Pinkalicious: The Pinkamazing Storybook Collection by Victoria Kann

from goodreads

5 stars
Birthday season number 2 is upon us. And this year I told the girls no birthday parties. I am just over them and really don't feel like figuring out how to entertain a bunch of children for hours, or paying others to do it. But, I have allowed them to have some friends over for a more subdued celebrations, and no presents! (Seriously, they have so much they really don't need anymore.)

I am looking forward to Miss G's playdate this Saturday. Miss G decided to have a spooky tea party with two of her friends. They are going to decorate cupcakes, make flubber and do a monster craft. It was fun seeing Miss G's creative side (and her not going crazy over accessories or mandatory things).

Miss V is also fine to go with a subdued approach. She is going to invite 3 or her friends over for a movie night and some pizza. I can handle that.

Perhaps by the time Miss P gets to school I might feel like doing birthday parties again, but for now low key is the way to go.

Synopsis

This is a collection of 6 stories from Victoria Kann's Pinkalicious collection of books. They are The Pinkerrific Playdate, Pinkalicious:The Princess of Pink Slumber Party, Pinkalicous and the Pink Hat Parade, Pinkalicous:Flower Girl, Pinkalicious: Soccer Star and Pinkalicious and the Pinktastic Zoo Day.

My Thoughts

I really have mixed feelings when it comes to book collections. While it is nice to have a collection of books for the kids to read all in one place, the books themselves are heavy and sometimes cumbersome to read. Sometimes when people give us the collection we already have some of the books so now I have duplicates happening. And often I get stuck reading more stories then I wanted to at the time. This collection, however, I love.

What is so great about this Pinkalicous collection. Well the first is these are books that I would not have readily on my shelf. Some are from her "learn to read" pinkalicious books, which are actually good stories. The others are from her actual story book series but are not her first ones that we would already have.

Second. When the story ends the kids can't see the title page of the next one. This makes it easy to read one story and only one. My kids have a Dora collection story book and I always end up having to read the whole thing because when the story ends they can see what the next story is and of course beg for it. Now, I am all for reading to kids, but at bedtime when you only have time for one story and don't want to start a whine fest it is nice when they can't see what is coming next and can easily accept it is the end. So thank you book editor/designer for making it easy to close the book without tears. Yes, it is more paper, but it makes the transitions so much nicer and makes the stories feel complete and separate.

Third. How can you not like Pinkalicous. The flower girl story is my favourite and I love it. But the other stories help with problem solving, using your imagination, and being nice and supportive to one another. As always the illustrations are fantastic. If you don't like pink you might not like this book as much because there is a lot of it.

So, if you are going to take the plunge and get a story collection book that you aren't going to groan over or wish you never brought into you house, then I would recommend this one. It has fun stories, is easy to read, and it is easy just to read one story and not all of them. And since I recommend it, it must be good because, as I alluded to, I usually can't stand these all in one books.

Ooh La La Polka-Dot Boots by Ellen Olson-Brown Illustrated by Christiane Engel

from goodreads

3 stars

March Break is here! Yay!!! While that means that all three children are home all day. I really don't mind. The older two play so nicely together I rarely see them except when they surface for some food. As for Miss P. well she does her own thing really. The only difference is there are more cries of horror from the older two when Miss P. touches some of their stuff.

I love March Break because it means no morning rush. People can get dressed when they want, brush their hair when they want and I can make lunch when I want. Which is at lunch time, not three hours before.

While we didn't have anything major planned for this week it is sure filling up. On the last day of school the girls spouted off lists of friends they wanted play dates with. And I mostly fulfilled their requests which means I'm super mom.

What do you like to do when the kids have a break from school?

Synopsis

This books shows how there are lots of different styles of dress and they are all good and how all styles get an extra humph from wearing polka-dot boots.

My Thoughts

Well, this book was rather mediocre. The illustrations are what really make it at all memorable. They are colourful and cute. Miss P. liked flipping the half page that showed the polka-dot boots.

As for the actual "story" well, it was fine. I just found the rhythm changed a lot so it was hard to get into a nice groove. It started off with a nice beat, but by the time you go to the part that was about the polka-dot boots it changed, and it changed differently every time. There was no continuity. While that is not a horrible thing, it bothered me as a reader.

I still recommend this book for younger readers as the illustrations are just so great.