Friday, September 20, 2013

Bumper Wipe Clean Activities By Juliet David; illustrated by Marie Allen

Are you looking for a fun activity book for your child?  Bumper Wipe Clean Activities may be the product for you.  This cute book is for kids ages 3 and up, and the activities are centered around different stories in the Bible.  The pages are full of the following fun activities:  Tracing, Drawing, Dot to Dot, Matching Pairs, Find the Way, Hidden Objects and more.  The best part of this book is that all you have to do is wipe it clean to re-use it again and again.  The instructions say that most good quality felt-tip pens and crayons can be used on the pages.  There is even a small spot on the back of the book to test your felt pen or crayon before you try it inside the book.
 I thought this activity book was well done, and I loved the bright colors on the pages!  I think any child would be excited to do the activities in this book.   This activity book would make a great gift and I would highly recommend it.

***I received this book free from Kregel Publications in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma

Let me start by saying, I LOVED this book!  Liz Tolsma is a new to me author and she has quickly become one of my favorites.
Snow on the Tulips  is a story that takes place in the Netherlands during the end of WWII.  Cornelia is just trying to survive the Nazi invasion by laying low and hiding her younger brother, Johan.  But Johan, who is 20 years old, has other plans and is tired of hiding and not helping the cause to fight the Nazis.  After watching a group of men being led to the canal for the executions, Johan ventures out at night to lay the orange Dutch flag over one of the bodies as a show of his resistance.  But what he finds is a man who survived execution.  He quickly brings him home to Cornelia which changes their lives forever.  Now with a wanted man in their house, they will have to be even more vigilant to avoid being caught by the Nazis.

Like I said this book was great!!  I love history and this story is actually based on some true facts from the author's own family history.  I loved the way that Liz Tolsma writes and how she is able to describe the scene of the Netherlands under Nazi rule so well.  The story was filled with suspense especially when the Nazi soldiers came knocking on Cornelia's door.  And there is definitely a budding romance between Cornelia and the man she is nursing back to health.  The characters face many hurtles that they have to overcome in order to move ahead with life.  Their faith and trust in God is definitely challenged throughout the war.
Liz Tolsma will be on my favorite authors list for sure!  Her next book Daisies Last Forever will be out May 2014.  So make sure to pick this one up.  You won't be disappointed!!

Find Liz on her website and over at Facebook.

***I received this book free from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.