Touch and Feel Books by DK Publishing Review

Are you looking for some fun new books for your baby, toddler, or preschooler? DK Publishing has some great new Touch and Feel Books for your children.  Introducing, Touch and Feel Dinosaurs and Touch and Feel Jungle Animals.

Here is what DK Publishing has to say about these new titles, "With a sparkling new look, these bestselling DK classic preschool board books are sure to become favorites for a whole new generation of young readers. Babies and toddlers will be drawn to the captivating, tactile pages, and will want to touch, feel, and explore every spread."

Each book measures 159x159mm, is 12 pages long, and is suitable for children ages 0-5.  If you have more than one child under the age of 5, the Touch and Feel books are a perfect choice for your library!

Review
I have seen books that allow you to touch and feel different textures in the past, and I have always been a fan of them.  I sometimes wonder, do I or do the babies I'm reading with enjoy them more?! These books allow you and your children to interact, have fun with, and learn from the Touch and Feel books.  As a child, I remember loving books that did something - and these books fill that desire for children to experience new and exciting elements within the pages.

Touch And Feel Dinosaurs
I loved the basic images that were contained within the pages of this book! The simplicity makes it easy for young minds to focus on the variety of sensations that this book offers. This book helps your child interact with it by inviting them to explore the fun textures of various dinosaur parts (e.g. skin, horns, tongue and more). In addition to various sensations, this book will introduce your children to different dinosaur species. This book is a perfect length for young children.

One thing that could be improved in this book - one of the pages in this book has a 'sticky tongue' sensation. If you a parent of a young child, you know that things get dirty...fast. To me, a sticky sensation in a Touch and Feel book is asking for trouble; this aspect will likely limit the lifespan of the book.  After using this book for a couple of weeks, the sticky sensation has already started to get dirty.

Touch And Feel Jungle Animals
Out of these two books, the Touch and Feel Jungle Animals book is my favourite. I love the variety of textures in this book. Lyla also seemed to enjoy the feelings in this book quite a bit.

This book like the other, has basic images and simple directions that make it easy for young children to interact with and learn from this book. This book included a variety of jungle animals and fun textures. This book is the same length as the Touch and Feel Dinosaurs book, making it short enough for young children to stay entertained.

There is nothing in this book that I would change. My daughter and I enjoyed it from front to back.

My daughter enjoyed reading these books with me. She had fun exploring the different dinosaurs and jungle animals and learning about new tactile sensations. I think these books are a great choice for both boys and girls!  These are the first books that we have in her book collection that allow her to learn through touch. Since receiving these books for review, we have already purchased another Touch and Feel Book by DK Publishing for her.

Overall, I think these books are great for teaching your children through imagery and touch. Your children will learn about different sensations, animals, and more with Touch and Feel Dinosaurs and Touch and Feel Jungle Animals.

In the future I would love to see DK Publishing publish some Touch and Feel story books; the current Touch and Feel series is very action orientated and does not tell a story.

*GIVEAWAY*

How many winners are there? One (1).

What can you win? One winner will receive a copy of Touch and Feel Dinosaurs and Touch and Feel Jungle Animals from DK Publishing.

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter entry form below.
(Note:You must have Javascript enabled to view the entry form) 



a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Sunday, September 16, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. EST. 

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada.

Good Luck!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of each of these books to review. Receiving these items did not in anyway affect the information that I shared in this article. All the opinions in this article are my own.

Crafty Ideas for the Bride on a Budget (Book) Review & Giveaway

Every since I was a child, I've loved crafts!  I often think to myself, why buy something if I can make it myself?  For example, I recently created a baby blanket (quilted style) for my new niece with only an idea in my head.  I ended up creating a beautiful blanket without a store bought pattern or any experience making blankets.  At the end of the whole process, I was extremely proud of myself; I couldn't wait to give my handmade present to my soon-to-be Sister in law!  I'm sure all of you crafters out there understand the satisfaction that is gained from creating an item by hand!

