Guardian Angel Publishing REVIEW

A TOS Crew Member Review of E-books from Guardian Angel Publishing

A couple of months ago, Guardian Angel Publishing sent me an assortment of ebooks for free to use and review. The books are age-rated at ages 0-12.

The first e-book, Stubby’s Destiny, written by Dixie Phillips, was a twenty-two page long, picture storybook about a donkey who lived in Bible times in Israel. He spent his life feeling like he had no gifts and talents because he compared himself to the horses and other animals around him. Others ridiculed him for being different until one day, he was given an extra special job to do for Jesus. I’m not going to give you the details; you will have to read the story to find out, but it made him feel pretty special. He finally realized that just as everyone else, he, too, was destined to a special job at a special time.

This book was very cute, and although a little young for my teen boys, they enjoyed it since they never had those types of reading experiences in their birth homes. It appeared to be the type of book meant to be read by an adult to a child since some of the words were more toward a twelve year old reading level than a toddler.

The illustrations, by Kim Sponaugle, were cartoonish but colorful and detailed, making the book a bit like a graphic novel for little kids. It reminded me of the little Archway books that we used to see in Sunday School as children in my Grandparents’ churches.

To order, go here: : www.guardianangelpublishing.com/stubbys-destiny.htm

The next book we read was Maybe We Are Flamingos, by Safari Suzie Thurman and is one in a series.

www.guardianangelpublishing.com/maybe-flamingos.htm

This thirty-page book was darling! The story is about two flamingos who aren’t pink at first. In fact, it takes them a whole year to turn pink and then, in order to stay pink, they have to keep on a special diet. They experiment with drawings of themselves to show what they’d look like if they ate broccoli or cheeseburgers. The illustrations were quite comical and cute and were done by Kevin Collier. What a fun and funny book for a parent or a grandparent to pull out and read to small children in the doctor’s office waiting room or a ride in the car. They will learn without even realizing it.

My boys read it, giggled a little and liked it in spite of it being a little young for them. I plan to keep the ebooks on my laptop for visiting guests who are looking for something to keep their little ones busy. Who knows? We might even adopt younger children in the future and be able to read it to them too!

The price of this book is listed below but it can also be downloaded from itunes for $2.99 for your touch screen ipods and iphones.

Book number three was more their style and was from the Sum of Our Parts Series by Bill Kirk called, The Sum of Our Parts, No Bones About it.http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/no-bones-about-it.htmThe title is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a book about the human skeleton. The difference is that the story is told in rhyme like a song. The graphics (illustrated by Eugene Ruble) are “spooky” looking and just the sort of thing that teen and tween boys might find interesting. Each page contains factoids in a textbox and organizes the material for easy comprehension and recall.

The book came in handy as we are learning about the systems of the human body and we just “happened” to be on the skeletal system at that time. It couldn’t have been better timing.

This would be a great book for handing to children of relatives or friends who surprise you and come to your doorstep during the holidays. It is also a perfect book to have in your classroom as it is a more interesting way than usual to read about the bones in the body.

The final book was my favorite of the four. It is Andy and Spirit Go To The Fair by Mary Jean Kelso with beautiful colored illustrations by K.C. Snider. The story is about a physically handicapped ‘tween who heads with his mother to the fair to participate in a 4H horsemanship competition. He brings his horse, Spirit, who is also “different”. Andy and Spirit team up to succeed. Both bring out the best in each other. Their strong bond pays off.

The reason I liked this story so much is that I raised a child with physical disabilities and I never told him, “You can’t do that because you are disabled.” To this day, he does not view himself as unable but as one who needs to find a new avenue to do things. When he was a youngster, many of his equally challenged friends were not allowed to come outside to play nor to do many of the things I allowed him to do. Their mothers were worried that their children were too fragile. I did stay nearby and cheered him on, sometimes even to his dislike but he learned to be independent in spite of his physical challenges. This book also encourages children and families with disabilities to have an independent, “I can do” spirit. It demonstrates to the able-bodied many ways to accommodate and assist their friends in wheelchairs or with other assistive ambulatory devices.

Another thing I liked about this book is that the author donates a portion of the sales to charity. (Healing Reigns is an organization that helps children with sensory issues and other special needs to heal through their interaction with horses. The therapy is called “hippotherapy”.

http://www.healingreins.org/)

The author ends the book with links to 4H, equestrian programs for rehabilitation purposes and wild horse and burro adoption.

Some of my readers are parents of traumatized and/or adopted children who have benefited from equine therapy. I’d like to think they would enjoy this book as much as I did. It’s a great book to help others who feel different and for building sensitivity to the needs of others who are unlike ourselves, though, I have to say that most of us feel “different” and singled out at times in our lives. This is simply a great book. I loved it. (It is also one in a series of books. See the author's note in my comment box.)

You can purchase it here:

http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/andy&albinohorse-series.htm

ALL of the books I reviewed are priced as follows: The ebook PDF costs $5.00, or for the CD version it’s $9.95 plus $5.95 shipping and handling. The print book is $10.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling. DVD BOOK VIDEO (if available) for $9.95 plus $5.95 shipping and handling.

In addition to the books I have reviewed, Guardian Angel Publishing carries more resources such as music, chapbooks for tweens, health and hygiene books for smaller children, and Angel To Angel (books for kids by kids).

Here is their contact info if you want to know more:

VENDOR: Guardian Angel Publishing
CONTACT: Lynda Burch
EMAIL: sales_staff@guardianangelpublishing.com
PHONE: 314-276-8482
WEBSITE: http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/

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