As a young boy of sixteen, he was able to get a job on television doing puppets (marionettes).  This was a precursor to his evolution of creating/making his own puppets which he and his partner, Jane Nebel,  from a puppetry class created something called Muppets (a name blending puppets and marionettes).  Jane Nebel eventually became his wife and Muppets have taken a hold in the hearts of children and their families ever since.  Today, there is a whole industry of toys, movies, puppets, novelty items, clothing lines bearing the likeness of Muppets and so on.  In fact, there is a website called Muppet Central.

What I find fascinating is the perception held by both Jim Henson and most people of the pre-televised program of Sesame Street era is that puppets were merely for children.  Puppetry has the ability to entertain, teach, inspire both children and adults.  It took a trip to Europe to develop a respect for puppetry beyond its ability to entertain children.  In Europe he met people who loved puppetry and used it in a wide field to create awareness, to open dialogue and debates and used it in public ceremonies.  He threw himself into his art and created a whole new industry just by using his skills and talents and combined those with other like minded people.

Jim Henson’s puppets had personality and they influenced generations of learning and fun through characters like Big Bird, Oscar the grouch, Bert and Ernie, the Count, Miss Piggy and of course, Kermit the Frog.  Interesting fact, Jim had a real life friend with the name of Kermit.    Public television was now being used in a way similar to teaching techniques in pre-school programs around the nation.   These puppets have become dear friends to generations that have grown up with Muppets as companions to their childhood…and Jim Henson & his co-workers are to be appreciated; this book helps us to do that.

The pictures in this book are fun and colorful.  It is an interesting read for both parent and child.  Written by Kathleen Krull and the paintings in the book were done by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher; the book was published by Random House and copyrighted in 2011. 

This desire to honor Jesus with a gift starts a whole chain reaction of gifts that Ronnie bestows on others simply by taking action.  I love the fact that Francis Chan has written a book illustrating the fact that God can use each of us to achieve powerful, and helpful things; no matter our age.  This is not a lesson that the world teaches our children.  The world says take all that you can get and whine for more, Christian teachings says give, bless others and communicate the love of God.

Francis Chan is a pastor and a speaker who is known nationally and internationally.  He lives what he preaches by serving those that God calls us to serve…those who are hurting, those who are poor and those who do have not learned of Jesus and his sacrifice.  By writing this book, Francis Chan has brought that message to the children of the world.  He has done that in a way that speaks to their hearts and their minds and encourages them to think of ways to serve others that they find in need.  This opens their eyes to those people with hurts and needs in their everyday life…people they know and the random people that God puts in their path.

This particular children’s book was illustrated by Jim Madsen.  His illustrated drawings are colorful and help to evoke a perfect emotional response to the words telling the story.   The colors are beautiful and the character’s body language and facial expressions add layers of meaning to the story of giving and receiving.  Combining the artistic visuals that Jim Madsen provides, along with the teaching that Francis Chan instills with the story of Ronnie Wilson’s Gift was a perfect pairing of talents.

Both children and their parents will enjoy this book.  The values that it encourages, the teaching of the foundational idea of us being the hands and feet of Jesus here on Earth and the realistic character of Ronnie is a good way to open dialogue between children and their caregivers about how best to serve the Lord in their daily life.

It is easy to recommend this book to my readers.  I think that this book would make a wonderful gift for those children in your life that you have the privilege of teaching and inspiring to acts of giving and helping others to understand the love of God.

I have to say that I won this particular book as one of 5 winners on a giveaway here:  Parent Life Online thanks to the publisher David C. Cook .   I was not obligated to give a review or to say that the book was great…EVEN though it IS great.  Thank you to Parent Life Online and to David C.  Cook for the opportunity to win this book and read a book that shines a light on such a wonderful book of faith building, for children and their families.

This book review of, Where Did My Good Mood Go is about an educational children’s picture book on emotion written by Ava Parnass and illustrated by Kate Kaminski.  The illustrations are colorful and uplifting.  This helpful as the subject matter is all about a child trying to find a positive mood. 

Ava writes for young children who are struggling with their emotions and their behaviors.  She has created a character in this story called Mushy.   Mushy is a magical book online who helps kids understand their feelings.   The illustration of Mushy is open and friendly.  The idea behind Mushy is to have a trusted friend who helps a child understand their emotions and behaviors and to adjust them accordingly by opening the door to processing why they are feeling the way they do.  Many times children feel alone…as if they are the only ones to ever feel the way that they do.  After reading this book, I think that they will come to see that emotions can come and go without getting stuck in a destructive mode.

I think this works well in this book, Where Did My Good Mood Go.  I believe the book will empower young children (and the adults who care for them) to see that they are the only ones in charge of how they handle challenges, as they come along.  Mushy explains that everyone has bad days now and then.  Mushy also encourages communication between adult and child to help foster supportive words and actions.  I think young families will find this book helpful and enjoyable at the same time.