So, when I saw the book released by Lark Books titled 'Crafty Ideas for the Bride on a Budget', I knew that I had to check it out!  This 200 page craft book contains everything you could possibly imagine for your wedding!  Here is a description of 'Crafty Ideas for the Bridge on a Budget' from Lark Books:

"In today’s economic climate, savvy brides know they have to get crafty! From homemade invitations to handcrafted bouquets, table settings to keepsake gifts, here are 75 breathtaking projects for a wedding that’s personalized, heartfelt…and money-smart. The gorgeous ideas include specially-made baskets and pillows for flower girls and ring bearers; monogrammed champagne flutes to toast the happy couple; an elegant guest book; a fondant cake to match each theme, and beautiful albums, frames, memory boxes, and scrapbook layouts to preserve wonderful memories forever."

Review
I recently checked out a number of wedding related craft books from the library and was unimpressed.  So, when I knew I was getting this book to review, I truly hoped my experience would be different.  Luckily, it has been.  Compared to several other wedding craft books I've looked through in the past weeks, this one truly goes above and beyond my original expectations. 

There are two main reasons that I enjoyed this book.  First, this book contains more information that just the basic crafting ideas.  This book contains a great 12-month wedding planner, an overview of crafting tools & materials, as well as basic crafting techniques.  It also has a large section dedicated to creating cakes for your wedding (one topic that most wedding craft books don't even touch or if they do, it is extremely brief)!  This section gives recipes for rolled fondant, buttercream icing, and thinned fondant adhesive.  Plus, there is detailed information on how to work with fondant, how to create and work with colored fondant, and how to decorate with fondant (various cutting and shaping techniques are discussed).  Secondly, I love this book because it actually includes crafts that I'd be willing to use in my wedding.  Some other book offer craft ideas that are quite elementary.  This book offers crafting ideas that look professional and that are fairly easy to create (even for a beginner).  I tried to pick one favorite out of this book but found picking one to be nearly impossible.  Therefore, I have chosen to list on of my favorites (knowing that I have many others): the Ribbon & Bow Favor Box Centerpieces.

In conclusion, I have truly enjoyed this book.  I would highly suggest it to any bride.  I would also suggest this book to anyone who enjoys hosting or planning events, or just crafts in general.  This book contains a number of crafts that could be used for gifts or at various occasions/functions.  When considering the extensiveness of this book with it's practicality and price, this book is a definite must have!

This book can be purchased in many bookstores at a cover price of $14.95 USD and $19.50 CAD.  This book can also be purchased online from Amazon.com in the US for $10.17 USD and Amazon.ca in Canada for $14.08 CAD.





What can you win?  One winner will receive a brand new copy of the book 'Crafty Ideas for the Bride on a Budget' direct from Lark Books.

To enter, Telling me the title of at least one other book from Lark Books that you'd like to see reviewed on Everything Up Close. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:
- Entering one other giveaway on Everything Up Close, then leaving me a comment hear indicating the name of the other giveaway you entered.
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.
- Adding my 'Wonderful Wedding Wishes' event button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- Friending Everything Up Close on Facebook. Please leave your name that is shown on Facebook for verification.

- Tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 2 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Sunday, May 2nd at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to readers in Canada and the US!

Good Luck!

**Disclaimer** To complete this review and post this giveaway, I was sent a review review copy of 'Crafty Ideas for the Bride on a Budget'.  Receiving this book did not in anyway alter the information which I discussed in this article; this review is 100% my own opinion.  I did not receive any other type of compensation for this review/giveaway.

Make-Ahead Meals (Book) Review & Giveaway!

Lately I have been trying to cook meals that I can make ahead and freeze for later.  This gives me the chance to save time (and stress) from planning and cooking meals every night.  So far, I have loved what freezer meals do for our household!  Not only are freezer meals convenient, but they can help you save money by buying in bulk.  Since you usually prepare a number of the same meals at once when you assemble freezer meals, it makes them extremely time efficient; you'll definitely save a lot of time by cooking your meals this way.  Each of these points are reasons why I enjoy freezer meals.  While I haven't yet mastered, or even attempted once a month cooking (OAMC) or 30 meals in 1 day, Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms has got me off to a good start!

Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms was written by Jane Doiron who is an elementary school teacher and a busy mom of two boys.  She decided to write this book after discovering the joy of preparing meals ahead of time.  Make-Ahead Meals is meant to combine Jane's years of experience and experimenting with recipes to provide you with a number of family friendly recipes and tips for make-ahead meals.

