Greatest Summer Reading For Kids

27th June, 2011

A Blogger's Books has done a global walkabout to bring you this list of greatest summer reading for kids. This list includes a mixture of craft books, reading books, activity books. Books for younger kids and older ones.

Books bring back the simple joys kids get from reading a fantastic, adventure story. There's no worry about leaving expensive 'toys' in the bus on the way to camp, or forgetting iPods on the beach. Books are sheer fun and the easiest presents you can find. This summer your kids don't need the equivalent of over-priced Corporate Gifts. Present them with one of the following and let's get summer on the road! 

Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping, by Peggy Parish

Ages 4-8

Amelia Bedelia has never been camping in the great outdoors before. She's trying her best to do exactly as she's told, but pitching a tent is not the same as throwing it into the bushes, and catching a fish with your bare hands isn't easy. As usual, the mixed-up housekeeper makes this camping trip one hugely entertaining adventure.

The BFG

Ages 9-12

Big Friendly Giant! This BFG doesn't seem all that F at first as he creeps down a London street, snatches little Sophie out of her bed, and bounds away with her to giant land. And he's not really all that B when compared with his evil, carnivorous brethren, who bully him for being such an oddball runt. After all, he eats only disgusting snozzcumbers, and while the other Gs are snacking on little boys and girls, he's blowing happy dreams in through their windows. What kind of way is that for a G to behave?

How to Survive Summer Camp by Jacqueline Wilson

Ages 11-15

Stella's mum and step-dad have gone off on holiday and have dumped Stella at the Evergreen Holiday Camp. She's not happy! Especially when she finds out she's expected to learn to swim - the one thing her mum promised she wouldn't have to do. She's determined not to enjoy herself and settles down for a nightmare summer, but in the end she finds herself making friends, getting into scrapes, and having much more of a good time than she ever could have imagined!

Summer Adventures With Grandma by Marilyn E. Freeman

Ages 4-8

Twins, Amy and Allen are sure they'll have a boring vacation at Grandma's. They soon find out Grandma is anything but boring.  She goes bowling, fishing, camping, skating and joins in on many other adventures. At the water park, Grandma finds herself at the top of a giant water slide and tries to talk her way back down the ladder. The children in line give her no choice but to slide down into the water. Grandma learns to ride a scooter and finds herself being chased by Bentley, a huge dog.  Allen convinces Grandma to play on their softball team. The twins introduce Grandma to the world of computers. Grandma thinks surfing the web involves water.  They can't believe the fun they had with Grandma. The summer is full of adventures. It's a summer Grandma, Amy and Allen will never forget.

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexand

Ages 9-12

Millions of young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper and his lively companions as they journey through the magical land of Prydain. First published more than thirty years ago and translated into twenty different languages, Lloyd Alexander’s beloved series has become the standard of excellence in fantasy literature for children. Among their many accolades, the award-winning Chronicles of Prydain count a Newbery Medal, a Newbery Honor, and more than two million copies in print.

Haddix: Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Ages 9-12

This is one of the best Margaret Peterson Haddix books I have ever read. Bethany is an average, girl, that is, until both her parents seem to go under some sort of manic depression. This is serious, not at all a funny situation. Bethany's parents have always acted slightly odd around her, seeming to be able to predict things, such as when she needs glasses. Also, always being overprotective over her safety, as when Bethany rides her bike without a helmet. Her dad shouts, screams, and yells at her, saying she could have been killed. Bethany never thought of it as odd, until her parents leave her alone with an aunt and cousin she's never known.  The mystery deepens even more  until it may be too much for you to bear. However, a very surprising ending will have you smiling as you read the last lines of this great novel. (Customer review).

Last Day, Hooray!

For Laughing Out Loud; Poems to Tickle Your Funny Bone

The Boys' Summer Book

Ages 9-12

This book is sure to be a hit with boys! It's filled with puzzles, quizzes, and activities, not to mention tips on how to pitch a tent, how to make your own treasure map, and how to build a powerboat! This book is a must-have on any summer road trip packing list. Just grab a pencil and you're good to go!

The Girls' Summer Book







Ages 9-12

With activities like making fortune tellers and throw pillows, and tips such as how to plan the perfect picnic, girls are sure to love this activity book! It also includes spot-the-difference puzzles, doodle pages, mazes, and more!

Carbone: Stealing Freedom

The Story of the Frog Belly Rat Bone

 Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket

All ages.

Find lots of recipes that kids would love to make over and over again during the summer. Keep them active and learning at the same time!

There, you have it! Your one-stop list of great summer reads for your kids. Keep them active while travelling or just spending time at home in the garden. Books are for all seasons and summer is the best one of all!

Fathers Love Books

Another Father's Day is upon us. In usual fashion, A Blogger's books brings you this list of books voted on Amazon as the top 5 books men are busy reading at present. If you're looking to buy your father a book for father's day, or indeed any other day; Here may be the best place to start. I included some customers' reviews this time so you can see what others thought of the books.

