If You Live On A Farm by Kari Ann Gonzalez & illustrated by Marie Hermansson [Review & Giveaway]

 Let's Celebrate World Soil Day - Dec. 5th

A captivating picture book that takes children on an alliterative adventure through rural America.

ISBN: 9781948898218 🚜$18.99 Hardcover 🚜Ages 4-8
Feeding Minds Press 

About the book: What would life be like if you lived on a farm?

And what kind of farm would it be?

A flower farm or a dairy farm?

An aquaponics farm or an alpaca farm?

An orange grove or a mushroom farm?

What would life be like if you lived on a farm? Would you sway with a rainbow of petals in the breeze, or play peek-a-boo with a pop of mushrooms in the cool, dark? Written in beautiful, lyrical language, this gorgeously illustrated picture book features an eclectic variety of modern farming and supportive backmatter that are sure to delight and inspire young readers.

My thoughts:  This is a delightfully written non-fiction romp through varied types of farm life for the young child, and it is brightly illustrated to engage the senses and tells the story of the much varied types of "farming" that exist. While we typically speak to the food-growing types of farms seen as we drive down country roads, the newer types of food farms and non-food-farms are also addressed.

This is a simple, and lovely book for little ones that tells them basically where food comes from. It's not a typical book, but it is quite lovely.

If addressed to an older audience, variety in farming could point out the need for diversity in plants on the land and crop rotations to preserve richness of soil. The same with animal grazing and rotation on lands is important. In today's world with non-food-farming using vast amounts of land, attention to the effect these non-foods will have on the actual soil - i.e., solar farms and wind farms. But that is a societial or environmental discussion and not fodder for a young child's book. But parents can ponder, can't they?

This is an absolutely lovely book and does beautifully instruct and engages the senses and the mind.

🚜GIVEAWAY🚜

Begins November 13

Ends December 10 @ 11:59 p.m. ET

Open to USA addresses only.

If You Live On A Farm by Kari Ann Gonzalez

About the Author: Kari Ann Gonzalez loves tending to her family's small hobby farm and flock of plucky chickens in California. Her debut picture book, How To Hatch A Reader, won the Northern Lights Picture Book Award for humor, and How To Hatch A Writer was named a Reviewer’s Choice title by Midwest Book Review’s Children’s Bookwatch. Learn more about Kari at karianngonzalez.com.

About the Illustrator: Marie Hermansson is a nature enthusiast and hobby gardener. She would love to run a small flower farm one day, but until then she'll keep growing her garden and creating artwork for various children's magazines, retail companies, and picture books. Marie is an American illustrator currently living on the west coast of Sweden with her husband and two children. Learn more about Marie at mariehermanssonillustration.com.

About the Publisher: Feeding Minds Press is a project of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. The mission of the Foundation is to build awareness and understanding of agriculture through education. The goal of Feeding Minds Press is to publish accurate and engaging books about agriculture that connect readers to where their food comes from and who grows it. Learn more at feedingmindspress.com.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given. Winner's prize book is provided and mailed to the winner by Feeding Minds Press or their representative. Chat With Vera is not responsible for lost or misdirected prizes. 

"The Last Noel" by Sarah Hamaker, Kimberley Woodhouse, & Jayna Breigh (3 Romantic Suspense Christmas Novellas) [Giveaway]

The Last Noel (novella collection) 

The Last Noel is a riveting Christmas novella collection with suspense, intrigue, and second-chance romance.

Kregel Publications
Paperback $18.99
ISBN: 9780825453977  

"Do You See What I See?" by Sarah Hamaker

Oakleigh Wright's estranged foster sister reappears late one night desperate to hand off her children. Oakleigh agrees to bring them to their aunt out of state, but her travels are intercepted by a ruthless gang. She turns to her ex, Joseph, for help. Will they rekindle their love as they uncover what the gang seeks?

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" by Jayna Breigh

Trial lawyer Elise Sinclair resigns herself to a lonely Christmas reviewing legal documents—until her renegade fiancé, Jack, reappears. He is jobless, broken, and seeking forgiveness. Can two battered hearts overcome secrets and restore their love?

"Do You Know What I Know?" by Kimberley Woodhouse

When Faith Thibodeaux returns to her Cajun-style food truck in Alaska after an accident, the last thing she expects is to find out that her ex-boyfriend is the executive chef of a new restaurant. When they return to their hometown over the holidays to fundraise, will the "friendly" competition restore their love or rip them apart forever?

Read an Excerpt - Click Here

Watch for Chat With Vera's review, soon!

🎄GIVEAWAY🎄

Paperback copy: "The Last Noel"

Begins November 10

Ends December 10 @ 11:59 p.m. EST

Open to USA addressess only.

THE LAST NOEL (3 Romantic Suspense Christmas Novellas)

DISCLOSURE: I was provided a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given. Winner's book prize is provided and mailed directly to the winner by the publisher, Kregel, or their publicist. Chat With Vera is not responsible for lost or misdirected prizes. Winner will be notified via email registered within the Gleam.io system and will have 48 hours to provide requested information. Failure to meet deadline will result in a different winner being selected. Prize is Christmas related and efforts will be made to provide delivery by Christmas but is not guaranteed.

