Book Review

Books that we have read and reviewed

April 6, 2014

We’ll Always Have Paris by Jennifer Coburn

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids Jennifer Coburn

Bookcover

We’ll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Memoir is written by Jennifer Coburn. The book documents Jennifer’s summers travel to the various countries in Europe from the time her daughter Katie was eight.

2005 was the year that Jennifer and Katie went off on their traveling adventures. They visited Paris and London the cities that Jennifer always wanted to visit since she was a little girl.

Jennifer wanted to retrace the steps that her Dad took as a musician who lived in Europe and create many memorable Mother and Daughter bonding moments with Katie by visiting the places together with her.

Traveling with her daughter has always been on Jennifer’s mind. It was something which she gave high priority to compared to fixing up the house which was falling to pieces. Since her dad died of lung cancer she felt all the more important it was to give her child good and memorable memories of them together for her to remember her by and also at the same time remember the memories she had with her dad as a child.

Jennifer was very hesitant and afraid that she would not be able to be a good guide and traveling partner for Katie as she could not speak French and it was her first trip to France itself. She had to tackle jet lag and being foreigners in a foreign land without any assistance. It was mind boggling but she managed to survive the trip and visited the places of interest that she had planned on her itenary without too many hiccups on the way.

Since that uneventful trip Jennifer and Katie have had 3 subsequent Mother and Daughter bonding trips to Italy, Spain and Amsterdam and Paris.

My thoughts

I really enjoyed reading about Jennifer’s honest account about her travels in Europe. I too will have similar reservations if I was traveling alone with my kids in a foreign country and could not speak the local language.

Jennifer brings the reader from the modern day back to the past by interjecting the daily struggles she had on holiday with memories that she has of her dad.

I do hope to be able to travel with my kids one on one in the future and have such Mother and Daughter bonding traveling opportunities with my 3 kids.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own. This post has a compensation level of 3. Please visit Dominique’s Disclosure page for more information.

March 14, 2014

Super Soccer Boy and the Alien Invasion

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids kids book

Book Cover

Super Soccer Boy and the Alien Invasion by Judy Brown is the latest book in the Super Soccer Boy series which I have read with Doggie boy.

We have read two other books in this series- the Attack of the Giant Slugs and the Monster Mutants and Doggie boy got hooked on this series of books.

In this particular book Harry Gribble encountered aliens of the icy sort who threatened to take over the earth by converting it to their own home.

The Middletown Mini stars, which Harry was playing for had a good chance of winning the trophy this year in the annual football tournament.

Unfortunately the weather had turned crazy since the aliens arrived. The deep freeze that they have caused have resulted in the matches being cancelled and the possibility of the tournament being suspended. This would be Harry and his team mates greatest nightmare.

Harry and his best friend Jake had to convince the icy aliens who had landed on earth to leave for the planet Pluto before earth freezes over and everyone dies.

My thoughts

I’ve previously share snippets of the book in the article- 3 Tips on Encouraging Reading in Reluctant Readers. I found that the Super Soccer Boy series books are excellent half chapter books and the book on the Alien Invasion matched up to our expectation.

Judy’s writing is really very engaging and it makes for an easy read for a Grade 2 student. The graphics on almost every page and the short comic snippets in between the chapters make it easier for the child to follow the storyline and also helps them understand the story better.

We will certainly be on the look out for the remaining books in the Super Soccer Boy series.

Disclaimer: We borrowed this book from the National Library for the kids to read.This post has a compensation level of 3. Please visit Dominique’s Disclosure page for more information.