Snuggles Japanese Alps Adventures by Master Photographer Tim Ostermeyer, Book review

Synopsis:

Snuggles is a cute 1 month old snow monkey who decides to plan ahead to make sure that he will be warm for the winter.  He plans to travel throughout the jungles of the  Japanese alps to get to the Japanese hot springs.  He has to go through many obstacles on the trip, climbing mountains, climbing tree branches, jumping over rivers, etc.   

Will Snuggle's get to the hot springs before the big storms of winter arrive?  

This is a Christian book that has 10 bible verses, a lesson on how to pray, and evidence showing how the 6 forms of evolution are all scientifically incorrect.  The lesson from this book is on planning (some people ruin their lives by not planning correctly).

My thoughts:

When Bookcrash offered Master Photographer Tim Ostermeyer's book 'Snuggles' Japanese Alps Adventures' for review, I sent a prayer above, crossed fingers (and toes) and hoped to be amongst the 'chosen ones!'

With stunning photos to illustrate yet another one of his amazing books, the author takes us (and children too!) on a journey of learning about love, faith, family unity and finally teaches the reality of creationism versus evolutionism! 

Snuggles is like all children, depending on his Mum and Dad for survival and learns the difference betwixt right and wrong, caring about others, the importance of praying and a vital lesson in planning ahead!

Children will marvel at the beautiful photos whilst learning of God's creation!

Little fingers (and big eyes) will follow Snuggles traveling to the Japanese Alps with his family to reach the Hot Springs. One look at Snuggles tiny face and you will have an avid audience!

Scriptures are included on each page for additional learning and quick references for Mum and Dad as we know there will be many questions!

Interestingly enough, Tim Ostermeyer seems to have written a  book appropriate for any age, thus making it perfect as night time reading with the little ones, an excellent learning tool for individual readers as well as fascinating for the older child (huh..make that, the adult!) 

Snuggles' Japanese Alps Adventures would make a wonderful book for responsible grandparents and parents alike to share with children and an excellent tool for educators!

I give it 5 stars of course!

About the Author/Photographer:

'Tim Ostermeyer is a Master Photographer who has won 250 first place awards for his photography including 14 wildlife images that are considered to be the best in the world by its inclusion in the Professional Photographer Loan Collection books (best images in world by professional photographers).

He has traveled the world for the last 25 years, taking images of wildlife from the Arctic in the north to the Antarctic in the south. He has taken the best images from his travels over these 25 years to place in 6 children books.'

More (here)

I received this book free COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR and BOOKCRASH as part of the blogger review program.

I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Corgi Love Is Like No Other...

Corgi lovers have a tendency to be a little nutty about their four legged best friends and I will admit to being just so! If one of us sees another Corgi anywhere, in the park, on the street, in a car, we just gravitate towards it (some might think it is stalking!).

My daughter is such a person...I remember only too well visiting Manhattan one early brisk morning and suddenly have to trot (no jogging for me) after her because she'd spotted two Corgis turning the corner...

Yes, we have always owned Corgis, Welsh Pembroke Corgi each and everyone! Of the six, only two were purchased and the other four rescued. We love them!

What makes a Corgi (Pembroke or Cardigan) so very special to their owner? Do you know the legends? Oh yes, there are many about the Corgi! Take a wee look (here) and find out for yourself!

You might also like to take a peek at this lovely little gal (here)! MacIntosh and I love to visit to see what she is up to and I totally agree with her Mum Alicia, that little tongue cannot be resisted!

And now for a very special treat (see below)! I recently was sent by my son a link to a fellow author's blog who loves Corgis just like we do! This photo was absolutely priceless!

A very big thank you to their Mum for allowing me to post this photo!

(Photo courtesy of Annie Marchall, Celtic Paranormal Romance Novelist)

Sweet Dreams everyone,

For Corgi Lovers....

'Finding my way...in England' shared with us the above front cover of our favourite four legged best friend! 

MacIntosh, our Welsh Pembroke Corgi and I just had to share with other Corgi lover!

This Royal 'cousin' is really handsome is he not? 

Be sure to check the download feature Jeanne offered for this June 2012  copy (next to impossible to find she tells us!)

Meanwhile I am writing/calling abroad hoping somebody in the family can locate this issue of TATLER!

Stay tuned for future Corgi notices and photos! (I am working on obtaining an author's permission to share some unforgettable photos with you).

