Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

Cole's Perfect Puppy by Frances M. Crossno My rating: 4 of 5 stars Cole desperately wants a puppy, and the pot bellied pig his uncle got him for Christmas isn’t cutting it. When a job at the local pet store opens up he jumps at the chance to work towards the beautiful Golden Retriever puppy that still hasn’t been adopted. But will he be able to save enough money to adopt her before someone else will? Cole’s Perfect Puppy is a super cute kid’s book about a little boy who desperately wants his first, frisky puppy. I think any kid will identify with Cole, and his desire to earn the pet he knows will be the perfect fit. Intertwined are some common childhood issues, including that of losing a parent, that spark great conversation for kids who have had to deal with loss and trauma. I was also particularly encouraged that the subject of religion and spirituality was brought in as a way to cope with trauma, as I think that adults often misconstrue the value of that for children. If ...

Do you have a new baby at home and you are totally working on mombie mode? (mom +zombie = mombie. It’s a real thing, I promise.) Or are you struggling to get your no longer toddler child to adjust to a preschool routine and expectations. Even better, do you have small children and have a new one to integrate into the chaos?  Click here to view more details   I’m going to go on record as being a schedule hater. My husband, an orderly Type A person who once had the job title “Scheduler” knew this before marrying me. But everything about being a slave to the clock made my skin crawl. That being said, I’ve been around kids, and I know that they need some level of predictability in their life in order to feel safe, so when I had my first I embraced the concept of routine vs. schedule. If you are a schedule lover this may sound the same, and this book will still serve you well as it lists out soothing sample schedules complete with suggested time frames and activities. T...

I have 3 kids, and am always astonished when utter strangers tell me how polite they are. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think my kids are awesome - duh, I’m their mother. But kids are kids, and they are definitely still learning not to talk with their mouth full, not to shriek and push each other when one of them takes the toy that the other one didn’t want until the thief took it, and that mommy might completely lose it if they interrupt one more time during the one sentence I’m trying to get out. Yet I still hear, “My goodness what polite children you have!” What amazing super powers do I have, you ask? I taught my children to say thank you. Seriously, this is the common denominator behind every instance of my mom ego boosts. Admittedly, this doesn’t happen all the time, and sometimes it even happens immediately preceding one of them doing something to cause a rescinding of that statement. But every time I hear that it makes me wonder just how bad are all the other kids behave that th...