Review- When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach

Synopsis:

Get a WHAT!?
Free WHAT!?
DINOSAURS?

Just when a little boy thinks he's going to die of boredom from running errands with his mom, the most remarkable, the most stupendous thing happens. He discovers that on this day, and this day only, stores everywhere are giving away a very special treat with any purchase. No, not the usual lollipop or sticker. Something bigger. Much, MUCH bigger. It's a dream come true, except...what exactly do you do with these Jurassic treats? And how do you convince Mom to let you keep them?

Review:

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything is such an adorable book! As soon as I was done reading to Tyler, he asked me if I could read it again. That's always a good sign, right? The story is about a young boy who is just going around town with his mother, minding his own business, when at the doughnut shop there's a sign on the wall.

Naturally, you'd assume it was a toy, yes? Well you're wrong, as I was. The little boy got an actual dinosaur! And everywhere they stop such as the barber shop, the movies, the cafe to eat, all of them are giving away dinosaurs. Can you just imagine? Psh, I can tell you now my child had a smile all over his face the whole time while I was reading to him.

Me: So... Would you like a dinosaur?

Tyler: Yes! Can I have one for my birthday?

Me: Sure! Would you like a stuffed toy or an action figure type?

Tyler: Nooooo. A real one.

Me: ........ 

He may be a tad disappointed once his birthday rolls around and he realizes that he didn't get the real life dinosaur like he wanted. But then again his birthday isn't until months and months away, so maybe he'll have forgotten by then! 

This is a very cute story and I highly recommend it. Especially if you have a kid who loves dinosaurs! The ending was definitely something to smile about over.

About the Author:
Elise Broach is the New York Times bestselling author of children's books including Masterpiece, Shakespeare's Secret, Desert Crossing, Missing on Superstition Mountain (the first book in the Superstition Mountain Trilogy) as well as several picture books. Her books have been selected as ALA notable books, Junior Library Guild selections, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book, a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teenage, an IRA Teacher's Choice, an E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and nominated for an Edgar Award, among other distinctions. Ms. Broach holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Yale University. She was born in Georgia and lives in the woods of rural Connecticut, walking distance from three farms, a library, a post office and two country stores.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/eliseb...  

About the Illustrator:

David Small is the recipient of the Caldecott Medal, a Christopher Medal, and the E. B. White Award for his picture books, which include Imogene's Antlers, The Gardener, and So, You Want to Be President? He lives in Mendon, Michigan.

Buy Links:

Amazon- http://amzn.to/1wEd8Kk

Amazon UK- http://amzn.to/1rfQR4V

Review of The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl

Synopsis:

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?

To the Gregg family, hunting is just plain fun. To the girl who lives next door, it's just plain horrible. She tries to be polite. She tries to talk them out of it, but the Greggs only laugh at her. Then one day the Greggs go too far, and the little girl turns her Magic Finger on them. When she's very, very angry, the little girl's Magic Finger takes over. She really can’t control it, and now it's turned the Greggs into birds! Before they know it, the Greggs are living in a nest, and that's just the beginning of their problems….

*First published in 1966

Review:

Roald Dahl's books are classic and not to mention have so much creativity and imagination that is put into words and pages of fun. The Magic Finger is one that I had never heard of let alone read before now.

The main characters involve a girl and a whole family of hunters. Their names are Mr. Gregg, Mrs.Gregg, William, and Philip. Throughout the book the girl is just referred to as girl and she has a magic finger. The magic finger usually comes out when she is angry at someone; which would have come in handy a lot when I was younger! Anyways, one day she sees the Gregg family going down to the lake with some guns. Lo and behold they have guns because hey they like to shoot animals. From very early on I got the impression that this was a very anti-hunting book. The girl tries to get them to stop but they won't listen.

What happens next is completely hilarious! Our unnamed character sends her wrath on the the Greggs and the punishment that came along with it. The next part of the story consists of the Greggs trying to make due with their new "circumstances".

The Magic Finger is meant to teach children the difference between right and wrong and I just love that message. You can never go wrong with teaching children that. And honestly, I won't get into the whole hunting debate because let's face it, hunting can be completely necessary but does it necessarily make it right? 

Tyler's review of the book is that it's good and he likes the birds :)

I recommend this to children of all ages. It's a quirky little book and you can never go wrong with Roald Dahl. 

Buy Links:

Amazon- http://amzn.to/1rc3YUD

Amazon UK- http://amzn.to/1ua6IEC 

Barnes and Noble- http://bit.ly/1upNkQj

Kobo- http://bit.ly/1pnpv7F

Or if you don't want to buy the book, I can't stress to you enough to utilize your library! Not only do you get to read books for free, well that's it... you get to read books for free! And there are hundreds upon hundreds of books for you to choose from. You know what they say... Having fun isn't hard, when you got a library card. (Yeah, I know, I totally stole that from Arthur.)

About the Author:  

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.

Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as "A Piece of Cake". The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel.

His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach.

He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story The Landlady; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".