Ava has been a family psychotherapist for over 15 years.  She believes strongly in helping to develop healthy relationships through communication between parents and children.  Her books and her music are all about building up the healthy foundation of a child.   If you are interested in learning more about Ava and her books & products you should visit her website:  www.ListenToMePlease.com  Make sure to tell her that you learned about her through Book In Review.  I do need to tell you that I received a review copy; but that in no way guaranteed a positive review of her books or products.   I hope you enjoy getting to know more about Ava and her company…and that the children in your life are the recipients of her efforts to bring healthy and happy into their everyday experiences. 

It is a total pleasure to do a book review of this children’s book, Listen To Me Please, because it is a book that you can read with your child and reap the benefits of a deeper personal relationship with your child.  Ava Parnass co-wrote the book with Dr. Ron Taffel.  Kate Kaminski was in charge of the illustrations and the book production process.  The end result is a book filled with colorful graphics, heartwarming visuals and parenting tips that will help the reader to navigate many of the pitfalls that parents and children fall into when challenges arise.

Open ended conversation starters allow valuable communication to help both parent and child to understand each other’s words and actions better, which can only help to improve the relationship on both ends.  Starting out by focusing on the positive aspects of any given situation helps keeps the conversation proactive when it comes to problem solving.

I like the fact that the book gives the child permission to have a voice.  Too often children are told to be quiet, sit down, and keep out of the way by the adults in their life.  It is easy for a child to become overwhelmed when they do not feel valued or heard when they are upset, angry, or anxious about the things affecting them daily.  A child that feels heard and validated emotionally is a child that is more open to instruction and guidance. That alone should help to eliminate many of the negative behaviors that parents often feel powerless to stop or control.

Listen To Me Please would be great as a baby shower gift, a birthday gift, or just as a way to encourage parents and children to grow and learn together.  You can learn more about Listen To Me Please and the authors and discover where to purchase the book by going to their website here: www.ListenToMePlease.com .

As you can imagine that does not sit well with young Koi as he feels that the “wise man” of the village cheated him of his equal share.  He tells the village that they do not kn0w how to properly treat the son of a Chief.  He takes as many of the Kola nuts as he can carry and he leaves on a journey to find his place in the world.

Those Kola nuts are used to help people and in the end they save young Koi’s life.  I do have to warn you that the story refers often to Koi being cooked and eaten  by his enemies.  If you have a young sensitive reader or listener…then this book may not be for you.  If however you can reassure the young listeners that Koi will be fine then the book teaches a great lesson about sharing your blessings with people in your life.

This book was published by Rabbit Ears Books  in 1995.  The book was illustrated by Reynold Ruffins.  The book was written by Brian Gleeson.

In explaining these issues, in this way, she takes some of the fear of such procedures out of them; making it easy for an adult reading this story to their child to explain what may happen to them (if they are a pediatric cancer patient).  There isn’t an emotional script in the book about how a child should feel…this leaves the job of exploring the child’s emotional reactions to any given treatment or procedure open to discussion between the reader and the patient.  That is as it should be because it is hard to write the reality of treatments in a meaningful way without trivializing it or overwhelming a child with a pre-conceived idea of how it will feel.

Jenevieve Fisher herself was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 22.  She believes in helping to educate children honestly and has worked in radiology as an oncology therapist.  Her background of working in the medical field, as well as her own personal cancer diagnosis and treatment, has helped her to write and market a series of books designed to support and educate children who are going through a health crisis.  It is designed to empower a child to understand what is happening and how their treatment will impact them.

Fear is a powerful emotion and having some knowledge about what is happening inside their own bodies and in their surroundings during treatment can go a long way to help encourage a child who might otherwise feel completely powerless in their situation.

I’m a Kid Living With Cancer is beautifully illustrated throughout the book, as well as on the book cover.  The artist who illustrated the book is Casey Huie.  The pictures are bright, colorful and communicate hope and joy.  Casey was born with a dislocated hip and because of that she endured many hospital stays and surgeries.   She too understands how children with cancer feel when they are in and out of the hospital and doctors offices.  Together with Jenevieve the author, they have created this book to help children and their families have some kind of idea of what to expect.

You can find out more about this book and others in the series by clicking here.   This is an independent publishing company but the quality of this book is outstanding.  It is a book you will be proud to own and share with others.

Another thing I absolutely love about this book, is that the writer and illustrator dedicate a portion of the sale of each book to pediatric cancer research.  I like the statements that they make on their site about what they do and why they do it.  Not only that; but, they also work with a great non profit organization, by the name of Friends Like Us, that I have been volunteering for by sewing bags for the chemo bears that they give to children with cancer.  These are great people with heart for children with cancer and their families.  Please support their efforts by purchasing I’m A Kid Living With Cancer and by visiting both sites.  Who knows…you just might feel moved to donate time, awareness or money for their good works.