Sawn Off Tales by David Gaffney

Editorial review on Amazon.

David Gaffney's compact, surreal tales are filled with poignancy and wit. Each story goes off like a tiny depth charge in the mind, leaving you with the trace memory of some new urban myth - comic, absurd and disturbingly true.

Eric Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton

Customer's review:

This book is well written and well edited. You have the feeling that Eric Clapton is very honest with each page expressed within this book. Many emotional topics and sorrows of his life are touched upon, and that gives an overall view of his very long artistic musical career, as being one of the leading Blues, Pop, Classic Rock, artists for five decades. I thoroughly recommend this to anyone curious about Mr Clapton or the dfferent music scenes from the 1960's to present day.

Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts by Jools Holland

Customer's review

This autobiogrpahy of a very English and in fact very London boy and man. This is a terrific rollicking good read, laugh out loud funny at times, (I embarrassed myself several times on my crowded commuter train into town). A very gentle look at a harsh world. Jools showed it is possible to be successful in a competitive world without being unpleasant about people.







The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

 Bookmarks magazine's review

Any common reader will enjoy a good laugh from British playwright Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, which can be consumed in a few spare hours. But readers expecting a work as brilliant and scathing as Bennett’s plays The History Boys (2004) and The Madness of King George (1991), or even his other short stories, should expect something completely different. A political and literary satire, it pokes fun at the British monarchy while revealing the lasting power of literature. Reviews suggest that The Uncommon Reader should be enjoyed like the sort of reading it espouses: casually, but with a sensitivity to serious things as well.





Happyslapped by a Jellyfish: The words by Carl Pilkington by Carl Pilkington



Amazon's product description





A collection of baffling, hilarious, infuriating yet curiously compelling insights and anecdotes, diary entries, poems, "true" facts, cartoons, and assorted witterings concerning travel from the mind of Karl Pilkington, the unlikely star of the Ricky Gervais Show, the World's funniest and most successful podcast.









Well, there you have it! Here are 5 of the top books men are reading at the moment. I'm sure you've noticed the common theme. I suppose it's not surprise because these are the things men generally enjoy reading; a bit of humour, music, compilations, and funny  anecdotes they can laugh at. The only things missing from this list are TV games and  remote controlled cars.  I suppose these items are on an entirely different list ;-)

High-Def Week

Dear A Blogger's Books readers,

This is a break in transmission from the usual informative blogging/writing articles to give you some benefit of a totally different kind! Don't worry, we'll be back to normal in a couple of days.

I've got wind of Amazon's High-Def Week, leading up to Father's Day. They're running silly deals on all kinds of 'man-presents'. These are geared specifically for the male taste. Everything high-definition is up for grabs, these include, HDTVs, Blu-ray movies and TV shows, video games, Blu-ray players, home theater systems, and accessories.  Check the event calendar each day for the specific daily deals which will be revealed at 12 a.m. PST.

My Guest-Post Research

I've been doing some reading on the net, trying to find ways to promote the blogs I've worked so very hard on building. I have hundreds of well-written, good sized articles which provide step-by-step help, and solid information to readers.

my popular blog

I don't think my blogs are doing the best they can for me. I think they should have a higher Google rating because many of my articles are now in the first page of Google searches.  Consequently, I've been trying to find out what else I can do - with my limited technical skill and time - to correct this. The term that pops up in almost every article I've read is 'guest posting' Guest posting is supposed to be the current big thing - the top rated activity to widen your readership and build solid back-links. So I did a few to prove its worth!

I sacrificed the already limited time I have to spend on my own blogs to create interesting articles on some highly-rated sites in my niche. I thought long and hard about what would fit in nicely with their themes and applied to write for them.

I knew I wasn't being paid for my time or effort. However, I felt that the exposure and back-links I'd heard so much about would be definitely worth the sacrifice. You'd be pleased to know I was successful and here are the wonderful fruits of my labour. The first two are essential blogging tips/information, the third one is mainly to do with writers and Facebook layouts.  The last is for fun. Let me know what you think. I'll give these a month to stew, then I'll come back to you with my findings. Stick around and subscribe to this blog if you haven't already done so. Wish me luck!

5 Reasons Why Blogging is Like Parenting at ComLuv Network

5 Tricks Master Bloggers Use To Make Every Post Popular at Blogger Sentral

Why Facebook Isn't Completely Crap at Blog Critics (Technorati site)

Strange Death, Anyone?  at Kuriositas



UPDATE: THE GUEST POST RESULTS ARE HERE.

Dash Diet For High Blood Pressure

The Dash diet for high blood pressure has hit the web in a resounding crash, bang! Scientists have proved that  we can keep our blood pressure healthy by the way we live and certainly by the way we eat. (As if we didn't already know that). The following is just a brief summary of the mountain of information found on the Internet about the dash programme. I've also included some of the books (this is where A Blogger's Books comes in) below which will help explain in detail what the Dash diet craze is all about, and some which give you some fantastic Dash diet recipes.

What is the dash diet

First of all, 'Dash' means Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (high blood pressure).

