Showing posts with label I am a reader not a writer blog tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I am a reader not a writer blog tours. Show all posts

Friday, June 28, 2013

Blog Tour: Osteoblasts to the Rescue by Dr. Heather Manley: Review + Interview +Giveaway

osteoblasts
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Osteoblasts
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Osteoblasts to the Rescue


Merrin and Pearl are at it again! This time these two young Human Body Detectives are exploring the skeletal system.
With the ability to jump in and examine the various systems in the body, Merrin and Pearl’s adventures are fun stories and helpful tools to educate children.
In Osteoblasts to the Rescue, Merrin and Pearl navigate their friend, Lily’s, broken arm and learn all about bones.
As the fourth in The Human Body Detectives series, Osteoblasts to the Rescue can also stand alone as a book that’s sure to inform, engage, and inspire readers of all ages.

My Thoughts:
This is a great book for kids and adults alike!  It is a fun journey through the human body but we also learn a lot during the journey as well.  I love how the author isn't afraid to use the big words and explain their meanings for kids.  In a lot of other learning books, the adults sometimes don't want to use too many in depth meanings because they think the kids can't handle it or maybe it won't be as interesting.  But in Osteoblasts to the Rescue, Dr. Manley gives kids a lot more credit and finds a way to ensure an awesome story while showing us just how comfortable we can be with our bodies.  Inside and out.
I would definitely pick any of Dr. Manley's books up for my kids to read and I would love to use these as part of my homeschooling curriculum too.  My sons love the human body and learning everything there is to know  and they immediately loved this book.  They are begging me to go and grab the others in the series.  I also love the fact that it is in a series but you don't have to read the ones before it (although we will ) to understand what is going on.  That is a major plus for me.
Osteoblasts to the Rescue is a great book for a majority of reasons.  It makes a wonderful teaching tool, it is great for adults to read and learn a little too, and it has a really cool story line that go with the facts too! Its a triple threat!
I definitely have to give this book five hearts!


Links to buy:


Connect with the Author:


heather
mAuthor Heather Manley, N.D.

I have always been passionate about healthy foods and exercising. Growing up in Toronto, Canada I would exhaust my allowance at the health food store and write school papers on spices and herbs. It was no wonder I found myself studying biology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. I loved animals as well so I initially focused on wildlife conservation and animal biology, however, with some exposure to naturopathic medicine, this health care philosophy rang true for me. I switched to pre-med and I graduated in 1993. I earned my doctorate at the from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon before moving with my family to Hawaii where I became licensed and continue to practice today.

Everything I learned in medschool came into fruition when my children were born. I realized the importance of teaching them, by example, about healthy food and lifestyle. Telling them what to eat was not enough, so I created and wrote educational adventure stories that explain the physiological systems in the body. Not only did my kids love the engaging and interactive stories but so did their friends.

I love seeing kids have fun learning to understand their bodies and how food helps them run faster and be smarter. My focus is on preventative health. I am passionate about encouraging families to seek the value of a simple lifestyle and offering tools to assist them at being proactive and confident in their daily living. I am constantly inspired seeing people make positive changes in their lives. With my website, I am excited to reach more families in a way that will manifest healthy living.
Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter


Interview:


1 .    How did you come up with the idea for The Human Body Detectives?

  Basically, I was flipping pancakes one Sunday morning when it dawned on me that I could write a series of entertaining and educational adventure stories through the different systems in the body; however, it all began in the classroom. When my kids were younger, I spent time in their elementary classrooms, talking about the digestive system and nutrition. It was quite obvious that kids loved learning about how their bodies work and what foods best fueled them. I searched through the library, bookstores and Amazon but was unable to find any books about the human body that were engaging. When I was flipping those pancakes, I was pondering all this and knew that kids would gravitate towards these books and in return, would provide a profound, long-term healthy effect on them. Human Body Detectives, specifically, The Lucky Escape: An Imaginative Adventure Through the Digestive System, was then born.

2.    While writing, is there any special action you have to do before you can really get down to the nitty gritty of writing?

Not really; however, I will spend a few hours in the morning writing down ideas and key medical points for the story I’m working on. From there, I will just begin writing. Perhaps it’s a little backwards but I like to just get writing as you can always edit!

3.    What about your favorite drink while writing?

I like to drink green tea and water with lemon. If I am feeling like a lot is on my (writing) plate, I will go for a latte!
PS Other things I keep close while writing is a small vase of rosemary (brain circulation gets a boost) and a small bowl of nuts.


4. Besides The Human Body Detectives, are there any other books in the near future we can look forward to from you?

Once I start writing, I can’t help but think about other HBD adventures. Next up will have to be journeys through the nervous and muscular systems… not sure which one will be first though… have an opinion?
Although, each book has a turn-key engaging elementary curriculum that goes deeper into the subject matter. Teachers and homeschooling families are loving it.  

And I recently launched the Human Body Detectives Go To School Nutrition 101 for Middle and High School curriculum. It is an extensive nutrition unit for grades 6 through 12. It is full of entertaining labs, practical information and simple everyday guidelines to food and nutrition.



5.Do you have a fave Yoga pose or one that you think is great for kids to do?

I really like Tree Pose; it’s grounding and I find it very peaceful. I think kids like it as well, as there are a few different forms and they can get a little goofy when thinking of trees swaying in the wind!

6. Lastly could you share that recipe for the sautéed Kale with apples?  That sounds wonderful!

I have to admit, I am a lazy cook; I like to keep things simple yet nutritious. So this is one way I cook kale…
I will add some olive oil and salt and pepper to a sauté pan, and once it heats up, I throw in some pine nuts. After the nuts seem toasted, I add a few large handfuls of kale and followed by diced apples. I will toss and stir for a few minutes and then serve.
 That sounds wonderful!  I am definitely going to try that with the Kale and apples!  Thank you so much for being here on the blog!

