was the most beautiful and wonderful creature there ever was. He knew he was in a class of his own, and there wasn't any other animal in the forest that could ever compare to his magnificence!

One day as the crow was flying around, he came upon a big oak tree in the middle of the forest. The big crow thought, "This tree is a lot like me. It is big, beautiful, and wonderful." He decided since he was so different from all the other animals, he should have a tree of his own. In his mind, the tree belonged to him.


One day a little brown squirrel ran up the tree with a nut in his mouth. The squirrel had found a little hole in the tree and thought that it would be a great place to store his nuts for the winter. The crow flew down to the squirrel when he spotted him putting a nut in the hole. The crow said, "Little squirrel, you are not like me with your beady, brown eyes and your bushy, floppy tail. Therefore, you need to get out of this tree. It belongs to me!"
~~~

You will recall that we met Anne Toole through her book, A Dog Named Cat. Do check my review if you haven't already. This time we have a very vain crow that has claimed a beautiful big oak tree as his own! He thinks he deserves a tree all to himself and has claimed a very large Oak!  Some might say he was being selfish, but it really went beyond that...

When a little squirrel came to live in the tree as well and started to bring nuts to store in a little hole he'd found in the trunk of the tree, the crow watched him do all the work and then he flew down and started dropping the nuts on the ground! The little squirrel quickly decided to go find somewhere else to live... You know what? I considered what the crow had just done as something that a bully would do! Does being vain cause you to be a bully?

The story continues as a snake, an owl, and some bees came along, hoping to make their home in the big oak tree. Crow chased them all away!

Now Crow soon learned his lesson! You know how? Some human boys who were definitely bullies came along and started throwing rocks at him. 

When you learn what happens next, you'll realize that being vain is not being a bully, but it's not a good idea to think you are better than anybody else, either! Especially, when you almost lose your life! Crow discovers that he was wrong to exclude all the other animals of the forest and that there was plenty of space in that Oak tree for everyone. An exceptional story in sharing, friendship, and accepting those who are not like you.

Toole again presents a beautiful full-color story printed on a 7x10 paperback. The storybook is 24 pages, and the narrative is quite long, and is aimed at children in first through third grade. It is illustrated by Richa Kinra with the cover illustrative of the style of bright-colored details throughout. Kudos to the author and illustrator for a book just big enough to be held in small hands and read while gazing at the delightful forest animals...

Do check this one out for age-appropriated children, although if you are a parent or grandparent who reads to small children, I think many younger than school age would like to hear the story as well...


GABixlerReviews




Anne Toole grew up in Williston, South Carolina. She is a graduate of Anderson Jr. College in Anderson, South Carolina and the University of Georgia with a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education. She taught in a first grade classroom in Augusta, Georgia for thirty years. Ms. Toole has always enjoyed reading and writing poetry. As a child, she loved to listen to nursery rhymes and stories written in rhyme. When she became a teacher, she used nursery rhymes and simple poems in her class to enhance the regular Language Arts curriculum. After retiring, Ms. Toole worked part-time for three years as an ESOL teacher and also began writing stories about children and animals. Most of the stories are written in verse. Ms. Toole is an avid traveler and has traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has also traveled in Northern Africa and the Middle East. She presently resides in Columbia, South Carolina.


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Saturday, October 2, 2010

Guest Reviewer Janet Morris Grimes Shares A Max Lucado Latest!

Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference
Out Live Your Life

 by Max Lucado


4 out of 5 stars.









It starts with the statistics. 1.75 billion stuck in poverty. 1 billion hunger each day. 2 million children trapped in the sex trade industry. 10 million die each year in Africa of preventable diseases. 2% of the world’s grain harvest would end the problem of hunger and malnutrition around the world, if only it were shared.


Someone should do something, right? Perhaps it should be us.


Max Lucado is a favorite of mine. He brings forgotten stories to life. He senses the irony, seizes the blessings, and simplifies the complex in ways that motivate and inspire his readers. This book is no exception.

Spotlighting the transformation that takes place in the lives of the 11 apostles in the book of Acts, Out Live Your Life shares story after story of people who laid everything they had to offer out on the table. When people are able to see past themselves, into the souls of those that God brings across their path, He is able to do amazing things through us. In spite of us. Because of us.

Celebrating 25 years as an author, Max devotes this book, along with all proceeds, to World Vision and other worldwide mission fields that demonstrate minute by minute how to reach out to the poor, the lost, and hopeless. He inspires his readers to outlive their own lives by doing something that betters the life of someone else. God is always ready and willing to change the world. He just needs volunteers to do it.

