Pop Manga Coloring Book by Camilla d'Errico

 Pop Manga Coloring Book by Camilla d'Errico

Pop Manga is such a fun coloring book.  The pictures are very detailed with fanciful drawings.  The mermaid and sea creatures are my favorite.  My niece loves the robots and gears the most. There are lots of pictures of faces to color which I can't wait to begin.  The pictures aren't so detailed that it's tedious to color like some coloring books I've seen.  This one has the right amount of detail in the beautiful pictures. 

The pages of the book are nice and thick with drawings on both sides of the page.  I don't think there will be any problems of ink bleed through or pressure marks onto the other side of the page.  The pages also have a nice smooth texture. The book does not come with perforated pages as some coloring books are but I never take my pages out so I appreciate that they are attached.  I want the pages to stay together in the book. 

Be sure to read the introduction in the first few pages of the book.  It gives some information about the book and ideas about coloring. 

Now onto some pictures!  That's what you are here to see. 

Mermaids and Narwhals

 

Gears

 

 

 

FTC disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Ukulele Fun!

Our family has been interested in ukuleles for the last several months.  We attended a local festival a few months ago and took a beginning ukulele class.  It was so fun!  Buttercup is actually the one who was interested first.  I've been taking her to a few free classes and I'd play along with her just for fun.  Well on her birthday this year, she received a ukulele!  She was so excited and has really took off learning everything she can. 

I was surprised last month with a ukulele of my own!  I was not expecting one.  I thought maybe in the future I'd buy one but my mother gifted me with a ukulele.  I am now the proud owner of a Concert Luna Ukulele in Radioactive print.  Now it's time to practice, practice, practice!

Review of God Bless America: A Patriotic Coloring Book by Multnomah

I love how coloring has been enjoying a surge in popularity.  It's an activity that I've never really stopped doing.  Coloring is a great way to spend time with kids or to do while traveling or to relax or keep your hands busy while watching TV.  I still have many of the coloring books that I had when I was a little girl.  While I enjoy adding some color to my Barbie Great Shape coloring book or my Little Mermaid coloring book, I'm really excited about all the adult coloring books available now. 

God Bless America: A Patriotic Coloring Book by Multnomah is a delightful coloring book that explores our nations history through wonderful illustrations.  The illustrations include a quote from our Founding Fathers, a historic document, patriotic song, or scripture.  This page features a quote from Benjamin Franklin, "Where liberty dwells, there is my country."

 

 

And here is the illustration after I colored it. 

 The backside of the drawings include informational text where you can learn more about that quote or song lyric.  For example, here is the back page for Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson's illustration; it features her quote "The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom" and gives information about her life and things she accomplished during her lifetime. 

 

Here are a few more illustrations from the coloring book God Bless America: A Patriotic Coloring Book.

 

I really enjoyed being able to learn more about our great nation and it's history while also enjoying some quiet time coloring.  The pages are nice and thick and feature perforated edges if you'd like to take the pages out while coloring. 

The back of the book features a playlist put together by WaterbrookMultnomah that you can listen to while coloring.  To access the playlist go to:  https://spotify.com/user/waterbrookmultnomah and select the "Coloring America" playlist.



FTC disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Book Review of Room for Hope by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Room for Hope by Kim Vogel Sawyer is a story about learning to love and forgive even in the knowledge of betrayal.   Warren and Neva Shilling and their 14 year old twins; Bud and Belle, live in Kansas in 1936.  In the midst of The Great Depression, Warren and Neva work together to keep their mercantile in business.  Warren sells his merchandise from a wagon to neighboring communities every other month while Neva stays home keeping the shop and their home above the mercantile running smoothly. 

Neva and the twins are impatiently waiting for Warren to return from his month long selling trip when they hear a wagon pull up outside.  Hoping to find Warren home, they discover instead an officer named Jesse Caudel bringing news of the death of Warren Shilling and his wife, Violet.  He wasn't alone.  He brought with him Warren and Violet Shilling's three recently orphaned children who were to be put into the care of their Aunt Neva. 

Feeling humiliated and betrayed by Warren, will Neva be able to care for his children from another woman or will she send them to an orphanage?  How will Neva's children respond to these three new additions and to the truth about their father?  Will Neva be able to keep the mercantile open?  Neva is forced to ask these and many other questions she had never planned.  With many prayers and help from Jesse Caudel and her neighbor; Arthur Randal, she begins to find the answers.

I enjoyed Room for Hope and wondered how Neva would handle the problems she was forced to face. Neva's character and how she questioned and reacted to different situations seemed true to life.  She felt anger, sadness, disbelief and gradually acceptance, hope and love.  She faced all of her struggles with prayer and help from friends. 

The one character that seemed to annoy me was Bud.  I understand that he was a young teenager dealing with the loss of his beloved father and the sudden appearance of three small children but his actions really annoyed me and seemed to be something a younger child would do.  I managed to read through his sections to get to other characters that I enjoyed reading more. 

Overall, it was a great book about faith and learning to forgive those you love.  This was the first book I've read by Kim Vogel Sawyer.  She has won numerous awards for her faith based books.  I look forward to browsing more of her books and hope you take the time to read a few of them.


FTC disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Spring!

I'm so looking forward to Spring!  Flowers, green grass and leaves and bike rides!  I'm ready to get my bike out of storage and start pedaling away.