Designing a Room to Encourage Reading

By Max Testani  |  2012/02/14 12:59 Posted in blog  |  Comments Off

If you leave children to their own devices then they will just laze around the house or run around like little terrors. Many parents learn early on that a book can be a great tool to stop a kid in their tracks for a few hours. You are lucky if you get a kid that loves books naturally but most kids need a little help along the way. Here are my tips for building a room that will encourage your little ones to lay down in their bunk beds for kids and bury their noses in a book.

It’s pretty obvious that you need to start them on reading early but you need to make sure to keep up the pace. I would suggest pushing their comprehension a bit and by getting them books that are a bit advanced for them but not so much so that they will get frustrated. Get a good number of book shelves and organize the books by reading level. If you make each shelf a level up and reward them when they prove that they can read a book from the next level you will be encouraging advancement.

Take the TV and videogames out of their bedroom. Keep these things to the living room or entertainment room and monitor their use. Encourage the idea that a book is something fun that you can relax with. It’s a bit devious but you should make it uncomfortable to play videogames and very comfortable to read. Move the couch far enough away from the TV that they can’t reach the controllers from the couch. On the other hand, if you give them lots of plush seating along with their bunk beds for kids, they will be happier in their rooms surrounded by books.

Paint the walls with interesting designs, puzzles and literary quotes. You don’t need to have Beowulf transcribed onto the walls, but if they fall asleep in their bunk beds for kids every night looking at their favorite quote from Harry Potter then they are going to have reading as a part of their lives from morning to night.

Bunk Beds for Kids

The Big Books for Bigger Kids

By Nelson H  |  2012/02/14 11:14 Posted in blog  |  Comments Off

The bookcase I had in my bedroom as a child looked a bit out of place with some of the books that inhabited the shelves. J.R.R. Tolkein, Michael Crichton, Anne McCaffrey and L. Frank Baum all made their home there. I would like to think that I was a bit of an advanced reader and I would like to attribute that to my father and mother. You see I didn’t start reading all of those books on my own. My father decided to read me real stories and books of true imaginative promise to spark my interest in literature and get my mind firing on all pistons. I’d say it worked. Here are my top two picks for fantastical novels you should read to your children.

The OZ books by L. Frank Baum. You may be surprised to hear that there are more than just one book. Some of you may be surprised to even hear that The Wizard of OZ was based on a book in the first place. Well, I can assure you that the world of OZ extends well beyond the adventures of Dorothy and her friends. For a world that supposedly got its name because L. Frank Baum happened to look at an O-Z dictionary sitting on his book shelf while he made up a story for some children, there is a lot to explore.

The Jurassic Park movies were formative for my young self and it was not long after the first one premiered that I bought the book for Jurassic Park and the sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World. I think I actually read The Lost World first. At that time I had no idea that the book would be better or different than the movie. Michael Crichton is an accomplished author with a great imagination but not all of his stories are going to be appropriate for kids. The Jurassic Park series is pretty safe if you don’t mind the violence.

These should be a good foundation for a positive experience with bigger books. Before you know it, your kid will be filling their own bookcase with fantastic novels and great classics.

Bookcase

Are Kids Related Fitness and Health Books Appropriate?

By Christian  |  2012/01/24 01:03 Posted in books  |  Comments Off

When you are raising your child, one of the most important steps in the process is to introduce them to health and fitness early enough. However, a lot of parents are concerned about making their children exercise at a young age, seeing as how they believe it can mess with their growth. Well, the truth is that it has actually been proven that while children shouldn’t become bodybuilders, regularly exercising as well as becoming more knowledgeable about health will help them develop an active and healthy lifestyle. Of course, as I mentioned before, the workouts should be light to medium in intensity, so as not to destroy the young and fragile body.

Workout Kids

If you are living in North America, then chances are that the fast food culture is all around you, and more importantly, all around your kids. It is no secret that the United States of America are starting to have quite a noticeable problem when it comes child obesity, with a lot of kids being simply sedentary, not to mention chomping on fast food. If you are going to prevent your children from becoming part of that statistic, you better make sure to teach them the importance of health and fitness.

There are various systems out there that are designed to provide a full and effective workout for the body, in some cases better than what you could do at the gym. However, most of the systems out there, even the more popular ones such as the TRX, are designed for young and full-fledged adults. You can’t expect to purchase something like the TRX system and expect your kid to make do with that.

All in all, while you really shouldn’t make your children use advanced exercise products such as the TRX or the Shake Weight for example, it is still important to at least teach them the basics of fitness and the benefits of regular exercise.

