Read For My School Books

Hey Everyone!


Last spring, my team read books for We Give Books Read For My School. We had a chance to earn 250 books for our school, one book for every book we read. We did it. We earned all of the books. But when the books got delivered to our school they disappeared. My awesome school librarian, Mrs. Sherman, tracked them down and finally I got see all the cool books that we earned.

They are so awesome!!! They aren't just a bunch of cheap books. They are hardcovers and they have cool characters like Sesame Street and Cars. My mom was super impressed. She says We Give Books is totally worth it if these are the kinds of books they give to kids to read.

We want to thank  We Give Books, Leap Frog and everyone who helped us read books. We are going to do it again this year.

Read For My Summer Week 7 Reviews

Hey Everyone!

Here are my reviews for Week Seven of We Give Books Read for My Summer. http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformysummer As always, the books were awesome. I also enjoyed the activities.

Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley: Ages 0-3
Score 5/5

Bear's friend Caterpillar makes a cocoon and goes into it and Bear worries about his friend and wonders if he will ever see him again.

How I rated it:
Readability: The story is easy for little kids to follow.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: I think little kids will really like Bear and his friend.
Score- 1

Artwork: The art is really simple and easy to understand.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: I think the reader will be worried about Caterpillar too and want to see what happens.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I very much liked reading this story.
Score- 1

Henry's Amazing Imagination by Nancy Carlson: Ages 4-7
Score 5/5

Henry has big stories in his imagination and so his teacher convinces him to write down his stories and he shares them with his friends.


How I rated it:
Readability: This story was really easy to read. Just a sentence on each page. Great for new readers.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: This is great for kids this age. They still use their imaginations to play.
Score-1

Artwork: The artwork is amazing. The pictures are so bold and the colors are really vivid. They really tell the story.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: It takes so much time to pick everything in just the art that this book hold interest for a long time.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I really loved this book!
 Score- 1

Ape Adventures by Catherine Chambers: Ages 8-10
Score 5/5

This book is about different people, in different places, that have studied and helped apes over the years.

How I rated it:
Readability: I scored this but I don't really like how they make stories out of real events. I would have liked it more if it were more like history than a story.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: My friends would like this, I think.
Score-1

Artwork: There were lots of great photos with good captions to help follow along the story.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: It has lots of interesting facts and new ideas, so I think it it will hold interest.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: There were a lot if fun things to learn in this book. I liked reading it.
Score- 1

Read For My Summer Week Six

Hey Everyone!

Here are my reviews for Week Six of We Give Books Read for My Summer. http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformysummer The books were great this week and there were some great games to play especially for younger kids.

Max's ABC's by Mary Wells: Ages 0-3
Score 5/5

Max and his sister Ruby have an adventure with the ants from Max's ant farm

How I rated it:
Readability: All the ABC words were fun on each page.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: This is a great book for really little kids. I used to watch Max and Ruby when I was little and I would have loved this book.
Score- 1

Artwork: The pictures were all really fun.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: Kids love learning the alphabet so I think they will want to keep reading this book.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I liked it very much. My very first book wasa book by Mary Wells. I like her books.
Score- 1

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney: Ages 4-7
Score 5/5

Llama Llama goes to school for the first time and it is hard for him because he misses his mama.


How I rated it:
Readability: Llama Llama stories are always really fun to read.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: When I was that age being at school without my mom was scary so I think it is right for kids that age.
Score-1

Artwork: I really like the illustrations. All the animals were fun to look at.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: I think it will hold interest well. Most kids understand how Llama feels.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I always like Llama Llama books.
 Score- 1

Amber Brown is Not a Crayon by Paula Danziger: Ages 8-10
Score 5/5

 In this book Amber Brown's best friend Justin is moving to another state and they are really sad.

How I rated it:
Readability: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a lot of words on each page though. Most kids might like that but it was a lot for me.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: I think that most kids this age would enjoy reading about Amber and her friends.
Score-1

Artwork: The illustrations are all pencil sketches. They are kind of simple but really fun and fit the story very well.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: It was a great story. I really wanted to see how Amber and Justin fixed things, so I think it would hold interest for most kids.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I really liked Amber's teacher. I think it would be to visit other countries like they did or to do other things like that. It was a fun story.
Score- 1

That is all for Week 6, all the books this week got a 5 out of 5. You can click here to see the rubric I use to rate each book. Hope you enjoyed reading this week!

