All Entries in the "Book Review" Category

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Clifford the Big Red Dog has been Roy’s favourite  reading character since this character was introduced to him when I bought him the Clifford Phonic box set.

I’ve  recently added two other titles “Clifford at the Circus” and ” Lots of Love” from the Clifford’s puppy day series. These two books are from the Scholastic series of books which I recently ordered through school.

Our school is a member of the Scholastic Book Club for schools and as a staff we are able to buy certain books at a discounted price. It was a steal as I paid less then $10 for the two books and it came with a set of finger puppets and a beanie bag Clifford the red dog.

Roy was ecstatic when he saw the Clifford soft toy and the new books that were to be added to his collection.   He now eagerly looks forward to holding Clifford and reading along to his Clifford series books before bedtime each night.

What type of books are your pre-schooler into?

Book Review- You’re Not the Boss of Me

Disclosure : I’ve recently received  a copy this book in the mail after requesting for a review copy with the publisher. The title of the book ” You’re Not the Boss of Me- Brat- Proofing your 4 to 12 Year-old child by Betsy Brown Braun” really drew my attention. All opinions on this book are mine and not influenced by the fact that it is a review copy.

The boys are not getting easier to mange and can be very challenging on certain days. This book certainly sums up very well all the various challenges that parents face while bringing up their kids.

Betsy talks about how parents can installed values and instill good habits in their child through an array of topics.

She covers the topics on developing empathy, listening to your child , building independence ,
teaching responsibility , building up respect , installing honesty , creating a self-reliant child ,
developing gratitude, eliminating spoilage in your child and introducing humor into your child’s life

I personally found the topic on allowances and table manners interesting as they are the topics which I have been pondering over these couple of months.

As the boys grow older and start school it is time we implement an allowance system for them. That’s especially for Ryan as he will be handling cash on a daily basis in school from next year onwards. I like the idea of an  allowance plus system which is based on a minimum base  and the child receives extra based on the additional paid chores that he does in the week. In this case he is able to know how money is earned and will learn to be more prudent in managing his own finances.

In the book Betsy mentioned that

- Children need to eat with adults in order to learn table manners.

This sentence really struck a chord with me.  Many a times we forget as parents that we need to model the preferred behaviour in order for the child to learn. Through repetition and constant communications which is mentioned in the book one is able to slowly instill the right values in your child.

This is a book that I highly recommend that all parents should read. There are many practical anecdotes which one can use that are highlighted in the book. I’ll be constantly revisiting this book to apply the different techniques mentioned while instilling the various values in my boys.

You can purchase your copy of this book from Amazon or at all major bookstores.

Secrets Girls Keep- A Book Review

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of PR By the Book. I received the book in this review for free and was not paid any money for my opinion. All opinions are 100% mine.

I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from a Publicist asking me if I was interested to review this book.

Secrets Girls Keep: What Girls Hide (& Why) and How to Break the Stress of Silence

The title sounded very interested and I felt that it would be interesting to know what kinds of secrets girls keep. It would give me a better idea on how to deal with my students who are reaching their tweens.

In this book Carrie talks about the 7  Tips

Tip 1- Using your Gut

Tip 2- Discover your strengths and use them

Tip 3- Choose the right friends and respect them.

Tip 4- Be courageous and confident.

Tip 5- Be fit and stay fit ( Health is very important)

Tip 6- Dream Big ( Push yourself an be amazed as what you can achieve)

Tip 7- Get outside yourself ( Reflection and contribution to society)

These tips are incorporated into solving   problems surfacing in the following topics.

• Beauty
• Boys
• Best friends
• Family
• Dealing with school
• Cyberwellness
• Divorce, suicide and other serious issues.

In each topic Carrie gives some real sound and practical advice using the experiences of various teenage girls to show how problems could be solved.

Carrie interlaces her topics with short quizzes which one can fill in to get a better understanding of  how they are at taking care of oneself, level of confidence, knowledge of boys etc.  I find these extremely useful for as a teenager one has yet to really understand how to handle one’s emotions and need for taking risks.