Blood pressure is the force of blood against the artery wall. Generally, everyone’s blood pressure rises and falls at different times of the day. A person is said to have high blood pressure when it stays consistently high for a long period of time.

High blood pressure makes the heart work overtime. The pressure of the blood pushing against the artery walls can also weaken them and destroy (over time) the heart, brain and eyes, which is why hypertension can lead to strokes and blindness.

Dash eating plan should be accompanied by the following to prevent high blood pressure

Obviously lower your salt intake and try to get it to 1,500 milligrams per day if you can.

Keep your weight healthy and stable

Keep active

Drink in moderation

The dash eating plan

How and what we eat definitely plays the key role in keeping the blood pressure stable. The book on the left outlines how we can use weight with a healthy-living programme that involves portion control and a sustainable amount of physical activity - strictly no diets and no gyms. 

Normal blood pressure is about 120/80 mmHg.  The Dash eating plan is the result of specific research done for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in America. The following is what they recommend. 

~Eat foods low in saturated fat.

~Monitor your cholesterol intake

~Eat more fruit and vegetables

~Eat fish twice per week

~Eat whole grains instead of processed foods

~Snack on nuts and seeds

~Switch from white to brown sugar

~Trim all the fat off your meats before cooking.

Of course, if you already have high blood pressure, these actions will go a long way to keeping it to a healthy level. The DASH programme is completely safe and can be used for teenagers, upwards. It not only helps with regulating blood pressure, it also promotes a healthier lifestyle in general. 

It goes without saying, naturally, that if you suffer from hypertension, the DASH diet and programme is not to be undertaken instead of your regular medication, but in conjunction with them.

I hope you've found this summary helpful. If you need information about DASH, click on any of the books above and they will go a long way to explaining the details of the programme. As an extra, here are some cookbooks specifically put together for people with high blood pressure. Enjoy!

   

Documentaries: A New Promoting Book Hook?

I’m still thinking of something extraordinary with which I can advertise my books to the world. I’ve been told that there has to be an advertising hook – something to attract and hold the reader/viewer’s attention in order to make the sale.

I have to take a page out of Honda’s book (couldn’t resist the pun – sorry). They’ve come up with an original and brilliant way to promote their products and I wish I could have a piece of it! Of course, I can’t recreate anything on such a big scale, I’m still a struggling writer. I can’t even touch anything in their ball park, in all honesty. However, the principle of creativity struck me as something artists like ourselves can learn from.

Honda is not just sponsoring documentaries on Channel 4 (one of the UK and Ireland’s biggest TV channels), they’re going one step further, and for their campaigns, are making mini-documentaries themselves. These will feature four different, real-life customers who’re using Honda products in unique ways.

The mini docs will point potential customers to the online version, where they can see the whole story. The first of these films, made by Wieden + Kennedy, (W+K) features Philippa, a British alpaca breeder who uses a trusted Honda ATV to get around her farm to tend to the animals.

Of course, each mini doc will be accompanied by a hype of activity on Twitter and Facebook, where viewers can then upload their own photographs and videos to show how they use Honda products in unique ways. The favourite will then be made into a fifth documentary and used as TV adverts, so get your cameras and video cameras fully charged, folks.

Well, sadly, I haven’t got a Honda. But I’ve got a few books I need to market. Advice anyone? Maybe the video will give you some inspiration.

Viral video by ebuzzing

Sponsored Post

How Paypal Saved Me

June, 2, 2011

Paypal saved me from a fraud who conned me. I was fortunate to have them fighting on my side. 

I had this crazy idea that I wanted to give my relationship help blog some more exposure on the Internet. There are hundreds of remarkable articles there which are helpful to women and families as a whole, and I wanted to give it a chance to be seen on a wider scale.

I found someone on a popular forum, who advertised his expertise in blog directory submission. I had just been paid for some blogging work and had money in my Pay Pal account. So I thought $15.00 was a worthy sacrifice to pay someone to do some directory submission work for me. We made the deal, and thankfully, the next and only sane thing I did in this entire transaction was to pay him through Pay Pal.

The first sign that something was wrong was when he sent me an attachment of the results (of the submissions) which was 'someone else's'. He sent me another email 5 minutes later to say it was a genuine mistake and that he would send me mine the next day. The following day he sent me an email saying my work was finished and was attached. It wasn't!

Three weeks later - nothing. I contacted him. He wrote back a week later saying he was on holiday. He would contact me when he returned. Three weeks later - still nothing. I contacted him several times later, both on the site where I saw his advert and through his personal email.

I couldn't go on doing that. Neither could I attempt a zoloft lawsuit for that amount of money :-). I started a 'dispute' on Pay Pal, expecting a response from the guy in question. Then 'escalated' the dispute when he did nothing. Pay Pal took over from there and today my dispute has been resolved!

It's not only about the hard-earned cash, it's also about the principle, right?

Have you ever been conned on the Internet? If so, did you get any help in resolving the matter? 

This post is linked to Self Sagacity Thursday Two Questions