Read For Summer Week 5

Hey Everybody!

It is time for Week 5 and this week the books are really terrific. http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformysummer. I hope everyone else has been enjoying them as much as I have. There are all kinds of fun activities too. My camera is still iffy so once again I have to do this without video but I am saving up to fix that.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter: Ages 0-3
Score 4/5

This book is about a rabbit named Peter and his adventures one day in a garden that is close by. His mom told him to stay away from there but he was naughty and had all kinds of trouble.

How I rated it:
Readability: I really liked reading this story.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: I think this book is more for the 4-7 age group. It is a story with a lot of details that really little kids might not follow.
Score-0

Artwork: I really liked the artwork. It has a classic look that really makes the pages fun to look at.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: It will hold interest because Peter gets into a bunch of adventures.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I liked it very much. It was a great story and it had a great lesson.
Score- 1

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans: Ages 4-7
Score 4/5

This book is about a little girl and her friends in Paris. They visit all kinds of places and have fun, in Paris, and then she gets sick and has to go to the hospital, but she has fun there too.

How I rated it:
Readability: It had a lot of sentences that finished on the next page and that made it hard for me to read
Score-0

Age Appropriate?: I think kids of this age will really like the book.
Score-1

Artwork: The illustrations are fun. I loved all the yellow and how there 12 of everything.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: Even though I thought it could be easier to read, I kept turning the page to see where the girls went next.
Score-1

Did I Like It?:  I liked it very much. I enjoyed the story but I really liked at the end how it told about the real places the were in the story, like the Eiffel Tower
Score- 1

Wagon Train Adventure by Katie Simkins: Ages 8-10
Score 5/5


This book was about a girl named Sarah who went West with her family in the 1850's. Her mom gets sick and her dad dies and they deal with robbers and Indians and mean relatives along the way to California.

How I rated it:
Readability: It is a graphic novel and is set up like my comic books. I found it easy to follow along.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: I think so. Last year we did a play in school about the gold rush and a lot of the things we learned about were in this story.
Score-1

Artwork: I like comic book art because it tells the story without words.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: Lots of stuff happened in the story and it was really interesting.
Score-1

Did I Like It?:  I liked it a lot. I also liked the glossary at the end.
Score- 1

This is my daddy and and my aunt reading together

You can click here to see the rubric I use to rate each book. Hope you enjoyed reading this week!

Read For My Summer: Week 4

Hey Viewers!

I am still having technical problems, my video camera doesn't have sound, actually it has too much sound. Mom says she might be able to get the back up flip cam working but it is a back up for a good reason. I will happy with anything I can get. In the meantime here is my reviews for Week Four of We Give Books Read for My Summer. http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformysummer. The books were great this week and I had real fun doing the activities (more fun than reading). I am hoping to have video again next week.

I Knew You Could By Craig Dorfman: Ages 0-3
Score 4/5

This story is about how we all have choices to make and no one can really tell us what we have to do, we have to figure it and work hard to do what we need to but still have fun too.

How I rated it:
Readability: It has a Dr. Seuss feel to it that made it fun to read
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: It is a really terrific story but I think it is better for the 4-7 kids. They are the ones who need to be told how great they are.
Score-0

Artwork: I really liked the artwork. It was colorful and supported the story well.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: I think it will hold interest because it has a fun rhythm to it and trains are fun for little kids.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: Yes. I liked it very much. I thought it said important things.
Score- 1

Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones by Judy Schachner: Ages 4-7
Score 5/5

Skippyjon pretends that he visits prehistoric times and plays with dinosaurs and chihuahuas.


