The Adventures of Lefty and Righty: The Windy City Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

How familiar are you with Chicago? Let's test your knowledge of the Windy City by going sightseeing with, well, a pair of white socks from award-winning author Lori Orlinksy's new book The Adventures of Lefty and Righty: The Windy City! The kindle version is FREE here for a limited time. Plus, you could win an autographed hardcover copy by entering the giveaway below!

About the Book:

Book Title: The Adventures of Lefty & Righty: The Windy City by Lori Orlinksy
Category: Children's Fiction (Ages 3-7), 38 pages
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Mascot Books
Release date: Mar 7, 2023 Tour dates: Mar 7 to Mar 27, 2023 Content Rating: G for everyone.

Do you ever wonder what happens to socks that get lost in the dryer? Join Lefty and Righty for the adventure of a lifetime as they sneak out of the laundry room with a destination in mind: a White Sox game! But with so much to do in The Windy City, will they make it to the game in time? Through their fun-filled day, they’ll discover the sights, sounds—and even the tastes—of Chicago, all while encountering a few surprises along the way!

Buy the Book: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | Mascot Books
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My Review:

The Adventures of Lefty and Righty: The Windy City is an amusing and informative rhyming picture book following two adventurous socks as they tour around the city of Chicago. At the sight of a ticket to a White Sox game, Lefty and Righty decide that this is the event that they, as white socks, must attend. On their way to the stadium, they take a fun ride on the train, share a Chicago-style hot dog with tons of toppings except ketchup, cruise through the river on a water taxi, get a bird's eye view from the top of Navy Pier's first Ferris wheel, and a lot more! Will they enjoy the game and make it back home before mom finds out?

Through comical characters and intriguing illustrations, the story presents a creative explanation for the whereabouts of missing socks, along with an engaging introduction to the landmarks and attractions of the Windy City. All the fun activities Lefty and Righty have and all the Instagram-worthy selfies they take to capture their happy moments make the reader want to visit and learn more about this charming city. Each of the FUN FACTS found in the back matter corresponds to a word or phrase highlighted in red and all caps in the main text, providing further information related to history, culture, special features and more. These fun facts not only help young readers understand the story better, but also motivate them to go back to it over and over again.

Whether you've been to Chicago or not, you are likely to learn something new about the city from Lefty and Righty's adventure. The book is enjoyable and educational for both young and older readers.

Alycat and the Saturday Sleepover Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

What do you think makes a sleepover successful and unforgetable? Indulgent foods, adventurous games, or cheerful chitchats? Check out all the fun things Alycat and her friends get to do in Alycat and the Saturday Sleepover, a new release from award-winning author Alysson Foti Bourque! Enter for your chance to win a signed copy!

My Review:

As the latest addition to the beloved Alycat picture book series, Alycat and the Saturday Sleepover tells a playful and entertaining story that starts with a worrisome suspense and ends with a big relief as well as a good laugh. Alycat invites six of her friends over to a well-planned Saturday sleepover featuring fun games, a campfire for s'mores, and a flashlight-lit tent to share spooky stories in. Just as she's getting everything ready for the big night, Alycat receives a choppy phone call from her friend Luna. The words that don't get cut out seem to suggest that Luna will have to miss the party but she's got a big secret to share. Alycat and the other five party guests can't help but wondering what Luna's secret might be. Could it be something sad or scary?

With delightful colors and expressive faces, the book depicts a clowder of adorable characters, each with a distinctive purrsonality that gets revealed through their reactions to ghost stories and their wild guesses about Luna's alleged secret. The games and activities at the sleepover sound really fantastic. My son is eager to try out the messy Cake Drop game while he finds alien dogs and giant mice to be more hilarious than terrifying. Curious about what else the kittens will do before going to sleep, he doesn't want the story to end.

Alycat's exciting and amusing new adventure inspires young readers to be a supportive friend, an amazing party host, and a positive problem-solver. It warns that a truncated message and incomplete information may cause misunderstanding. It also indicates that one way to overcome fear is to avoid confusing fact with fiction.

This book is a sure winner among Alycat fans and cat lovers, who can't wait to find out what Alycat will do to make her Sunday special.

About the Book:

Ages 4+ | 32 Pages
Publisher: Pelican Publishing | ISBN-13: 9781455627233

Alycat hosts a big sleepover, complete with games, s’mores, and ghost stories. A surprise guest adds suspense!

The Alycat Series features Alycat and the Thursday Dessert Day, Alycat and the Monday Blues, Alycat and the Friendship Friday, Alycat and the Tournament Tuesday, Alycat and the Cattywampus Wednesday, and Alycat and the Sleepover Saturday.

The books in this series have won more than 17 awards, including the NYC Big Book Award, the Mom’s Choice Awards, and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards; have been featured in Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly; and have appeared in the Oscars celebrity swag bag and the Grammy Awards gift bag. Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, featured Bourque and her life-size mascot, Alycat, on her popular YouTube channel Little Red News.

Purchase links: Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes and Noble

My Home Filled With Love Blog Tour: Review and Prize Pack Giveaway

Home means a lot for us. It's where we feel safe, comfortable and loved. As parents, what can we do to create a truly sweet home for our children to grow and thrive in? Desiree Blanchard offers some expert advice in her new book My Home Filled With Love. Check it out and enter to win a cute prize pack!

My Review:

My Home Filled With Love is a colorful and cheerful rhyming picture book about love, family, and parent-child relationship. Told from a little girl's point of view, the story shares all the little things her parents do in daily life to show their love, from waking her up gently in the morning and getting her ready for school to welcoming her home with hugs and cooking her yummy meals. The book concludes with a summary of its key messages, thought-provoking questions to stimulate discussion, and bonus activities like mazes and a coloring page to further the fun of reading.

Featuring smiling characters who radiate joy and happiness and easy-to-relate real-life senarios, the book helps young readers realize and appreciate what their parents have been doing to provide them with care, protection, comfort and guidance. Meanwhile, it encourages both parents to get involved in childcare, to play and learn together with their children, and to take every opportunity to let the little ones know how much they are being loved. By variating the fonts and colors of the text, the book also makes it easy for early readers to learn about rhyming words and to build their vocabulary.

Overall, it's an endearing book that children and their parents would enjoy reading aloud together while exploring ways to fill their home with love.

About the Book:

Ages 3+ | 40 Pages
Publisher: Tabletop Teaching LLC | ISBN-13: 9798985961355

This beautifully illustrated children’s book is more than just another cute rhyming story. My Home Filled With Love shows kids and parents what a nurturing environment at home is all about. With this story, kids will learn more about how much you, as their parent or caregiver, love them with every choice you make.

My Home Filled With Love is a must-have for new parents, old parents, and all the parents in between! Written by Desiree Blanchard, Positive Parenting Instagram Influencer and Early Child Interventionist, this book is a perfect gift for parents looking to create a nurturing and inclusive environment for their kids!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes and Noble

$10 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal Cash Giveaway

St Patrick's Day is just two weeks away. Will March be your month of good luck? Join the Leaping Leprechauns Giveaway Hop to find out! There will be dozens of chances to win gift cards, cash and other fun prizes during this blog event. I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash equivalent. The winner gets to choose!

For your chance to win, simply fill out the entry form below. Have fun hopping around and good luck!