Everyone, please enter the tour giveaway at the end of the post and make sure to get on the case with The Human Body Detectives!

Dr. Heather Manley, who in 2001 received her medical degree from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, is a practicing physician whose primary interest is preventative healthcare for families. She is the author of the award winning Human Body Detectives, her children’s educational series of story-telling books, human body/nutrition curriculum eBooks, and iPhone/iPad apps.  She also promotes wellness and naturopathic healthcare on her website drheathernd.com. She lives on the Big Island of Hawaii with her husband and two daughters, and is currently at work on the next Human Body Detectives adventure.

Tour Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Monday, April 1, 2013

Blog Tour: Review+ Giveaway: Grimm Chronicles Vol. 2 by Ken Brosky and Isabella Fontaine





The Grimm Chronicles Volume 2

200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm changed everything.
With the help of a little magic, fairy tales were made real, manifesting all over the world. Charming princes. Gold-hunting dwarfs. Terrible step-mothers. Heroic animals.
Then, slowly, they began to change. Everyone—from Prince Charming to the old miller—grew more evil. Corrupted. A hero was chosen to stop them, hunting them down one by one and destroying them with the help of a magic pen and a special rabbit assistant.
For 200 years, the hero’s magic pen has been passed on from generation to generation. The newest hero is Alice Goodenough, an 18-year-old junior from Washington High School. While her friends spent their summer working and having fun, Alice found herself doing battle with creatures most human beings don’t even realize exist. A giant snake. A blood-sucking prince. A terrifying half-man, half-hedgehog. Dastardly dwarfs intent on mind-controlling everyone who uses a cell phone.
Now, senior year has begun. With it comes a new challenge at school, where bullies have grown bolder and classes more challenging. As if that’s not enough, Alice must face off against a collection of Corrupted who all share a terrible secret, one that might awaken a creature capable of doing untold damage. To uncover the secret, Alice will have to face off against a man-eating lizard, a bloodthirsty sea captain, and a mysterious wizard who can see into the future …

This book contains:

Episode four: The Orphanage of Doom
Episode five: Blood and Thunder
Episode six: The Order of the Golden Dragon

Bonus material:
The Lost Journal of Eugene Washington
Assorted fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm
A Legacy of Red
My Thoughts:
I feel like Alice has grown in the second set of stories, yet still has more growing to do, which makes sense since she is still a teenager and learning everyday.  I liked that a lot!  It made Alice more realistic since she made mistakes but learned from them as well.  
Many of the situations Alice faces (not the supernatural ones) are common themes that many children, teens, and even adults face everyday in society.  And the authors did a great service by showing us how human Alice really is; she learned by trial and error the right way to face these problems.  
I also enjoyed the fact that Alice's parents were more in the picture in this Volume and had some meaningful conversations from them as well.  Although, I did get a little upset that they weren't more on Alice's side the first time about the altercation between her and Joey.  
Besides having to save the world, orphans, and her friends, Alice faces the worst kind of peer pressure and the ways she handles it is a great moral incentive for the teens (or anyone for that matter) reading the stories.  So yeah, I LOVED the morals we learn from this book in a fun way.  
I think her friends, Seth and Briar, as long as some new characters introduced, help keep Alice grounded so the "hero" stuff don't go to her head.  Chase seems like a pretty good guy and I like that he brings another perspective to the table for Alice to learn from.  
The plot of the story is just plain good.  It will keep you glued to the book,going from page to page until you are up in the early morning light, almost done with the novel.  It flows so well I never wanted to put it down.  I also liked that some Corrupted weren't quite as bad as others and that we learned some Corrupted's background on why they went bad.  
If you are interested in stories with great morals, an uplifting and very personable heroine, and a theme that is really interesting this is the book you need to get.  This is definitely a way for us adults to enjoy the fairy tales we loved as kids but with a twist that will keep you hooked from the beginning to the end.  
Definitely five hearts~



The Grimm Chronicles Volume 1

This book contains the first 3 episodes of the critically acclaimed series:
Episode 1: Prince Charming Must Die!
Episode 2: Happily Never After
Episode 3: Revenge of the Castle Cats

The Grimm Chronicles is intended for Young Adults aged 13 and up. The goal is to provide Young Adult readers with a strong, charismatic young woman in the role of the hero and provide readers with a positive protagonist who uses her brain to overcome obstacles life throws in her way.






Praise

“5 stars!” ~ Bookies Book Blog

"Highly recommended for all who love fairy tales and the YA genre." ~ My Cozie Corner

"All in all the books were excellent." ~ LilyElement

"If you love fairy tales and them being turned into modern day stories you will love these short stories." ~ Mom With a Kindle

5 stars (out of 5) ~ I Am, Indeed

“Isabella Fontaine and Ken Brosky’s incredible talent for storytelling takes the reader on an amazing action-packed ride fueled by endless creativity and limitless imagination. TGC is like a high-stakes version of Harold and the Purple Crayon meets a contemporary, above ground Alice in Wonderland. “ ~ Bookfetish

“I absolutely loved this book! No, let me rephrase that, I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK! Nope, that doesn't even do it justice. Vol. 1 has the first three stories from the 12 that will ultimately make up the chronicles.” ~ Jesse Kimmel-Freeman



Purchase:




About the Authors
Ken Brosky received his MFA in fiction writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He also teaches English at Madison College. This is his first Young Adult series.

Isabella Fontaine owns a farm in Wisconsin and enjoys reading weird books like House of Leaves. This is her first Young Adult series.



Tour Giveaway
5 Kindle ebook copies of The Grimm Chronicles Volume 2
Ends 4/11/13




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