Review
Jane Doiron offered to send me a copy of her new book: Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms to review.  First of all I will talk a bit about how the book is put together.  The way Jane seperated this book seems very natural, which makes finding recipes a breeze.  The beginning of the book contains a table of contents and includes the following sections: an introduction, helpful tips, appetizers, breakfast and brunch, desserts, main dishes, side dishes, soup, measurement equivalents, and an index of recipes.  By combining the table of contents, with the Recipe Index, you are sure to find exactly what you are looking for.   This book had a total 232 pages, with a majority of those being packed with recipes!

One thing I liked about this book that I thought was unique from others was the size and the type of font used.  The font in this book is an Arial-type and sized a bit larger than most cookbooks.  These two factors make Jane's book easier to read than most cookbook that I already have on my bookshelf.

When I first looked through this book, I was happy to see that approximately 90% of the recipes contained in this book are ones that my family would enjoy.  Far too often I buy a cookbook thinking it will be a hit, only to discover that the recipes aren't ones that my family would enjoy.  This one was not like that at all.  This cookbook contains a number of recipes that are sure to please the majority of your family.  Plus, all the recipes in this book are easy to prepare and use ingredients that are easy to find in your local supermarket.

One thing that I had to keep in mind while looking through this book that it was in fact a book for make-ahead meals.  When looking through the book, I quickly forgot about this after finding so many recipes that I never thought about making ahead of time.  For example, Breakfast Burritos.  This is one recipe in the book that got my attention!  When I have Breakfast Burritos, they are usually from a fast food chain or I make them at home and eat them right away.  When I saw this recipe listed in Jane's book, it made me look at Breakfast Burritos in a whole new light.  They no longer had to be a breakfast dish that took just as long to prepare as others, or a item that I pick up at a local fast food place - it can now be a breakfast item that I can eat on the go, while ensuring my nutrition and saving my money!

The breakfast burritos recipe contained in this book was quick to make, yummy, and only had 5 ingredients.  I found that this recipe was very versatile and I could easily add in items (such as peppers) and substitute items.  For example, this recipe called for lean breakfast turkey sausage.  Unfortunately, the day I decided to make this recipe, I didn't have turkey sausage.  So, instead of turkey, I decided to use pork - definitely not as lean, but the recipe still worked out great!  Other substitutions for this recipe can include, fat free margarine instead of butter, egg whites instead of whole eggs, low-fat cheddar cheese instead of full-fat cheddar cheese, and whole wheat tortillas instead of flour tortillas.

Besides the great things I've already mentioned about this book, one of my favorite aspects has to be the extra tips contained throughout this book.  The book starts out with helpful tips and provides more and more with each recipe.  Plus, each recipe gives you the option to eat now or eat later.  Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms contains instructions on cooking, reheating, freezing, and preparing portions the night or day before (of course dependent on the requirements of the recipe).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I loved the layout, the recipes, and all the hints that made preparing and saving the meals even easier.  I appreciate that Jane included recipes in this book that were family friendly and that contained ingredients that I could easily find in my local supermarket.  Finally, I really appreciate how this book opened my eyes to meals that can be made-ahead of time for my family.  As for things that could be added to this book to make it better, in my opinion, there aren't very many.  The only thing I'd like to see in future editions are some pictures (I am a visual person).  Other than that, this book was just what I was looking for.  I would highly suggest it to anyone who loves make-ahead meals or who is trying to find a more efficient way to cook for their family!

This book can be purchased in the USA on Amazon.com for $16.15, and in Canada from Amazon.ca for $19.07.  Otherwise, you can purchase an eBook copy of Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms on Jane Doiron's website for $12.95 (USD). 

What can you win? One lucky reader will receive a hard copy of Jane Doiron's book: Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms (paperback).

How to enter: Look at the list of recipes included in this book (here).  Then, come back here and leave a comment telling me the name of one recipe you'd like to try.This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless otherwise noted). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do. If a certain entry method is worth more than one entry, which will be indicated for methods worth more than one entry, please leave a comment to reflect each entry:
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my button to your blog sidebar.  - IMPORTANT - If you've added it before, please add it again with the new code.  The button must point to http://www.everythingupclose.com for it to be counted as a valid entry.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky) and Tweeting about this giveaway (with a link to this page). Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.
- Following Jane Doiron's blog.
- Subscribing to the Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms Newsletter (here).
- Adding Jane Doiron's blog button to your blog sidebar using the following image, ensuring it points to http://makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.blogspot.com/:

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).

- Entering one of my other giveaways.  Please indicate the name of the other giveaway you entered.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment.