Abbie’s mother becomes ill and her father must leave the lighthouse to get help.  A storm is on the way and it is up to Abbie to keep the lights lit in the towers.  The storm takes on a horrific power and the family must climb to a higher level than the lower living space due to the storm washing upon the rock where the lighthouse was built.

It is exhausting and a tremendous responsibility to keep the lights burning and bright.  Abbie battles the storm and her own exhaustion performing the duties that her father normally was in charge of.  This book was wonderfully written and illustrated.   The pictures are rich in color and convey the urgency of the storm in the story.   The author is Marcia Vaughan and the illustrator is Bill Farnsworth.

This story is about a young girl named Tricia who decides to stay with her Father and Gramma after her summer vacation to attend school in Michigan instead of going back to live with her Mother in California.  She wants this change because she is tired of being treated differently as a “special” student.  Only, to her discomfort…she finds out on her first day that she is indeed still in a special class and the regular kids call them the Junkyard Wonders.

The term is meant to humiliate and segregate the regular kids from the specials and make them feel inadequate.  However, like many special needs classrooms around the world…the kids in the Junkyard come for forge strong bonds with one another because they have a dedicated and caring teacher who takes the time to help them see and understand their own unique value and gifts.

This book is emotional and touching and I would gladly recommend it to anyone who just wants to be connected to the world of the special needs child who is capable of great and amazing things just by being who they are and living life to the fullest.  I think that this story illustrates the strong relationships that children in special education classrooms form with one another…they celebrate with one another victories and they sorrow at each other’s challenges.

If you would like to see the authors website you can go here: http://www.patriciapolacco.com.  Patricia dedicated this book to her own special teacher, Mrs. Peterson and her Tribe.    This book was published in 2010, by Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.   http://www.penguin.com/youngreaders .

       The text of the book explains in real language that doesn’t talk down to a child.  The book was written by Pam Rosenberg and she does a wonderful job of answering the question of how the end product, ice cream, goes from raw product, to the wonderful delight on the desert wish list of most children. 

       Through both mouth watering pictures and words designed to lead from one thought concept to another about what has to happen to turn milk into ice cream…the reader is left with an understanding of how that happens. 

        I like that Pam Rosenberg inspires the reader to ask questions of those people in the everyday life of the reader who may play a part in a manufacturing process.   Those people may include a farmers who produce raw products, to a trucker who delivers raw or finished products, to a factory worker who works on an assembly line or, maybe even a grocery worker who stocks the product, or a cashier who sells the ice cream.

       I like the fact that this book also has a list of glossary terms to help young readers understand words that may not be in their vocabulary as well as a page of websites and other resources on the subject.  There are 24 pages and the reading level is for children grades 2-4. 

        Those examples in manufacturing open the eyes of a child to the world around them…not only for ice cream products; but , also to open their eyes to other manufactured products, and jobs or potential careers that may be in their future.

          This children’s picture book was published by: http://www.cherrylakepublishing.com  in Ann Arbor, Michigan; copyrighted in 2010. 

       There are some behaviors that the young man, Dylan, does that confuse Mackenzie Mackabee.  He sits and swings alone for long periods of time.  He covers his eyes and his ears for no apparent reason.  He doesn’t seem to smile or talk back when any other students talk to him.  One day, the kids are playing soccer when out of the blue, the young man runs and takes the ball and continues running.  The kids are upset thinking that he is trying to stop their game.

       Mackenzie consults her teacher about her questions regarding young Dylan’s behavior.  The teacher is thrilled to have an opportunity to explain that Dylan has Autism and how that affects him.  She explains that she is sure that Dylan isn’t trying to stop their game or trying to be a bully. 

       You will have to read the wonderful story to see how the situation is resolved and how a little understanding can go a long way to helping others to include someone who is a bit different from themselves.  This is a wonderfully written book and the colorful pictures on the pages help to show how students can learn about one another and appreciate their differences.   The emotions of the characters are reflected in the artwork so that the reader can empathize with the characters in the story. 

        I think this is a wonderful story book for any classroom setting; but, especially any classroom that may include special needs students who may be struggling to feel acceptance from their peers.   The author of the story is Julie Coe and the illustrator is Sondra Brassel; the story was inspired by the children of Jennifer Maloni.  I like the fact that these women intend for this book to make a difference in how children see another child who is a bit different from themselves and appreciate and include them in their social lives!   There are even some great activities to promote positive interaction between children who are living with Autism or any other challenge that sets them apart from their peers and others who are in their daily lives.   After all, everyone deserves the opportunity to be accepted for who they are and to feel like they fit or belong with others in the peer group.  Pick up this book and let it be an inspiration to teachers, students and families everywhere!

        The book can be purchased at:  http://www.amazon.com