Review of: A Day with My Dad at the Beach

Author: Lance Waite
ISBN: 9781601310163
Pages: 32
Published by: Parents Publishing Group, LLC (June, 2008)
Genre(s): Children's
Grade: B-
Challenge(s): 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 'n Review '09 - Spring Reading Thing 2009


Matt and Reaghan have read this book together a couple of times, but not for lack of love for the book! They both enjoy it (and time spent together). It's one of those wonderful hardcover books whose cover matches the dust jacket (which always seem to get torn or lost).

The story part of it is very sweet and heartwarming. Dad makes a special effort to be home when his daughter comes home from school to take her to the beach, then the boardwalk for dinner and rides. The story of their day spent together is told from the daughter's point-of-view. The illustrations are very interesting. They remind me of a collage.

The beach is the perfect place to have fun with your kids. "A Day with My Dad at the Beach" is full of adventures and fantastic illustrations that evoke memories of an exciting day at the beach that a father and daughter will never forget. The story will touch the hearts of parents and inspire them to engage in similar activities with their children within a larger day of interpersonal experiences. It encourages children to vividly imagine the fun things they can do with their parents on an outing. Set on a sunny beach after a long day of school and work, the father and daughter escape to the outside world and enjoy a fun, relaxing day of swimming and exploration.

This is the second book by author, and father, Lance Waite. The first is A Day with My Dad and described as "A father and daughter spend a day together, hiking in the hills around there town. With no distractions, a bond can be built between them that can last a lifetime."

Lance wrote his books to encourage fathers to be more involved with their daughters and to show his girls that even an ordinary day can be exciting when you share it with someone special. Both of Lance Waite's books are illustrated by Manuela Pentangelo.

Buy A Day with My Dad at the Beach by Lance Waite:
IndieBound {} Amazon

Review of: Alanna

Author: Tamora Pierce
ISBN: 9780689878558
Pages: 240
Published by: Simon Pulse (January, 2005 - first published 1983)
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Grade: B-
Challenge(s): 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 'n Review '09 - Spring Reading Thing 2009 - 2009 Young Adult Book Challenge

Alanna: The First Adventure is the first book in a 4 book series by Tamora Pierce. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the rest of them. Alanna goes from 10 to 13 years old in Alanna: The First Adventure. I bonded to her almost immediately. She's really committed to her plan of getting training in being a knight and then telling them all that she is a woman. I feel like I NEED to find out how/if she accomplishes this.

Call it fate, call it intuition, or just call it common sense, but somehow young Alanna knows she isn't meant to become some proper lady cloistered in a convent. Instead, she wants to be a great warrior maiden--a female knight. But in the land of Tortall, women aren't allowed to train as warriors. So Alanna finds a way to switch places with her twin, Thom, and take his place as a knight in training at the palace of King Roald. Disguising herself as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page in the royal court. Soon, she is garnering the admiration of all around her, including the crown prince, with her strong work ethic and her thirst for knowledge. But all the while, she is haunted by the recurring vision of a black stone city that emanates evil... somehow she knows it is her fate to purge that place of its wickedness. But how will she find it? And can she fulfill her destiny while keeping her gender a secret?

Buy Alanna by Tamora Pierce:
IndieBound {} Amazon