The Kingfisher Rooibos Tea Giveaway! 5 Winners!

Welcome To The Kingfisher Rooibos Tea Giveaway!

5 Winners!

This giveaway is part of our SMGN 2024 Fall Gift Guide – Stop by to see all the giveaways and great products!

HOST IS: DELICIOUSLY SAVVY

Co-hosts for this giveaway are: Pink Ninja Blog, Beautiful Touches, Golden Goose Giveaways, Gifts for all seasons, Home Jobs by Mom, Marksvilleandme, My Silly Little Gang, The Stuff of Success, & Versatileer

Below is a list of all the bloggers involved in the gift guide.

A Rain of Thought, Beautiful Touches, Contest Corner, Deliciously Savvy, Freebies Deals & Steals, Giveaway Gator, Golden Goose Giveaways, Home Jobs by Mom, Honey Can Do It, MarksvilleandMe, My Silly Little Gang, Pink Ninja Blog, Sweeps Madness, The Stuff of Success, This Frugal Grandmom, This Frugal Family, Versatileer

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This Giveaway's Sponsors Are:

WEBSITE ~ INSTAGRAM ~ AMAZON

Giveaway details:

5 Lucky Winners Will Win a box of Kingfisher Rooibos Tea ~ $80 TRV!

Read My Review!

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Click Below To Enter & Good Luck!

Entry-Form

This giveaway/sweepstakes is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. This Giveaway is valid to continental United States residents only, Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 11:59 PM (EST) 11/23/2024. The winner will have 48 hours to email their information back to mcushing7 at hotmail dot com and pinkninjablog at hotmail dot com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put these email addresses as safe as it could go to spam. The giveaway is not valid where prohibited! By entering you are authorizing us to collect the information on the form below, this information is used only to contact the winner! No purchase necessary, Void were prohibited by law, and the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winners are chosen randomly by the Giveaway Tools program. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contest are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Melissa Cushing at mcushing7 (at)hotmail (dot) com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified.

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How to Train Your Amygdala by Anna Housley Juster [Review & Giveaway] (nonfiction)

 

 

My thoughts:  Unless you've studied pre-med or advanced biology you probably are like me and have no clue what an "amygdala" is. So this children's book will educate parents as well as children about this part of the brain.

So, it's a little piece of you that helps you get an alarm telling you when you're in danger; and helps you act appropriately - run away, freeze, act strong, be angry. Also, it helps you to know when there is danger and you need to run or hide.

But sometimes we are alert to things from which we don't need to run, hide, or be angry about; so that needs to be controlled. We are overly anxious. And this cute little children's book is about learning to know when we (or our amygdala) needs fast reactive action and how we can act appropriately. The book teaches guided steps to help us keep control.

This information captured from Google
search & shared here by Vera.

About the Book: Your amygdala works hard to protect you from danger, but what about when it gets things wrong? This amusing character-driven narrative helps children learn to calm their amygdala and control their fight-flight-freeze impulses. Secret word: impulse

The amygdala is the brain's alarm system that alerts for danger, but sometimes it gets things wrong and needs help calming down. In this picture book, young readers receive kid-friendly information about the amygdala from the amygdala, how it can sometimes get confused, and simple ideas to calm and train it. 

The amygdala in How to Train Your Amygdala makes complicated concepts accessible to children so they can understand their bodies, practice impulse control, and boost their self-regulation. "You have probably never seen me before, but I am right here in your brain. There is an amygdala in everyone’s brain. It’s true! All humans have one. Many other animals do too."

Throughout the book, the amygdala and the reader practice anxiety-calming and mindfulness strategies such as deep breathing, visualization, and progressive relaxation. With anxiety on the rise among children, learning how to calm the amygdala is a critical life skill.  

Additional content at the back of the book includes an amygdala's training playbook for kids and more information for adults to help reinforce the book's message.