- Writing about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post.

-Donate a minimum of $1 to my BlogHer 2010 Fund using the ChipIn widget on the right hand side of my blog. Earn 2 entries for each dollar you donate! Please leave me your PayPal email address so I can verify your entry.

Important Entry Details:

The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Saturday, January 23rd at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the US only!

Good Luck!

*Disclaimer* In order to complete an accurate review of this book, Jane Doiron offered to send me a copy of her book free of charge.  This review is 100% of my own feedback and I did not receive any other sort of compensation for my opinion.

Set the Scene/Girl's Night In Giveaway!

Everyone has heard of a Girl's Night Out, but have you heard of a Girl's Night In?  A Girl's Night In (a.k.a. Set the Scene) is a brand new promotion that is being offered by Glade, in cooperation with Copper Moon and Chapters/Indigo Books.  Glade wants to show you an easier way to kick your feet up and relax at home while using one of Glade's new products from The [new] fragrance collection and sipping a glass of wine from Copper Moon!  This combination is great for a book club night with friends or just a quiet relaxing night by yourself.

Glade offered to send me one of their Girl's Night In/Set the Scene packages to try out for myself.  And, I have to admit, I was surprised by all the neat products that they sent me to try out.  Glade sent me the following:

- 2 Glade Multiwick candles from The Fragence Collection (one in Sheer White Cotton™ & the other in Currants Açai™)
- 2 Glade  Soy-based mini candles (the same scents as listed above)
- 2 Glade Reed Diffusers (the same scents as listed above)
- 1 - $25 Chapters/Indigo Giftcard
- 2 Bottles of Copper Moon (Sauvignon Blanc 750ml & Merlot 750ml)

Out of all the Glade products I received, my favorite is the Multiwick Candle in Currents & Açai.  The smell of this scent is nice, sweet, and refreshing.  Since I love fruity smells, this was a clear choice for me!  I especially liked that it wasn't too overpowering like some candles can be.  Even though the multiwick candle was my favorite, I like the soy-based mini candles because they are natural and the size is perfect; very cute!  Additionally, I was really excited to try the reed diffuser since I had been eying them up for awhile. 

Next it came time to try the wine.  First of all, let me say 2 things: I am very picky about the wine I like and I've never thought of myself as being a fan of red wine.  The first wine I tried from the two was the Sauvignon Blanc.  I found it to be a nice refreshing surprise.  It was mild, smooth and had a good flavor.  I could easily see myself drinking this wine on special occasions (we hardly drink in our household so even though the wine is great, it would be occasional).  The next evening, I had a chance to try the Merlot.  As I mentioned before, I never thought I liked red wine.  But this one was amazingly good.  Even though I'm still not a huge fan of red wine (I prefer white), I would drink this on occasion.  Once again, the flavour was nice, slightly sweet and smooth.  Finally, what I really liked about these wines was their decent price of $9.45 for a 750ml bottle.  When we purchase wine, I am used to paying roughly $14, so a savings of $4.50 is a plus in my books!

Now, do I really need to talk about the great $25 Chapters gift card that I received?  Not really.  I think it really speaks for itself.  With Chapters and Indigo stores growing across Canada, you can find so many different items for yourself, your family, and friends.  They have virtually every book you can image (especially if you shop online), plus they have a wide variety of magazines (that are difficult to find in your standard big box stores) and fabulous gifts!  I am currently working away on the book Midwives by Chris Bohjalian (an Oprah's Book Club recommendation).  However, once I'm finished that, I will be surely heading over to my local Chapters book store to find a couple of good reads to use my gift certificate towards.

Thanks to Glade, they are offering my readers one of the same prize packages that I received!

Update: There will be 3 winners!

To enter, go look through Glade's website, then come back here and leave a comment telling me another product you'd like to try. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway. Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:
-Go to Chapters/Indigo, look through their great selection of books and tell me the name of at least one book you'd purchase with your gift card if you won.
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).
- Adding my button to your blog sidebar.
- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.
- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- Tweeting about this giveaway (with a link to this page) on Twitter. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 2 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.
- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.
-Donate a minimum of $1 to my BlogHer 2010 Fund using the ChipIn widget on the right hand side of my blog. 3 ENTRIES! Please leave me your PayPal email address so I can verify your entry.


Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Tuesday, November 3rd at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to CANADA ONLY!

Good Luck!