How I rated it:
Readability: I had fun reading this story.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: I think this is a great story for this age group. Skippyjon has a great time pretending
Score-1

Artwork: The artwork was terrific. You could really see that he was playing pretend. I also liked how the text was different, like it was part of the art.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: Yes. I liked it. I thought he was wrong for stealing, but it was a fun story.
 Score- 1

DK Readers: Dinosaur Detectives by Peter Chrisp: Ages 8-10
Score 4/5

This reader tells about the first people to look for dinosaur fossils and try to imagine what they were like.


How I rated it:
Readability: This is an iffy score. I think that it reads okay but it is confusing for me to go back and forth from story to first person telling.
Score-0

Age Appropriate?: This is definitely good for 8-10 year olds. It has lots of facts and and fun side bars.
Score-1

Artwork: The artwork was great. I like the mix of drawings and photographs. It really added to the text.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: There were lots of interesting things to pay attention to so I scored it a 1.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: Yes. I did like it. I did not like switching back and forth from someone else telling the story the person it was about talking but I really all the terrific things I learned.
Score- 1


That is all for Week 4. I hope you are enjoying Read For My Summer as much as I am!

Read For My Summer: Week Three

Hey Viewers...
This week we had some serious technical issues with audio, and even bigger issues with video, so this episode is late and and it may not have any video if Mom can't figure it out. Sorry, it takes a long time to type everything out.

I really enjoyed the three books chosen and I had loads of fun with the activities that went along with them. Here are the Week Three Books

When It's Time To Eat in Tinga Tinga Tales: Ages 0-3

This book is about dinnertime on the Afican Savannah.

How I rated it:
Readability: The story didn't rhyme but it had a fun rhythm I really enjoyed.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: It had bold art and a fun story. I think little ones would really like to read it, or at least look at while someone else reads it.
Score-1

Artwork: Wow! It is full amazing patterns and bright colors.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: It is vibrant and unique. I think it would hold anyone's attention.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: Yes. I liked how happy the animals seemed to be.
Score- 1


Ladybug Girl at the Beach: Ages 4-7

This story is about Lulu and her first time at the beach. She is afraid of the water until she loses something important. Then she turns into Ladybug Girl and discovers the beach can be fun.

How I Rated It:
Readability: It had lots of details about how Lulu and her dog Bingo were feeling at the beach.
Score-1

Age Appropriate? Lulu explored the beach and did all kinds of things kids her age would do.
Score-1

Art Work: I loved the waves. I could really see the beach the way she was seeing it and at first it looked kind of big.
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: I was excited to see what she do next.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: Yes. I really like how Lulu can do anything when she Ladybug Girl.


Starry Sky: Ages 8-10

This book is about Stars and Constellations and how they got their names and some of the stories told about them.

How I Rated It:
Readability: I really liked how the book showed how to say the hard words.
Score-1

Age Appropriate?: This book is educational and filled with fun facts.
Score-1

Art Work: It was a great mix of ancient artwork and modern graphics
Score-1

Will it Hold Interest?: It was fascinating.
Score-1

Did I Like It?: I love Astronomy and learning about cultures is a great way to learn about Astronomy.
Score-1


All the books received a 5/5 score. You can click here to see the rubric I use to rate each book.


That's all for this week. Signing Off. Keep Reading!

Read For My Summer: Week 2

It's time for week 2 of WGB Read for My Summer. First,  I want to thank Miss Julia and the We Give Books Team for answering my mom's question.  I also want to thank them for posting my blog on their Facebook Page. So many people from all over the world visited my blog because of that. I really appreciate it.

This week's books were a lot of fun and Mom and I really liked the activities and reading guides that went along with them and  I can't wait for the summer to end. There is a certificate that you can put your name showing you read all the books.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformysummer

Here are my reviews of this week's selections. You can see the rubric I use to rate the books by looking at this post by my mom. Summer of Fun Book Rubrik (Guest Post)

Read For My Summer: Episode 1

Hey Viewers! Welcome to my blog.

First, my blog has a Facebook Like Page. It is under construction but it is going to have all kinds of extras like more pictures and video from each post. I can't wait until it's done.

https://www.facebook.com/Lianssummeroffun

This week WeGiveBooks.Org started their summer program, Read for My Summer.  Each week they show three books and all kinds of fun activities to go with them. I raced to finish reading, but I am going to take my time with the activities. For this week there is a place to write a story out of letters, like Clueless McGee, and worksheet packet about Froggy Goes to Hawaii, and really a lot more things to do.