About the Author and Illustrator: Anna Housley Juster, Ph.D., LICSW, is a child and adolescent mental health clinician and early childhood education consultant. She began her career as a Head Start teacher and has over two decades of experience supporting children and families across a variety of contexts including schools, museums, libraries, and clinical mental health settings. During several years in children's media, she served as director of content for Sesame Street developing curriculum for the series, publishing, product development, and interactive technology. Anna is a firm believer in the power of play, her favorite number is 3, and she lives with her husband, two daughters, and one very soft dog near Boston, Massachusetts.

Cynthia Cliff is a self-taught artist and author who grew up in a tiny historic village in rural Virginia surrounded by her large superstitious family, and farms and woodlands where she spent every waking hour. This upbringing provided her with a deep love and appreciation for history, family, nature, and folklore—themes that find their way into much of her whimsical, folk-art inspired, and optimistic artwork. She resides in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., with her partner and four-legged family.

GIVEAWAY

Begins October 12

Ends November 7 @ 12:01 a.m. ET

Open to USA addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given. Winner's copy is provided and mailed directly to winner by publicist on behalf of author. Chat With Vera is not responsible for lost or misdirected prizes.

Indescribable Atlas Adventures: An Explorer's Guide to Geography, Animals, & Cultures Through God's Amazing World (Indescribable Kids) by Louie Giglio, illustrators Nicola Anderson & Lynsey Wilson

With more than 50 infographic maps, this illustrated world atlas for kids from bestselling author Louie Giglio will stretch your children's understanding of the world as they discover more about God, science, and His amazing world!

Indescribable Atlas Adventures offers a self-guided tour for your favorite explorer throughout the seven continents and over 50 countries. Easy-to-read maps, more than 1,500 facts, and a world map that helps kids identify each continent and country will help your child to think globally and discover new insights into God's incredible creation. Each map includes:

• an overview of each country's population, languages, and prominent features;
• key facts about the country's capital cities; neighboring countries; and the national bird, tree, and dish;
• notable people and their amazing achievements;
• the country's terrain, climate, wildlife, contributions to space exploration, cultural hallmarks, and Christian faith traditions; and
• biblical and inspirational pieces, like devotional thoughts, prayers, and Bible verses that highlight how amazing God and His world are.

Indescribable Atlas Adventures is for ages 6 to 10 and spotlights several fascinating ecosystems, like the Sahara, Amazon, and Great Barrier Reef. This book has a large trim size to help kids explore fun details on each page and is a perfect "my first atlas of the world" gift for curious kids.

My thoughts: I really look forward to each of the "Indescribable" children's books written by or under the guidance of Louie Giglio. They provide an entertaining resource for children's educational pursuits. They don't have to meld with a particular curriculum. They are simply books from which children delight to read and learn. They are on-topic resources that are dependable for articulating researched information.

In the Indescribable Atlas Adventures: An Explorer's Guide to..... readers will explore the continents and the countries. They will learn historical, geographic, and ecological information. Parents should realize that this is not an in depth atlas. It is a children's book intended to introduce and educate the young mind. It is delightfully attractive, beautifully colored, insightful, educational, factual. The book is large but not too large or heavy for a young child to handle. It isn't a toddler's book though kindergartners through about fifth graders will benefit from it.

As an atlas it does not show specific areas such as mountain ranges, capitals, rivers, etc. It is generalized and provides short factoids about the pictured area and/or components. Being a faith-based publication, it shares short encouragements toward faith as well as pointing out historic Biblical events or persons when appropriate. Generally speaking, this is a "soft-atlas" that introduces children to the world and is faith-based in intention.

I highly recommend this and other works from Tommy Nelson publications in the "Indescribable Kids" line of books.

Where to purchase: 
https://bit.ly/IndescribableKidsFGM

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.

The Christmas Tree Farm by Melody Carlson

ISBN: 9780800744724
Hardcover $17.99 US

My thoughts:  I look forward to author Melody Carlson's annual Christmas novella. This year's book, The Christmas Tree Farm, has a gentle charm that takes the reader to the heart of two families living in Oregon. With easily readable writing, Ms. Carlson fleshes out each of the characters so that the reader feels as though they are long-time acquaintances or friends. 

