"Dragons: Legends and Lore of Dinosaurs"

Snack of Choice:

Peanut Butter and Jelly, green apple pieces, and chocolate milk is about all I'm getting these days. We've recently received a placement of two kids (Big Mac - 6 years and Small Fry - 9 months [but please don't call them that in public]) to stay with us a while. 

Story behind the story:
New Leaf Publishers (Master Books) provided this product to me a while ago, and I hesitated to review it, because I don't have the perspective of a six year old and I had strong feelings about it on my own.

Story Line:
Who DOESN'T love dragons. So obviously this would be a book for everyone. So what's the story? It's the history of Dragons from a creationist stand point. There are incredible pictures and some interactive material that make for some interesting discoveries.

Now an AWARD WINNING BLOG!

It's nice to add blue ribbons to a pig, even nicer to reward a blog with GREEN. Thanks Blogging for Books for the nod and for the dough. It will be wisely used! See my AWARD WINNING REVIEW of Radical!

The following is from an e-mail of notice I received:

Remember that blog review link you submitted to us in order to win a $--- Visa gift card?

Congrats! You’ve won!
We’ll be sending you your $--- Visa Gift Card next week. We’ll be sending them to the address you have on file with us through BloggingForBooks.org. If you would like us to send them elsewhere, please let us know where you would like it sent.
Congrats!

And here's what went out to the masses (check out some of the other winners as well):

MAY WINNERS

Congrats to Erin Mifflin. Her review of When the Hurt Runs Deep by Kay Arthur was the highest ranked review in the month of May. Erin won a Toshiba Netbook computer.

Congrats to Tarena Beckham who had the best quality review under the Family Life / Mom's category in the month of May and won a spa package.

Congrats to the following bloggers who submitted their best book review and won a $--- Visa Gift Card...

Aaron Matthews
Ragamuffin Gospel

For starters, we love Aaron's blog design. His review includes an image of the book cover, an embedded YouTube video of Brennan Manning and finally, he used the Blogging for Books "get code" feature to get others to rank his review.

Jeremiah Perdue
Radical Together

We enjoyed how Jeremiah incorporated links to external sources supporting his review. We also appreciate how Jeremiah engaged 100% with the book and did a great job communicating the main threads and takeaways from David Platt's new book, Radical Together.

Renee Smith
When The Hurt Runs Deep

Renee's blog is the perfect example of a book review that is original and unique. Many bloggers start a book review with, "I just read.." or "This is a book review for..."
This may sound weird...but a book review doesn't have to focus on the book. It can be more about discussing the subject matter in the book...how it impacts you, makes you feel or opens you up to something new. That said, we love how Renee tied her review to the book and the author, while keeping her post interesting and thought-provoking. With such a great review, it's no wonder Renee had 49 people leave comments on her blog post.

Melinda Fathel
Redeeming Love

We loved how Melinda embedded the first chapter excerpt using the Scribd embed feature. We also liked how she embedded a link to purchase on a retailer's site.

Chris Collins
Radical

We really liked how Chris embedded the video at the top of his review. We also liked that the video was nice and big. Chris' review was also quite unique in the way that he laid it out.

 Momma always said there was something special about me! Hope this is what she meant :)

THIS JUST G-MAILED!

Just found out this item has been shipped! Very excited about it. Here's a description from the website:

Who is God, and how can we know Him? The Bible claims to be the direct revelation of our Creator. So if the biblical record is true, it is a primary means by which the God of the universe has revealed Himself to mankind. However, if it can be proved false, then the God of whom it speaks is simply one more pretender in the assembly of gods that man has created. 

In 'Is the Bible Reliable?' Dr. Stephen Meyer challenges you to examine the historical and archaeological evidence to determine for yourself the veracity and accuracy of biblical Scripture. Is the Bible true? You decide. 

Includes two DVDs, each with five 30-minute lessons, and a 96-page, two-color discussion guide. Discussion guide also sold separately.


Retail: $39.99
My Cost: $0


This is better than couponing!
http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/1_products/details.asp?isbn=978-1-58997-569-9

How to Get Free Books -- Again

I've had several conversations recently about how this process works (getting free books). So I thought I would share a previous post that's gives great information about how easy and beneficial it is. I wrote it, of course :)! Enjoy the benefits of my labor...
______________________________________________


Here's a quick guide to getting free books:

To set up an easy to use blog: www.blogger.com (It's well known and has a good reputation).

The blog your reading this on (mine) is an example.

For the BEST publishers and selections:

http://www.booksneeze.com/ (Thomas Nelson) click on "Available Books" tab to see whats available now. They do a pretty good job of adding others frequently. [Now they have limited the books they "show" if you aren't signed in -- so sign up and sign in.]

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks (Waterbrook/Multnomah). Another with great selection and really easy to ue website.

I'm reposting a previous blog entry about how to get free books. I've had several conversations recently

Those are the two best in terms of selection and ease of use, but there is also:

Tyndale - http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/X_TBN/X_Secure/login.asp?redirectURL=/X_TBN/1_home/dashboard.asp

NavPress - http://www.navpress.com/BloggerReviewProgram.aspx

You can keep the blog VERY simple just in order to get the books. They are just looking to generate interest in their product. You'll probably be asked to post the review on Amazon.com or the equivalent.

[A new dispensation that is being fleshed out is using the e-reader format. I imagine the selection would be wider for these products. If you are an e-reader fanatic (that is -- if you have one), check out www.NetGalley.com. There you have access to MANY publishers all in one place. You have to be more discerning in what material you pick up there, but you have access to B&H publishers as well as a host of others]

Let me know if you have ANY questions. I love to see people get free books they enjoy.

"DG Chronicles: The First Escape" by G. P. Taylor

Snack of Choice:
We were SURE that we missed Girl Scout Cookie season – and without a doubt, we had. Then on a journey past Woodbury Commons between the Gucci and the Prada sat the Promised Land of those who seek the cookie! So, here I sit, with a box of Tagalongs – but not for long...

Story behind the story:
This book is courtesy of the Tyndale Publishers. They have provided me with a free copy of this title in return for a review – whether positive or negative – or both.

Story Line:
Two twin orphan girls (the Dopples) and an orphan boy (Ganger) team up for detective adventures, but like any good comic book, the first one is foundational “how they get there” story. It’s really the story of their adoption out of the Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children. But the story telling is incredibly unique. It’s classified as juvenile fiction and uses an amazing mixture of text, illustrations, and graphic novel (comic strip) narrative.

The Real Story:
The creativity and streams of communication are amazing. It really took a team of talented artists and writers to produce this book. Artists from the former employees of Disney and Dream Works fill the pages with color and excitement. They help tell the story text can’t tell and the text tells the story that the pictures cannot illustrate.

Here’s the deal, though. It’s dark. Everything is. Maybe it’s just an English thing (but I just saw the wedding and that wasn’t dark, soo...). The pages are edged with black and on the non graphic novel pages with more than text, the predominate theme is black. That sets the stage for the story. From a mistreating “principle” of the IDSWC to a séance (spoiler alert: it’s a fake one, but still...). It’s less like the claims of the BBC who declared the author, “The new C.S. Lewis” and more like Lemoney Snicket (“Series of Unfortuate Events”).

Also, as a future foster parent, I am not a fan of the perception that orphaned children will be mistreated by the system. Obviously that system is not perfect, but I can’t imagine placing these thoughts purposefully into the minds of those who would come into my house through this literature.

Check out:

“The Chronicles of Narnia” 7 book set; 1 & 2 Chronicles

Rating:

3 out of 5 adventurous, but dark comic panels