Allen Carr’s Marvelous Stop Smoking Book

By Max Testani  |  2012/01/23 21:04 Posted in books  |  Comments Off

I’ve always been a big reading thanks to the fact I love to escape into another world whenever I get time. Most of the time I resort to fictional books full of characters and plots which help me to relax after a hard day at the office. These types of books are all well and good and although they might help to expand the mind and lead to an expanded vocabulary, they usually don’t have a direct influence on the way we live our everyday lives.

When I heard about a book called “The Easy Way To Stop Smoking” by the late Allen Carr I was immediately skeptical that someone else’s written work would be able to help me break a 20 year addiction to nicotine. Not one to pick up a book which actually might teach me something I was perfectly happy to avoid this one and continue with my regular fictional escapism. The only thing which caused me to reconsider was the fact my friend who recommended it was still smoke free after 6 months so I thought it might be worth a try.

I purchased this stop smoking book from Amazon.com and started to read it a few days after it arrived. I put off picking it up straight away as I’m rather fond of my tobacco products and had that inevitable dread about having to kick the habit. I needn’t have worried however as Allen Carr makes the whole process as easy as possible, not least because you are actually allowed to smoke cigarettes while you read the book. This made the whole process a whole lot less daunting, and actually a little fun.

“The Easy Way To Stop Smoking” is the only book I have ever read to give up smoking, although I’ve tried just about every other method available to us including hypnosis, nicotine replacement e cigarettes, patches and gums. Amazingly, even though all the other methods failed miserably after a varying amount of time, reading this book has made the habit an exceptionally easy one to break. It explains the real reason why we continue to smoke, and in doing so makes it rather simple to quit.

Having done a fair amount of research on the Internet I find I’m not even nearly alone in finding this book to be one of the most helpful ever to have been published. A surprising percentage of those who read it go on to give up smoking for good. If you still have a smoking habit you just can’t kick, I urge you to give it a try. It might just be the best $10 you ever spend.

Create a Home Based Business with Ebooks

By Eve T  |  2011/12/22 04:11 Posted in ebooks  |  Comments Off

Do you happen to have some knowledge on how to do something or even have a great story in mind and want to share it to the world? It used to be that if you wanted to publish a book, you would need money as well as approval from some publishing company. This could take years and even if approved, the money you make may be surprisingly low since publishers take so much of it. Now days, with ebooks, anyone can publish a book about anything. From ebooks on home based business opportunities to a guide on where to find legitimate work from home jobs with no fee to how to train your pet and more.

Now one of the challenges when trying to sell your ebooks is getting enough people to know about your work. One great way to overcome this is to sell your ebook on Amazon. That site gets millions of visitors a day and all you need is a small percentage of that to see your ebook each day. One of the biggest advantages of creating these electronic books is the low cost. Instead of spending money on physical books, you could deliver your books to your customers digitally through email. This means less expenses and more profit.

ebooks

Thinking like kids do leads to creativity

By Max Testani  |  2011/11/24 20:33 Posted in books  |  Comments Off

There are tons of books on creativity, and one of my favorites is “Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small”. While I love the overall message and the tone of the book, I can’t help but go to the best source of creativity that we know of: kids.

We, as grownups, tend to approach problems based on what we know and the tools at our disposals. It’s often said that if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. This saying illustrates how close we stick to the tried and true when approaching problems that need to be solved.

Of course, the issue is that some problems need to be approached from a blank slate, and this is where kids have a natural advantage. They have very few frames of reference and as such can come up with very creative ways to solve problems.

I often tell my friends that if you want to be more creative, all you have to do is spend more time with kids. You will be amazed at all the little things they solve with plain old common sense (which, I like to say, is apparently not that common). After a while, you will start to emulate their behavior and will be surprised how much more innovative you can get.

The Growth of Audio Books

By A Taormina  |  2011/11/07 19:43 Posted in audio books  |  Comments Off

The Growth of Audio Books

When the iPod was first released, many people started to walk around listening to music. But a considerable number of people preferred audio books to music. The beauty of the audio book is that you can walk or exercise or drive and still listen to a story you would not otherwise have been able to read. Even for people who commute to work by public transport, it is easier to listen to an audio book than read a physical book, and if you are using an iPod then it is easier to carry around and lighter than a traditional book.

Particularly enjoyable are dramatized audio books where each character is acted by a different professional actor or actress. The voice of the reader on the audio book can make the difference between the book being interesting to listen to and giving up with the book. Especially pleasant to listen to is an actress with an English accent. The British Voice Over, or narration, is one of the best features of listening to audio books on iPods and MP3 players. English accents are a lot more popular to listen to than American accents.

