BLOG TOUR / REVIEW FOR - QUIET AS A CHURCH MOUSE - BY STEPHEN BEVAN

pic and description taken from cedarfort.com

DESCRIPTION:

What does it mean to be quiet as a church mouse? This charming picture book shares the story of how one little boy learned to sit still while his imagination kept running free. With these fun and colorful illustrations, follow along as a boy and a mouse discover how reverence shows our love and respect for our Savior.

MY REVIEW / THOUGHTS:

We all (well if you have had a child) have had that moment in church when you just want your child to be quiet!  You try anything!   When this child’s mom tells him to be quiet as a mouse his imagination runs with it!  Who knew a mouse could be so many things?

This little book takes you on a short, ride through what “quiet as a mouse” could be.  The illustrations are beautiful, and it’s bound to keep your child’s attention during church.  All while helping  them be “quiet”.

I love children’s books so much.  I especially love children’s books that are easy and have lots of pictures for little ones.  There are so many things on the pages to for kids to look at and keep them entertained.  

Source:  I was given this book by the author in return for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way for this review.  These are my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book!

MY RATING:

WHERE TO BUY:

    

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


pic and bio taken from cedarfort.com

Stephen Bevan imagined his church mouse at age 5. All those wild Sundays of imaginings are distilled in this book. He and his little church mouse lived in Montgomery County Maryland, until Heavenly Father took them both to Western Australia for many amazing adventures “down under.” Now those two trouble makers reside in beautiful Cache Valley, Utah. On Friday nights they are telling stories and hammock camping with the scouts but each Sunday morning they are both trying to sit reverently in church with Stephen’s own wonderful and imaginative children. Learn more about Stephen at www.bevanstories.com, while you are there see what other adventures he and his mouse have to share.



A SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Stephen Bevan and to Cedar Fort for allowing me to be part of this tour!

Welcome to my stop of this tour!

pic and description taken from showdowmountain.com

DESCRIPTION:

Libby Lochewood is twelve years old when her grampa dies of a heart attack. She is devastated at losing her best friend. Now that he’s passed on, it’s just her and her father, and he is so overcome by grief that he can barely get out of bed in the morning. The night of the funeral, though, Grampa’s spirit appears in Libby’s bedroom and tells her three important things: first, that she isn’t alone or forgotten-“The dead ain’t never that far from the living,” he says; second, that she has “the Sight”-the ability to see family member who have died; and three, that there is something special just for her in the lake. Something that could help her and her father-if she can find it.

Libby begins her search along with her friends Bobby and Martha, but it’s hard to know if they’ve found what Grampa wanted her to find since they don’t really know what it is. As Libby’s father falls deeper and deeper into depression, Libby and Grampa work together to help her father believe that their loved ones who have died are much closer than he thinks. But it will take all of Libby’s courage and her gift of Sight to convince her father that the dead are never truly gone.

MY REVIEW / THOUGHTS:

I am going to take a different approach to this review than normal.  More than tell you about the book, I want to tell you what this book did for me.

I have always believed that those who have died are close by.  My father use to tell us all the time that when babies are smiling at "nothing" they are smiling at those on the other side who are watching out for us.  I loved that.  I loved the thought that I wasn't the only one watching out for my family while here on earth.

This book also made me consider how much harder it would be for me to loose someone close to me, if I believed that, that was it.  This little book showed me that no matter how long someone has been gone they are always right here with me.

This is a good book to read with someone who has lost someone recently or is going to be loosing someone.  Help them understand that even though they are not here, and it hurts, they are really never gone.  

I know it sounds so cliche, but it's so true.  We can always carry those we love with us in our hearts, minds, and actions.  It's such a calming feeling.

This is such a sweet story about a girl trying so hard to help her father realize that life doesn't have to be as hard as he is making it out to be, if he would just accept that there is help from the other side.

Source:  I was given this book as part of a blog tour in return for an honest review.  I was not compensate in any way for this review.  These are my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book.

MY RATING:

WHERE TO BUY:

     

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

description taken from shadowmountain.com

Carol Lynch Williams, who grew up in Florida and now lives in the West, is an award-winning novelist with six daughters and one son. She has an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College, and she won the prestigious PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. The Chosen One was named one of the Ala’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and Best Books for Young Adult Readers and was featured on numerous lists of recommended YA fiction. Carol’s other novels include, Messenger, Glimpse, Miles from Ordinary, The Haven, Waiting, and the Just in Time series.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Sarah Cobabe @ Shadow Mountain for this opportunity