Murder UnStitched: A Texas Cozy Mystery (A Stitches, Perks & Pages Cozy Mystery #2) by Vannetta Chapman [Giveaway]

Not all dreams are supposed to come true.

Emma Dawson’s recurring nightmare becomes terrifyingly real when a woman is murdered in her quilt shop. Now Emma must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.

With suspects hiding secrets, threats mounting, and another nightmare looming, Emma begins pulling at the loose threads surrounding the murder. 

Murder UnStitched is a Texas cozy mystery of sisters, secrets, friendship, and murder.style

Read an Excerpt - Click Here

Watch for Chat With Vera's review, soon! 

Buy a copy - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Other Retailers 

Giveaway

Choice of: Paperback or E-book - Murder UnStitched

Begins November 4

Ends December 15 @ 11:59 p.m. ET

Open to USA only.

Murder UnStitched: A Stitches, Perks & Pages Cozy Mystery #2 by Vannetta Chapman

DISCLOSURE: Winner's prize book is provided by author or publicist. Chat With Vera is not responsible for lost or misdirected prizes.

My Bigger Search and Find Christmas 🎄Review & Giveaway🎄

My Bigger Search and Find: Christmas by Jacob Vium Olesen 

ISBN: 9780825454158
Kregel Children's Books
Hardcover $12.99 (click here)

My thoughts:  I just love the unique children's books I find on Kregel, specifically the Kregel Children's Book section. These Search & Find books by Jacob Vium Olesen are uniquely different. The books are sized just right for the young children to which they will appeal, making them right-sized for their young hands. Then as you open the book and turn the "pages," these pages expand 4-fold into a larger size giving room for the many little items they are directed to search for on that page. This is a great interactive way to learn. And as they are learning the Christmas story, their ability to pay attention to minute detail is awakened and thus enables learning on a larger scale. Knowledge is in the details, is it not?

Now about the story line of this little book. You will find just a bit of story-text on each page plus a short statement for the page (God loves you so very much!) and the actual scriptural reference for that page. There is a life-lesson to learn from each turn of the page as Mary and Joseph's journey, the inn, the darkness, the new baby born literally unfolds in this beautiful, timeless, and precious Christmas story is read to a child. Parents will be gently  awakened and aware of new lessons as well.

Education that is fun, that is "on level" without being "dumbed-down" and that enhances the ability to learn. That's what you'll find in these little books.

This is a perfect early Christmas gift for that little one in your life or for gifting. 

My reviews of other "My Bigger Search & Find books: Search & Find Bible, Search & Find Noah's Ark, 

I highly recommend.

About the book: An expandable seek and find for the holidays...

Each page of this Christmas-themed seek-and-find book unfolds to four times its original size to make for a bigger interactive experience that kids ages four to six will love.

The book walks through the story of Jesus's birth. Each colorful page is jam-packed with hidden characters, animals, and objects for children to point out. Verse references and truths about God's love and care are included on every page so little readers can wrap up playtime with lasting truths.

A perfect road-trip companion, church-service entertainment, or everyday activity, this book will keep kids engaged while teaching them God's Word and the truth about their importance as his children.

GIVEAWAY

Prize: "My Bigger Search and Find Christmas" book

Begins November 5

Ends December 3 @ 11:59 p.m. ET

Open to USA addresses only

My Bigger Search and Find: Christmas by Jacob Vium-Olesen - Kregel Children's Books

DISCLOSURE: I was kindly provided a complimentary copy by Kregel Publishing to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given. Winner's copy is provided and mailed directly to the winner by Kregel or their publicist. Chat With Vera is not responsible for lost or misdirected  prizes. Winner will have 48 hours to provide requested & required information by replying to the email sent to them via the email registered in the Gleam.io entry platform. Failure to respond by deadline will result in a different winner being randomly selected.

Crazy for Christmas (Love In Cloverdale Falls #4) by Penny Zeller [🎄Giveaway🎄]

She's a walking Christmas catastrophe. He's a by-the-rules cop. Can they find true love this holiday season?

Juniper Swenson loves Christmas and can’t wait to experience her favorite holiday in her new town of Cloverdale Falls. It’s her love for Christmas that lands Juniper in trouble with the law in the early weeks of November for having an oversized Christmas tree tied to the top of her undersized car. It’s clear the officer who pulls her over has no Christmas spirit and does not share her enthusiasm for getting started early celebrating the best holiday of the year. Quickly terming him the “Sullen Sergeant”, Juniper has no idea just how often their paths will cross.

Police Officer Aiden Lockwood loves order and keeping his town of Cloverdale Falls safe. What he doesn’t expect is to see a miniature car cruising down the street with a Christmas tree haphazardly attached to the top. This first encounter with Juniper Swenson, whom he secretly terms the “Crazy Christmas Lady”, is only the first of many. Soon, he finds himself rescuing her from a host of chaotic—and usually Christmas-themed—situations.

