Love, Laughter, and Life

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Book Report: Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners

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Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners

by Natalie Rompella

Sky Pony Press, 2017

 

What’s a girl to do when she is suddenly placed in a class WITH the hard-nosed teacher and WITHOUT her best friend and co-chef? The project they have been planning for years is swept off the table and the friends are paired with new partners.

Ana is devastated to learn she must partner with Dasher, a new kid from Alaska. All the new girl talks about is sled dogs. Worse, she has no culinary skills! Even worse, best friend Lily is paired with Via, another non-cook but super cool girl.

AND only Lily knows the truth about Ana. OCD dogs her every waking minute, leading Ana to obsess over germs and wash her hands to the point of cracked, chapped skin.

There are so many great things about Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners! I loved the characters and the middle school angst. The finer details of friendship, making new friends, OCD, school, projects, hobbies, teamwork, trying something new – all of these important issues play together in this engaging chapter book.

I learned new information about obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and treatment for this disorder. I also learned many new things about racing sled dogs and creating unique recipes. Readers will find at least one thing to identify with through the characters in Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners. Readers looking for books about dogs, friends, cooking and creating, going to school, or OCD will love this book.

Two thumbs up for Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners by Natalie Rompella.

P.S. ACTUAL recipes are shared in this book, creations by the main characters.

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I won a copy of Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners after reading an interview with Natalie Rompella and commenting about her new book at groggorg.blogspot.com. You can read the interview here.


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Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

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It’s been a rough year for my family, so we decided to switch things up. This year, we went off the charts for Thanksgiving.

We chose to:

-travel to the beach (off-season is awesome)

-cook our own little turkey breast

-decorate for Christmas

-begin our annual Christmas movie countdown

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What really happened:

-beach plans were cancelled due to health issues

-went on a drive to the mountains to collect pine cones for art projects

-soaked by pounding rain

-did a little off-roading to travel up a steep, rocky, bumpy, muddy path

-met a wolf

-the wolf turned into a Husky, lost VERY far from civilization

-he loved us. And jumped eagerly into the pickup

-had to figure out what to do with a huge lost dog (wearing a collar, but no tags)

-Did you know everything is closed (pretty much) on Thanksgiving? Unless you are shopping.

-which was good, since we needed dog food

-by the time we got home, it was very late when our little turkey breast went in the oven

-spent all afternoon taking photos, hanging out, searching for lost dogs, and contacting friends and social media groups in efforts to find this handsome boy his family

-nowhere to keep a large, very large dog in the RV

-our daugther and family took Mr. Handsome home to sleep

-Mr. Sweetie (SO good with kids, pets, noises, crowds) hunkered down in exhaustion

-turkey dinner became our traditional leftovers meal: turkey, cranberry sauce, cream cheese, sliced red onion sandwich (I had a salad)

-actually had a six-course meal. That’s what I told Kevin as we ate and drank different courses while waiting for the turkey to get done

-nearly sugar-free crustless pumpkin pie is delicious!

-decorated the RV. Put up our tree in less than 5 minutes. Done.

-put up the outdoor tree. Less than 5 minutes. Done.

-finished the Harry Potter movie marathon. Next, Christmas.

 

Our day was totally nontraditional. But we liked it.

Who knows? Next year we might go back for pinecones.

Or another lost dog.

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P.S. More about our Mr. Handsome later.


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To All The Dogs I’ve Loved Before… Maria Gianferrari’s Inspirations for “Hello Goodbye Dog” (plus a giveaway!)

Source: To All The Dogs I’ve Loved Before… Maria Gianferrari’s Inspirations for “Hello Goodbye Dog” (plus a giveaway!)

DOGS! This is such a fun post about favorite dogs and literary dogs. Who are your favorite dogs? Real life and imagined!

Maggie, Jessie, Jody…


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The Perfect Dog ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

The Perfect Dog

By Kevin O’Malley

(Crown Books for Young Readers, 2016)

Her parents have finally said she could get a dog. The perfect dog.

But what makes a perfect dog? Big, bigger, biggest? Maybe or maybe not.

Humorously written and brightly illustrated, The Perfect Dog shares the tale of a young girl who is searching for the perfect dog companion. All goes well, until a dog chooses her.

I enjoyed this funny book and the comparative language used to tell the tale. Readers will laugh and begin to predict before the story is told.

KID KANDY:

Compare Your Toys

Materials: variety of toys, at least 3 different sizes of each type (3 dogs, 3 cars, 3 blocks, and so on)

Can you line up your toys by comparing them to each other?

Get 3 dogs. Put them in order of big, bigger, and biggest. Or maybe they are small, smaller, and smallest!

How about 3 blocks? Tall, taller, tallest? Or long, longer, longest?

Do you have 3 dolls? Tiny, tinier, tiniest?

3 instruments? Loud, louder, loudest? Quiet, quieter, quietest?

There are all sorts of ways to compare objects! See how many different words you can use to show comparisons. I’d love to hear your favorite!