British Female Voice Over

 

A Sequel to Wuthering Heights

By Clayton K  |  2011/10/25 16:40 Posted in books  |  Comments Off

Are you a fan of Wuthering Height?  If you are, then you are probably hungry for more about Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. What really happened between them? Did they ever consummate their love? And if they did, why did she reject him? Why did she marry that wimpy Edgar Linton? What could ever induce her to turn her back on her one true love?

Well, we can’t ask Emily Bronte, that’s for sure. She is dead and gone and buried and consumed by worms. And there is not ever going to be a sequel to Wuthering Heights written by the hand of that woman. But did you know that she had a kindred spirit who yet lives and breathes today?  That person is none other than world renowned author John Wheatcroft. He is the one to go to for all things wuthering.

John Wheatcroft’s novel Catherine Her Book is a beautiful retelling of the story of Wuthering Heights. His Catherine has the same indomitable spirit, the same lust for life and the same Yorkshire dialect and vocabulary. But unlike Emily, who dared not go all the way with her portrayal of what really happened, John Wheatcroft is unabashed.

Do you want to know what really happened? Read the book. And then read all the other books by John Wheatcroft.

Books by James Cassaday

By Clayton K  |  2011/10/23 23:16 Posted in ebooks  |  Comments Off

I am really excited right now as I have just got through reading James Cassaday’s latest book St Elmo’s Fire. This is the third book he has written, but the first one which has never been previously available in an ‘in print’ format. His first two books were originally in print, and only became available as e-books this year. All of James Cassaday’s books are for sale at a very affordable price of $4.99 and can be purchased either for Amazon Kindle or for other book readers. The first book he wrote was called Rough Sea Justice and focused on the story of a Bailiwick of Guernsey  man who accidentally kills two men who attack him on his small yacht Zephyr. Panicking that the law will see it as murder as opposed to self defense, this poor chap panics and fakes his own death before going on the run. I loved the sea adventures he then faces whilst sailing away from those who would want to capture him in order to get revenge.

The second book he wrote was called Bailiwick Gold and tells the story of how a German soldier stationed on Guernsey during World War II obtains and hides five gold bars within the Bailiwick, hoping to later retrieve them after the war has finished. He does not survive the war, but leaves behind a tantalising clue that many years later falls into two sets of people’s hands. Both go on the hunt for the lost gold bars, navigating their way around the dangerous English Channel with its powerful currents and tides. A typical race between both good and bad guys, who will find the gold first? This was truly a riveting read for me and I loved it.

The third book as I said before, has gone straight to being an Ebook and is called St Elmo’s Fire. This book tells the story of an ex-seaman who having once witnessed the phenomenon of St Elmo’s Fire, wishes he never had after he later joins the Fire Brigade in the 1950′s. He joins forces with a renegade group of ex-firemen who plan to steal a priceless work of art, before then going on the run with the artwork as others plan to steal it from him. The end of the book leaves the readers with a riddle to solve, one that flickers and dies, much like the phenomenon of St Elmo’s Fire.

I just love the work of this author and highly recommend it to anyone who likes a read that includes an element of the oceans and sailing within the plot, books that will keep them thinking throughout, hold them in suspense and include at least a little mystery and romance. Anyone who enjoyed the now famous book called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book, and has therefore got an interest in Guernsey in the English Channel Islands, will enjoy James Cassaday’s books, especially as he still lives there to this day, enjoying his retirement gardening, writing and sailing whenever he can.

Books to Toys – a boon for childhood reading

By Roxie Perine  |  2011/10/13 12:23 Posted in family  |  Comments Off

The Octonauts started life as a small series of four books.

The anthropomorphic characters created by Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy of Meomi Design Inc, led a pretty quiet, unassuming existence, until the cartoon series of the same name catapulted them to fame.

Now boys and girls can’t get enough of Kwazii, Barnacles and Peso, and to capitalize on this popularity, a range of Octonauts toys has been released.

This development may have literacy-lovers rolling their eyes and shaking their heads, as they imagine children’s books abandoned on the shelf as they sit in front of the TV and play with their new toys.

But do not dispair. Whilst the toys and TV program surely do provide a short term distraction from reading, it may be helping to seed a life-long love of books.

Using books featuring your child’s favorite TV characters is a great way to catch their interest. Add to that your undivided attention for ten minutes each day and your child will be hooked. They will soon learn that unlike the TV programs, stories in books allow  them to go at their own pace, ask questions, and explore different possible story lines.

Far from negatively affecting children’s appetite for reading, TV shows and toys based on books may actually help get them interested.