Nonfiction Children's Book Review: The Berenstain Bears' Holiday Cookbook: Cub-Friendly Cooking With An Adult by Mike Berenstain

About the Book:

Be part of the fun and join Mama, Papa, Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear as they cook up holiday favorites and some unique eats for friends and family with the all-new The Berenstain Bears Holiday Cookbook. Filled with traditional holiday favorites like Frosted Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Pie, Hot Apple Cider Punch, Cranberry Stuffing, and some unique and fun recipes like Papa Bear’s Paw-Licking Good Chicken Wings, this kid-friendly cookbook will help Bear Country families, and families and friends everywhere, have the most wonderful year of eating ever!

Young cooks and their adult assistants will find recipes for beverages, meals and sides, and sweets and treats.

My Review:
The Berenstain Bears' Holiday Cookbook is a great tool to use to start teaching children to cook. I like that the cookbook is divided into holiday and seasonal dishes, beginning with Valentine's Day and ending with Christmas. Each section is color-coded and begins with a Bible verse and a fun conversation between the Bears. The food in the pictures look appetizing and will encourage children to try their hand at cooking. Some of the recipes are super simple, while others will challenge a child who wants to learn more about food prep. Reading and following the recipes will help kids learn to follow directions, practice math skills, and gain confidence. This would be a great book to enjoy as a family. I received this book in exchange for a fair review.

Peace

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 

I took some of our grandchildren to the swimming pool as a last hoorah of summer, before they head back to school. We loaded our foam noodles, Zeke's paddle board, and a few other fun things in the Jeep and drove up to the pool. We had a wonderful surprise when we arrived—we we're the only ones there. As I sank into the clear water and felt the heat of the day melt away a peace came over me. The stress of the week disappeared and a few hours playing with my grands filled me joy.

The peace I felt in the pool was wonderful and relaxing, but it pales in comparison to the peace Jesus pours into my heart. I often call on Christ's peace when I am stressed or upset. I seek his peace in sadness and grief. When the world screams chaos and conflict, I rely on Jesus' peace to calm me and carry me. Social media, the nightly news, and newspapers are filled with discord and contradiction. Jesus offers a peace that passes understanding; peace that fills the heart and calms the soul. I'm thankful for any moment of serenity and calm that loving Jesus brings.

Praise God for peace in the midst of chaos.

Fiction Review: Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink

Description:

Standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog…thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

My Review:
Fetching Sweetness is a pure delight to read. I had so much fun following the adventures of Sweetness, a fun loving, trouble-causing, (innocently, mind you) huggable dog and a few other critters they pick up along the way. His care-taker and literary agent want-to-be, Stephanie, and Rhett—who is trying to sort out his life—are from two different realms which adds the perfect amount of friction and misunderstanding. Fetching Sweetness isn't just a fun, fluffy read. There is heartbreak, humility, encouragement, joy, and growth in the spiritual journeys the characters follow. I highly recommend this sweet story. You'll find lots of surprises and laugh out loud moments. I received this book in exchange for a fair review.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

Find out more about Dana at http://www.danamentink.com.

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Celebrate the release of Fetching Sweetness with Dana by entering to win the Sweetness Unleashed Prize Pack!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Fetching Sweetness
• A $75 Visa cash card
• A library book necklace
• A dog-inspired insulated shopping tote

 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 24. The winner will be announced August 25 on Dana's blog.

Fetching Sweetness Give-Away

A recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest can only be found in Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink. It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Retrieve a reclusive author's valuable new manuscript and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent. But when the author's canine companion, Sweetness, makes a break for it and Stephanie has to track Sweetness down, she meets Rhett Hastings. They’re in for a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Celebrate the release of Fetching Sweetness with Dana by entering to win the Sweetness Unleashed Prize Pack!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Fetching Sweetness
• A $75 Visa cash card
• A library book necklace
• A dog-inspired insulated shopping tote

 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 24. The winner will be announced August 25 on Dana's blog.

Happy National Lighthouse Day!

Here are some lovely lighthouses we've been able to visit-

Marblehead Lighthouse-Marblehead, OH ©Penny McGinnis

South Bass Island Lighthouse-near Put-in-Bay, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

Vermillion Lighthouse-Vermillion, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

Alcatraz Island Lighthouse-San Francisco, CA  ©Penny McGinnis

Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse-Cleveland, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

Lorain Breakwater West Lighthouse-Lorain, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

I Can Do It!

Philippians 4:12-13
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

I just finished reading a book titled The Queen of Katwe authored by Tim Crothers. In this true story I met a young woman named Phiona who basically had nothing. She and her family lived in a shack in the slums of Uganda. They were fortunate if they could scrape together one meal a day. Their shack often flooded and left them with even less. Then a man came to the village and taught the children to play chess. Phiona had no idea what chess was, so the teacher had a four year old student show her what the pieces were and how they moved. Then Phiona took off. She embraced the game and before long was competing and winning. Giving her the means to help her family.

Phiona was a sincere, faithful follower of Jesus. She knew what it was to have nothing and knew what it was to have plenty. She took care of her family and continued on her journey as she embraced the gift God bestowed on her. I admit, I was a little uncomfortable as I read about Phiona and her family's living conditions. I felt bad for them. But the more I read of this amazing young lady's life, the more I recognized her incredible faith and determination to serve God. She kept her eyes on Jesus as she used her gift for good.

Phiona's story has stuck with me and reminded me to be thankful, to appreciate what I have, to use my gifts for Jesus, and to seek him in all things. Praise God for people who serve and love Him no matter what!

Nonfiction Book Review: Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers

Book Description:
One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende.

Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess—a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chess­board in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that—like their daily lives—requires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.

By the age of eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champion. Now a Woman Candidate Master—the first female titled player in her country’s history—Phiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable coun­tries. The Queen of Katwe is a “remarkable” (NPR) and “riveting” (New York Post) book that shows how “Phiona’s story transcends the limitations of the chessboard” (Robert Hess, US Grandmaster).

My Thoughts:
The Queen of Katwe is both a heartbreaking and awe inspiring story. As I read the first chapters, my heart ached for the people in Uganda, especially Phiona who lives in the slums. But even though her life is made up of sheer day-to-day survival, her love of family and faith in God sustains her on her incredible journey. Phiona is an amazing young lady who has an amazing aptitude for the game of chess. The more I read of Phiona's story, the more I rooted for her to learn and win. She's blessed to have a young man, Robert Kantende, who cares about the children of Katwe. He's an exceptional example of courage and encouragement. Tim Crothers does a great job telling Phiona's story. He gives enough background to help the reader understand the circumstances without being maudlin. I enjoyed seeing the world through Phiona's eyes as she experienced much of it for the first time during tournament travel. My overall favorite part of the story is the thread of truth that ties it all together. Phiona trusted God no matter what her circumstances. I'd like to see this on the reading list for middle school or high school students. It's a perfect example of integrity, grit, hope, and endurance. I received this book from Buzzplant in exchange for a fair review.

To learn more check out Phiona's story.

Watch the trailer for The Queen of Katwe, coming from Disney in September.