This is the story about Julie Ann. Her mother bought her new clothes. After Julie Ann put them on she went outside and sat under a tree. A big mud puddle jumped down from the tree and oh boy, did she get muddy. She ran inside and her mom bathed her and then Julie Ann put on new clothes again and went outside. This time the mud puddle was hiding on top of the house. Splat..it jumped on her again. This kept happening until Julie Ann figured out how to get rid of the mud puddle once and for all.
This was a really cute and fun story with vivid illustrations that even gave the mud puddle a face. Julie Ann’s mom had the patience of a saint. I know my mom would have yelled at me. I highly recommend this book. It is one that your children will want to read over and over.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
In this bright and intelligent book, we follow Edward Meopian from the age of 14 to 45 years old (1968-1999). His mother died when he was young and his father did his best to raise him. They live in Minnesota where his father is an encyclopedia salesman.
Edward’s father decides to enrol Edward in private school which Edward is very unhappy about. There are a bunch or rich snobby kids there and he finds it hard to fit in. One of the rich kids asks him what his father does and he lies and says, my father “is in publishing.” Of course his lie is found out when his father shows up at the school library to deliver new encyclopedias.
Later Edward gets a stepmother and younger stepbrother and then gets accepted into a university in Denver. He is anxious to start this new chapter in his life and to meet girls. He does get his first girlfriend there but it doesn’t last long. He graduates from university and wants to make it as a film director so moves to L.A. Reality hits him hard and he ends up having to work in a camera store to pay his rent.
When he ends up quitting his dead end job and has no money, his father suggests that he move to rural Alabama to set up a convenience store in the trailer park that his father bought. Edward agrees and enlists his friend Sagebrush to go with him. The two could not be more opposite but somehow they work together.
I could go on but I don’t want to give away too much. This is a hilarious and intelligently written book. The funniest part for me was the summer in the trailer park but I loved the whole book. Meeks hits all the right cords. His writing is fresh, intelligent and very witty!Also, being born and raised in Minnesota myself, it was fun to see all the references to cities and landmarks that I recognized.
This is Christopher Meeks first novel but he has written two short story collections that have been highly recommend by Wendy of Caribousmom. I plan to read these and can hardly wait for his next novel. The Brightest Moon of the Century is such a treat and I cannot recommend it high enough!
5/5
Thanks so much to Christopher Meeks and sending me his book and to Wendy of Caribousmomfor sending him my way!
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
Elizabeth Hasselbeck is a co-host on the television show “The View” and was a contestant on the television show “Survivor.” For years she had painful stomach and digestive problems and didn’t know the cause.
During her time on “Survivor”, she didn’t get much to eat. Her diet consisted of mainly rice. So realized that she wasn’t in pain during that time and the thought occurred to her that she hadn’t been eating any bread products. When she was off “Survivor she did some research which lead to her being diagnosed with Celiac disease. The cure was to go gluten free.
In this book, Hasselbeck outlines reasons and conditions that may want you to decide to go Gluten free and how so thrive on a Gluten free diet. She covers just about every product in the market place that may contain gluten. One surprising thing was that some beauty supplies have gluten in them, lip stick and lip gloss. She tells you what is safe and what is not. She also goes through the kitchen pantry and tells you what to get rid of and what replacements to get.
This is an excellent resource for those who want to go gluten free. For those who have a condition that would get better from going gluten free or those that simply want to eat healthier and lose weight, this book is for you. My husband and I went to a gluten free diet because they thought he may have Celiac disease. It took me long hours on the internet to research this and this book could have saved me a lot of time! Luckily, it turned out that he doesn’t have Celiac but we still primarily eat gluten free.
Hasselbeck makes this seemingly daunting life chance easy to understand. The only thing missing is recipes. She only includes two recipes for pasta dishes. I actually think this is a big omission. Recipes would greatly help make it easier to go gluten free. For this I am knocking of points on my rating but still highly recommend this book for information. It is the best resource book I have seen out there that is so comprehensive.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