When Juniper and Aiden are paired for all types of volunteer Christmas activities, things begin to change between them. Can the Crazy Christmas Lady and the Sullen Sergeant find true love this Christmas season?

Read a sample: click here

GIVEAWAY

Winner's choice: Paperback or E-book

"Crazy for Christmas"

Begins October 30

Ends November 27 @ 11:59 p.m. EST

Open to USA addresses only.

NOTE: Crazy for Christmas is a faith-filled Christian contemporary romance.

Crazy for Christmas (Love In Cloverdale Falls #4) by Penny Zeller

DISCLOSURE: Winner's prize is provided by and sent directly to the winner by author. Chat With Vera is no responsible for lost or misdirected prizes. Winner is selected via the Gleam.io and notification is via the email registered with Gleam.io. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to notification with requested information. Failure to comply by stated deadline will result in a different winner being selected using same method.

Consider the Night Sky by Jennifer Grant & illustrated by Julianna Swaney

ISBN: 9780802855640
Hardcover $18.99 USD
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

About the book: Explore the wonder of God’s love and celestial creations in this lyrical astronomy primer from Jennifer Grant and Julianna Swaney. Consider the sun, moon, stars, planets, and constellations―God calls each one by name. Guess what? God knows your name and sees how brightly you shine, too! Inspired by Isaiah 40:26, Psalm 147:4-5, and Matthew 6:26-34, the third book in the Consider series invites children to learn about outer space and the wonder of God’s love. Gentle text from author Jennifer Grant and endearing art from #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Julianna Swaney will encourage readers to stop and look up to the skies with awe. Set on a snowy evening, Consider the Night Sky is a cozy, inspiring read aloud for bedtime devotions and chilly winter days.

My thoughts:  In today's world where there has been so much discovered about the Universe and so much revealed through launches into space of equipment that takes us farther and farther into the depths of the Universe, it is good to have a book for the very young child that goes beyond "the man in the moon" rhetoric to simple, yet age appropriate, text that edges into the vastness that is our Universe.

Beautifully illustrated by Julianna Swaney, it is a joyful visual experience that will capture the attention of young minds. As author, Jennifer Grant, asks the young listener to "Consider the Night Sky," she begins with our Sun shining brightly on the Earth; she then introduces Earth as "our home." This sets the tone and begins the lesson. Night encroaches and we begin to see a sprinkle of stars. (Did you know they were various colors?) But I'm ahead of the story. Reading on, we see that when it is our night it means it is "day" on the other side of our Earth. That's because that is where our Sun is now.

Turning pages, we learn more about our night sky. But the author reminds us to not neglect to look at the beautiful things "closer to you.... like raccoons, leaves, owls." And as we consider more and more of the night beauty, we consider that "God created them all."

Such a beautiful book and so well done. I highly recommend.

My other "Consider" book reviews: Consider the Birds - Consider the Lilies

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

Who Knows the Way to Mr. Grimly's Classroom?: (A Spooky School Picture Book for Kids Ages 4-8)

Who Knows the Way to Mr. Grimly's Classroom? 

About the book: When Miss Flytrap asks if anyone knows the way to Mr. Grimly’s classroom, Grace’s hand flies up—she can’t help herself, even though she’s a new kid in school and has no idea where to go. Nonetheless, with a book to deliver proudly in hand, Grace sets off on a long, strange journey through a very odd place, full of twists, turns, and creepy characters who give puzzling directions. Climbing dark, cobwebby staircases, feeling her way through a fogged-up playground, careening by zipline from the top of a treacherous tower right into a kitchen window—will she ever find Mr. Grimly’s classroom? With equal parts suspense and humor, author Chris Priestley leads an unsettling school tour for the ages, while Mariachiara Di Giorgio’s atmospheric, immersive illustrations beckon readers on with mesmerizing visual riddles.

My thoughts:  It would appear from the rambling of Grace through the convoluted, upstairs and downstairs, dark and mysterious hallways of her school that she is attending a huge estate-style academy rather than a sleek, modern, straight-lined, stark building. But then this is, in fact, an imaginary tale of scary things, so perhaps it is Grace's imagination as she goes from hallway to hallway, up the up stairs and down the down stairs to deliver the book. So let's take a look-see for ourselves.

As Grace goes forth on her journey to deliver the book to an unknown classroom, she encounters several weirdly spooky people who direct her onward in her quest. And through the dark, strange halls, and creepy stairs she does finally find the Mr. Grimly in his classroom. But alas, there is still a problem.

Now we know that Grace really didn't know the way to Mr. Grimly's classroom. We know it was her first day in this new-to-her school. And we knew that Grace wanted to always raise her hand saying she "knew the answer" (in this case, knew the way to the book's destination). So Grace's impetuous agreeing to run the errand resulted in a spooky traipse through the halls of her new school. So were the spooky dark convoluted halls a reality, or was it simply the product of an overly imaginative little girl?

I recommend you read the book to find out. And definitely give the illustrations a thorough perusal. I think they are marvelous.

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