The Sewing Mom

I received the following 2 books in the mail and was asked to read them and provide my opinion. I agreed to do this and have received no other compensation for my opinion of the Wright on Time series of stories.

I was so happy when Parent Reviewers asked me to read and review the Wright On Time series of books, written by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley, which revolve around a family of four traveling the United States in their RV, learning all about the different states and the history that makes our country what it is today. You see, I spent many vacations traveling with my parents, going to campgrounds, spending nights in tents in my younger years and later, my parent upgraded to a beautiful motor home, very similar to the RV the Wright family is traveling in. I knew I’d be able to relate to these stories and I was so right!

The Wright family, mom Stephanie, dad Harrison, and siblings Nadia, age 11 and Aidan, age 7, (do you see that those names are spelled in reverse of each other?) have rented out their permanent residence and taken to life on the road. The parents both earn their living on the road and homeschool, or roadschool as Aidan likes to call it, their kids. Book 1, Arizona covers their first destination, Arizona where they spend a day exploring the Arizona desert. They take the opportunity to explore a privately owned cave where the learn about a variety of cave formations, minerals and animals that dwell in caves, particularly bats. Truly, what kid wouldn’t love spending the day exploring and even having a picnic in a cave?!

In Book 2, the Wrights travel to Utah where they participate in a geological dig for dinosaur bones. We did something very similar a few years ago in South Dakota and found it to be a fascinating adventure that I know my own daughter will always remember. So much can be learned from this types of activities and the book really helps the reader share in all of the information and fact finding.

I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed these books and I definitely share the love of learning and traveling around our country. It’s exactly what we’ve tried to do with our own daughter, even though we don’t have an RV. The series seems to be targeted to readers around age 10, younger if they love to read and have a parent that likes to read with them. The stories inspire me to hit the road with my family!

As a member of Parent Reviewers, I have been given the opportunity to read the fictional novel “Irreplaceable” and provide my thoughts on this debut novel by Stephen Lovely. I have to tell you, the beginning of the book was quite shocking. I am not going to tell you what happens in that first chapter, but the event that occurs is the basis for the entire rest of the book.

Irreplaceable is a touching story of how the death of a soul mate and best friend affects not only those who knew her, but also those who had never even met her. This story took me through every emotion imaginable including shock, sorrow, sadness, healing, love and the strength of family.

While this novel is fiction a story of life and love, it also carries a very strong message. Even if you’ve never considered organ donation, this story will at least make you consider signing the back of your driver’s license to be an organ donor.

Whatever your view on organ donation, “Irreplaceable” is worth the read.

# Hardcover: 352 pages
# Publisher: Voice (February 3, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1401322824
# ISBN-13: 978-1401322823

As a member of Parent Reviewers, I was recently given a wonderful opportunity to review the book, “Awakening Consciousness: A Girl’s Guide”. To tell you the truth, I was a bit skeptical about reading this book when it first arrived on my doorstep, but, I am willing to keep an open mind and sat down one evening with my daughter as we read through it together.

Awakening Consciousness: A Girl’s Guide is not only filled with simple, common sense methods of encouraging spiritual growth and self awareness in young ladies, but it is also a workbook filled with wonderful exercises that are simple and yet thought provoking. Many of the exercises were things that we do in our family on a regular basis and yet, reading the exercises along with my daughter allowed us to talk about it openly, something we don’t always do.

The book talks about many things including each individuals aura and maintaining a positive attitude. I found this part of the book most interesting and helpful because my daughter has a friend who has been having difficulty in finding her own purpose while my daughter is quite strong in that area. We discussed it and even talked about ways the she could help her friend by doing these same exercises with her. I think what I liked most about this book is its emphasis on being positive. Positive energy emits positive aura which will allow positive things to happen around you. Negative yields negative. We each create our own future and being positive will lead us down a positive path.

This is a short, quick read, only 96 pages.  I do recommend this book as a means of building self confidence and positive reinforcement.

# Paperback: 96 pages
# Publisher: Loving Healing Press (November 20, 2008)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1932690808
# ISBN-13: 978-1932690804