A tisket, a tasket: Five things for your tween’s Easter basket

Easter is almost here and THANK GOODNESS! I’m ready to bite the ears off chocolate bunnies and see fuzzy newborn chicks and set the table in pretty pastels for a special dinner celebrating our favourite Spring holiday. But I think I have the most fun (next to decorating eggs) building Easter baskets for my kids. Usually a few little treats tucked around a special chocolate bunny — smaller treats when the kids were smaller, and now a little more substantial. Mainly because I find so many cute things they’d like and I CANNOT RESIST. But also because I want them to really value what they get and enjoy it for a while. Today I’ve got some ideas for an Easter basket I made with my tween in mind but older and younger kids might like them just as much too. 

Last-minute dash to the book store? Three brilliant books for kids

Penguin Random House Canada sent me the books in this post for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

I don’t know how Christmas Eve arrived so fast but here we are. If you’re making a dash to the book store and need some help deciding which books to buy for the kids on your list, you can’t go wrong with these three. We’ve got a charming story about a bear and a mouse with very different ideas of Christmas; another about a boy with learns to stand up for himself with a little help from the alien living in his nose; and a third, heartwarming book about a tween who lives in a van with his mom and struggles to keep it a secret.

Books for a long weekend: Five favourites for middle grade readers

Penguin Random House Canada sent me the following books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and from the heart. 

This summer’s been hotter than pearls in a pawn shop and I can’t say I’m sad it’s nearly over. I’m all for fall and cozy sweaters and piles of books to read without that annoying voice in my head telling me I should be outside enjoying the sun. (It burns! It burns! LOL.) Today I want to catch you up on some recent and recent(ish) releases your kids might want to tuck into this long weekend, five books for middle grade readers that made the grade with us. First, a mega cute tale out earlier this month, Anna Humphrey’s Megabat.