The setting is two adjacent farms - or rather a farm and a piece of land. The Christmas tree farm has been devastated by fire along with much of the area. We've all seen the destructive and massive fires that have raged in California, Oregon, and Canada. So it isn't hard to image that this tree farm was partially destroyed by one of those raging fires.

Personalities clash. Old teen loves are rekindled by settled, mature adults. Conflict over farm usage. Conflict over other issues both personal and business.

All in all, this is a wonderful little book to relax and read through. Not too "Christmassy" but it takes place during the season. And mostly it's a wonderful little book about family.

About the book: When Madison McDowell returns from several years teaching overseas, she has high hopes of picking up where she left off at her family's Christmas tree farm in Oregon. But between damage from a recent wildfire and the neglect due to her sister Addie's unwillingness to invest, the farm is in sad shape. In fact, Addie is intent on selling the property. And to top it off, her former high school flame, the now-widowed Gavin Thompson, has plans to break Madison's heart again by turning his neighboring property into a dusty, noisy dirt bike track for his daughter.

With the odds stacked against her, Madison decides there's only one thing to double down on her dreams. It will take a ton of hard work--and some help from an unlikely ally--to save the farm she so dearly loves. But it may take a miracle to restore her relationship with her sister.

Bestselling and award-winning author Melody Carlson charms and delights with this uplifting Christmas story full of old memories and new beginnings.

DISCLOSURE: Revell, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, provided me a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.

"WHITE BIRD" (the movie) from the best-selling author of "Wonder" - in Theaters October 4 [Review & Giveaway]

A Story of Overcoming and Kindness Set During the Horrors of WWII

Take away from the movie..... Be Brave. Choose Kind. You forget many things in life. But you never forget kindness. 

WHITE BIRD is a deeply moving coming of-age story and testament to the courage it takes to extend kindness and love during the harshest of times.

Synopsis: From the world of Wonder, which sparked a movement to "choose kind," comes the inspirational next chapter: WHITE BIRD. 

Struggling to fit in at his new school after being expelled for his treatment of Auggie Pullman, Julian (Bryce Gheisar) is visited by his grandmother (Helen Mirren) and is transformed by the compassionate and heroic story of her attempts to escape Nazi-occupied France during WWII. From the director of Finding Neverland, WHITE BIRD reminds us to be brave and choose kind.

My review:  Often movies about the WWII period are filled with violence, horror, and the unspeakable evil, etc. and that was definitely the way things were in Europe during that time. In "White Bird" we see that the horror is there, but it is downplayed; yet you become emotionally involved in the "this is it" that is occurring. The story's telling is set in modern day with actual depiction showing what happened to school age teens and pre-teens during that time.

As a "coming of age" story, this is gently told. Sheer loveliness. As a story of kindness the magnitude of grace and kindness is huge. 

The acting is superb. The filming top-grade. The story emotionally impactful and uplifting. This is a story of moral goodness overcoming evil. Of kindness overcoming brutish evil. Of miracles that occur in the daily living of life.

Don't miss this one! 

GIVEAWAY

$10 Amazon Gift Card (ecard)

Begins October 4

Ends October 15 @ 12:01 a.m. ET

Open to USA only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Many thanks to Kingdom Faith Marketing Services for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own. Winner's gift card prize is provided via email by publicist on behalf of the movie promotion. Chat With Vera is not responsible for fulfillment or transmittal. Secret word: kindness

Little learners explore the animal kingdom with picture books [Review & Giveaway]

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Learn all about the amazing animal kingdom with books on animal tools, animals that can do math, how the octopus makes its den, farm animals, the amazing swifts, and how humans have impacted animal pathways!

The Den That Octopus Built by Randi Sonenshine & illustrated by Anne Hunter | Ages 4 to 8

My thoughts:  Loosely following the style and rhyme of "The House that Jack Built," the author gently takes the reader or young listener through the life cycle of a female Octopus. As a young octopus, she builds her house, lays her eggs, hatches and protects. Then the young leave her care and go in search of a place to build their own den (or place to "nest").