“Therefore, accept each other just as Christ accepted you so that God will be given glory.” Romans 15:7 (NLT)

Those are the words of God. Not Max.


I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Janet Morris Grimes


Writing for the Pursuit of Sappiness www.janetmorrisgrimes.com

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.facebook.com/janetmorrisgrimesfanpage.



Any day spent writing is the best day of my life...



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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Review: New Children's Book, Share from the Heart, Great for Easter Baskets!





Share from the Heart


Story and Illustrations
By Marilyn Randall
Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 9781450041928
21 Pages







Have you met Peter? He’s an adorable dragon—without any friends! While he breathes fire and can make you afraid, he really won’t hurt you! He’s just a little different...

Meet Peter in Share from the Heart, the children’s story written and illustrated by Marilyn Randall. And even more delightful is that the story is in poetic form that will be fun reading by both children and their parents!

Two brothers, who lived all alone, were out one day when they came upon Peter. Of course, they didn’t know his name—all they knew was that he was a big monster who growled and smelled bad, especially his breath. But, really, he couldn’t help that since he breathed fire through his snout and his teeth were all red!

Fear was not something that the boys had known before they met Peter and they didn’t want him to know that they lived all alone. In fact, all they wanted to do was run, but the dragon was coming closer and he realized they were afraid:

“Boys, I’m not going to hurt you, I wouldn’t do that.
I want to get to know you and that’s the only fact.
I want to help you find more joy in your life,
And I know all the secrets that might make it right.”
But the boys weren’t so easily over their fright! Would you be, if you met a dragon tonight?

How about it, boys and girls—are you afraid to meet kids different from you? Do you shy away from somebody who is bigger and strange? Then, Marilyn Randall has written this book for you! She wants you to know that if you share from your heart—that is, that if you open up and talk or smile at others you don’t know, you just might find that that “dragon” will become one of your best friends!

The fully illustrated book is 8 ½ by 11 with over 12 half or full-page pictures of Peter, the brothers and their home. When Peter is not breathing fire, you will see that he is as cute as can be and that he carries his heart right out front, looking for new friends! The story is simply told and the rhyming will be fun, so read to the younger kids until they are old enough to read the story to you! And don’t be surprised if they ask to read about Peter the Dragon over and over. In fact, he sure would make a nice addition to your Easter baskets or birthday package! 

This teaching book will help kids learn about sharing with other kids they will meet during their school years. I applaud Share from the Heart by Marilyn Randall and recommend you introduce your children to Peter very soon! Click above to link over to Amazon or click on the article title to visit Marilyn Randall's site!

G. A. Bixler


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Sunday, January 4, 2009

Giving Away Books...

One of the routine questions that crops up everywhere if you are talking about books is:

Do you have book giveaways?

Well, now, I've been giving books away for a very long time...mostly to my local library.

However, online, one of the fun activities at social networking sites is to have some type of giveaway.

As you might imagine, as a professional book reviewer, as well as an avid reader, my home is stacked constantly with books! However, contrary to what you might see on sell at eBay or at second-half store sites...it is illegal to sell advance reader books, whether they are uncorrected proofs or have already been published. In fact, I've read several places recently that you really aren't even supposed to give them away.

For books I review professionally, I've always kept them...more or less as a backup in case a question is raised about what I've said in my review. So for me, keeping them is no problem.

On the other hand, after buying a book and reading it, the average individual normally is unable to keep every book they've read! So, this is an early disclaimer to future book giveaways here at this blog. I give once-read books, purchased by me, as gifts on this blog. All books would be in excellent shape, maybe having a page turndown once in awhile if I couldn't immediately find a book mark!

I love books and even when I worked for a publisher, and she tore apart a book to submit a cover for some reason...I would pull the uncovered book from the garbage to read, rather than taking a covered book for my own library. Save a book; save a tree!

If you are also a booklover, perhaps if you participate in future giveaways, you will also pass that book along for somebody else to read! That is, if you don't want to keep it for your personal library.

How do you get a free book on this blog?

Claim It!

The following books are available:

A Cold Heart by Jonathan Kellerman, paperback
Eye of the Beholder by David Ellis, Hardback
Play Dirty by Sandra Brown, paperback
Stone Cold by David Baldacci, Hardback
The Breathtaker by Alice Blanchard, Hardback

Giveaways will always be first come, first served, via comments...Claim your book first, mailing process will necessarily follow via email...

Reading is Fun...damental!
I support Reading Literacy!
Give your books away; never destroy a book!
Release your books to others after you have read them!