Note: I received no compensation for mentioning this periodical Collector's Edition!

As One Devil To Another by Richard Platt, Book review & Giveaway

Synopsis:

As One Devil to Another is an astonishing debut work that C. S. Lewis’s biographer and foremost Lewis authority Walter Hooper calls “a stunning achievement, the finest example of the genre of diabolical correspondence to appear since this genre was popularized by C. S. Lewis.” Enter into this chilling and diabolical tale, one that reveals the very tricks and strategies of Hell. 

Through a series of letters between devils created by Platt, senior devil Slashreap trains his young protégé, Scardagger, to win an individual soul away from Heaven and into their clutches. As the devils plot their way to triumph, they reveal the spiritual dangers and risks we face in today’s society. Their frighteningly accurate perspective on issues such as contemporary technology and sexual mores is interwoven with timeless matters such as the power of prayer, the purpose of suffering, and the promises held out by Heaven . . . and Hell. 

Destined to become a modern classic, As One Devil to Another is a brilliantly written, deeply unsettling perspective on twenty-first-century society . . . a glimpse of ourselves through the eyes of those who have embraced their underworldly existence.

My thoughts:

The introduction said: 'A fiendish correspondence in the tradition of C.S. Lewis' 'The Screwtape Letters' and as hinted I found this book both entertaining and spiritual!

As One Devil To Another is all that and much more!  Paul teaches in his letters (Eph. 6, 11-17) that believers wage daily battles with the powers of darkness and evil but Richard Platt's take provides us with a very graphic yet humourous look at how these battles are fought!

You are in for a treat!

Each chapter in the book represents a letter from an 'uncle' demon to his nephew, a demon in training if you will. As the letters progress they reveal the subtle insidious ways sin enters our lives, each of us with  our own demon directing daily happenings. The author explains how easily our life is shaped by standards unacceptable years ago.

'As One Devil To Another' includes great illustrations by Larry Peterson for you to discover (Check out pages 17 and 41, the latter being my favourite!)

Far from being humourous however and as this tale clearly shows, the moral values of our lifestyle, our schools and other educational institutions have definitively been eroded!

Truly 5 stars material (at the very least!) giving any interested party a most entertaining yet powerful understanding of the meanings of Paul's words to the Churches and ultimately gain victory over daily distractions!

Finally let me just say this is the sort of book to beg, borrow or buy! It definitively has its place on my bookshelves right next to C.S.Lewis' The Screwtape Letters!

About the author:

Tyndale House Publishers tells us Richard Platt has been in love with words and the music of language all his life, but he did not begin writing until his early forties. He is a contributor to the literary quarterly Slightly Foxed and was a finalist for a 2012 San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Fellowship for his one-man play, Ripples From Walden Pond: An Evening with Henry David Thoreau.  

As One Devil to Another, his first novel, is dedicated in grateful homage to C. S. Lewis.

AND NOW FOR OUR GIVEAWAY!

This is your opportunity to win a copy of this interesting book! Just place a comment on this post, leaving a valid email for contact (will not be published of course!) and voila!

This contest is open to anyone, anywhere and will close on 11th of May, 2012. 

Using Random.org a winner will be selected and winner's name will be published on this blog 12 May 2012! 

Winner will receive a confirmation by email (hence the valid email address!)

That's it!

Best wishes to all,

Note: Sincerest thanks to Tyndale and the author for making this giveaway possible!

I received this book free from TYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS, INC. as part of their blogger review program.

I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Storytales and Children Books Illustrations...

As a small child I loved to be read stories and I was fascinated by the wonderful illustrations which I carefully admire over and over. The amazing colours, the feel of the crisp pages, even the smell of the book...

I marveled at the myriad details which came alive under the pencil of the illustrator just for my pleasure! It allowed me to dream and often escape...My imagination took me to exquisite places and like a bird flying, I spread my wings wide and far...The world was at my fingertips and all I had to do was open a book and turn the pages!

Of course once I could read all by myself, nothing could stop me! Reading became a passion! Stories of faraway and often exotic places held me captivated! These stories did not need any illustrations!

Rudyard Kipling introduced me to deep dark jungles where animals spoke and exciting, mysterious Indian tales full of spices!  Alexandre Dumas brought the exciting 'Count de Monte Christo' and the 'Man in the Iron Mask' and my softer side delighted in all fifteen of the stories collected in 'Oeuvres de la Comtesse de Segur', to my Mother's relief of course. 