Soft colors and gentle illustrations give a dreamy look to the undersea life of the octopus.

Educational back matter provides information for additional learning  about the fascinating octopus. A short glossary is included along with the author's notes to further educate about the sea and environment of the octopus.

About the book: Follow one of the ocean’s most mysterious animals in this warm but candid look at its dramatic life cycle, from the creators of The Nest That Wren Built.

Look What I Found on the Farm by Moira Butterfield & illustrated by Jesus Verona | Ages 2 to 5

My thoughts:  Children love farms and all the animals. So a visit to the farm always excites and delights the little ones. In Look What I found on the Farm, children see farm animals as well as pets. This book will appeal to two year olds because of the pictures but the information in the text actually will appeal to upward five to maybe eight year olds. 

A delightful, entertaining, educational book that has adorable illustrations. It is packed with so much fun and learning.

About the book: Open your senses to a world of wonder by taking a walk through a farm!

Super Swifts by Justin Anderson & illustrated by Clover Robin | Ages 4 to 8

My thoughts:  I totally enjoyed this non-fiction book. I find it suitable for ages 4 to 8 and it will simply amaze readers. This tiny bird travels probably farther and without landing than any other bird species. His journey from the south of Africa to Northern Europe, China,  and Siberia is fascinating. They know when to migrate and where to go. They don't really sleep during this long journey. They travel 500+ miles a day.

I totally approve this fascinating book.

About the book: An evocative nonfiction narrative follows the swifts on their epic journey north, from the jungles of Africa to nesting sites in Europe.

Find Out About Animal Tools by Martin Jenkins & illustrated by Jane McGuinness | Ages 3 to 7

My thoughts:  Learning how birds, fish, and animals use various "tools" to do tasks is eye opening. I think the most fascinating to me is the bird that harvests "string" from a plant and then "sews" or "weaves" leaves together to make a nest. Other critters use stones to crack open eggs or bash open shell fish (clams, etc.) against a rock that they hold on their chest. Secret word: work

Simple, direct illustrations show each animal or critter in its element and show them utilizing their own skillful and ingenious tool use.

I think this is a delightful non-fiction title for little ones and is age appropriate for about 3 years to 7 years old. I recommend.

About the book: Otters that break open shells on their chests? Crows that make hooks to snare grubs? Discover the surprising (and sometimes sneaky!) ways that animals use tools.

GIVEAWAY

Winner's Choice of 2 titles reviewed

Begins October 3

Ends October 31 @ 12:01 a.m. EDT

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE: I received complimentary copies to facilitate a review. Opinions expressed are mine, alone and are freely given. Winner's prize is provided and mailed/shipped directly to the winner by publisher or publicist. Chat With Vera is not responsible for lost or misdirected prizes.

Help for the North Carolina & Tennessee disaster areas (edited #2) - more

This post is simply for the purpose of assisting rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane (tropical storm) Helene that left historic devastation in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee..

I have found that the Facebook account North Carolina Weather Authority is proving to be a good source of phone numbers, links, organizations to help locate stranded or missing persons. 

And in locating those needing assistance in airlifting persons from dangerous and isolated areas. Providing needed food, water, diapers, medicines. Getting folks on oxygen to sources.

Remember 911 and how the boaters of NYC and surrounds rescued so many people???? What a miracle that was! Well, I believe I'm seeing another miracle. I'm seeing on FB where private airplane and helicopter pilots and owners are coming together to ferry provisions, rescue folks, ferry survivors to safety. Amazing. They're coming from far away from the mountains of NC to help.

OPERATION AIRDROP:  https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Operation%20Airdrop  

Part of this "AIRtilla" is this helio-pilot from Nebraska https://www.facebook.com/garrett.mitchell.927 - He says the helicopters are working out of Hickory airport.

From Southern Living magazine..... This North Carolina College Student Is Saving Lives With His Weather Reports In The Wake Of Hurricane Helene click here        

From NEWSWEEK on North Carolina Weather Authority - click here