I am going to read and review the books each week and Mom helped me make a rating system to give each book a grade. (she posted about it yesterday). This is my Week 1 episode...

Happy Reading!

Read For My School: Day 8

I only have time for a short post tonight. I am super tired. I have been enjoying Spring Break.

We did it!!!!!!!

Thank you so much to whoever has been reading for our school. We got all 250 books for our school library. I can't wait until they get there. I read books to my mom and Mom read books to me and we really worked hard. I am still reading  though because I really really want to see the book mobile

WE GIVE BOOKS is AwwwwwwwwwwweSOME!!!


Tomorrow I will post about my trips to the city library. We have been having the best time there. You can read a post from my first year about our really fun library here http://lianssummeroffun.blogspot.com/2011/06/library-fun.html

 

Read For My School: Day 6

Hey Everyone!


I just have a small post today. My school has earned over 160 books. We are more than half way there.

There are still lots of books left if you want to earn books for you school too. I put the link at the bottom.

I am on Spring Break now. I have some fun projects coming up. Tomorrow I will post a new video about bubble magic.

Sign up for your school at the link below
You can sign up your school here http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformyschool

Read For My School: Day 5

Hey Viewers!!

My school is up to 63 books.  I am so happy! 

I promised a new book review and here it is. I found the best book. It is all about Dr. Seuss.

It was really long so Mom finished it. Even Dad enjoyed listening to her read to us. I really liked the story. Dr Seuss had a fun family when he was a kid. He didn't always get along with them but I think he really loved them. I didn't know that he worked in advertising. I thought he was only an author. I really liked reading about how he worked on his stories. If it was hard for him to come up with a story and get it all out, then I think it is okay if it is hard for me.

Dr. Seuss books are fun and I love the way my mom reads them to me. She says she learned how from her mom. She died before I was born but mom says that we would have been best friends. You can see Mom and me reading Green Eggs and Ham for Dr. Seuss's birthday. http://lianssummeroffun.blogspot.com/2013/03/happy-birthday-dr-suess.html

Read for my School: Day 4

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited. Each school has to earn at least 25 books to get any books. Today we passed that. My school is going to get some new books from we Give Books and Leap Frog. I loved leap frog when I was little.

Thank you so much to whoever else is reading books for our school. There is no way I can do it by myself. I really want us to get all of the books and maybe a visit from the book mobile. I have never seen a book mobile.

I also want to thank Mom for making a post yesterday. And I want to thank We give Books too. On their Pinterest board they say my blog is a blog they love. That is so terrific.

Keep on reading People!


There is still time to sign up for your school

Sign up for your school at the link below
You can sign up your school Here http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformyschool

Read For My School: Day 3 (Guest Post)

Hey Viewers!

Lian is feeling under the weather today, so Mom is doing a guest post to keep him on track. He didn't feel much like reading but he did enjoy listening to a story or two.  We made an exciting discovery. WGB.org can be accessed from the browser on the Playstation 3. While playing layabout, Lian enjoyed WGB on the TV rather than the computer. He has gotten a few people to pledge to help us read. Lian really wants to earn the books for his new school. His dad and I are certainly going to do our part to help.

We'll keep posting updates and Lian promises to make video book reviews while he is out on Spring Break. That is my favorite part!!

There is still time to sign up to earn books for your school. Over 82, 000 books have already been read for this program. That is a lot of kids, and their families, doing their part for their schools!!

Sign up for your school at the link below
You can sign up your school Here http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformyschool

Read For My School: Day 2

It is day 2 and I got some help, so now we have 8 books. I am going to need lots of help if we are going to earn 250 books. Today I read a book about dinosaurs. It was great. It was for littler kids than me but the art was fantastic and there were lots of great facts. I will do a new video review this weekend but for now you can hear about my favorite book review at this link Making School Fun w/ Lian Nathaniel: We Give Books: Shark Attack

Sign up for your school at the link below
You can sign up your school Here http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformyschool

Get Free Books For Your School

Hey Viewers!
Usually We give Books .com gives books to charities when you read them online.
Making School Fun w/ Lian Nathaniel: Reading For Charity and Fun

 Until April 5 you can get books for your school. Each school can get over 200 books if they work hard enough.