Once I discover The Travels of Marco Polo however, there was no stopping me! 

Still I pored over many Faeries Tales, Russian, French and Scandinavian and fell in love with their beautiful illustrations. I learned to draw by focusing on the little details shown on these amazing pictures and soon fancied myself an artist!

I was by then 9 years old!

As an adult I discovered Beatrice Potter's stories and was introduced to the wonderful world of TashaTudor! Her Corgis illustrations soon came to be a favourite of mine and of course, I am collecting her books!

You do not have to be a child to delight in Children books and I still love to read them! For just a moment, you can immerse yourself in a fantasy world and escape any worries! 

Imagination...God gives us an opportunity to feel like children always and dream...

This post was inspired by my lovely daughter who has collected for many years children books for their amazing illustrations (I stopped counting the book shelves in her little house) and by 'The Shop Around the Corner' (see here) and you will understand why I felt the child in me today! The blog photos featured are absolutely stunning and certain to inspire you to discover a whole new world full of dreams!

God is good, God is great...

Rain, rain, rain...

'May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire'.

(Irish Proverb)

If the rain holds for just a little while, our roof will be replaced tomorrow!

It seems it has been raining since last Septembre on the island and yet there is drought everywhere else! 

I know, grumble, grumble...

Sign me: Wearing wellies and tired of it!

An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi, Book review

Synopsis:

Clare Moorhouse, the American wife of a high-ranking diplomat in Paris, is arranging an official dinner crucial to her husband's career. As she shops for fresh stalks of asparagus and works out the menu and seating arrangements, her day is complicated by the unexpected arrival of her son and a random encounter with a Turkish man, whom she discovers is a suspected terrorist.

Like Virginia Woolf did in Mrs. Dalloway, Anne Korkeakivi brilliantly weaves the complexities of an age into an act as deceptively simple as hosting a dinner party.

My thoughts:

In 'An Unexpected Guest' we read a full account of a diplomat's wife daily challenge: standing by her husband and making sure everything is rolling smoothly.

Whomever said there is a woman standing behind every successful man must have been describing the Diplomatic Corps!

For any outsider, the life of a politician's wife must seem very glamourous. By all accounts there is much more involved however than wearing a little Chanel piece and a string of hand sewn pearls whilst overseeing the latest dinner preparations for such and such political figure.

Anne Korkeakivi introduces her readers to the intricate demands of Clare's life: An American, married to a British diplomat expecting a new post in the near future and with two children schooled in the UK.

The ramifications of an Ex-Pat living abroad, the cultural and linguistic differences at each particular post are in themselves challenges enough. You quickly get the impression you must learn to live out of a suitcase, never feeling entirely at home.

Clare however takes it all in stride and thanks to the author's fluent understanding of these challenges we are able to follow the protagonist in all the recent developments in her life whilst discovering there is more than meets the eye.

One might think it very dull when faced with these never ending duties, all very synchronized, conformity being a must in the Corps, but you soon discover Clare is still trying hard to shed past insecurities.

She is also facing the latest in her youngest son's string of misconduct whilst hanging on to her cosmopolitan polish. As befitting her position, all down to her beige coloured garments and colourless nail polish, the elegant Clare however handles each crisis including a recalcitrant cook and the ever present terrorist anxieties whilst performing her duties.

Anne Korkeakivi carefully builds an interesting story around a sudden development which ultimately allows us to understand why this unexpected guest will upset Clare's carefully arranged life!

I nearly stopped reading this novel as its core seemed to be only too predictable.

I found myself guessing its ending after the third chapter only to discover there is an under layer to Clare I applaud!

Thus I enjoyed the occasional surprises and in particular the dialogue betwixt Clare and her staff and the local merchants.

One would have to be bilingual and an Ex-Pat to appreciate the subtle art of such dealings in all their complexity. 

In the end, just like Clare, you learn to shrug a shoulder, smile and move on!

I gave it 4 stars!

Note: Due to some 'adult only' thematic contents including some expletives, this general fiction is for mature audience only.

About the Author:

Discover more about Anne Korkeakivi and her writings on her website (here) including an excerpt of her recently published book 'An Unexpected Guest'.

I received this book free from HACHETTE as part of their blogger review program. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.