Stephen Hawking by Isabel Sanchez Vegara

New in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Stephen Hawking, the genius physicist and author.

When Stephen Hawking was a little boy, he used to stare up at the stars and wonder about the universe. Although he was never top of the class, his curiosity took him to the best universities in England: Oxford and Cambridge. It also led him to make one of the biggest scientific discoveries of the 20th century: Hawking radiation. This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the brilliant physicist's life.

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This adorable little book gives us a brief history of Stephen Hawkings life. (Do you get the joke??) Its written in short simple sentences, with full color illustrations. Perfect for reading to pre-readers, and to extend the library of a little one whose in the throes of learning to read.

It talks about all parts of his life, including about his "rare disease" and its affects on Hawking; including that at the time, the doctors gave him only 2 more years to live. While this style of writing towards kids may seem harsh to some parents, I prefer books that are blunt to a point. And this book walks that line of being blunt enough so that children can get the full effect of the words and the implications behind them, without scaring them. 

I was very surprised and excited when I got to the end of the book, and was given a timeline of Hawkings life, as well as a few actual photos and a couple paragraphs that used his age when referring to certain events. The ending also lists some extra resources to look into if your child becomes especially interested in Hawking.

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This book is part of a series of children's books called Little People Big Dreams. Here is some info on them. 

 Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games, and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.

Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

The end of the books lists several board books, and several hardcovers so I will be reviewing as many of those as I can and im even going to add LPBD as a tag since there are quite a few that im hoping to read!

This book is already out! It released on the 5th of February 2019!  You can find it on Amazon, Target, or Barnes and Nobles for about 11 dollars.

Dinner in a DASH by Nancy S. Hughes

Keep your body in tip-top shape with the one diet that all doctors love—and with the speed and convenience of pressure-cooking! The DASH Diet, developed at the National Institutes of Health in the US, is a low-salt, low-sugar, low-fat diet that is good for everyone—but especially for people with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, or excessive weight. That's a lot of us!

Until now, there has been no cookbook for tasty and fast DASH meals in the Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker (or "multi-cooker"). In Dinner in a DASH, veteran healthy-cookbook author Nancy S. Hughes delivers 75 recipes that get you from here to a nutritious and delectable dinner in a flash. You'll get all the minerals and proteins you need without an excess of saturated fats, salt, or sugar.

From a homey and comforting Marinara Chicken with Parmesan to an adventuresome plate of Shrimp-Stuffed Poblano Peppers, and from an elegant Salmon on Spinach with Tarragon Mustard Sauce to a casual and carefree Flank Steak with Mushrooms, you'll do your body a world of good while enjoying every minute. Each of the recipes comes with complete nutritional data, and the book opens with a wealth of tips and tricks for mastering the Instant Pot and other electric pressure cookers. For fast and easy dinners full of flavor and nutrients, this is an indispensable book.

Starting off, the title is a play on words for a specific diet type called DASH! It stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. I had not idea this was even a thing until I got a hold of this book. But the introduction does an amazing job at explaining what you'll be getting out of this book in reference to this diet, in easy to understand words. We are taught some of the basics (low salt, high nutrients!) of the Dash diet and how we can use our handy-dandy pressure cookers (or Instant pots) to get healthy, easy, dinners that are not time consuming ('cause you and I both know that once we read that a recipe takes 3 hours of labor we usually decide on something else. XD)

After the Intro, the book has 7 chapters:

Chapter 1: Wraps, Sandwiches, and Tortillas

Chapter 2: Substantial Salads

Chapter 3: Soups, Chilis, Stews and Bowls

Chapter 4: Pasta and Egg Noodle Dinners

Chapter 5: Grain, Rice and Bean Dinners

Chapter 6: Protein and Vegetable Combos

Chapter 7: Fruits and Desserts

The one thing I noticed, which made me enjoy it even more, was that it didn't have a thousand crazy,hard-to-find, never-gonna-use-again herbs, spices, or ingredients. I personally have a decent sized her and spice cabinet, that covers a little more than basic. For someone whos' spice cabinet only contains salt, pepper and paprika, you MAY need to go shopping a bit, but really you should do that whether you buy this book or not. There was almost no fresh ingredients that I couldn't get at my local Walmart, 

Another cool thing about this book is that at the end of each recipe it lists the nutritional facts. Including calories. Which is helpful to anyone on any kind of diet.

So basically if you are someone who needs to be on the Dash diet, or even if you just realllly love your pressure cooker, this book is an awesome addition to your cookbook collection!

This book is set to release on March 12th 2019. I will post a link to where you can buy it when I have one!

Sheets by Brenna Thummler

"   Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen year old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for.
Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world. When their worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms Glatt’s Laundry into his midnight playground, appearing as a mere sheet during the day. While Wendell attempts to create a new afterlife for himself, he unknowingly sabotages the life that Marjorie is struggling to maintain. Sheets illustrates the determination of a young girl to fight, even when all parts of her world seem to be conspiring against her. It proves that second chances are possible whether life feels over or life is over. But above all, it is a story of the forgiveness and unlikely friendship that can only transpire inside a haunted laundromat."

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A look into the life of a child who has to take on more responsibility than she should have to, when she loses her mother. This story of a strong willed young teenager, helped (and even a little hindered at first) by an old friend, while she tries to cope; and help her family cope, and the story of  little ghost who finds himself needing validation that the other ghosts cant give him.

Its a wonderful story, and could easily be adapted to use in a school setting, or counselors office, to help children deal with and understand grief and loss, depression, and alcoholism in themselves and their friends. Perfect for late elementary and middle school children, possibly for younger depending on the child. The artwork is different, but good. It works well with the story.

Definitely not for everyone, very slow (which works for the story) but I had trouble relating with Marjorie, but I am looking forward to the next Thummler novel.

The Taco Tuesday Cookbook by Laura Fuentes

"The Taco Tuesday Cookbook is the cookbook your family’s been dreaming of, because if there’s one thing we all can agree on, it’s that tacos are awesome. They’re customizable. They’re quick. They’re tasty. And most importantly, they make us all happy!"

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So I haven't ever reviewed a cookbook before but who can pass up Tacos?? I mean they are tacos! The most awesome thing in the world.

So first off, it is exactly what it says it is : A cookbook about tacos. This book gives you 52 taco recipes so you can literally have a different taco every Tuesday for a whole year. It also provides sauce and drink recipes to add to your amazing main dish! One of the more interesting parts is the recipes for gluten free, vegetarian and paleo options, which means that dietary restrictions shouldn't stop you from 1.) purchasing this book and 2.) eating some freaking tacos on Taco Tuesday!

I did learn something from this book. I have had breakfast burritos before, but until this book I hadn't thought about breakfast tacos, and that alone made me so very excited to keep browsing this book. (Yes browsing, its a cookbook, I'm not going to read every single recipe) Also, the my daughter caught me looking at the breakfast tacos and we ended up having them for breakfast (Totally recommend the black bean and queso breakfast tacos!) and insisted we have tacos for breakfast this morning.

The last thing I would like to say about this cookbook, is that you dont have to have a ridiculous amount of time or money to make these tacos. The breakfast one we had actually said "1 can black beans" because this author KNOWS that soaking beans overnight just for breakfast tacos isn't always something someone can do when you have kids. These are easy recipes that would make a great edition to anyones house.