I already have 3 for my school but with homework it is real hard to read them all. I know I will do my best. But, Mom will only let me post book videos on the weekend because she says homework is more important.

You can sign up your school Here http://www.wegivebooks.org/readformyschool

This post shows how easy it is to read books online http://lianssummeroffun.blogspot.com/2012/07/we-give-books-twisters.html

Log in if you are a member and select your school on your settings page. New users, create an account and you will have the chance to select your school.

Select a book and read. It's that easy!

Invite your friends and family to join in the fun too - visit our Share page for social media and email templates and download banner ads for your website or blog!

We Give Books: Zak the Yak With Books On His Back

It's time for my We Give Books book review.

 First, I would like to thank Toni Buzzeo, the author of last week's book. Her email to me was very nice and I am really happy that she liked my video.





This week I read Zak the Yak With Books On His Back by John Wood.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/zak-the-yak

Zak the Yak travels through Nepal carrying supplies to villages in the mountains because there aren't many roads there. He comes to a village where the school only has a few books for the whole school to read. He promises to help raise money and collect donated books. He send emails and makes phone calls and he gets 5,100 books to take back to the children. The village thinks he is a hero.

The book was published by Room to Read (http://www.roomtoread.org/). They publish books for kids all over the world, in their languages, so that they can learn to read. They also raise money to donate books and open schools all over the world.  I did a google search on the author, John Wood. I found out that Zak the Yak is the story about how he started Room to Read after he found a school like the one in the story when he was on vacation (http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/author.html). At first I really liked the story because I thought Zak was like me and wanted to help kids learn to read. Now, I really like it because it's true and someone really did help kids get books. Mom says I did it again. I chose a fiction book that turned out to be a real story. I just liked the books on his back. I am really glad there are companies like We Give Books and Room to Read and that I can help out a little bit.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/campaigns/readingpartners

I am reading for the Reading Partners campaign. It gives books to reading tutors across the country, You can read more about it here @ http://www.wegivebooks.org/campaigns/readingpartners. There are almost 3,000 people reading for Reading Partners now and we have read over 12,000 books together.  We still need a lot more to make our goal though. See you next week.

Follow We Give Books:
https://twitter.com/WeGiveBooks
http://www.facebook.com/WeGiveBooks

Follow Room to Read:
http://www.facebook.com/roomtoread

We Give Books: One Cool Friend

Hello Everyone. I hope you had a great week. Last week I sent an email to the author of the book I reviewed and she sent me one back. That was so great. No one ever sends me a reply except to tell me they don't send replies.

I had so much fun with this week's review. The main character of the story I read, likes to dress really nice. I like that. I would wear my suit every day if Mom would let me. I wish I had lots of them to wear.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/one-cool-friend

I read One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo. It was a terrific book about a boy who is  different from other kids. He dresses and thinks different and doesn't like to be around a lot of people. We could be best friends. His dad takes him to the aquarium and he finds penguins that he thinks are a lot like he is, so he asks his dad if can take one home. His dad thinks he means a plushie toy. Elliot and his new friend have fun. They eat pizza and go skating and visit the library. The end was the best. I won't tell you how it ends but I really thought something else would happen. 

 I visited the author's website  http://www.tonibuzzeo.com/index.html and she had so much really great information on it. Not just about her books but also about her and not just about her books but lots of other children's books too. I want to read some more of her books. I wonder if I will find more people in her books like me except I would never take a penguin home it would not be happy.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/campaigns/readingpartners

My final book count for the summer is up to 33.  My goal was to only read 15 books over the summer. I am so excited. That is way more than last summer. You can read about the campaign I am reading for right now here @ http://www.wegivebooks.org/campaigns/readingpartners. There are over 2,500 people reading for Reading Partners now. and we have read over 10,000 books together.  We still need a lot more to make our goal though.