Having gone through the teenage years myself I understand how lost some of the girls featured in the book must have felt as they face  growing up and hormonal changes at the same time.

The tips presented by Carrie and the real life example case studies make this book an excellent guide for both parents and teenage girls who may be facing similar problems.  They are practical and easy to follow and everyone can easily relate to the teenage girls featured in the book.
Nowadays the kids mature extremely fast. Problems which used to be faced by teenagers are sometimes faced by tweens or even younger. Ie: difficulty in relating to their parents are issues that are also faced by some of my elementary school kids.

Carrie dishes out simple tips like

1. Sending an e-mail or text message
2. Sharing a journal
3. Showing your appreciation through creating a card

These tips help in breaking the ice between parent and child and help to slowly guide them on how to get kids to talk to their parent.

Through all the examples presented in the book  a common trait that surfaced was that these girls  faced difficulties and didn’t know who they could turn to. Many of them tried solving or internalizing their problems on their own which gave them added stress. They cave in to the evils of social media and peer pressure and disregard their own health, family and friends.

Only when they learned how to open up and seek outside help were they relieved of the burden that they were carrying around.

Some of the girls didn’t know that they were having problems like depression or obsession till their family members noticed and approached them.

Being a teenager is a scary time for a girl as you are suddenly faced with issues and problems which surface out of nowhere. Boys for one are something which you may not have to deal with  as an elementary school student.

Carrie take one step by step through the issues that may arise with dating and boys and walk you through what you may be feeling and questions you may have about dating.

Secrets Girls Keep: What Girls Hide (& Why) and How to Break the Stress of Silence

If you are interested in reading this fabulous book, do grab a copy of the books from my  amazon affiliated link above. I  earn a small percentage .

The Mompreneur Diaries- A book review

The Mumpreneur Diaries by Mosey Jones is one book that I really enjoyed reading. I managed to finish reading the book in one sitting which was really rare for me.

It was really entertaining with actual accounts of a struggling mumpreneur in UK.

After stepping into the world of being  a mumpreneur ,Jones realised that it isn’t as rosy as many people hype it out to be.

Mosey Jones gives a detailed view into her first year as a mumpreneur in UK. She depicts her struggles and problems that she faced while being at home taking care of her two young kids.

Written as diary entries Jones lists downs her frustrations with the constant shortage of money and the instability of her husbands job. With her materinty pay running out she had to get profitable by the end of the year or get back into the rate race.

 Getting a business off from the drawing board while taking care of two babies wasn’t an easy task for her.  Jones talks about how she started out her MUM-for-Hire business and Doula business while being on maternity leave with her 2nd child.  It was simply exhausting and utter madness in the house as she struggled to be mum, wife and businesswomen. 

Even at the end of the book it stated that her business is far from profitable and she still struggles to make ends meet daily. However she wouldn’t want to change anything and get back to working full time for others.

My take on mumpreneurship

Reading the book makes me wonder how much fanfare  is painted by marketers about “how easy it is to work from home” and “earning $3K or more in a month online” from those who claim to have “made it” as a mumpreneur  with their  screenshots of bank or clickbank accounts. 

I personally believe that in showing your  genuine side and really going all out to show that you care for your  readers and clients would bring in good revenue.

Just look at the achievements of  Kelby Carr of Type-A-Mom and Denise Willms of WAHM-Articles, two mumpreneurs who I really admire.

I personally have set up my own membership site- Learning with Dominique, doing freelance writing and consultancy services in my spare time. Before returning to work full time this year I was conducting toddler classes on weekends.

Catering to the preschool market is the most profitable segment. I still get lots of enquiries for my classes andI do intend to persure this market. Some of my fellow mompruneur are easily earning $4K or more for just 10hrs of teaching a week.

A lot of hardwork and enegry is needed to build up one’s own business. I’m far from my earning targets from all my sidelines to  do more then replace my day job.

*Disclaimer*

This book was purchased from a bookshop during a sale. It is not a paid review.  I have not be compensated by the publisher or author by writing this review